10-21-2015, 07:37 PM
by Scott Stump
Felimina Rotundo is 100 years old and still works 11 hours a day, six days a week at a
Buffalo, New York, laundromat, and to her that seems perfectly normal.
"I don't believe in retirement,'' Rotundo told
TODAY.com. "I believe 65 is too young. If I
retired at 65, what would I have done all
these years? I would've gone crazy! I work
because I love people. I want to be around
people."
![[Image: wgrz-old-woman-works-today-tease-1-15102...-small.jpg]](http://media3.s-nbcnews.com/j/newscms/2015_43/826761/wgrz-old-woman-works-today-tease-1-151020_cf267d7de587e6cabe1d685e6fcdf4d6.today-inline-small.jpg)
Felimina Rotundo is 100 years old and still
works 11 hours a day, six days a week at a
laundromat in Buffalo, New York.
Rotundo works from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. from
Monday through Saturday at College Laundry Shoppe — washing and folding clothes — something she believes keeps her young.
"That's why you have sick people in the old
folks home,'' she said. "They didn't have
enough to do and their mind deteriorated."
Rotundo, who turned 100 in August, has been
working for 85 years outside of the time she
raised her two children with her late husband, who was a bartender.
"My first job was working at a shoe factory in
Annville, Pennsylvania, when I was 15 years
old,'' she said. "Talk about slave labor. I was
making about $10 a week, but I worked my 40
hours and never complained. I was glad to
have a job."
She was a teenager during the Great Depression, which made a strong impact on
her work ethic. She has worked in the Buffalo
area for nearly 40 years.
"You have to grow up during the Depression
to know what it's like to have hard times,'' she said. "What are you going to do? You survive. That's what makes you grow up to work hard and make some money. It makes you independent and able to say you made it through the hard times."
Rotundo lives three doors down from the
laundromat and spends her time trying to stay busy.
"I think being around a lot of people keeps your mind busy,'' she said. "I have to take a
walk on Sunday in the afternoon with my dog
because I'm not working. I don't spend too much time watching TV except the news. I read the paper every day because you get so much more out of the paper."
She also hopes that her stamina at 100 years
old can show others the value of the older
population.
"I think they throw old people away and forget about them,'' she said. "Not me. I want to keep working. I think they should keep old people working as long as they can. If old people are working and independent, it makes them feel so much different."
Felimina Rotundo is 100 years old and still works 11 hours a day, six days a week at a
Buffalo, New York, laundromat, and to her that seems perfectly normal.
"I don't believe in retirement,'' Rotundo told
TODAY.com. "I believe 65 is too young. If I
retired at 65, what would I have done all
these years? I would've gone crazy! I work
because I love people. I want to be around
people."
Felimina Rotundo is 100 years old and still
works 11 hours a day, six days a week at a
laundromat in Buffalo, New York.
Rotundo works from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. from
Monday through Saturday at College Laundry Shoppe — washing and folding clothes — something she believes keeps her young.
"That's why you have sick people in the old
folks home,'' she said. "They didn't have
enough to do and their mind deteriorated."
Rotundo, who turned 100 in August, has been
working for 85 years outside of the time she
raised her two children with her late husband, who was a bartender.
"My first job was working at a shoe factory in
Annville, Pennsylvania, when I was 15 years
old,'' she said. "Talk about slave labor. I was
making about $10 a week, but I worked my 40
hours and never complained. I was glad to
have a job."
She was a teenager during the Great Depression, which made a strong impact on
her work ethic. She has worked in the Buffalo
area for nearly 40 years.
"You have to grow up during the Depression
to know what it's like to have hard times,'' she said. "What are you going to do? You survive. That's what makes you grow up to work hard and make some money. It makes you independent and able to say you made it through the hard times."
Rotundo lives three doors down from the
laundromat and spends her time trying to stay busy.
"I think being around a lot of people keeps your mind busy,'' she said. "I have to take a
walk on Sunday in the afternoon with my dog
because I'm not working. I don't spend too much time watching TV except the news. I read the paper every day because you get so much more out of the paper."
She also hopes that her stamina at 100 years
old can show others the value of the older
population.
"I think they throw old people away and forget about them,'' she said. "Not me. I want to keep working. I think they should keep old people working as long as they can. If old people are working and independent, it makes them feel so much different."
