Retiree has trouble finding a job to keep busy

Dear Readers:

Today’s Sound Off is about employers who won’t consider hiring a senior citizen:

Dear Heloise: Officially, I’m retired. However, I want to work, and I want to stay busy. My biggest problem has been finding someone to hire me. After years of working as an electrician, I still have skills that are useful, and I’ve kept up with all of the latest innovations in my field. I worked my way through college as a carpenter and put an addition on my own home a few years back.

Like so many other retirees, I’m in good health, and for a man of 70, I have no problem getting around or climbing stairs. Earning money is not my major concern, but the extra cash would be welcome.

I’ve spoken to a number of other people who would like to start a second career, but no one wants to hire a person who is elderly, no matter how much experience they have or how sharp their mind is. Yes, there’s freelancing as an alternative, but it’s hit-and-miss with jobs. I can be busy for a month, but then there wouldn’t be any jobs for the next six weeks.

One of the main problems I’ve encountered is that when you do freelance work, everyone expects you’ll work for less than minimum wage. On one job, a woman asked me what I’d charge to build a bookcase and paint it. I quoted her a price, and she agreed to the amount. After I was finished (and I did a nice job), she was furious that I didn’t reduce my fee by a couple hundred dollars because, as she put it, I was retired and had nothing better to do. I’ve encountered that attitude far too often.

Being over the age of 65 does not mean that seniors have become senile or incompetent. Many of us just want a job where we can earn a decent wage. Employers get a tax break if they hire a person with disabilities, so why not give them a tax break if they hire an elderly person?

No Name, in Washington

Dear Readers: If you keep most of your information and documents on your phone, tablet or computer, you might have an old filing cabinet you don’t use anymore that you’d like to repurpose. Here are a few ideas:

Put it in the garden, open the drawers and plant flowers or succulents inside the open drawers.

Flip the cabinet on its back, remove the drawers and fill the interior with soil. Then plant vegetables or flowers in the dirt.

Use a two-drawer cabinet as a bedside storage unit to hold medications, books, bottles of water, tissue boxes, heating pads, etc.

Use it in the kitchen as a place to store potatoes and onions. They always do best when stored in a cool, dark place.

Use it as a roadside display for vegetables that you’re selling by filling up open drawers with your products.