At 100, woman still working 11 hours a day, 6 days a week

[kpete]

BUFFALO, N.Y. - Felimina Rotundo works 11 hours day, six days a week at a Buffalo laundromat and says she has no plans to quit working even though she turned 100 two months ago.

She tells WGRZ-TV that she got her first job at 15 during the Great Depression and has been working ever since.

Rotundo works from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. washing clothes and handling dry cleaning at the College Laundry Shoppe. She says she hasn't considered retirement and will continue working as long as her health is good.

............

She says too many people retire too soon. Her advice to her peers: "Get out and do some work."


VIDEO & MORE:
http://www.wgrz.com/story/life/2015/10/19/unstoppable-100-year-old-works-6-days-week/74251790/
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/at-100-woman-still-working-11-hours-a-day-6-days-a-week/

[joeybee12]

1. If that's a current photo, she looks damn good for 100!

[yeoman6987]

29. I am happy for her

However this is what the Repugs want all of us to do and making every effort to ensure it happens.

[joeybee12]

33. I can't imagine wanting to work at that age...

But apparently this makes her happy.

[yeoman6987]

36. Absolutely. I hope she does it for fun

My previous reply was an outlook on our future where it won't be for fun.

[joeybee12]

39. Yup...Repukes would love it if people

keeled over at their jobs and never got to retire.

[MillennialDem]

68. Only after training the newbie though.

[joeybee12]

58. If someone said 75 I would have believed them...nt

[n2doc]

2. No thanks, Granny

The republican ideal. Work until you die, and look down upon those who choose not to.

[philosslayer]

7. You think if she had retired at 65 she'd have made it to 100?

I doubt it.

[n2doc]

9. I don't care

What I do care about is her condescending attitude towards those who do choose to retire. She has the right to work as long as she can and can find someone to pay her.

[philosslayer]

10. Wow...

Copping an attitude on a 100 year old woman who works 6 days a week. They often ask 100 year olds their secrets for a long life. Perhaps they should stop.

[yawnmaster]

32. Why do you think you care about her attitude? eom

[leftyladyfrommo]

57. I don't think she meant it to be condescending.

It has obviously worked for her.

Not everyone would be able to keep working like that. And not everyone would want to.

[notadmblnd]

31. There are more people that work who don't make it 100 than 100 year old people who work

So what is your point? If we never stop working we'll all live forever or at least til we're 100? I don't think so.

[MillennialDem]

52. Genetics, taking reasonable care of yourself, and luck. If she retired at 65 and hit the gym

every day would she still be around? I bet she would.

[Warpy]

54. I'm with you, all the way

While some old folks find they lack structure and human contact after they retire and die quickly without them, they're often the people whose whole lives revolved around their jobs. The rest of us have found other things to do with our time and are grateful when we get to pursue them.

Besides, enough people who are retiring now are looking at having to work at least part time until they drop dead on the job thanks to Republicans taking any hope of a decent retirement away through years of robbing them of the fruits of their labor to enrich the 0.1%. This, of course, will contribute to an unemployment rate that defies all attempts to reduce.

[Pisces]

3. Its why she looks good and feels good. Listing away at home is a direct path to death.

[snooper2]

4. Yep, use it or lose it....people want to work 5 hours a day, 4 days a week, retire at 50

Don't Be Lazy!



My father in-law would still be alive if he had just gotten off the couch and did his exercises, listened to doctor, build muscle strength and health back up so his body could fight any sickness. Nope...just sat there and slept there 24x7...went from being able to cook for himself to 18 months later in a hospice with a colostomy bag before passing away.

[maxsolomon]

11. there's got to be a middle ground

between 66 hour weeks at 100 and 20 hour weeks at 50.

although, at 52, the option you disparage as "lazy" sounds really good to me. where do I sign up?

[philosslayer]

26. Careful, those are fighting words around here.

Some people think that working past 50 is part of our "cult of work".

[Codeine]

30. Nah, that crowd is too lazy to fight.

[FrodosPet]

78. OK, I am going to Hell for this (amongst many other things), but

[SheilaT]

37. As you clearly understand,

not everyone who retires just gets on the couch as your father-in-law did.

I quit work a year and a half ago -- I was only working part time by then, never had any sort of career or job that I ever loved -- and I am gloriously happy not working. I'm currently doing a lot of travelling, writing a bit, and just enjoying my current life. I keep on thinking I ought to get a part time job, or do temp work, because while I'm just fine financially, I could always use more money. I did take a temp job a couple of months ago, and not sure I ever want to do it again. Who wants to get up at 6 am to be at work at 8? Not me.

[snooper2]

41. he was on SSDI for 15 years and let his health get bad, after two strokes

Doctors told him what he needed to do if he wanted to stay around-

He ignored them and ended up paying the price for it. Actually cussed out the physical therapy lady when she showed up at the door, "I don't need any help I'm fine"

[SheilaT]

42. How genuinely sad.

[Codeine]

5. Staying active and physical keeps us alive.

Good for her!

[MillennialDem]

17. good for her, but I find myself more active when im off in the summer. more

Time to jog, lift weights, and swim

i would retire now if i had the money. I am 35 and i find work incredibly dull.

always have.

[yeoman6987]

38. Hear hear! I do to

My grandfather always said youth is wasted on the young. I know he picked it up from someone else but still is somewhat true.

[magical thyme]

95. I'm appropriately active and physical when I'm at home

meaning I take the time I need for mental or physical breaks when my mind or body tells me it's time for a break, not when a clock tells me I'm permitted to break. I get enough time spent as a human being, versus a human doing.

I also eat a far healthier diet when I have the time needed to prepare good food. Feasting right now on homemade bean & grain soup with organic kale and carrots from my garden.

Once I've got my house back in reasonable order, after several years of a lick and a promise, I'll be heading out to volunteer at a local animal shelter. Also taking a course in setting up a business plan and following through on a couple ideas for small ,sole proprietorship businesses doing activities I enjoy.

I'm a lot happier and a lot less lonely when I'm around people with common interests, goals and belief systems, as opposed to be bullied by my "superiors" into working until I break. I look at the broken people around me, including my "superiors," a large number undergoing sequential surgeries to fix broken bodies or on anti-anxiety drugs to fix broken minds, and all I can think is NNNNOOOOOOO!!!!!

[Thinkingabout]

6. I admire those who continue to remain active.

[philosslayer]

13. Amazing how many on this thread don't.

n/t

[Thinkingabout]

16. Interesting huh.

[maxsolomon]

8. Spending 66 hours a week in a Laundromat in Buffalo

Is not my idea of living.

Excuse me if I don't find this admirable.

[philosslayer]

12. Are you serious?

Look at that picture. She's got a big smile on her face. Thats a REAL smile, not a fake selfie smile. And you're accusing her of "not living?", and her choice of lifestyle "not admirable???". When she's up, active, and contributing to society at 100????

She sees dozens of people every day who greet her by name. She has human contact. She keeps active and has a purpose. You just determined that everyone who works in a Laundromat is "not living", and their choice of life is "not admirable". Sorry everyone can't live up to your high standards.

[meaculpa2011]

15. Bravo. n/t

[maxsolomon]

20. I said its not MY idea of living

Obviously she can do what she wants, and has. She lives to work and vice versa. Great. It works for her. She's an anomaly, not a role model.

America has a cult of work (see upthread), and this article reinforces it. We don't take vacations. We leave overtime hours on the table at the end of the year (4 weeks of time for me, typically). Aussies and Euros think we're insane.

[philosslayer]

25. And maybe whatever YOU do isn't her idea of living either

Pretty damn elitist of you to go pissing on some hard working blue collar worker though. And she is absolutely 100% a role model. Working, contributing, and keeping active at 100? Damn right. My hat is off to her.

[FrodosPet]

79. Lots of people say they support the working class

But they have a lot of contempt for working people and the jobs they do.

It's sad and disgusting.

[dumbcat]

18. That's pretty freakin' elitist

if you ask me. Sounds like something a Rethug would say.

[maxsolomon]

21. Really?

a republican would criticize working 66 hours a week?

[philosslayer]

27. No...

A Republican would look down on some hard working blue collar worker in Buffalo. Which is what you are doing.

[smirkymonkey]

23. +1000

What kind of mental stimulation is she getting? It's just rote, mind-numbingly boring work. How does doing laundry keep you "full of life"? I would rather have the free time to read, go for walks, take classes, go out and do things with friends, travel, etc.

[snooper2]

43. Let us know how you are doing when you hit 100, if you can still use a computer

[leftyladyfrommo]

60. I knew a woman who was almost 90

That worked in a laundromat. It was pretty easy work. She just sat up front most of the time and threw a load in here and there. It made her a little money and she got to talk to all the customers. She really liked it.

Her son lived at home with her but he was gone all day. Her job helped her pass the time.

[meaculpa2011]

14. I was about to say something sarcastic, but...

thought better of it.

No sense making any more enemies than I already have.

My personal preference is to work until I die.

My father worked until he was 87. He's now 93 and after sitting home watching TV for six years the atrophy--both mental and physical--is showing.

[MillennialDem]

19. thats fine if its your preference. but it should also only be applauded if someone

Who hates work gets applauded for saving a shitload of money and retires at 43.

[Codeine]

34. Oddly, I imagine the blue-collar among us

who work the most demanding jobs probably have the best attitude about that work. The "America has a cult of work" crowd probably work at a desk and haven't busted an honest sweat since the last time they went to a gym.

[meaculpa2011]

45. When I worked at a desk in Fortune 500 Land...

I felt like a caged animal. Even a corner office is still a cage.

I walked in 1981 and never looked back.

I'm still at a desk, but it's my desk. I pick my own projects, keep my own schedule and come and go as I please.

Most importantly I can tell any client to STFU. In 34 years I've only done it once, but it's liberating to know I can.

[leftyladyfrommo]

55. I feel that way, too.

I retired but I have my own little company now.
Made up of me. It keeps me busy but I decide how much to take on. And I don't have an office except in my own front room. I don't work for anyone I don't like. And I work with animals which I love.

I never was a social butterfly so this keeps me out around other people. I wouldn't want to just sit home and do nothing.

[treestar]

87. Yeah I was always depressed by

my grandparents sitting watching TV. Granted they did a few other things, like meet friends and such. My parents did a better job, taking class at the University and while young enough, traveling. Seems less depressing, but you need the $$. Also taught classes - there was a school that took them without teaching degrees. One did a bit of acting in a local theater. So they made something of it.

I'd say when the medical problems take up time - a lot of doctor visits - that would make it harder to work.

[Cal Carpenter]

22. The word of the day, class, is "exceptional"

This woman is an exception. She is 100 years old. Most people aren't. She still works by choice more hours a week than most people do even when they are young.

This is news because she is "exceptional".

Her attitude and behavior isn't a political statement, or a social statement, or an example of why or why not people should retire earlier or later, or an analysis of our economic problems leading to people working too many hours too late in life. (A very worthy and important conversation, by the way, but not one that will be well served by use of this woman as an example. Because she is an anomaly.)

This is a human interest piece about an "exceptional" woman.

[shanti]

48. thank you! n/t

[leftyladyfrommo]

24. She makes a good point.

If you retire and just at home it can really shorten your life. It depends on how people spend their time. Some retired people keep really busy with activities. But some people who aren't very motivated just sit at home and watch TV all day. That's not good for you.

I have a friend who is quickly becoming housebound. She does nothing except watch TV shows and reruns all day. She us really going downhill fast.

[haele]

46. My great grandmother was a housewife all her life, lived to 102. Died of pneumonia, not old age.

Last edited Tue Oct 20, 2015, 04:00 PM - Edit history (1)

She kept active and did what made her happy. She socialized. She had hobbies, she loved to quilt. She loved to cook. She may have sat a lot, but she also walked.
She didn't do "heavy work" - she had injured her upper back and shoulders in the 50's, had limited upper body mobility and didn't lift or carry much. My grandmother lived with her, and she did all the heavy work, gardening, and housecleaning. Still, G-Grandma Bessie completed her 100th + full-sized quilt (using her "got for her 1905 wedding non-electric foot-treadle sewing machine&quot for the church donation bin two weeks before she got sick and died - a month before birthday # 103.

Same as my "retired at 65" grandfather who died when he was 99, who was an insurance salesman after being a coal miner as a 12 - 15 year old. He was still going out hiking in the San Gabriel Mountains that summer near where he lived and volunteered teaching taxes and financial literacy at the local library the year before he died. He just needed to have someone drive him and be with him when he was out and about.
He died after an active New Year's Day getting up at 3am to get a good spot at the Rose Parade and going to Rose Bowl with my uncle and his family; took a nap "before dinner" and didn't wake up. Now, that's the way to go!

Being active, upbeat and social is this lady's secret, not "working hard". Working hard is simply how she stays upbeat, active, and social.

I know why lot of people take exception with the attitude that it's work instead of activity that keeps this 100 year old woman going.

Because frankly, retirement or "not working" doesn't have mean that person is inactive, and to suggest otherwise does sound a bit like a republican talking point - y'know, like "working 3 jobs to keep a household going is an uniquely American experience." Laz's kin are from the South, and there's a hidden epidemic of poor working mothers who are basically dying "on the job" at a young age because the mix of stress and poverty is killing them.



Haele

[MillennialDem]

53. I'm not so sure about that. Outside of working in a coal mine or as a

lumberjack, your body really doesn't burn that many more calories at work than it does sitting at home.

[Warpy]

59. Some work wrecks your body

In fact, most work does. Nursing wrecked mine. Construction work, meat packing, assembly line, all wreck your bodies in different ways. People who work in offices don't get the idea of retirement. People who do the heavy lifting of this society desperately need it.

[MillennialDem]

62. My feet kill me at the end of the day (I teach adults and have some particularly long

shifts with morning/afternoon/night classes).

[Warpy]

65. Anti embolism stockings (you can get them at Wally's now)

combined with running shoes for support helped me. Z-coils were another answer and helped me squeeze out another two years on the job before the pain got too bad. The stockings are hideously expensive but they're washable and they'll prevent your feet and ankles from swelling Those made the biggest difference for me when I was running cement floored halls for 12 hours at a crack. Running shoes were great, also, much better than the nursing shoes management wanted us to wear. You can't beat the combination for keeping you from being in agony after hours of standing and walking.

[MillennialDem]

67. Nah, not going to wear anti embolism stockings. I had to wear those for a recent surgery

and they annoyed the shit out of me (I'm a very, very easily annoyed person by having to wear things. Can't even wear sun glasses because the frames annoy behind my ears).

Thanks for the suggestion though.

[Skittles]

81. there are many more options between doing nothing all day and doing laundry all day

I mean, YUCK

[smirkymonkey]

90. Seriously, I can't even stand doing laundry once a week, let alone all day every day.

God, I would WANT to be dead if that were the case.

[Skittles]

101. heh, I never thought laundry was a big deal

until I did it for a family of four who had the flu- OMG THAT MOUND OF CLOTHES

[spinbaby]

83. Watching TV all day can be a symptom

When my father in-law went took to watching TV all day, it was a symptom of Alzheimer's. Those with mental decline often tend to become less active and watch TV a lot, but this doesn't mean sitting and watching TV caused their decline. Not that it's good for them.

[leftyladyfrommo]

85. Yes. I worry about that.

She used to be a really busy active person. Now her biggest challenge is getting the trash out.

[closeupready]

28. Good for her. Salt of the earth, right there.

I've often felt if I won the lottery or otherwise came into a sizeable windfall, I'd STILL work - that would probably be some sort of volunteer work, like teaching English to immigrants, or public roadway beautification or something, but I wouldn't just sit home. I've had stints between jobs, collecting unemployment, and I absolutely HATED that! Nothing more soul-destroying than feeling unneeded, like a parasite.

[SheilaT]

40. On one hand I sort of admire her.

But only sort of, as I can't imagine having no life outside of a job that takes up 66 hours a week. Does she ever travel anywhere? Does she read books? Go for walks?

Clearly she's happy, which is always an excellent thing. Maybe if I'd ever had a truly engaging job, or an actual career, I'd feel differently. But when I worked, I went to the job, did what they told me, and I got a paycheck. Which is how it is for the vast majority of people out there.

Now that I'm not working I travel a lot. Just came back from my 50th high school reunion in Tucson, leaving Thursday for a science fiction thing up in Denver. Next month I'm going on my first ever cruise. My sons will be visiting me over New Year's. Couldn't do any of those things if I were working six days a week.

We're all different, and different things make us happy. For Ms. Rotundo it's her job. For me it's other stuff.

[MillennialDem]

51. No I have an actual career and I still hate work. Wish I could quit or retire but I'm only 35 so I

have forever and 3 days left of the daily grind

I'm happy as a pig in shit during summer though.

[SheilaT]

74. If you are only 35 and hate your actual career,

please try to find something else to do for employment.

I'll offer this example: My younger son does pizza delivery. He graduated from college some six years ago, cum laude I will brag, and instead of looking for a "real" job simply resumed his summer college job. Delivering pizza. He loves what he does. He tells me he feels quite free when he's out and about delivering the pizzas. He supports himself. He doesn't ask either of his parents for money, because he knows if he did we'd tell him to get a different job.

It's not the kind of employment that impresses anyone, but it's legal, he supports himself, and he loves what he does. All excellent qualities, you'd agree. Oh, and he only works four days a week.

Of course, you might be much more like me: I'm not sure I could EVER have found employment I loved. And I am so happy not working, that I'm a pig in shit.

[MillennialDem]

76. I don't find any work interesting. I teach adults and while I'm mostly ok in front of them it's the

whole getting to work I hate, the constant pain in my feet, dealing with admins, and just the general loss of my freedom. I've never liked a job. Not at all.

I even delivered pizzas myself like your son. Hated it too.

[SheilaT]

82. If at all possible, don't do what you hate.

I did not want to imply that pizza delivery is something everyone should love. I'd hate it, because I'm not that fond of driving. Please do investigate other jobs. Maybe something will appeal.

The other possibility is to find a job with benefits that make it tolerable. I had the good fortune to be an airline employee from 1969-1979 when the travel benefits were absolutely amazing. Dealing with the travelling public was beyond awful, but I got to fly first class around the world, which made up for a lot. Alas, these days airline travel benefits are nearly nonexistent because paying and upgraded travelers take up all the seats, but there may be something else out there that might work for you.

[MillennialDem]

86. Doubtful. I even like driving, just don't like doing it for someone else :(

[WinkyDink]

44. "Get out and do some work" made me officially despise this old broad. My 91-yr-old mother CANNOT

EVEN STAND. Diabetes, congestive heart failure, intense pain from a broken femur,... She worked HARD, too, as a waitress, a housecleaner, in retail stores; kept a fanatically clean house; AND was a club-champion golfer.

So Lady Jane Centenarian can just STHU with "Her advice to her peers."

[philosslayer]

64. Amazing how you can direct hate at a 100 year old woman....

Who's working and out contributing in society every day just because she didn't give the politically correct advise you were hoping to hear from her.

[nomorenomore08]

71. Saying that not everyone can or should work till they die is "political correctness"?

[philosslayer]

73. The poster said..

He "despised" the old broad. Because she said, and I quote: "Get out and do some work." Yes, what a HORRIBLE person she is!!

[nomorenomore08]

75. I know the centenarian meant well, but I can understand why some find her condescending.

And there are those among the elite who would love nothing more, than a nation of happy little drones working for peanuts till we drop dead on the job. That's not the old woman's fault - and I do disagree with the vitriol directed at her, to be sure - but I can easily see this being framed as, "She worked past her 100th birthday, so can everyone else! Who needs Social Security!"

Again, it's not her fault, nor yours.

[philosslayer]

98. Well there are a lot of delicate flowers...

Who get their panties in a wad when a 100 year old woman gives some straight talk.

[Brickbat]

47. Wonderful if you can and want to at that age. Not if you have to.

[CharlotteVale]

49. I'm retired and happy. She can keep her advice.

[FrodosPet]

80. I will admire her for the both of us

For whatever health reasons, many cannot keep working nearly that long. But anyone who can do something, whether paid work or volunteerism, should.

Ans I love the positive reinforcement this story offers a graying, under appreciated labor pool! Employers are discovering us older workers often have a better work ethic than those less than half our ages.

[WillowTree]

50. My Dad worked until 79 by choice.

I'll work at least until 70 myself assuming my health holds up.

We're not a family of folks who can just hang around and not be productive.

[smirkymonkey]

61. If you need a job to keep busy when you are older, you just lack imagination.

There are millions of things to do. I won't be bored. Unless your job is your passion, I can't understand choosing to work if you don't need to for financial reasons.

[MillennialDem]

63. Hell I could think of several lifetimes worth of more interesting things to do - I desperately

want to quit working and retire.

I'm only 35

[LisaL]

97. Maybe she actually enjoys her job.

[smirkymonkey]

99. Ok, let me phrase that differently. If you enjoy doing laundry 66 hours a week, and you don't

do it just for the money, you lack imagination.

[FLPanhandle]

66. This story makes me incredibly sad.

She knows nothing but work. She isn't traveling or doing many other things this world offers before dying.

What a waste.

Myself, I plan on retiring as soon as I possibly can (around age 60) and will be really enjoy life.

[philosslayer]

70. Look at the smile on her face

Does that look like a sad person to you? You have no idea as to her quality of life, or if she travels in her free time. She's happy. You're incredibly sad that she's happy?

Amazing how many on this thread are projecting what makes THEM happy onto someone else.

[Nye Bevan]

88. Where in the story does it say that she isn't traveling or doing "many other things"?

You do know that it is possible to travel and do many other things while holding down a job?

[SheilaT]

92. If she's working six days a week she can't ever get very far on her one day off.

Of course, it's possible she gets six weeks vacation per year and has been to all seven continents multiple times. But I doubt it. Yes, it's great that she's happy in her life, but no one way of living is for everyone.

[Nye Bevan]

93. I know quite a few people with full-time jobs who travel quite extensively.

I guess you don't.

[SheilaT]

100. Not if they're working six days a week.

I do travel extensively. Always have. Was an airline ticket agent for ten years and was rarely home if I had a day off. Since I only got two weeks vacation, and NEVER had an extra day off for a holiday (the nature of the job) I did a lot of shift swapping so I could travel. I was highly motivated, especially by the free tickets.

The reason I don't have any cats right now is because I'm gone far too often to be a responsible human for them.

Yep. I travel extensively. But I'm still guessing this 100 year old woman who is still happy working 66 hours a week doesn't.

[Glassunion]

69. If I live to be as old as her, I'm going to use it to mess with people.

Every time someone asks me what the secret to my longevity is, I'll just tell them a f$%#ed up lie...

For the past 75 years, every morning I drink the oil out of a can of sardines and eat a pine cone.

[mountain grammy]

72. 66 hours a week at work isn't my idea of living.. but whatever works for her.

[Liberal In Texas]

77. 100 is the new 80. :-)

Good for her. I have seen many times that people I've known retire and drop dead not long afterwards.

I'm going to keep working as long as I am physically able and collect my Social Security at the same time.

[B Calm]

84. I worked to age 62 and if NAFTA hadn't

closed down the plant, I would of retired at 55.

[Nye Bevan]

89. What a wonderful woman. I can't believe the condescension and hate for her by some DUers. (nt)

[AZ Progressive]

91. If you like your job, 66 hours a week is not an issue

But not everyone can find pleasure and brain stimulation from working 66 hours a week. Everyone is different.

[magical thyme]

96. exactly. and not every job meets all needs. especially paying jobs.

[Initech]

94. Hey! Don't give our corporate overlords any ideas!

Bad grandma!!