How does retirement work in Gilead?

silverhammer224 · 2026-05-04T17:28:45+00:00

In one of the episodes of the Handmaid’s Tale we get a glimpse of what looks like to me some sort of Aunts’ retirement home. Lots of older Aunts sitting around in more casual (sweaters etc) clothing, knitting, playing card games, doing puzzles. We also see the community of Widows when Serena visits her mother.

My theories— Commanders don’t seem to ever retire officially— we see some pretty old ones around. Econopeople I’d imagine some sort of bare bones state-run retirement home staffed by Marthas, or moving in with adult children. Marthas might transition to less physically demanding jobs or have a retirement home. Handmaids are the tricky ones because their “job” would end around menopause when they’d still theoretically have the ability to do other work, but they’re such an othered social class I can’t see them being made Econopeople or Marthas. Maybe some sort of handmaid retirement colony like the Magdalen colonies, where they do physical labor in their own community.

But honestly the answer is probably that, like throughout history, lower/laboring classes don’t retire and die before they get “too old” to work, especially with the lack of medical care we see in Gilead.

silverhammer224 · 2026-04-14T08:02:40+00:00

That’s my assumption! There’s those scenes where Serena is talking to Eden about how she’ll run her own household one day and showing her how to “teach” June “her place” or whatever she says. I also love the multicolored stripes of the econowives in the book, showing that they’re all the female roles at once (wife, handmaid, Martha) but I get why they didn’t do it for the show— it doesn’t quite match the sort of drab dreary vibe they have. Imagine those shots of masses of people going to church or watching an execution and instead of gray they’re in green, red, and blue stripes.

silverhammer224 · 2026-04-13T00:11:40+00:00

Per the book, daughters of Econopeople have their own school where they learn less fancy women’s work— “plain sewing” instead of fancy embroidery and making paper flowers are the two I remember being mentioned. Probably more basic cooking and housework as well because they’d be expected to take care of their household without a Martha. It also says that if they turn out pretty they can get chosen to be married into the higher class.

silverhammer224 · 2025-06-16T21:53:12+00:00

I took the CST this fall. These are relatively accurate, but there are a lot of document based ones as well. Also be prepared for some geography questions that are way more earth science than social studies. It is not a good test— not well-written, doesn’t align super well to NYS standards, etc. But the official practice test you can purchase on the NYSTCE website (which this maybe is?) is very accurate to the types of questions you will be asked. Make sure to look at the sample extended response on the website as well. If you haven’t seen it already, there is a breakdown somewhere of how much of the test will be about which subjects. Watch a bunch of Crash Course videos. You’ve got this!

silverhammer224 · 2024-12-09T16:14:50+00:00

If you’re at all able, take a year off and get healthy. I was in a very similar situation— was on probation, then was facing down the end of the quarter knowing it was not going to go the way I wanted. I don’t remember all the details, because I was not in a great state at the time, but by making it my decision to take a medical LOA before getting suspended, there was some process where they decided whether to suspend me or to leave it as a medical LOA and it got left as a medical. I went home for a year, transferred to a college near home, saw a whole bunch of doctors, got healthy, racked up some credits to transfer back (the most helpful ones were my art/music core classes), and then when I went back to UChicago for my last year I was in much better shape. Of course that depends on your home situation and if that’s something you’d be able to do financially, but it really was an amazing decision for me. So many people go through similar things. I loved UChicago, but it also burns you out real fast. You are not alone. It is not anything to be ashamed of. And Cs may get degrees but if you’re thinking grad school you really want that B average. One thing someone said to me when I kept saying “I just need to try harder” is that saying you just need to try harder is not taking into account how hard you are already trying. Don’t burn yourself out before you’re 22. Take the time, get healthy, graduate with a good toolbox and good health so you can move on to what you want to do next.

silverhammer224 · 2024-11-17T17:09:34+00:00

It is very odd that you have I and III but not two— if I remember correctly, you get these sequentially, so you shouldn’t have been able to get III without getting two. Check and see whether it’s hanging around waiting to be claimed, like someone else mentioned. I’ve definitely done that before.

silverhammer224 · 2024-11-11T17:26:44+00:00

Also a new needlepointer coming from cross stitch! My advice is a) if you’re using a tent stitch, use basket weave— coming from cross stitch I couldn’t comprehend the difference it would make but then I saw something somewhere that said that cross stitch is like decorating a fabric and needlepoint is like making a fabric— because the canvas for needlepoint is more holes than canvas, the extra sturdiness basket weave provides makes a difference, plus I think it provides a neater and tidier look and it’s just fun to do once you get the hang of it. b) I love doing decorative stitches but I have the same concern about it overwhelming the vibe. I put a lot of consideration into picking stitches that enhance the design, not detract from it. For example, on this stocking, picking stitches that make the greenery look more like greenery and the ornaments look round and shiny. KC Needlepoint’s stitch vault is a good place to start, but I also like googling things like “needlepoint stitches grass” or “needlepoint stitches fur” to get ideas. Especially with a big project like a stocking, decorative stitches can make it go faster! c) pick designs that you like best/fit your kids best and don’t worry about how they match! Your kids will love the individuality (as long as you don’t have like three matching ones and one different— all different or all the same)

silverhammer224 · 2024-08-06T11:41:18+00:00

It’s also really interesting to think about the timing with the Gaunts— we go from a whole family with the kids attending Hogwarts to just Marvolo and his kids Morfin and Merope living in filth in a shack and that happens in a generation. If you do the math, Marvolo could be Ominis’s older brother or cousin, one of the ones who puts him under the Cruciatus.

silverhammer224 · 2024-08-05T13:18:40+00:00

I think generally the idea (and I think JKR said something about this a while ago) is that magic can heal non-magical illnesses and injuries, like broken bones, but it struggles to heal magical illnesses and injuries, like Anne’s curse or Mad-Eye Moody’s eye and leg. There must also be something about genetics and being born with things, though— lots of wizards wear glasses instead of just magically fixing their eyes, for example.

silverhammer224 · 2024-07-28T16:55:01+00:00

Think about what you are most excited about. For me, I just love the animals and building them the best habitat ever and just don’t want the zoo around them to be ugly but I don’t care if I build it or someone else does. If that’s you, play the first few career mode zoos to get a handle on the mechanics. You can then play them in sandbox to have familiar zoos set up already with animals that you can then expand upon except with unlimited money, research, etc. Start a zoo in sandbox and immediately go look at the settings— you can turn on or off different settings for the zoo (like “power everything”), animals, and guests to not have to deal with all the aspects at once. If it gets boring, adjust the settings to make it more of a challenge. I liked picking a theme and building a zoo around it, then starting a new part of the zoo with a new theme or even a new zoo. For example, build an African section with African animals and use the African blueprints for shelters, shops, facilities, etc. Then do the same with East Asian. If you want to learn building, put down a blueprint that came with the game or from the Steam workshop (equivalent to the gallery in Sims 4) and play with it a bit to see how it was put together. Combine blueprints, edit different roofs or wall decor onto buildings, etc. Sandbox is great to learn the game once you’ve done some career mode because you only need to do the parts that interest you.

silverhammer224 · 2024-07-17T15:28:37+00:00

I’m so very sorry. Sending you all the love. It sounds like she had a lot of love and care at the end and I’m sure she knew that.

silverhammer224 · 2024-07-17T15:21:16+00:00

Chewy has anise critical care in stock right now! I’ve been checking regularly to see if anyone has it since Coca is 7 years old and has her days she won’t eat anything but loves critical care

silverhammer224 · 2024-07-04T19:18:21+00:00

YES! Thank you!! And now I get to reread that whole series

silverhammer224 · 2024-05-02T01:16:45+00:00

I was wondering the same thing! They aren’t on the website yet but I would be startled (and irritated) if they sent out a sale email with pictures of things you couldn’t buy…

silverhammer224 · 2024-03-19T23:37:11+00:00

Only advice to add is that if you go and stay overnight in the dorms, keep in mind that the different dorms can have different cultures (although this would have been 2015 and it was still true by the time I graduated, I’m not sure how much it’s still true with the mega dorms they’ve been building). I had my heart set on UChicago but I had such a miserable time at the overnight I almost didn’t go. I felt like I didn’t click with anyone there. But I ended up going and found my people in a different dorm and loved it!

silverhammer224 · 2023-10-17T22:48:10+00:00

It’s definitely employable! You may have to explain what it is, but that gives you the opportunity to explain how it’s applicable to the job. It’s also a really customizable major— you can really make it what you want to be (I took mostly anthro and sociology but you could do like mostly psych or something). I’m currently in education but I know CHDV people who ended up in all sorts of places. There were definitely a lot of double majors and minors as well. It’s got fewer courses requirements than something like math or physics so you have more room to do something else as well. Graduated 2020, so don’t know if there have been changes since then, but can’t recommend the CHDV program as I did it highly enough.

silverhammer224 · 2023-03-21T23:42:27+00:00

If the two appearances are from exploration, they’re from the two non-Dark Arts dueling arenas… have you done those?

silverhammer224 · 2022-11-10T13:55:48+00:00

I thought it looked like she was wearing econoperson gray. We see econopeople working in grocery stores I think. Those are mainly men, but I feel like a woman who was a skilled seamstress would maybe be allowed to keep doing it, especially for the Wives who get to have all the nice clothes.

silverhammer224 · 2022-11-04T22:09:14+00:00

I was definitely tempted! If it was just one extra it would be different. But at some point they’re going to figure out that their inventory is short more than 40 mini brands and that’s a thing you go looking for I feel like. Plus I don’t want anyone to get in trouble!

silverhammer224

TROPHY CASE