IT’S been a hard year for good-news stories - you know, the heartwarming sort of story that can take the edge off the relentless tsunami of bad news that seems to have been seeking us out since the dawn of 2016. Off the top of my head, I can think of only one: a Scot has become the world’s top-ranked tennis player.
Now, belatedly, here’s another. It concerns an old soldier called Joe Bartley. A few weeks ago, Joe, who is 89, was sitting at home, staring at the four walls and fretting about the wretched prospect of terminal boredom. Today? Not only has he started a new job - and, with it, a new lease of life - but he has become something of a celebrity. His name is doing the rounds on Twitter, to widespread approval. He has even appeared on television.
I like Joe’s story because it speaks to his determination to keep going. His wife died a couple of years ago, and the couple had no children, so Joe lately found himself at a loose end, and then some. Rather than just accepting his fate, he took out an advert in his local paper, in Paignton, south Devon. It read: “Senior citizen, 89, seeks employment in Paignton area. 20hrs+ per week. Still able to clean, light gardening, DIY and anything. I have references. Old soldier, airborne forces. Save me from dying of boredom!”
It was an unusual sort of ad, and the response was overwhelming. A local baker offered him work, but the post was in north Devon, and too far for Joe to travel. But a cafe in Paignton, whose owners were evidently taken with Joe, have offered him a job. In an interview the co-owner said, “An 89-year-old putting himself out there and showing enthusiasm and proactivity? We can’t wait. Clearly he is an extremely likeable gent and his story really struck a chord with everyone. His personality and zest for life was his best quality in the interview and it will be a lot of fun having him around.”
As Joe himself told his local paper: “It’s crazy - I didn’t think this would happen. I just want enough to cover my rent. I don’t want to live on benefits.”
There’s another aspect to his tale, and it’s one we will all have to address sooner or later: what we do with ourselves, long after we retire? The grandkids will keep us busy (assuming we have any), but how do we keep our minds and bodies active?
As one expert observed last year, we worry about the same things throughout life - finances, well-being, loneliness - but our feeling that we can control such things changes as we get older. Joe has shown that, even on the cusp of your tenth decade, if you’re fortunate to still have all your faculties intact, it’s possible to make changes to the way you live.
Actually, there’s yet another aspect: loneliness. Joe spoke of having no-one to speak to in his block of flats. It was, he said, like solitary confinement. Yesterday The Herald reported that almost 65,000 older Scots will feel lonelier than ever during the festive season, through bereavement, immobility, or a lack of family nearby. It was a sobering story. Commendably, Age Scotland wants us to reach out to older people in our street or community. Joe’s words about solitary confinement give this invisible plight some sharp clarity.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here