A Flexible Schedule--and No Stress
Two months--that was about how long it took Paul LeMaire to tire of retirement. "I had done all my wife's ' honey do's around the house," says LeMaire, 58. But truth be told, he was never really ready to depart the working world. In 2001, LeMaire was offered early retirement by troubled Delta Airlines, where he had worked for 33 years in reservations and marketing. "I am a firm believer that you need to stay busy, but the package was just too good to turn down," he says.
So began LeMaire's brief life as a kept man, though he always had an eye out for interesting opportunities. It was during a chore-related visit to Home Depot that LeMaire asked the store manager if he was hiring. "I just thought it would be a really good place to think about working at, " he recalls. Now getting a job at the home-improvement retailer involves more than just filling out a one-page application and a 10-minute interview. Home Depot requires testing -- which older workers tend to score better on -- and role-playing to see how potential employees deal with customers. It's not hard to imagine what Home Depot saw in LeMaire. Besides his airline experience, he's an active guy -- plenty of golf and softball -- and his job in the doors and windows section requires a lot of heavy lifting.
In return, LeMaire gets flexible part-time hours (he works three days a week). And even though he's not a full-time worker, LeMaire would get medical benefits if he needed them. The money is nothing like what he used to make, but between his pension and his wife's as a former government employee, this second career doesn't have to be about the dough. And LeMaire's job at Home Depot has one big edge over his first career -- less stress. "I had high blood pressure when I left Delta," he says. "Now I don't have to think about work when I go home."
This story appears in the June 12, 2006 print edition of U.S. News & World Report.
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