The Report Has Been Greatly Exaggerated · 10 June 2023
The report of my demise, I mean my retirement, has been greatly exaggerated.
I know it is not a direct quote, but I like the notion of what Mark Twain supposedly said. And I think it safe to say that any report at this time of my death or retirement has also been greatly exaggerated. I am not retiring as a teacher or coach. (Or writer.)
I heard of my impending retirement at the end of the current school year when a student-athlete asked me about it at track and field practice a few weeks ago. I just laughed and thought nothing of it. Then a couple weeks after that, I saw a former student (who has been in Texas for the past four years), who asked me the same question. “Is it true that you’re retiring at the end of the year?”
Let me assure you dear reader (whether you are real or imaginary) that I am not retiring just yet. The Lord has not told me it is time. Either to retire or to go home to glory. And I am planning to stay put until He tells me otherwise.
The funny thing is that I did not think of the rumor as a real rumor the first time I heard it. But hearing it a second time made me wonder. Where was this rumor coming from? I even wondered out loud where it was coming from. One of my friends said that he wished he had started it, but he had no idea where the notion might have come from, except that perhaps it is because I am old. (What are friends for, if not to keep us humble.) But it got me thinking about where rumors come from anyway.
I have not mentioned retirement to many people. I figure it is at least a few years away. But if somebody had heard me talking about it even in an abstract way, the rumor could have started. I do know that I started teaching C# in my computer programming class so that somebody could come in later and just pick up where I left off. And I had a conversation about that with a different friend of mine (who by the way, has the same first name as my other friend, but definitely not the same thought process). We were talking about how teaching intro students using C# would be a pretty easy thing for somebody new to come in and teach after I had gone, rather retired. The person could even use my book and other resources. But I do not think anybody was around to hear that conversation. Besides, it was over a year ago.
Well, I never figured anything more about where the rumor started. But I do wonder about exaggerated reports. Rumors can run rampant in today’s climate of social media and fake news. In fact, rumors abound on the internet so that it could be anybody who says, “The report of my demise has been greatly exaggerated.”
At any rate.
No matter where the rumor came from, I must insist that it is just a rumor. I am not retiring any time soon. Certainly not this year. Indeed, the report of my demise, rather my retirement, has been greatly exaggerated.
© 2023 Michael T. Miyoshi
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