A person becomes more frail and weak as they get older and minding their own business seems to degrade as well. Minding your own business is something that’s not an issue during the adult, working stage because people are more occupied with careers, families, and hobbies but after retirement, everything goes out the door. A retiree’s typical day is structured around the necessity of survival such as eating and naps. Besides those things, hobbies and recreational activities do not take up much of the day so what else is there to do besides meddle in other people’s business?

During university, I worked part-time at an apartment building as a concierge. It’s not the typical concierge you would see at a hotel where you deal with different guests all the time. When you are a concierge at an apartment building, all the people you see and interact with are regulars. You get to build a relationship with them and learn a lot of interesting things about people with life long experiences. However, since a sizable amount of people are retired, they are also quite nosy at the tiniest details. They want to know who is moving into the building, why a car is parked overnight for so many nights, what’s that weird smell in the lobby, etc. Athough I no longer work there, it’s a hassle to visit some friends because they recognize my car and wonder what I’m doing in the building. You can’t teach an old dog new tricks but if I could I’d embed the words: Mind Your Own Business in their thick skulls!