Find Your Inner Rufus

Rufus Jacoby was 94 years old when this video was made a few years back. Passed away now. He’s working at a retirement community wood shop at a place called Riderwood.

I never know what to make of places set aside for the elderly. The pragmatic benefits of the places make a certain amount of sense, but I never liked the idea of a society entirely stratified by age. Rufus had things to offer right up to the end. I imagine that a lot of his laconism springs from weariness from answering the same dumb questions over and over again. An intellectual tourist asks questions different than those trying to learn the ins and outs of a trade. I’ve known a bunch of guys like Rufus in my life. They mostly do things and don’t talk about them unless they sense a commitment from the questioner. When Rufus wearily answers Padauk and Bubinga to his interrogator, and hears the dead silence in return that comes from true ignorance of the topic, I know in my heart that Rufus wanted to go back to his silent dialog with his work.

Talk to your work ’til the very end. It will speak for you after your wake.