Ties that Bind

I won’t grow up,
(I won’t grow up)
I don’t want to wear a tie.
(I don’t want to wear a tie)
And a serious expression
(And a serious expression)
In the middle of July.
(In the middle of July)
And if it means I must prepare
To shoulder burdens with a worried air,

I’ll never grow up, never grow up, never grow up
Not me,
Not I,
Not me!
So there!

Peter Pan

I filed for retirement yesterday.

My official retirement date from government employment is September 1st.

No, I won’t quit working. I’ll just quit working that one job.

Ironically, I had a meeting yesterday morning and had to wear a coat and tie.

I don’t wear ties much anymore. The business casual look has become the standard for most offices.

Unless it was for a funeral or a wedding, I couldn’t tell you the last time I wore a tie to church.

At work, I only wear a tie on the days I have meetings. I’ll be wearing another one tomorrow.

I feel a little like Eugene Carman in Spoon River Anthology by Edgar Lee Masters. I did this monologue for acting class when I was in college (this is an excerpt).

So while I was tying my neck-tie that morning
I suddenly saw myself in the glass:
My hair all gray, my face like a sodden pie.
So I cursed and cursed: You damned old thing!
You cowardly dog! You rotten pauper!
You Rhodes’ slave! Till Roger Baughman
Thought I was having a fight with some one,
And looked through the transom just in time
To see me fall on the floor in a heap
From a broken vein in my head.

I’m getting out before that happens to me.

Although I do think I got an A in acting class. At our conservative Christian college my roommate’s only comment was “I can’t believe Michael said ‘damn’ at Asbury.”

I digress.

If the planets align correctly, I’ll only have to wear a tie two more times at work.

Speaking of planets aligning, yesterday Jupiter, Mercury, Uranus, Mars, Neptune and Saturn lined up on the early morning horizon.

I didn’t get out to see it.

I was too busy tying my tie.

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