That's My Kind of Retirement Plan

This one is kind of out of left field:

What seems like a lifetime ago, certainly before kids (which is really two lifetimes), I used to live four blocks away from a retirement living community. Looking back now, I think it may have been more like a senior center that had apartments attached. Anyway, people kept telling me about this Donut Day there.

Every Thursday, the seniors would make fresh donuts. Apparently, they were super delicious and very cheap.  Being the one in my office that lived closest to the senior center, I was the designated donut picker-upper. My first time going, I had a warm fuzzy feeling. What a great program. Keeping seniors active, providing a place for them to meet. A little way to make some money for new programs and activities.

I walked up to the women with the cash box and told them I'd take a dozen donuts. I smiled at them, imagining my best friend and I together at that age. Chatting it up over coffee while manning the front door and handling the cash. I handed one of them a ten dollar bill. It was one of the "new" ones with the different colors. She took it with a suspicious eye and turned to her friend. "Are they taking these yet?"  "Nope" the other one replied.  As she handed the bill back to me, she asked if I had any other bills explaining "The slot machines at the casino don't recognize these yet. You got something else on you?"

I left a little less warm and fuzzy, but definitely with a different picture of my retirement.