A Chat with Arnie Zaslow, executive vice president, ATD American Co.
At my age, I enjoy going to high school and college reunions. And the most frequently asked question at any reunion is “Hey Arnie, what are you doing now?” My favorite answer is “I’m retired.” And they ask, “How do you spend your day?” And I say, “I go into my office every day.” And they ask what time I go to work. I say, 7:15 or so in the morning. And they look at me even more quizzically and ask when I leave. And I say about 5:30 or 6:00 at night. Then, almost contemptuously, they ask “I thought you said you were retired.” And my stock answer is this: I am retired. When you’re doing what you want to do, you’re retired. When you’re doing something because you have to do it, you’re working. And I never worked a day in my life. I’m very lucky that way. I feel very sad for those people who get up in the morning and the first words out of their mouths are “Ugh, another day’s work.”