Latest / Curtis Sliwa & Larry Mendte In The Morning / Opening Segment 10/20/26

Transcript

Opening Segment 10/20/26 · Curtis Sliwa & Larry Mendte In The Morning

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  Speaker 1: Now, Curtis Lewa and Larry Mendte in the morning on 710WOR. Wow.
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  Speaker 2: Larry, Natalie, our audience.
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  Speaker 1: I've run into so many people because of my age
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  Speaker 1: and obviously the age of a lot of our listeners
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  Speaker 1: where you're either on the cusp of possibly being able
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  Speaker 1: to retire or you've retired. Or you've sworn to yourself,
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  Speaker 1: I'll never retire because if I do retire, I'll probably
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  Speaker 1: drop dead in a week. It's almost like three variables.
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  Speaker 1: I can't seem to avoid it. And when you just
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  Speaker 1: walk the hallways here at WOR, this iconic station, 710 WOR,
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  Speaker 1: the number one talk station in New York. And you remember, wow,
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  Speaker 1: John Gambling retired early. How old was John Gambling, Natalie,
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  Speaker 1: when he retired? decided to hang it up, go down
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  Speaker 1: to Florida and just enjoy his retirement years?
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  Speaker 3: Oh, that's a good question. I thought he would.
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  Speaker 2: Wait a second. You were with all three gamblings. Exactly.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah.
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  Speaker 3: It started in 1922. I don't know. I guess we
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  Speaker 3: was in the 60s.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, but when, Larry, you were away. 66. I just
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  Speaker 2: looked it up. Yeah, 66. You got it.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, and he could have continued on. It's not like
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  Speaker 1: he was tired or impaired. He just decided he came
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  Speaker 1: on with us one day when you weren't able to
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  Speaker 1: be here, Larry. And he just said, I had to
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  Speaker 1: hang it up. There's just no way that I was
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  Speaker 1: going to continue to do talk radio, which is not
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  Speaker 1: the hardest job in the.
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  Speaker 2: World compared to what a lot of other people have
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  Speaker 2: to do.
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  Speaker 1: But it grinds you, like I said, when you have
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  Speaker 1: to wake up in the early morning hours like John
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  Speaker 1: did for so many years.
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  Speaker 4: I love when people know when to retire, you know,
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  Speaker 4: when they know this is it and then they're comfortable
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  Speaker 4: with it. That's incredible. That's a gift because I think
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  Speaker 4: a lot of people, there's two things. You're not in
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  Speaker 4: a position when you can retire. And that's a shame
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  Speaker 4: that people don't feel like they're in a position to
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  Speaker 4: financially retire. So they keep on working. And then there's
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  Speaker 4: other people that just want to keep working because they
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  Speaker 4: like that lifestyle. And they keep trying to hold on
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  Speaker 4: to it as long as they can because they feel
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  Speaker 4: like they'll be bored if they're not working. I think
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  Speaker 4: they're the two things that go into it.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, well, think about it.
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  Speaker 1: From time to time, we reach out to Joe Bartlett
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  Speaker 1: down in South Carolina with all the other snowbirds who've
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  Speaker 1: moved down there to retirement homes or retirement villages. He's
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  Speaker 1: playing bocce. He's enjoying his retirement. Well, look how many
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  Speaker 1: years he worked here at WOR. In the early mornings,
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  Speaker 1: which is really the grind, they can really grind you.
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  Speaker 1: And I just say to myself, some, if they could,
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  Speaker 1: will work forever. until they die. Others, it's like they're
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  Speaker 1: marking time before the parole hearing, you know, a prisoner
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  Speaker 1: is in jail and he's got the calendar up and
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  Speaker 1: he's just putting an X.
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  Speaker 4: On for his next parole hearing. Well, those are people
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  Speaker 4: that know they can afford it, that have saved for it.
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  Speaker 4: So many people just don't have the money to do it.
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  Speaker 4: And social security is just not going to cut it.
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  Speaker 4: Somebody with pensions and things like that. I have two
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  Speaker 4: sisters that are teachers, man, they have the best retirement
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  Speaker 4: package in the world. They, They count the days, just
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  Speaker 4: like you're saying, as many teachers do. When retirement comes, boom,
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  Speaker 4: health care for the whole family, you know, because of
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  Speaker 4: the union, they have a pension, they're set. They are
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  Speaker 4: absolutely set as long as they have tenure. But I'll
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  Speaker 4: tell you what, there's statistics on this. One third of
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  Speaker 4: workers have postponed their retirements.
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  Speaker 1: One third.
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  Speaker 4: So that's pretty amazing. And 15% work past 70%. So
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  Speaker 4: it is something that's happening, and it's because of the
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  Speaker 4: cost of living. It's because of health care expenses. It's
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  Speaker 4: because a lot of places are getting rid of pensions.
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  Speaker 4: And so because of that, you get to retirement, and
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  Speaker 4: you go, well, how am I going to live? And
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  Speaker 4: then the other part of it is you go to yourself,
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  Speaker 4: what am I going to do on a daily basis?
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  Speaker 4: If you don't have money to travel, if you don't
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  Speaker 4: have family nearby, then you're thinking, what am I going
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  Speaker 4: to be, just sitting here by myself?
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  Speaker 3: Right.
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  Speaker 5: Because I was going to say, you know, retirement, they
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  Speaker 5: have studies that link retirement to rapid decline of cognitive
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  Speaker 5: function and physical activity, social engagement and all those things that,
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  Speaker 5: you know, that come along with work keeps you stimulated.
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  Speaker 5: But I feel like I feel like I could find something.
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  Speaker 5: that doesn't require waking up at 3 a.m.
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  Speaker 3: That I can figure something out.
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  Speaker 2: Your life is full. You know what I mean?
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  Speaker 4: There's people that their lives are full. I feel like
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  Speaker 4: my life is full. Like if I retired, I'd spend
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  Speaker 4: time with my grandkids. If I retired, I'd spend more
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  Speaker 4: time with my kids. Problem is right now I have
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  Speaker 4: two kids in college.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, exactly. Yeah, you have to hang out at the frat.
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  Speaker 2: Come on, Dad, hoist a few.
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  Speaker 3: He's still got some expenses. He's still got a bunch
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  Speaker 3: of kids under him.
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  Speaker 1: I'll tell you, my dad, merchant seaman for 50 years,
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  Speaker 1: he retired at 67. He started sailing at 17, middle
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  Speaker 1: of the Depression. He was the oldest son in Chicago.
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  Speaker 1: He had to go sail flatboats on the Mississippi, then
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  Speaker 1: banana boats down to Guatemala and Honduras. And then as
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  Speaker 1: a merchant mariner, was involved in World War II like
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  Speaker 1: so many other men.
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  Speaker 4: But.
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  Speaker 2: he was forced to retire at 67.
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  Speaker 1: So the way traditionally it would work for him, he'd
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  Speaker 1: be away eight months of the year. Eight months solid
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  Speaker 1: of the year, he'd be sailing the seven seas. Then
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  Speaker 1: he'd be home a solid four months around the clock.
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  Speaker 1: So for eight months, I had freedom. For four months,
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  Speaker 1: I was in lockdown. Because my dad understood every trick
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  Speaker 1: that a young guy could pull that normally the mother
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  Speaker 1: would not understand because you could do no wrong with
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  Speaker 1: your mother, especially in an Italian-American household.
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  Speaker 2: But for four months, he was at home. He loved it.
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  Speaker 2: So when he did.
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  Speaker 1: Retire at 67, he adjusted nicely because he had been
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  Speaker 1: away for so long of his working life. Imagine eight
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  Speaker 1: months a year, except when they were tied up in
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  Speaker 1: port when there were strikes.
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  Speaker 2: And those were really tough times.
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  Speaker 1: I'll never forget to be sitting at the dinner table, say, hey, kids,
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  Speaker 1: my two sisters and me, we really got to cut back.
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  Speaker 1: There's no strike fund. So you're going to have spaghetti,
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  Speaker 1: but no sauce, no gravy.
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  Speaker 2: And I mean, really cut it down.
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  Speaker 1: Craft macaroni, you know, four boxes for a buck. I mean,
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  Speaker 1: everybody had to do it. At your age, you did understand. Yeah,
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  Speaker 1: totally understood. Totally understood. Because he took me to the
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  Speaker 1: strike lines, and I saw other guys who were in
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  Speaker 1: the same condition, and they were really worried.
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  Speaker 2: Really worried.
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  Speaker 1: Is this the right thing? Because they weren't, there was
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  Speaker 1: no strike fund. You were out there. You didn't even
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  Speaker 1: know if you'd have a job. Right. And then they
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  Speaker 1: had the goons, you know, would come for you from
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  Speaker 1: the company if they decided they wanted to break the
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  Speaker 1: strike and bring scabs in. So I remember those situations,
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  Speaker 1: but I always remember my dad at the age of 67.
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  Speaker 2: He goes, good.
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  Speaker 1: I'm here in the house. I can catch up on
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  Speaker 1: all the time that I missed. because I was sailing
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  Speaker 1: the seven seas. So he welcomed it, and he kept
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  Speaker 1: himself busy.
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  Speaker 5: You know, we need to talk to Joe Bartlett again,
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  Speaker 5: because he's probably the happiest retired person I speak to.
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  Speaker 2: That is true. That is true.
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  Speaker 5: He absolutely is.
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  Speaker 3: I want to know what his secret.
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  Speaker 2: Sauce was, because that's how I want to be.
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  Speaker 4: He knew his time, because I know he kept putting
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  Speaker 4: it off. They kept thinking he was going to retire,
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  Speaker 4: and he didn't. And then he put it off and
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  Speaker 4: put it off and put it off. And when he did.
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  Speaker 2: He was happy.
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  Speaker 5: Well, he actually we had a retirement party planned for him.
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  Speaker 5: Everything was set to go. Then COVID hit and then
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  Speaker 5: he stayed on because, you know, we were in this
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  Speaker 5: global crisis and he was like, this probably isn't the time.
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  Speaker 5: And then he was able to work from home and
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  Speaker 5: it changed his lifestyle a little bit. Yeah, and then
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  Speaker 5: he hung around for another couple of years.
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  Speaker 4: Even when I wasn't here, I kept hearing that he
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  Speaker 4: was going to retire. I kept hearing that he was
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  Speaker 4: constantly going to retire. And then he never did.
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  Speaker 5: But then he was living in, you know, the Carolinas
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  Speaker 5: doing his broadcast from the house.
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  Speaker 2: Have you thought about your retirement?
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  Speaker 1: Oh, fuck.
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  Speaker 5: I do, and I realize it's nowhere near, you know, financially.
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  Speaker 5: It's just not even close.
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  Speaker 2: Oh, that's interesting.
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  Speaker 3: So it's like I don't even try to think about
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  Speaker 3: it because it could get depressing.
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  Speaker 1: But if, in fact, all things were even, and maybe
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  Speaker 1: this was back 30 years, when you could plan a
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  Speaker 1: retirement because you didn't have all these additional costs and
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  Speaker 1: unexpected future developments, what age might you have thought.
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  Speaker 2: About retiring, Natalie?
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  Speaker 3: I would say.
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  Speaker 3: In my mid-60s.
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  Speaker 5: I would want to hopefully have still good health. Hopefully,
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  Speaker 5: maybe I'd have an extended family at that point. Maybe
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  Speaker 5: my kids would start their own families and then I
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  Speaker 5: could do that. I'm a big person of volunteering, so
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  Speaker 5: I know I would start volunteering somewhere. I mean, there
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  Speaker 5: is no doubt about it.
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  Speaker 4: I think that's why people set 65 as their retirement
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  Speaker 4: age because they feel like they still have life left.
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  Speaker 4: And you don't. Yeah, they won't be stuck inside all
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  Speaker 4: the time. They could travel. They can still travel and
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  Speaker 4: do things. I think that's why people come up with that.
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  Speaker 4: You talked about your dad. My dad owned an advertising
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  Speaker 4: and public relations company in Philadelphia. He owned a building.
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  Speaker 4: And he sold it, and it was– you just saw
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  Speaker 4: him shrink. I mean, when he– he used to have
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  Speaker 4: an office in our house that we weren't allowed to
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  Speaker 4: go into during the day because that's– he kept working.
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  Speaker 4: He kept writing books. He kept writing articles. He'd work
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  Speaker 4: with companies freelance. Um, and so when I look at him,
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  Speaker 4: I think to myself, there's a guy that never should
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  Speaker 4: have retired. Right. He, he shouldn't have because you could
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  Speaker 4: see it was eating at him.
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  Speaker 5: Well, I had, my dad retired rather young, moved to
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  Speaker 5: Florida and then got into politics and became the first
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  Speaker 5: mayor of the town that he lived in.
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  Speaker 2: What town was that?
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  Speaker 3: Estero, Florida.
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  Speaker 2: Where the hell is a sterile Florida?
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  Speaker 3: It's actually next to Bonita Springs, in between Fort Myers
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  Speaker 3: and Naples.
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  Speaker 5: Close to Warner.
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  Speaker 4: Did it have a salary or is it one of
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  Speaker 4: the mayorships where you don't get a salary?
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  Speaker 3: No, I think there was a stipend. yeah i don't
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  Speaker 3: think he was living off.
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  Speaker 1: Of it so he went to florida and got into
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  Speaker 1: politics there.
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  Speaker 5: Yeah he started off doing like you know work with
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  Speaker 5: an environment and things like that and he got socially
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  Speaker 5: active and then it started growing but that you know
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  Speaker 5: he was that kind of personality he couldn't stay home
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  Speaker 5: i love that i.
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  Speaker 2: Know so look at that Her dad won. Got proactive.
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  Speaker 2: Got proactive in retirement.
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  Speaker 3: Be careful, Curtis. It could be running me one day.
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  Speaker 2: Exactly. Wow. This is amazing.
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  Speaker 3: I know. So life after retirement could be very interesting
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  Speaker 3: for people.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, but notice the personalities. All different types of personalities.
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  Speaker 1: Some who adapt to it right away. Some, as you mentioned,
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  Speaker 1: the moment they're retired, within months, they're dead.
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  Speaker 2: They're dead.
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  Speaker 1: And you say to yourself, why they were so vibrant
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  Speaker 1: when they were at work, even though they were like
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  Speaker 1: sardines coming in on New Jersey transit, you know, two
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  Speaker 1: hours in, two hours out, Long Island Railroad.
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  Speaker 2: You say, boy, you would welcome that relief. But I
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  Speaker 2: don't know. I guess there's something.
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  Speaker 1: That juiced them to give them a feeling that this
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  Speaker 1: is what they wanted to do each and every day,
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  Speaker 1: that they looked forward to waking up and listening to
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  Speaker 1: Larry and Curtis in the morning here on 710WOR.
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  Speaker 4: But don't you think we should hear from the people
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  Speaker 4: that are listening right now about their retirement plans? You
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  Speaker 4: go to the iHeartRadio app and leave us a talkback.
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  Speaker 4: You could win a Curtis Lee, win Larry Menti in
• 11:19
  Speaker 4: the morning T-shirt. That's going to be awarded every day
• 11:21
  Speaker 4: to our favorite talkback in the morning. And while you're
• 11:23
  Speaker 4: on the free iHeartRadio app, Set a preset for 710WOR.
• 11:27
  Speaker 4: Don't forget the best talk back of the week. Thanks,
• 11:29
  Speaker 4: Homer C. Crane Radio.
• 11:30
  Speaker 1: Oh, it's a panoply up next. A super sports spectacular,
• 11:33
  Speaker 1: Jalen Rose. My God, he could have died, the Philadelphia
• 11:37
  Speaker 1: Eagles quarterback. Looks like we're stuck with Aaron Boone, Yankee fans. Oof-a!
• 11:43
  Speaker 2: Freddy Peralta wins.
• 11:45
  Speaker 1: And gets Tampa into the World Series with the Milwaukee Brewers.
• 11:49
  Speaker 1: Halfway through the season, he was a bomb with the Mets,
• 11:53
  Speaker 1: and he's now like a super all-star with the Milwaukee Brewers.
• 11:56
  Speaker 2: So much to talk about, plus a chance to see
• 11:59
  Speaker 2: Journey at 825.