BLOG #11: Rosie the Riveter

BLOG #11: Rosie the Riveter

What does WWII’s Rosie the Riveter have to do with Chris’s retirement?

It’s a stretch.   I admit it. But please stay with me. 

I’m not getting ready for a post-retirement career as a riveter, but I am enjoying doing a lot of household maintenance stuff that’s been on the Honey Do list for ages and not been picked up because of working full time, . . . and that’s “Rosie’s” connection to my retirement.

Do you remember “Rosie”?

If you are first-generation post-war (so, a Baby Boomer) you’ll know of “Rosie” and her ilk, but not first hand. Younger readers will have to resort to checking out Wikipedia’s posting of “Rosie” and the WWII war efforts by women.

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosie_the_Riveter

I’ve always been fascinated with “Rosie.”

• Is it her arm muscles? No, although they are impressive. 

• Is it her ability to work with tools in a factory? No, although those skills are also impressive. 

• Is it the  “F*** You” look on her face? No, although I’ve gotta say she can pull this off. 

• Is it that “Rosie” represents women’s entry into the workforce, women taking on "men’s" jobs, women’s contributions to the war effort while running a household and raising small children? Nope, although all these efforts are incredibly impressive.

No, what has always fascinated me about “Rosie” is her head gear.

Growing up in Northern England in the 1950s and 1960s (which is what makes me now retirement age), I was used to seeing women in different types of head gear. In fact, back then, few women would have left their homes without headgear of some kind and this meant anything from fancy fedoras (upper middle class to middle class) to berets (middle class to working class) to head scarves (working class, unless you are the queen and she totally rocks head scarves):

Source: https://www.bing.com/images/search?

q=queen+elizabeth+ii+and+head+scarves&id=5CDA03A21D242E95812F44F71573B3D6477FF549&FORM=IQFRBA

Younger women such my mum bucked that trend, though, and didn’t wear hats except for church.

“Rosie’s” headgear is very working class and very practical. I love how she scopes her hair up into her headscarf to keep her safe around machinery and to keep her hair clean.

And I want to learn how to do that head scarf because baseball caps just aren’t doing it for me as I work through the various items on my post-full-time-employment to-do list.

Now, I’m pretty darn good with a screw driver, a hammer, and paint brushes and rollers. And I'm okay with mudding and sanding. But . . . I’ve never felt confident with power tools, drills, or saws of any type, but I expect it’s just a case of learning to use these tools. . . so I’m keeping an eye of Rona’s bulletin board in case they have any courses such as “Power Tools for Dummies.” And as Joan B knows, I’m ace at using a mallet and taking down walls.

But I’m convinced that I’ll be a more effective retired home-maintenance person if I could only master “Rosie’s" headscarf.

So, what I’m working on right now – because I’m retired and because I have the physical energy to tackle these jobs – is replacing door knobs and door stops and painting bathrooms: getting rid of hideous 1980-era knobs and updating the colours on the walls. Thank heavens I’m still flexible enough to do these jobs.

So far, I haven’t found the right kind of cloth scarf so I can’t do up my hair like “Rosie.” I think it has to be cotton as a synthetic fabric would slip.

Blog #11 is just a short blog, and I am hoping that I have sort-a,  kind-a linked Ms Riveter to retirement.

Blog #12 (which is a work in progress) is about my efforts to submit paperwork to Blue Cross, LAPP, and CPP/OAS. 

Stay tuned – especially if you were born outside of Canada.