It was just any day for Captain Jerry Matz. Well at least his schedule was normal. That was the only thing usual for him. Today was his last day working for the Provincetown Whale Watching Company. He has worked there since he was 23. He was 67 today.  The Provincetown Whale Watching Company was relieving him of his job as they wanted younger cheaper captains now. He woke up at precisely 6:30 AM. He walked into his favorite Cafe at 7:30, exactly when it opened. He had his normal order a Cinnamon Donut and a Coffee with a lot of Milk and a little Sugar. At 9:00 he went out to the docks in Provincetown, MA. He captained the 9:30 whale watching ship. It always left exactly on-time. Never a second early, never a second late. At 10:10 the ship would stop and he would talk about whales for exactly ten minutes before turning around at 10:20 and arriving back at the dock at 11:05. He went to lunch at the Lobster Roll at 11:30 and ordered Clam Chowder, Mussels and a Coke. He always left the Lobster Roll at 12:30 and walked around the dock until 1:00. One of the things you could expect from Captain Matz is that he would do a good job captaining his ship. He was quiet and unless it was necessary he would not give more than a couple word answer to a question. If you saw him after your Whale watching trip and thanked him he would just nod his head. He also didn’t think much. He didn’t like to and it wasn’t necessary because he was a creature of habit. Normally when he would walk around the dock between 12:30 and 1:00 he was not really thinking about much. But today was different. The reason he was a Whale Watching Captain for forty-four years is that it wasn’t a job where you needed to think much. He didn’t like writing and that wasn’t involved. However today was different. Today Jerry Matz was thinking about what would happen after this beautiful summer day. And he had no idea. On days he was not working, he normally sat by the water. Or took other whale-watching ships mainly because he did not like doing nothing and he could not think of anything else to do. Jerry Matz did not own a car he really did not need one because the only place he ever went besides Provincetown was Boston. Captain Jerry Matz only went to Boston once every five years to visit his family. Jerry Matz was born in Boston. His parents loved to travel. By the time he was six years old he had been to four continents, forty-three of the forty-eight states,(At the time Alaska and Hawaii were not states) he has been on at least four airplanes a year. And if there’s anything that could describe the somewhat unusual behavior of Jerry Matz it certainly is not the fact that when he hated water and once when he was ten and his family wanted to take a Cruise Ship to Amsterdam, they flew instead because Jerry had stated he would refuse to ever ride in a boat again, and if his family wanted to go he would stay at home and would not be dragged on to the Cruise ship not matter how much his family tried. Jerry Matz laid out his future options as
Just sit in his house forever.
Go to Boston and retire there.
Get another job captaining a ship no matter where it was.

He decided that he would get another job captaining a ship. The next day he would put ads out and do whatever it took to get another job. He was excited about his next job and he was not envisioning another Whale Watching one, he was envisioning another job that involved him captaining a ship no matter how big or small, and no matter what continent it was in. Jerry stopped his thoughts and boarded the Whale Watching ship for the last time ever he left at 1:30 he stopped at 2:15 and made his usual ten minute announcement though today was a little different. Normally he would read off a script today he talked quieter and a bit sadly as he talked about the different types of whales around him. He finished his speech by saying “ Whales are an amazing animal and we hope that you enjoyed watching them today.”
At 3:20 and turned his ship around. Captain Matz didn’t talk to his co-captain much but he was today. Jerry Matz was reciting poems about how beautiful the sea was as he made the normal forty-five minute journey back. The reason Jerry Matz was okay being a whale watching ship captain despite the fact that he was terrified of the water was in his own words “I wanted to conquer my fear, the water does look beautiful and want to try to spend more time near it.”
His Boat number 514, the one he had driven for the last forty-four years was proceeding back to Provincetown, Massachusetts. He checked his watch and was surprised to find it was 3:10 he is supposed to be arriving at the dock right now, but he was at least five minutes away. The co-captain said “We’ll be a few minutes late.”
Captain Matz replied “It’s okay. I don’t mind being late. I have driven this ship for over forty years. I want to take my time today.”
He had not been late in over twenty-five years He was the last one off like normal as he said goodbye to Boat number 514, a boat no one else had captained for forty-four years. He took the ten minute walk to his house, but this time he walked slower than normal because he was in no rush to get home. Jerry thought that if he didn’t get another job he might be in that house almost 24-7 every week. As was his routine he took a nap for two hours. His routine said that he would read a book next. He was in the middle of reading a book called “The ocean and everything in it.”
Today he couldn’t read it as he knew it would make him too sad. Instead he just sat on his couch not thinking about much until it was 6:30 and he maid a can of soup for dinner as he always did. Captain Matz was wondering where he would be hired next. Because he lived almost his whole life since childhood in total isolation Captain Matz wouldn’t believe that a veteran sixty-seven year old Whale Watching Ship captain wouldn’t land another job. But Captain Matz tried to contact companies across the world who do anything from operate Whale Watching Ships to operating Cruise lines to any other kind of company involving the water. Soon after that beautiful July the reality finally came to Captain Jerry Matz that he was retired and would never have another job again. Captain Matz was wondering about his future as he decided two things he knew for sure: It would not involve the city of Provincetown, Massachusetts, and it would not involve water at all.