He would like something that would be interesting… would tweak his mind… and be fun.
Since he is retired he would want to limit it to around 15-20 hours a week.
And since he is also 81 years old, he would have to be realistic as to whether there were any physical limitations involved.
But Fred McKee’s philosophy is simply to “look at a job and see if I can do it.”
He emphasized, “It’s not about the money.”
Fred recalled his first job when he was about ten years old. He was hired by the owner of a dump to burn the cover off wires to get at the copper.
As a young man after World War II, Fred was stationed with the army in the Philippines.
As is his nature, Fred made friends with island natives. They even gave him a tiny monkey whose tail had been cut off.
She was named “Gook” and stole their hearts. When Fred was being shipped back to the U.S. he couldn’t bear to part with her. He had her vaccinated, etc. but then found that live cargo was forbidden.
But he figured out a way.
Fred explained that his monkey was paper trained and would sleep and ride around inside his shirt when he was below deck. When getting some sunshine and exercise topside, other soldiers would surround her and McKee and keep a watch out.
The two of them got back to Minnesota all right but since Fred was living with his grandparents, and Grandma was a little scared of the monkey, Gook ended up in a local zoo. But Fred felt she enjoyed being with other primates.
In the following years, Fred had a variety of jobs. He worked in sales, then as a field rep, president of his union, as a purchasing manager, in maintenance, real estate and also had a stint as a taxi driver. (Fred chuckled, "The best tippers were the 'Ladies of the Evening'"!)
When he was 70, Fred started a new job – as a “bell hop” at a casino. He would take guests to their rooms, answer their questions almost like a tour guide. Fred enjoyed doing this for another ten years.
But now at 81 he’s looking for something different. Fred explained, "It’s a fallacy to think that retiring is the answer... People only talk about death, taxes or bodily functions.”
Fred would like to find a group that might tackle problems in the community. This group of creative people could enjoy “running” with an idea that might solve a problem for some business, etc.
As far as that new job he is looking for… Fred recalled that he has always been fascinated watching how businesses dealt with their employees. So one direction he is considering is heading back to college to study Human Resources.
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