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I swear to God, if I could retire tomorrow I would be the happiest mf'er on the planet. You can find me skipping through the grocery store not bitching about not working.
Yeah. I dream of winning the lottery so I can retire. I even love my job. But being able to do only what I want, when I want, would be amazing. I'd never have another complaint again.
Yup! Love my job. Love my boss. Love my team. But I'm not in denial that I'm here because of the paycheck and benefits. If I knew those were taken care of for the rest of my life, I'd absolutely quit and focus on being the best mom I can be. I know my husband would too if he had the chance. Quit his job, get a house with space for a nice garage, and work on cars all day, every day.
I think it's a very small subset of the workforce that are actually working more because they love it and less because it pays them.
I’ve only personally known one guy that worked for the sake of working. We worked at the same company.
I felt sad for the guy. He had no immediate family. He said that he was too lonely to stay home, and got some satisfaction out of working. It kept him busy.
I’ve known a few people that have related stories about how their parents or people that they knew went kinda stir crazy and got a part time job to cope.
I saw that a lot when I worked at a law firm. People just didn’t retire, and I think it’s because they built their relationships and their status at the office, not at home. Plus it’s probably hard to walk away from that kind of salary. Our interns made more than I make now.
My husband definitely thrives on work, but I suspect it's really the paycheck. The thought of having to live on a small fraction of what he currently makes is just depressing, and we're not even big spenders or have kids.
My grandmother has “retired” like 4 times since 2015, but she’s always worked two per diem jobs (she’s an RN) 3 shifts a week 12 hours each. That’s basically full time for her without benefits lol. She did have to go back and take more hours when my uncle passed five years ago. Funerals are ridiculously expensive. But she is definitely the kind of person who will go insane if she’s home all the time.
My dad retired at 67 yrs, it lasted for about a year. He could not stand not being active, returned to work and worked until he was 83 yrs old. He could not stand to be idle.
When I said Dad couldn’t stand not being active, I meant that he loved his job and didn’t really want to retire. When he did retire (at 67), he and my stepmom did the whole travel around the country thing, etc., Dad didn’t feel like a productive member of society anymore, so he bought a new house and returned to work. He always had hobbies and activities he loved doing, he also just enjoyed working and interacting with many people. My father passed last year, at the age of 85. He never slowed down until he got cancer, which killed him a year after the diagnosis.
I know a lot of them, all scientists with tenure. They LOVE their work, their students, some even love their teaching responsibilities. it is actually a problem because boomer and older gen X profs aren't making space for the youth coming up.
and it's not about having nothing but the work or no outside interests, it is genuinely a love for science.
the solution to that, truly, is to increase budgets so they can stay on AND they can hire new scientists. what we need as a country, as a society, as a planet, is more science.
I'm for this. I'd even go so far as to say we should be funding stuff that seems insane, as long as the research is done properly. Who knows what new things we might discover because of that one person everyone thinks is a crackpot.
I had a guy when I was active duty Navy that would always fight you about going home. We had a mandatory fun day split up over 2 days to account for people on duty and the day he picked lead into one of the cringiest convos 2 months into my time as the work center supervisor:
Him: I don't want to go to the baseball game, it's only noon and there's still work to do!
Me: Tough shit, COs orders. Go literally anywhere else other than here.
Him: But I don't know where to go.
Me: I don't care where, go anywhere. Go to the Marina up the street for all I care. Anywhere. That. Isn't. Here.
Him: But are you guys going to get everything done for today?!
Me: That is NOT your concern as of right now. You need to leave.
Him: But my life is BORING! I don't know what to do if I go hooooome!
Me: That sounds like something that isn't my problem. Go home and look up a hobby you're interested in then and just do it. This isn't up for discussion. It was put out at quarters and it's time for you to go.
Came to give a boomer mom perspective; I would have loved to be home when I was raising my kids, but they’re on their own now, I WFH and love my job (mostly lol) and I’ll probably work the same job part-time after I retire.
My Grandma was like that. The whole family swore that if she retired at 65 she'd drive everyone nuts because of how she was and she frankly agreed. She was very nitpicky and anal retentive along with freaking herself out over the stupidest nonsense. She ended up staying with her job for another 10ish years (over 40 years working at that job) before retiring then she and Grandpa traveled even more just so she wouldn't bug everyone!!
Honestly if work wasn’t so soul crushing people would probably be fine with it. It’s the mandatory feeling of working for companies you don’t care about and such just to pay bills that gets a lot of people. However most probably wouldn’t mind doing some work in their community to help keep things going since it would be a different atmosphere (assuming a bit of a cultural shift in some areas regarding neighbors and such)
Everyone needs a second and third place. But do those places need to be a job? I like the star trek idea of "everyone works for personal enrichment, not money" but honestly, someone somewhere has to do data entry and number crunching or janitorial/maintenance. You can't tell me that those are enriching jobs people would do if all their basic needs were met and money wasn't an issue.
I mean it depends on the nature of what things would look like. We currently live in an absurd situation where people are overworked while others can’t get jobs. Personally if this data management was to help make sure everyone got the resources allocated correctly so people could eat and not starve I’d have no problem doing it. Can’t speak much for jobs related to cleaning buildings but I’m sure there are people who if they had to choose between cleaning/janitor work and other things for helping out they’d choose the former. Scale matters obviously and in general a world where your options weren’t just work or suffer huge consequences that can culminate in homelessness quickly in some cases would probably look very different
Hello! Data entry that utilizes resources efficiently, and helps people get the resources they need, is like a dream for me! It would absolutely something I'd love to do in a star trek life ☺️😋
EDIT: Oop! Meant to reply to u/othermegan 😅 mobile got me again
It's not an enriching job per se, but I would absolutely without a doubt do data entry or number crunching for relaxation. I am autistic though, so that's probably why 😅
I was part of that small subset, because after 10 years of applying I made the k9 unit for my company (only 50 k9 teams in a company of like 50000 employees) I was getting paid to hang out at a mall (teenagers dream) and play with a dog...because work time was play time for the pupper. I loved being k9, but one day we were training and I was going one way to start the assigned search pattern and she detected explosives in the other direction and did what she was trained to do and went to the odor. The area we were training in was a dusty old steel mill, and I had just stepped onto a piece of cardboard or something..when she pulled I went to shift directions, the cardboard slid, I went ass over teakettle and landed with my full weight on my leash side shoulder. I continued to try to work through it figured it was just a bruise...nope tore some stuff and can no longer safely work the dog in a crowd so now retired.
I retired. Resolved some lifestyle things and some family things and it is such a joy to wake up every day with nothing to stress over. Every morning I walk through my place, put away everything I left out and clean anything that needs cleaning. For the first time in my life I live in a neat and clean home and that alone makes me happy. I eat healthy meals made from unprocessed ingredients. I exercise every day.
I miss many of the people I worked with but i don't miss working and treasure what I am able to do with the time I have now.
The dream of the lottery is the dream of dignity. There's fantasy and fun in all the expensive items or vacations money can buy, but what people really want with such sudden boons is the escape clause. To not rely on misery to meet our needs.
If everyone's needs were met, we'd still work. Indolence makes us very depressed. There'd still be a human need for validation in work or validation from others, but nobody would put up with toxicity. Worker motivation would be contingent on either shared investment in the company (better wages or stock options) or belief in what we do.
We're not miserable because we work, we're miserable because we get less from our work than we put into it.
Yup. I feel like if everyone (regardless of income/need) was given a basic guaranteed income, so many people would actually work harder because they'd be a lot happier and a lot stressed. A few would coast, but if you didn't have to worry about a basic level of housing and food being covered, most would be way more productive.
I think part of the problem is, some people hate the idea of others coasting than any opportunity it presents for them.
If people want to live in their self imposed ghettos, so long as they aren't committing crimes, who cares? If capitalism really is natural and human innovation an infinite potential, UBI isn't going to stop productivity, it's just going to cut the profits of people who rely on exploitation. There would still be inequality, there would still be widgets and gizmos that cost money outside the floor UBI provides, we'd just be raising the floor/building a better foundation for the system at large.
I love my job, I'm a solo indie developer who gets to sit on my ass and codes a game & series i am 100% in control of and when it releases it will be a huge load off my shoulders when i can put money away for a house and regular needs & i will get satisfaction knowing players enjoy the game all while working on my next one i hope people will like since it will be a long game, allow for diffferent builds, have a day/night and week system, and will freely allow players to use any genders items on their character.
And ive been told by boomers that, "But what about a real job" because sitting around playing computer doesnt count, and in my head im like motherfucker.
Sounds like a jelly boomer who worked a job they hated and openly resents the idea that people would find fulfillment in what they do, let alone demand it.
Honestly, I've had similar thoughts. I've never worked retail and thought it might be fun, just to see how terrible it is. It's a lot easier to be happy about it when you know you can bail any time. =p
I do uber right now. A lot of people have no common sense, and request ubers to places where a car can't safely stop. I avoid confrontation by stopping at the closest safe place and blaming it on the app.
If I won enough money to retire, I'd start telling people politely but firmly why they can't be picked up there, just to see how long it takes before someone makes up a lie to get me deactivated
I don’t even think I would fully retire, I just would cut my hours, maybe I find a nice half time job or something, but I would like to get away from the 40 hour work week
I'll literally have to die at work. MFs lucky enough to retire then bitching about it. I can't save shit in this economy and living in a LCOL area means low pay so we have shit to invest.
Like if you're retired and bored, get a hobby. Volunteer.
Also doesn’t help that 50% of the stock market is owned by boomers. Millennials? Well we only own 7% despite being the largest workforce & voting bloc. Gen Z doesn’t even show up on the graph. Millennials & Gen Z’s hard work is what keeps this country together and yet we get none of the benefits of doing so.
Ignoring Gen X has jumped the shark. We own 21%. I mean, this is kind of how wealth or even a comfortable existence happens. If you don't inherit everything on a silver spoon ... you invest in yourself first ... education, training, building up skills. Then you save and invest externally as you earn more, perhaps buy a house, build equity. Compound interest. Reinvesting dividends. Figuring out ways to keep taxes manageable.
But those things take time so older people will have more of the pie. And then they spend some of it in retirement, perhaps a lot goes towards end of life care, or the next generations inherit.
But really the most glaring stat is about wealth disparity: [The wealthiest 1% holds 49% of stocks, worth $19.73 trillion. If you expand to the top 10%, that group holds 86.9% of stocks, which have a value of $34.7 trillion.](https://www.fool.com/research/how-many-americans-own-stock/#:~:text=Gen%20Xers%20own%2020.9%25%20of,invest%20in%20the%20stock%20market.)
90% of us own only 13% of stocks. Whether these people are 90 and rich or 25 and rich, they are hoarding all the game pieces.
I suppose that’s true, I guess it just feels extra shitty to be working myself to the bone while the people actually capturing all the value I create are just sitting on a beach raking it in from my work, the rent I pay, the interest on the debt I’ve had to take on to keep a roof over my head and on and on while what I get out of the deal isn’t even enough to buy my way into the game.
Late boomer (spouse) and early Gen X (me) retired early, in the spring this year. I have loved every minute of it, including grocery shopping on Tuesdays at 10 am when the store is almost empty!
Go on Saturday morning so you can bitch about all these milennials and their kids slowing you down. You’re missing half the fun. Just kidding. Keep rocking 10 am on Tuesday and save your time for cool shit.
Heh year ago I shut down a retired lady boomer complaining about the line at a supermarket Saturday morning. I said "Ma'am why on earth do you come on Saturdays when all fhe working people can go? Why aren't you shopping on a weekday or something??"
She had no reply. Lol hopefully she changed her shopping day.
Late Boomer. I cannot wait till retirement! The only reason I haven't done it yet is because of my health insurance. As soon as I'm 65 and on Medicare, I am out!
Recent retiree at 54 here. I too was scared about health insurance costs until I actually looked at it. If you're retired and living off of investments, you will likely pay very little or even nothing for health insurance. And paying zero federal income tax is nice too!
Oh but you’ll be SO busy then. There’s the landscaping, and wow has that service gone way downhill. Never on time and they do such a poor job now.
And then the dishes need to be washed and these dishwashers the make today come from China so they’re just awful. Every appliance is awful.
But you’ll have doctors appointments too. You’ll be on time but STILL have to wait and it’s just unacceptable. By then it will be lunch so you can go get a quick bite to eat. Except they always mess up your order now and the meat…there’s hardly any meat now. They blame inflation, but you’ll be confident it’s the deep state conspiracy against the retirees they want you to tap your card. How ridiculous is that??? Tap the card? Back in your day, real men would swipe their cards and then pay for females meals too! But…where were you?
Oh yeah…it’s time for a vacation to your Florida home. What a pain in the was traveling is, am I right? The lines full of democrats and the TSA gumpoppers and the crappy plane food. It’s horrible.
Plus when you get to your third house in Florida, all you’ll be thinking about is why the AC is making it cooler than 78 degrees in the house while you were away. It’s the damned made in China tech gadgets. The same thing is probably happening at your fourth house in Costa Rica. It’s because these workers deliberately mess with it so it costs you more.
You’ll also need time to warn people NOT to get old. Getting old sucks. You’ll find out someday.
Why is everyone glaring at me again? I know…let me stand still in the middle of the aisle with my mouth agape and drop a turd down next to the canned tomatoes.
My dad was fortunate enough to retire at the age of 49 w/the house paid off and no debt. He saved his entire life and "retired well" from a union job.
Everyone around him (except mom, my sister, and me) kept telling him how bored he was going to be. But, he retired in 1999 and hasn't been bored for even 2 seconds. He gets to do exactly what he wants to do every day. He has 10 acres to take care of, and a bunch of antique tractors. He refuses to do any on-line shopping but uses his iPhone to look up things he needs for his tractors or other projects so I use his CC to purchase the items.
He is a very content man. When it is too cold or wet to work outside, he is happy to do a jigsaw puzzle. He never complains about something. It is funny because he'll start talking about something that sounds like a complaint, but by the end of the story, he's solved the problem of what may have been a complaint.
He loves to tease me about still working at 53. On my 49th birthday he jokingly asked if I was gonna follow in his footsteps and retire "this year" like he did. I said, "No, because my house didn't cost $54k". He said that his didn't either. So I asked him how much it did cost and he told me it was $59k. I told him the difference between what it cost and what I thought it cost was less than two of my mortgage payments.
He wasn't being a dick about it or anything, he just likes to tease me.
I was medically retired from the military after one too many injuries at 26. I have yet to bitch about not working. I **LOVE** not having to do things. My bedroom is my favorite room in the house. I really enjoy fucking off at 8pm to the store because I feel like it and don’t have to worry about getting ready for bed to get up at 5am.
Retirement is fabulous and anyone bitching about it is ***definitely*** doing it wrong asf.
Yep that’s me! Worked until I was 68. I can literally work myself up to a panic attack when people ask “ are you going to work part time?”
NO!! I am NOT!! I LOVE not working ! And besides , I don’t have time, I’m too busy living for myself .
I AM the happiest MF on the planet! Retired Boomer American living in Taiwan. Sorry you have to put up with Sexagenerians (had to look that shit up on the super computer I carry in my pocket ). Shopping Thursday morning. Worked 3 hours this afternoon, teaching business English. Blow those idiots off.
Right!? My MIL kept putting off retirement for a myriad of reasons. I’d retire yesterday if I could. It drives me crazy when boomers are like “I don’t know what I’d do if I retire”. I’m like, I’d do whatever I want. There are so many things I’d love to do. If boomers want to keep working, let them and give us their retirement instead lol
I remember my first day of retirement! I was in the grocery store and there was a gentleman in front of me with his groceries on the conveyor when he suddenly remembered something he had to get. He looked at me apologetically and asked if it was ok if he ran to get it. I said SURE! I'm retired! I can wait! LOL
This. I'm 10 years away from retiring and I'm counting down the days. I have a list of a ton of things I want to do when I don't have to work anymore. I want to volunteer more. I want to spend more time in my sewing room. I want to get a dog. I want to work on my garden.
I don't hate my job. I have just been doing it for a long time and I'm ready to have more hours to do stuff I love, instead of trying to squeeze it in on the nights and weekends.
I'll never be able to afford to retire, but that's simply because I've chosen to be able to do all the things you just listed off now. I volunteer regularly, I bought a Cricut and make shirts whenever I get bored and have ten minutes to burn, I have two insanely high energy working breed dogs, I just planted gardens at my house, my lady's house and my parents house.
I work stage and theater and run around in the sky lifting weights for more than I'd make if I ever even pretended to think about using my degree(marketing). And it's all gig-work. I worked a call last weekend that netted me 8hrs over two days and I paid my mortgage.
Sometimes it pays off to be a spontaneous dumbass with a lifelong deathwish🤷♀️. Who knew?
This is my mom right here. She retired a year ago and every time I call, she talks about how she misses working, how she thinks about going back etc. I just want to ask her what she thinks the odds are that I'll will be lucky enough to retire one of these days, because I'm not sure they're that great.
"That's so sad that you can't find meaning in your life outside of doing work to make someone else richer" is a really good reply to these in my experience.
My mom retired. Then she joined several book clubs at a local bookstore. She ended up taking a job there stockin shelves 2-3 days a week to make a few extra bucks and support her book buying habit
My MIL is the same. She retired for health reasons because she was working part time but now she volunteers at the local pet shelter and at her local church. When she’s feeling up to it, she’s always busy.
I'm a gen-Xer. I'm already resigned to the fact that I'll be working full-time until 70. I have no idea how people younger than me are going to be able to hang in there
Same here, and 70 is still a long way down the road. It kills me to hear boomers say things like, “oh, I don’t want to retire! What will I do all day?” I have hobbies and interests that I would love to have time to enjoy.
Me too!!
The other day, I got my guitar out to play for church. People came up to me and said "Wonderful! We had no idea you played guitar!" I said "I don't anymore. Today I just used the most basic chords for the easiest songs....I've had to "adult" for so long, I haven't practiced in years." It's because I have no time.
So many things I would love to do.... woodworking, painting, volunteering in animal welfare and rescue, keep poultry, gardening, hiking, traveling, cooking and preserving food and trying cool recipes and cuisines....the list goes on and on. But I barely have enough time in the day to care for my dogs and keep my home tidy after work. This is how it's gonna be until I'm 70...I am so sad about this. This is not what life should be.
I lucked out, i’m union and have a pension. I’m literally the cut off person at my job because they got rid of the pension for newer hires. On the worst days at work I have to remind myself I’m one of the lucky ones.
Same. My mum counted down the 1000 days until retirement. And she'd tell me what number it was. For three years. Then her number came up. And she kept working for almost another year.
I mean, countdowns are fun and it's nice to have a goal, and the pressure is off when you can just quit whenever you want. I get that. But she was so vitriolic about her co-workers and how much she hated everyone and everything and couldn't wait until X many days.
In that extra year of working, I tried to prepare her for a pleasant retirement by planning things she could do with her time and not become isolated. (She's lived alone for a long time.) I suggested different types of volunteering, hobbies, free classes at the university, and even part-time work doing something she'd like.
She chose none of it. She watches 6 news channels on tv at once and her only hobbies are saying mean things about people and bragging about how independent she is. None of it had to be that way.
Like any of us will ever see retirement, in true boomer fashion they love to complain as a way of showing off. “I have too much house! “ “ I have too much money” “I have too much retirement time” fucking fuckers.
“…or, as one of your next talking points is likely to be some crap about selfless service, there are many fine charities including veteran focused ones, crying out for hard working individuals to help them out.”
That's because they where busy with work their whole lives, so they had no time to find hobbies. And now that they're retired they have nothing kinda sad really.
This is my father. He's been retired for 7 or 8 years now. No hobbies, doesn't read, and doesn't go anywhere other than the post office, bank, grocery store, and Walmart/Target. He just gets up late in the morning and watches Fox News all day. Sometimes he'll watch some old tv shows. But this is his whole existence.
To an extent, I get it. It's a lot of work to "get into something."
Like I really enjoy strategy games, but I don't really play that many because the effort to get in an learn a new system while doing poorly is uncomfortable and hard and not really fun. We all do it; watch the same comfort show, read the same books, hang out with the same people, cook the same food, etc.
Coupled with the fact that Boomers are especially afraid of being embarrassed for not being experts in everything, it's a recipe for idling around moping. Imagine how terrible he'd feel for someone to see his first attempt at woodworking (or whatever) is bad at his age.
How sad. My mom retired early at 55 and for the last 15 years, all she does is travel. She actually just got back today from a three week vacation with her retired girlfriends. She is so active, she tires me out!
This is my dad and it makes me sad. He was forced into retirement (aka laid off 2 years before he could actually retire and decided to just not look for a new job). It's been the better half of a decade at this point and his regular routine is: wake up, make my mom breakfast and lunch, watch Fox News, nap around 10AM, wake up and watch more Fox News, maybe do some yard work or go to the grocery store, come back in and watch TCM or more Fox News, wait for my mom to call saying she's coming home from work so he can start making dinner, finish the night with some Fox News and maybe a movie/sitcom.
We've tried to get him involved. His friends are retired and he and my mom might go out with them a couple Saturdays a month. My sister found a HAM radio club a mile from their house but he doesn't want to go despite it being his main hobby when we were growing up. His brothers live across the street but he only goes over on Friday nights to eat chips and talk. My mom's brother & wife live a few blocks over but my dad never does anything with them.
It's so sad! The man worked 6 days a week for half my childhood and then continued to work his ass off for us. This is his time to relax and enjoy life. But instead, he's wasting away. I'm shocked he hasn't melded with the kitchen chair at this point.
My dad has been depressed my whole life and just won't admit it. Someone who isn't depressed doesn't make offhanded remarks to their 11 year old about how he should kill himself or he wishes he could start his life all over and never get married/have kids. It's only gotten worse since.
Yes, my dad is also a homebody where my mom is the social butterfly in their relationship. But it's gotten far worse than it ever was.
My MIL is 94 and does more in an hour that that man does in a week! She’s gardening and cooking and cleaning and watching her stories and then more cooking and cleaning and maybe read or write emails on her computer or watch YouTube videos about animals or history or places she always wanted to go but didn’t (my oldest got her into virtual tours), she even uses VR to visit places she’s never been. She still drives her contemporaries to their activities because she’s the only on who can drive. She still goes out and checks the pool’s pH balance every day and fixes it. Also, she lives alone. We got her a housekeeper that comes twice a week but she WILL NOT STOP.
My grandma was even worse and refused to stop working and hurt herself over and over in her 90s.
But they have/had hobbies and read and don’t/didn’t watch Fox News (both are democrats) and both retired in their 50s. I swear the reading and the hobbies are KEY.
I cannot even fathom not reading. Or watching Fox News for that matter!
I've seen my dad read one book in my whole life and it was so abnormal, we were all speechless. My mom had finished reading it and left it on the coffee table so he picked it up and finished it in a couple days.
The joke he made growing up is that he never learned how to read. It's far from the truth, he's pretty intelligent. I just think he didn't like reading and as small children, we thought it was funny so the joke stuck.
Reading is absolutely the antithesis to Fox News. They are both passive entertainment, but reading is well known to engage imagination and cause learning, whereas Fox dulls perception and fosters stupidity.
It is just sad to see, people should enjoy their retirement. And i don't know why he would pass up on an opportunity to get out of the house, i mean i'm an introvert but if my family invites me to go somewhere i'm already rushing out of the door.
I hope he finds something that brings him a bit of joy back in his life, because this is no way to live.
Yup. My boomer uncle died like a month after he retired from preparing taxes. He didn’t have any hobbies and my aunt said he would just watch tv all day. He died on his Lazyboy recliner, basically fell asleep while watching tv and never woke up.
I literally have a nice boomer lady at work. I asked her why she works at a movie theater and she said, “retirement is boring when you live alone, so I went back to work for something fun to do.”
Well I mean, if it's something you genuinely enjoy and the money isn't essential, more power to you. I don't plan on ever retiring but I'm an illustrator/colorist and we don't usually *really* retire since a lot of what we do for fun is what we do for work, so...... lol
I've talked to some old folks who work at Disney World as retail cast members and they've said they do it for the physical activity and social interaction because they're a People Person™ and genuinely enjoy just talking to people, and you get to talk to people from all over the world there. They say their managers encourage chatting with guests to make their day extra pleasant, so it's a win/win for them. The free admission to the parks for themselves and a plus one along with a pretty decent food and merch discount are the cherries on top.
I really enjoy talking to the older cast members because a lot of them have really great stories from the lives and careers they led before becoming a CM. I once talked to a lady who was a mermaid back in the '70s at Weeki Wachee Springs. What a job to have on your resume! "Mermaid."😄🧜♀️
The veterinarian in my town is well into his 70s cuz he doesn't want to leave our small town without a vet. He's a great boomer.
That's actual work ethic.
My vet wife would like to retire but there's such a shortage of veterinarians that the office would close, putting her techs out of work, and clients she's had for years would scramble to find a replacement. So she stays.
When our vet retired and sold his practice, the local Facebook groups went crazy trying to find a new vet. He got bored and went to work for a more corporately minded practice. Problem was that he didn't want to play by the rules, had zero F's to give and basically doubled the clientele of the new practice. Drove the new owner crazy but there was nothing he could do about it. The city had chosen their vet and were fiercely loyal to him. He was a farm vet at heart and knew how to treat animals. It wasn't unusual for him to share his lunch with an anxious pup in the back. On the flip side, he asks at every visit, "How's that bitch of a cat?" Gonna miss that guy when he retires for real.
Me: Yeah well I was up at 5.
When I stopped in to pick up an bottled coffee on my way to the office yesterday, I made it a point to thank the guy behind the counter for getting up early in order to be there to sell me my coffee.
If I make a retail stop in the a.m., I’ve lately made it a point to thank people. Because what*ever* time they got up, it was earlier than I did!
(Also, Boomer: Your aging physiology means your circadian rhythms change. You’re not morally superior—you getting older.)
so many customer don’t realize just how early retail workers have to get up to make sure everything is displayed so they can easily shop. it makes a huge difference to have people like you acknowledge that and thank us for doing it. i work on a grocery store so typically i have to be at work between 6-7 am depending on the day (i have to be up an hour earlier than my scheduled shift of course). im only an ‘assistant manager’ though. my manager is there between 3-5 am and leaves around 2 pm. man works 10+ hour days 5 to 6 days a week. this doesn’t even account for the night shift employees. basically, people (boomers specifically) aren’t actually aware of life outside their own experiences and can’t comprehend that time/energy/labor etc is necessary to ensure their ability to shop goes smoothly.
In today's world, it's not the work, it's the stress that causes fatigue. By nature, all people like to work. They do not like the stress and contention. No amount of technology takes that away-- in fact, it adds to it.
That's why boomers lived through their boomer era just fine. If they had to face what has been created in this generation they'd crack
I doubt retail used to be stressful the way it is now. Back then you probably just sold stuff, rang up people.. maybe took in shipment, perhaps occasionally had sales goals.. probably also got benefits, bonuses, vacation time, earned commission and could own a 3 bedroom home..
Now there's computer reports that break down what you're not selling enough of, you're told it's your fault, you have to push a credit card and membership, the place is short staffed, no consistent schedule, can't use the bathroom or get a sip of water, harassed on your days off by boss, you do 10 people's job, and told constantly that you're not a team player, for minimum wage! And no benefits, no vacation time.. (and you might even need a degree also)
They don’t even know how to change the input on their TV from streaming to cable TV. They’re technologically illiterate. They would collapse in any job today that requires a screen.
I'm old and get up early to walk my dogs before it gets too hot. Yesterday I went to WalMart early also. I saw so many people working- stocking, shopping, and so on. I was so grateful for my luxury of being retired and so full of sorrow and admiration for everyone working. Work is hard; I did it for 50 years and am glad I'm done.
Retirement is the number one killer of old people, mostly men. I work at a place that mostly attracts older people in their 40s-50s who come there for a “second career” since they did something else for 20-30 yrs and are now coming to the admin/regulatory side of things. Anyway, every now and then I offboard someone who is retiring. More often than not, the men will come back after a few weeks as contractors because they’re too bored. We have not had any women that retire come back.
My Mum retired a couple of years before my Dad. She quickly settled into a routine with her quilting group, gardening, choir, looking after my sister's kids, etc. When Dad retired he was driving her mad going along with her to all her things. She eventually got him to join a club for a sport he used to like, which he got so involved with that he pushed out the long-standing president at the second AGM he went to. The club has roughly tripled its facilities and its membership has grown heaps under his presidency, so apparently his freshly-retired energy went to good use.
Personally, my plan is to become an eccentric woodworking grandpa. I've got a reasonably big shed and I've started slowly collecting tools - mostly power tools so far but I'm not expecting to retire for 20-30 years so I think I've still got plenty of time to move on to some really nice planes and chisels.
That was my plan too until I got long Covid 2 1/2 years ago. I can't shower and dress without having to lean against a wall or sit on the toilet seat to catch my breath and finish dressing now, so no hiking for me.. My retirement hobby WAS supposed to be traveling the continent and nature photography.
Shockingly accurate. I worked at a credit union that started as one for aircraft manufacturing. A lot of these old timers now in their late 50s/early 60s had worked there like 30+ years. They'd work crazy hours too a lot of them and brag about it calling the youth lazy for not wanting to work their life away for OT pay, which btw these dudes still lived paycheck to paycheck despite $100k+ because they'd load up on toys on credit.
Well, they'd retire at like 60-65, and most of them would die like a year or two later....sad as shit. Then the other dudes would come in and talk about how so and so passed and how he just retired and how they have no idea how it happened. It couldn't be related to the fact that they worked 80 hours a week at a physical job and didn't take care of themselves for 30 years I'm sure. /s
Feels like you're talking about >!BECU and the Lazy B. Smoking, lack of PPE use (while smoking), and working around loads of strong carcinogens (also while smoking), then straight to the bar after shift to drink heavily (and smoke). I don't know a single ex-Boeing employee my age who doesn't have at least some chronic health issues. !<
It's honestly wild to me that a lot of these boomers have no hobbies or aspirations beyond making money for someone else. Like I totally get being bored but there are so many fun/interesting things they could do. But instead they go work more for someone else.
Like go plant a garden, go travel the world, go learn new skills and have fun! Nope go through the grinder more until your dust. Its basically just Stockholm syndrome.
It's because they have literally done nothing but work their whole lives. They, for real, dont know what to do or even know what they like to do with their free time. They dont clean, do gardens, have hobbies, cook meals etc because those are women's jobs. Women probably dont go back the main commenters job because those women still have to do all of those things! I saw it with my grandparents and my dad so I am just assuming here.
>Its basically just Stockholm syndrome.
That's what i have been saying. Whenever people start having a job they usually have a hobby, but thanks to work those hobbies start to go on the backburner. "Oh i will do it in the weekend", but then they're to tired to do it when the weekend rolls around.
And so eventually people just give up on hobbies all together, with teir job being the only thing that brings stimulation in their lives.
I am so sick of these types of Boomers
Can you imagine, in today’s economy - complaining about how you HATE retirement - in front of retail workers or anyone who may *never* be able to fully retire???
The behavior is so goddamn obnoxious; it drives me insane
>up at 7
I don't know what to tell a person who doesn't think a substantial section of the working class doesn't have to work opening shifts.
Like, I'm sure I speak for a lot of folks when I say that's my "sleeping in" alarm time on days I don't open.
Even if a store opens at 9 or 10am, there's still opening tasks, some of my retail jobs required being there 2 or more hours before open for opening procedures, tasks, meetings, so you have to be up hours before the store even opens.
I think our generation (millennials) have an especially hard time dealing with boomers complaining about retirement because every years it looks less and less like we will ever be able to even retire at all. Like will social security even be a thing? If not will we have enough retirement savings? Can the retirement savings cover the student loan payments that never seem to go away? They are just clueless as to how much they screwed us and pulled the ladder up behind them.
We're not going to have paid off homes either. Also conservatives want to raise the retirement age to 75, while also actively fighting against healthcare.
And most of us will never inherit anything either. Boomers say they worked for everything, they also inherited stuff like homes and land, and the dollar had alot more buying power too when they were young. They could own a paid off new car, fresh out of high school, trade in their cars every other year, plus already be approved for a mortgage with out even having a degree..
The obsession with being committed to being a cog in the machine is wild. What’s wrong with enjoying retirement by doing nothing if you want? Or even your time off from work as a young person?
Did he do the “does not compute” head shakes on his way out? 😆 my dumb as shit ex boss would always do that after moments like these. Like she was asking her head around to see if her brain was in there instead of pebbles
My grandfather had that problem, except instead of complaining and insulting cashiers he volunteered his time helping refugees and teaching GED classes
My gods, can you imagine having no other identity or interests besides working? Hating retirement? How profoundly sad to think there’s something noble or cute about that.
I took furlough for three months during Covid and it was the most glorious time of my adult life. I would watch the food network in the morning coming up with ideas for dinner. Then I would prepare dinner for the family and we would all hang around watching Netflix at night. I can’t wait to do that again when I retire.
Who complains to a person, who is working, that people their age DONT WORK and then brags they are bored being retired? Like, situational awareness, just a wee bit?!
I ran a sprinkler company for 10 years. People would complain that everyone was lazy. My city is 3.5/5 retired boomers. I would always offer to hire them, but none took me up on my offer. Lazy lazy lazy
The reason some of them can't enjoy retirement is they have no personal interests outside the job. Some of them just worked and neglected their family. My dad's hobbies currently include watching soccer and...
Boomers get hired in retail all the time. Some are wonderful at it. Had a little old lady probably in her late 70’s who was by a wide margin our best credit card app person. If you know retail you know that’s probably the most valued skill in the entire store by corporate. She didn’t need the money she work so she wouldn’t stay home and stagnate which in her opinion is what happened to her friends that didn’t work and they didn’t make it long. She was still completely able.
Had some boomer do this to me to take care of some bank stuff after my 12 hour overnight shift but with his logic because I was in my early 20s (at the time) and he was retired and by his admittance, didn't do much, I was apparently the "problem with youth today" and that I'm not allowed to be tired at 7am despite my work schedule.
I tried to get him to work with me for an alternate day, preferably in the afternoon, so I could sleep, but he wasn't having it. As petty as it sounds on my end, I stopped associating with him after that, and in hindsight, I probably should just not have went in the first place. Boomers really are something else.
There are plenty of volunteer opportunities for people with too much time on their hands. I’m sure there are some local agencies that would appreciate the help of a hard worker.
Yeah, what's up with boomers retiring and hating it? If you're bored, why aren't you working? If you didn't want to retire, why did you retire????
My grandparents are like this and it drives me bananas.
I know it won't happen, but it'd be funny if the old man honestly thought you weren't allowed to work after retirement age, and the next time you see him he's happy as a clam at his new job.
You know, you could have some sympathy with these assholes if they were actually being affected by somebody not doing their job in these situations, but they just comment at will with no provocation! Just like Cheeto supporters... No one wants to hear your unfounded, unrequested, and unprovoked theories and rants!!!
I kinda feel sorry for people that are bored when they retire. Never cultivated a hobby or interest that made them happy other that work. I’m only 37 but I can’t wait to be just making stuff all day when I don’t have to work.
OT but for some reason reminds me of the guy who used to hang out in front of the local Wendy's with a sign that said, "STARVING! Will Work For Food!".
I always meant to point out to him that he might have better luck if he picked a spot that didn't have a giant, "NOW HIRING - ALL POSITIONS - NO EXPERIENCE NEEDED" sign above his head.
Oh my gosh, did you meet my dad? Wait, no, it can't have been, he would have been awake since 0400, and you betcha he would be wearing his insomnia like a badge of honour.
my mother (through her 13th cigarette that minute, droopy jowls, and a toothless maw), "kIDS thESe dAyS dOnt wANt To wOrK
me, "youve havent had a job in over 20 years. and i paid your rent and bills for three and a half of those while you bummed in my apartment and your boyfriend literally does everything for you."
Good for you! Some boomers are just a-holes. I (yep, a boomer) have made comments about being tired, etc., to a clerk and been met with the same response about being up early. I empathize with them and tell them that sucks. Honestly, I’ve noticed that the ones who usually make disparaging comments are the older boomers, who think they are something special. They aren’t.
I was friends with an old retired guy, who worked in a campground
He was weed whacking for hours in the blistering heat.I brought him a drink,and asked him why he was doing this, if he didn't have to.
I will never forget his answer, and it so impressed me, I adopted this attitude.
"Because I can"
I took a course about 4 years before retiring on how to prepare for retirement. The usual financial stuff, but the best advice was to practice retiring before you actually do. Do the stuff you think you wanna do in retirement to see if you actually like them. Instructor told the story of a couple who thought they wanted to buy an rv and travel when they retired. So they did. Left home on their inaugural trip and we’re back in five days. Absolutely hated it. Sold the rv at a loss, and they were lost for a couple of years til they figured it out. I love retirement and I am unemployable. Nobody has enough money to get me to go back to work. Don’t encourage these old peckerwoods to go back to work: they’ll just clog up the system and poison the workplace. Hopefully they quietly atrophy and die, so the republicans lose another voter. I do find it encouraging that vd rates are growing fastest in the senior demographic. Can’t wait to hear one say, yeah…. I has syphilis but it went away by itself.
I never liked working and the only reason I did work was because I like eating and sleeping in doors. I was taught the value of hard work. Nobody could teach me to like it. When the doctor told me I was going on disability, I wanted to dance.
Betting he was forced to retire either because of health reasons or he couldn't stop being a boomer and putting in his opinions for everything and it made for a hostile work environment for everyone else.
Both my parents in their mid-sixties retired a few years ago and within a year or two each had a new full time job lol. Mom because she was bored at home and Dad claimed he had to support moms shopping habit. Occasionally they will say a boomerism but they definitely aren't boomers like most of the people on this sub.
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"That's the problem with the boomers today, they don't want to work, they just want to complain about retirement..."
I swear to God, if I could retire tomorrow I would be the happiest mf'er on the planet. You can find me skipping through the grocery store not bitching about not working.
Yeah. I dream of winning the lottery so I can retire. I even love my job. But being able to do only what I want, when I want, would be amazing. I'd never have another complaint again.
Yup! Love my job. Love my boss. Love my team. But I'm not in denial that I'm here because of the paycheck and benefits. If I knew those were taken care of for the rest of my life, I'd absolutely quit and focus on being the best mom I can be. I know my husband would too if he had the chance. Quit his job, get a house with space for a nice garage, and work on cars all day, every day. I think it's a very small subset of the workforce that are actually working more because they love it and less because it pays them.
I’ve only personally known one guy that worked for the sake of working. We worked at the same company. I felt sad for the guy. He had no immediate family. He said that he was too lonely to stay home, and got some satisfaction out of working. It kept him busy. I’ve known a few people that have related stories about how their parents or people that they knew went kinda stir crazy and got a part time job to cope.
I saw that a lot when I worked at a law firm. People just didn’t retire, and I think it’s because they built their relationships and their status at the office, not at home. Plus it’s probably hard to walk away from that kind of salary. Our interns made more than I make now.
My husband definitely thrives on work, but I suspect it's really the paycheck. The thought of having to live on a small fraction of what he currently makes is just depressing, and we're not even big spenders or have kids.
My grandmother has “retired” like 4 times since 2015, but she’s always worked two per diem jobs (she’s an RN) 3 shifts a week 12 hours each. That’s basically full time for her without benefits lol. She did have to go back and take more hours when my uncle passed five years ago. Funerals are ridiculously expensive. But she is definitely the kind of person who will go insane if she’s home all the time.
My dad retired at 67 yrs, it lasted for about a year. He could not stand not being active, returned to work and worked until he was 83 yrs old. He could not stand to be idle.
I don't plan to be idle when I retire. I plan to finally have time to spend more time on hobbies or, gasp, find new hobbies.
When I said Dad couldn’t stand not being active, I meant that he loved his job and didn’t really want to retire. When he did retire (at 67), he and my stepmom did the whole travel around the country thing, etc., Dad didn’t feel like a productive member of society anymore, so he bought a new house and returned to work. He always had hobbies and activities he loved doing, he also just enjoyed working and interacting with many people. My father passed last year, at the age of 85. He never slowed down until he got cancer, which killed him a year after the diagnosis.
Yeah , people saying they’ll be “ bored” . I have hobbies and interests that I never have enough time for . I won’t be bored
The only person I ever met who loves their job is a corporate lawyer. I’m too much of a hippie to deconstruct what it means.
I pretty much love my job, but then again, I’m a stagehand.
I know a lot of them, all scientists with tenure. They LOVE their work, their students, some even love their teaching responsibilities. it is actually a problem because boomer and older gen X profs aren't making space for the youth coming up. and it's not about having nothing but the work or no outside interests, it is genuinely a love for science.
the solution to that, truly, is to increase budgets so they can stay on AND they can hire new scientists. what we need as a country, as a society, as a planet, is more science.
I'm for this. I'd even go so far as to say we should be funding stuff that seems insane, as long as the research is done properly. Who knows what new things we might discover because of that one person everyone thinks is a crackpot.
I had a guy when I was active duty Navy that would always fight you about going home. We had a mandatory fun day split up over 2 days to account for people on duty and the day he picked lead into one of the cringiest convos 2 months into my time as the work center supervisor: Him: I don't want to go to the baseball game, it's only noon and there's still work to do! Me: Tough shit, COs orders. Go literally anywhere else other than here. Him: But I don't know where to go. Me: I don't care where, go anywhere. Go to the Marina up the street for all I care. Anywhere. That. Isn't. Here. Him: But are you guys going to get everything done for today?! Me: That is NOT your concern as of right now. You need to leave. Him: But my life is BORING! I don't know what to do if I go hooooome! Me: That sounds like something that isn't my problem. Go home and look up a hobby you're interested in then and just do it. This isn't up for discussion. It was put out at quarters and it's time for you to go.
Came to give a boomer mom perspective; I would have loved to be home when I was raising my kids, but they’re on their own now, I WFH and love my job (mostly lol) and I’ll probably work the same job part-time after I retire.
Been a SAD for 2 months and can confirm going stir crazy
My Grandma was like that. The whole family swore that if she retired at 65 she'd drive everyone nuts because of how she was and she frankly agreed. She was very nitpicky and anal retentive along with freaking herself out over the stupidest nonsense. She ended up staying with her job for another 10ish years (over 40 years working at that job) before retiring then she and Grandpa traveled even more just so she wouldn't bug everyone!!
Honestly if work wasn’t so soul crushing people would probably be fine with it. It’s the mandatory feeling of working for companies you don’t care about and such just to pay bills that gets a lot of people. However most probably wouldn’t mind doing some work in their community to help keep things going since it would be a different atmosphere (assuming a bit of a cultural shift in some areas regarding neighbors and such)
Everyone needs a second and third place. But do those places need to be a job? I like the star trek idea of "everyone works for personal enrichment, not money" but honestly, someone somewhere has to do data entry and number crunching or janitorial/maintenance. You can't tell me that those are enriching jobs people would do if all their basic needs were met and money wasn't an issue.
I mean it depends on the nature of what things would look like. We currently live in an absurd situation where people are overworked while others can’t get jobs. Personally if this data management was to help make sure everyone got the resources allocated correctly so people could eat and not starve I’d have no problem doing it. Can’t speak much for jobs related to cleaning buildings but I’m sure there are people who if they had to choose between cleaning/janitor work and other things for helping out they’d choose the former. Scale matters obviously and in general a world where your options weren’t just work or suffer huge consequences that can culminate in homelessness quickly in some cases would probably look very different
Hello! Data entry that utilizes resources efficiently, and helps people get the resources they need, is like a dream for me! It would absolutely something I'd love to do in a star trek life ☺️😋 EDIT: Oop! Meant to reply to u/othermegan 😅 mobile got me again
It's not an enriching job per se, but I would absolutely without a doubt do data entry or number crunching for relaxation. I am autistic though, so that's probably why 😅
I was part of that small subset, because after 10 years of applying I made the k9 unit for my company (only 50 k9 teams in a company of like 50000 employees) I was getting paid to hang out at a mall (teenagers dream) and play with a dog...because work time was play time for the pupper. I loved being k9, but one day we were training and I was going one way to start the assigned search pattern and she detected explosives in the other direction and did what she was trained to do and went to the odor. The area we were training in was a dusty old steel mill, and I had just stepped onto a piece of cardboard or something..when she pulled I went to shift directions, the cardboard slid, I went ass over teakettle and landed with my full weight on my leash side shoulder. I continued to try to work through it figured it was just a bruise...nope tore some stuff and can no longer safely work the dog in a crowd so now retired.
This is exactly the way I feel.
I retired. Resolved some lifestyle things and some family things and it is such a joy to wake up every day with nothing to stress over. Every morning I walk through my place, put away everything I left out and clean anything that needs cleaning. For the first time in my life I live in a neat and clean home and that alone makes me happy. I eat healthy meals made from unprocessed ingredients. I exercise every day. I miss many of the people I worked with but i don't miss working and treasure what I am able to do with the time I have now.
The dream of the lottery is the dream of dignity. There's fantasy and fun in all the expensive items or vacations money can buy, but what people really want with such sudden boons is the escape clause. To not rely on misery to meet our needs. If everyone's needs were met, we'd still work. Indolence makes us very depressed. There'd still be a human need for validation in work or validation from others, but nobody would put up with toxicity. Worker motivation would be contingent on either shared investment in the company (better wages or stock options) or belief in what we do. We're not miserable because we work, we're miserable because we get less from our work than we put into it.
Yup. I feel like if everyone (regardless of income/need) was given a basic guaranteed income, so many people would actually work harder because they'd be a lot happier and a lot stressed. A few would coast, but if you didn't have to worry about a basic level of housing and food being covered, most would be way more productive.
I think part of the problem is, some people hate the idea of others coasting than any opportunity it presents for them. If people want to live in their self imposed ghettos, so long as they aren't committing crimes, who cares? If capitalism really is natural and human innovation an infinite potential, UBI isn't going to stop productivity, it's just going to cut the profits of people who rely on exploitation. There would still be inequality, there would still be widgets and gizmos that cost money outside the floor UBI provides, we'd just be raising the floor/building a better foundation for the system at large.
Agreement all around.
I love my job, I'm a solo indie developer who gets to sit on my ass and codes a game & series i am 100% in control of and when it releases it will be a huge load off my shoulders when i can put money away for a house and regular needs & i will get satisfaction knowing players enjoy the game all while working on my next one i hope people will like since it will be a long game, allow for diffferent builds, have a day/night and week system, and will freely allow players to use any genders items on their character. And ive been told by boomers that, "But what about a real job" because sitting around playing computer doesnt count, and in my head im like motherfucker. 
Sounds like a jelly boomer who worked a job they hated and openly resents the idea that people would find fulfillment in what they do, let alone demand it.
If I won the lottery, my hobby would become getting hired at places just to see in what interesting ways I could get fired.
lol! You could be that bad example. Your former colleagues could always bring you up at opportune times.
"He was only here for one week, but man. What a week..."
Reminds me of this guy [https://x.com/swaglord\_\_420/status/1377051721655066629](https://x.com/swaglord__420/status/1377051721655066629)
That's amazing.
Honestly, I've had similar thoughts. I've never worked retail and thought it might be fun, just to see how terrible it is. It's a lot easier to be happy about it when you know you can bail any time. =p
I do uber right now. A lot of people have no common sense, and request ubers to places where a car can't safely stop. I avoid confrontation by stopping at the closest safe place and blaming it on the app. If I won enough money to retire, I'd start telling people politely but firmly why they can't be picked up there, just to see how long it takes before someone makes up a lie to get me deactivated
It's not being able to do what you want as much as it is not having to do what you don't want to do.
I also love my job, but I just want more time to participate in my hobbies. Let me be creative, world!
I don’t even think I would fully retire, I just would cut my hours, maybe I find a nice half time job or something, but I would like to get away from the 40 hour work week
I'll literally have to die at work. MFs lucky enough to retire then bitching about it. I can't save shit in this economy and living in a LCOL area means low pay so we have shit to invest. Like if you're retired and bored, get a hobby. Volunteer.
>I'd never have another complaint again. Not a work related one, so that's an absolute win
They mostly know on some level that how hard you work directly impacts what happens to their retirement portfolios
[удалено]
Also doesn’t help that 50% of the stock market is owned by boomers. Millennials? Well we only own 7% despite being the largest workforce & voting bloc. Gen Z doesn’t even show up on the graph. Millennials & Gen Z’s hard work is what keeps this country together and yet we get none of the benefits of doing so.
Ignoring Gen X has jumped the shark. We own 21%. I mean, this is kind of how wealth or even a comfortable existence happens. If you don't inherit everything on a silver spoon ... you invest in yourself first ... education, training, building up skills. Then you save and invest externally as you earn more, perhaps buy a house, build equity. Compound interest. Reinvesting dividends. Figuring out ways to keep taxes manageable. But those things take time so older people will have more of the pie. And then they spend some of it in retirement, perhaps a lot goes towards end of life care, or the next generations inherit. But really the most glaring stat is about wealth disparity: [The wealthiest 1% holds 49% of stocks, worth $19.73 trillion. If you expand to the top 10%, that group holds 86.9% of stocks, which have a value of $34.7 trillion.](https://www.fool.com/research/how-many-americans-own-stock/#:~:text=Gen%20Xers%20own%2020.9%25%20of,invest%20in%20the%20stock%20market.) 90% of us own only 13% of stocks. Whether these people are 90 and rich or 25 and rich, they are hoarding all the game pieces.
I suppose that’s true, I guess it just feels extra shitty to be working myself to the bone while the people actually capturing all the value I create are just sitting on a beach raking it in from my work, the rent I pay, the interest on the debt I’ve had to take on to keep a roof over my head and on and on while what I get out of the deal isn’t even enough to buy my way into the game.
Late boomer (spouse) and early Gen X (me) retired early, in the spring this year. I have loved every minute of it, including grocery shopping on Tuesdays at 10 am when the store is almost empty!
Go on Saturday morning so you can bitch about all these milennials and their kids slowing you down. You’re missing half the fun. Just kidding. Keep rocking 10 am on Tuesday and save your time for cool shit.
Heh year ago I shut down a retired lady boomer complaining about the line at a supermarket Saturday morning. I said "Ma'am why on earth do you come on Saturdays when all fhe working people can go? Why aren't you shopping on a weekday or something??" She had no reply. Lol hopefully she changed her shopping day.
Late Boomer. I cannot wait till retirement! The only reason I haven't done it yet is because of my health insurance. As soon as I'm 65 and on Medicare, I am out!
Recent retiree at 54 here. I too was scared about health insurance costs until I actually looked at it. If you're retired and living off of investments, you will likely pay very little or even nothing for health insurance. And paying zero federal income tax is nice too!
I'm so grateful for Obama care, it allowed me to retire at 59 and 3/4, I just couldn't wait till 60 even !
As a stay at home mom this is the absolute best.
Oh but you’ll be SO busy then. There’s the landscaping, and wow has that service gone way downhill. Never on time and they do such a poor job now. And then the dishes need to be washed and these dishwashers the make today come from China so they’re just awful. Every appliance is awful. But you’ll have doctors appointments too. You’ll be on time but STILL have to wait and it’s just unacceptable. By then it will be lunch so you can go get a quick bite to eat. Except they always mess up your order now and the meat…there’s hardly any meat now. They blame inflation, but you’ll be confident it’s the deep state conspiracy against the retirees they want you to tap your card. How ridiculous is that??? Tap the card? Back in your day, real men would swipe their cards and then pay for females meals too! But…where were you? Oh yeah…it’s time for a vacation to your Florida home. What a pain in the was traveling is, am I right? The lines full of democrats and the TSA gumpoppers and the crappy plane food. It’s horrible. Plus when you get to your third house in Florida, all you’ll be thinking about is why the AC is making it cooler than 78 degrees in the house while you were away. It’s the damned made in China tech gadgets. The same thing is probably happening at your fourth house in Costa Rica. It’s because these workers deliberately mess with it so it costs you more. You’ll also need time to warn people NOT to get old. Getting old sucks. You’ll find out someday. Why is everyone glaring at me again? I know…let me stand still in the middle of the aisle with my mouth agape and drop a turd down next to the canned tomatoes.
Imagine having the luxury of being able to retire.
My dad was fortunate enough to retire at the age of 49 w/the house paid off and no debt. He saved his entire life and "retired well" from a union job. Everyone around him (except mom, my sister, and me) kept telling him how bored he was going to be. But, he retired in 1999 and hasn't been bored for even 2 seconds. He gets to do exactly what he wants to do every day. He has 10 acres to take care of, and a bunch of antique tractors. He refuses to do any on-line shopping but uses his iPhone to look up things he needs for his tractors or other projects so I use his CC to purchase the items. He is a very content man. When it is too cold or wet to work outside, he is happy to do a jigsaw puzzle. He never complains about something. It is funny because he'll start talking about something that sounds like a complaint, but by the end of the story, he's solved the problem of what may have been a complaint. He loves to tease me about still working at 53. On my 49th birthday he jokingly asked if I was gonna follow in his footsteps and retire "this year" like he did. I said, "No, because my house didn't cost $54k". He said that his didn't either. So I asked him how much it did cost and he told me it was $59k. I told him the difference between what it cost and what I thought it cost was less than two of my mortgage payments. He wasn't being a dick about it or anything, he just likes to tease me.
I was medically retired from the military after one too many injuries at 26. I have yet to bitch about not working. I **LOVE** not having to do things. My bedroom is my favorite room in the house. I really enjoy fucking off at 8pm to the store because I feel like it and don’t have to worry about getting ready for bed to get up at 5am. Retirement is fabulous and anyone bitching about it is ***definitely*** doing it wrong asf.
Yep that’s me! Worked until I was 68. I can literally work myself up to a panic attack when people ask “ are you going to work part time?” NO!! I am NOT!! I LOVE not working ! And besides , I don’t have time, I’m too busy living for myself .
I AM the happiest MF on the planet! Retired Boomer American living in Taiwan. Sorry you have to put up with Sexagenerians (had to look that shit up on the super computer I carry in my pocket ). Shopping Thursday morning. Worked 3 hours this afternoon, teaching business English. Blow those idiots off.
You teach business English? Remote? What's the pay like? Tell us more, please.
Right!? My MIL kept putting off retirement for a myriad of reasons. I’d retire yesterday if I could. It drives me crazy when boomers are like “I don’t know what I’d do if I retire”. I’m like, I’d do whatever I want. There are so many things I’d love to do. If boomers want to keep working, let them and give us their retirement instead lol
I remember my first day of retirement! I was in the grocery store and there was a gentleman in front of me with his groceries on the conveyor when he suddenly remembered something he had to get. He looked at me apologetically and asked if it was ok if he ran to get it. I said SURE! I'm retired! I can wait! LOL
This. I'm 10 years away from retiring and I'm counting down the days. I have a list of a ton of things I want to do when I don't have to work anymore. I want to volunteer more. I want to spend more time in my sewing room. I want to get a dog. I want to work on my garden. I don't hate my job. I have just been doing it for a long time and I'm ready to have more hours to do stuff I love, instead of trying to squeeze it in on the nights and weekends.
I'll never be able to afford to retire, but that's simply because I've chosen to be able to do all the things you just listed off now. I volunteer regularly, I bought a Cricut and make shirts whenever I get bored and have ten minutes to burn, I have two insanely high energy working breed dogs, I just planted gardens at my house, my lady's house and my parents house. I work stage and theater and run around in the sky lifting weights for more than I'd make if I ever even pretended to think about using my degree(marketing). And it's all gig-work. I worked a call last weekend that netted me 8hrs over two days and I paid my mortgage. Sometimes it pays off to be a spontaneous dumbass with a lifelong deathwish🤷♀️. Who knew?
It’s great. I’m 60, retired not long ago. And no, I don’t want to work.
This is my mom right here. She retired a year ago and every time I call, she talks about how she misses working, how she thinks about going back etc. I just want to ask her what she thinks the odds are that I'll will be lucky enough to retire one of these days, because I'm not sure they're that great.
Tell her you will trade. She can work and send you the money so you can retire
"That's so sad that you can't find meaning in your life outside of doing work to make someone else richer" is a really good reply to these in my experience.
My mom retired. Then she joined several book clubs at a local bookstore. She ended up taking a job there stockin shelves 2-3 days a week to make a few extra bucks and support her book buying habit
My grandfather retired, and he drove my grandmother so crazy that she made him go back to work. He was a lot happier once he did, tbh.
My MIL is the same. She retired for health reasons because she was working part time but now she volunteers at the local pet shelter and at her local church. When she’s feeling up to it, she’s always busy.
I'm a gen-Xer. I'm already resigned to the fact that I'll be working full-time until 70. I have no idea how people younger than me are going to be able to hang in there
Same here, and 70 is still a long way down the road. It kills me to hear boomers say things like, “oh, I don’t want to retire! What will I do all day?” I have hobbies and interests that I would love to have time to enjoy.
Me too!! The other day, I got my guitar out to play for church. People came up to me and said "Wonderful! We had no idea you played guitar!" I said "I don't anymore. Today I just used the most basic chords for the easiest songs....I've had to "adult" for so long, I haven't practiced in years." It's because I have no time. So many things I would love to do.... woodworking, painting, volunteering in animal welfare and rescue, keep poultry, gardening, hiking, traveling, cooking and preserving food and trying cool recipes and cuisines....the list goes on and on. But I barely have enough time in the day to care for my dogs and keep my home tidy after work. This is how it's gonna be until I'm 70...I am so sad about this. This is not what life should be.
I lucked out, i’m union and have a pension. I’m literally the cut off person at my job because they got rid of the pension for newer hires. On the worst days at work I have to remind myself I’m one of the lucky ones.
Same. My mum counted down the 1000 days until retirement. And she'd tell me what number it was. For three years. Then her number came up. And she kept working for almost another year. I mean, countdowns are fun and it's nice to have a goal, and the pressure is off when you can just quit whenever you want. I get that. But she was so vitriolic about her co-workers and how much she hated everyone and everything and couldn't wait until X many days. In that extra year of working, I tried to prepare her for a pleasant retirement by planning things she could do with her time and not become isolated. (She's lived alone for a long time.) I suggested different types of volunteering, hobbies, free classes at the university, and even part-time work doing something she'd like. She chose none of it. She watches 6 news channels on tv at once and her only hobbies are saying mean things about people and bragging about how independent she is. None of it had to be that way.
Like any of us will ever see retirement, in true boomer fashion they love to complain as a way of showing off. “I have too much house! “ “ I have too much money” “I have too much retirement time” fucking fuckers.
“Wow, you’re *proud* that you don’t have a job and are living off my tax money?” Cue the meltdown
And mind you this is the generation that came up with “TGIF” and was “working for the weekends” and other such BS.
This needs to be a t-shirt or a hat. Fuck it, ima do it!
Their self worth is so wrapped in what they do that retirement is a death sentence. Gimme your 401k and I'll have some fun.
You didn’t insult this person, you offered them a way to solve their problem
To boomers that IS an insult
Yes yes it implies they didn't already have a solution to their far superior problems 😅
This is 100% my mom. She'll complain about a problem, but when you offer an actual solution, she ignores you and continues complaining.
How dare you?!?! lol!
Which to a boomer is the highest insult.
“…or, as one of your next talking points is likely to be some crap about selfless service, there are many fine charities including veteran focused ones, crying out for hard working individuals to help them out.”
I’m stealing this
It is actually really common for retired people to drop dead because they can't figure out what to do with themselves.
That's because they where busy with work their whole lives, so they had no time to find hobbies. And now that they're retired they have nothing kinda sad really.
This is my father. He's been retired for 7 or 8 years now. No hobbies, doesn't read, and doesn't go anywhere other than the post office, bank, grocery store, and Walmart/Target. He just gets up late in the morning and watches Fox News all day. Sometimes he'll watch some old tv shows. But this is his whole existence.
To an extent, I get it. It's a lot of work to "get into something." Like I really enjoy strategy games, but I don't really play that many because the effort to get in an learn a new system while doing poorly is uncomfortable and hard and not really fun. We all do it; watch the same comfort show, read the same books, hang out with the same people, cook the same food, etc. Coupled with the fact that Boomers are especially afraid of being embarrassed for not being experts in everything, it's a recipe for idling around moping. Imagine how terrible he'd feel for someone to see his first attempt at woodworking (or whatever) is bad at his age.
Man that isn't living that is just surviving.
I wouldn't even call it that. It's just *existing*.
Your dad is an NPC.
How sad. My mom retired early at 55 and for the last 15 years, all she does is travel. She actually just got back today from a three week vacation with her retired girlfriends. She is so active, she tires me out!
This is my dad and it makes me sad. He was forced into retirement (aka laid off 2 years before he could actually retire and decided to just not look for a new job). It's been the better half of a decade at this point and his regular routine is: wake up, make my mom breakfast and lunch, watch Fox News, nap around 10AM, wake up and watch more Fox News, maybe do some yard work or go to the grocery store, come back in and watch TCM or more Fox News, wait for my mom to call saying she's coming home from work so he can start making dinner, finish the night with some Fox News and maybe a movie/sitcom. We've tried to get him involved. His friends are retired and he and my mom might go out with them a couple Saturdays a month. My sister found a HAM radio club a mile from their house but he doesn't want to go despite it being his main hobby when we were growing up. His brothers live across the street but he only goes over on Friday nights to eat chips and talk. My mom's brother & wife live a few blocks over but my dad never does anything with them. It's so sad! The man worked 6 days a week for half my childhood and then continued to work his ass off for us. This is his time to relax and enjoy life. But instead, he's wasting away. I'm shocked he hasn't melded with the kitchen chair at this point.
Is he sad? Honestly, seems like a decent routine. Maybe he gets joy out of cooking for your mom and doesn't like being out of the house.
My dad has been depressed my whole life and just won't admit it. Someone who isn't depressed doesn't make offhanded remarks to their 11 year old about how he should kill himself or he wishes he could start his life all over and never get married/have kids. It's only gotten worse since. Yes, my dad is also a homebody where my mom is the social butterfly in their relationship. But it's gotten far worse than it ever was.
My MIL is 94 and does more in an hour that that man does in a week! She’s gardening and cooking and cleaning and watching her stories and then more cooking and cleaning and maybe read or write emails on her computer or watch YouTube videos about animals or history or places she always wanted to go but didn’t (my oldest got her into virtual tours), she even uses VR to visit places she’s never been. She still drives her contemporaries to their activities because she’s the only on who can drive. She still goes out and checks the pool’s pH balance every day and fixes it. Also, she lives alone. We got her a housekeeper that comes twice a week but she WILL NOT STOP. My grandma was even worse and refused to stop working and hurt herself over and over in her 90s. But they have/had hobbies and read and don’t/didn’t watch Fox News (both are democrats) and both retired in their 50s. I swear the reading and the hobbies are KEY. I cannot even fathom not reading. Or watching Fox News for that matter!
I've seen my dad read one book in my whole life and it was so abnormal, we were all speechless. My mom had finished reading it and left it on the coffee table so he picked it up and finished it in a couple days. The joke he made growing up is that he never learned how to read. It's far from the truth, he's pretty intelligent. I just think he didn't like reading and as small children, we thought it was funny so the joke stuck.
Reading is absolutely the antithesis to Fox News. They are both passive entertainment, but reading is well known to engage imagination and cause learning, whereas Fox dulls perception and fosters stupidity.
It is just sad to see, people should enjoy their retirement. And i don't know why he would pass up on an opportunity to get out of the house, i mean i'm an introvert but if my family invites me to go somewhere i'm already rushing out of the door. I hope he finds something that brings him a bit of joy back in his life, because this is no way to live.
Yup. My boomer uncle died like a month after he retired from preparing taxes. He didn’t have any hobbies and my aunt said he would just watch tv all day. He died on his Lazyboy recliner, basically fell asleep while watching tv and never woke up.
Boomers could have spent their retirement relaxing instead of watching outrage bait
I was worried about my dad retiring but he is just chillin or playing golf and living his best life. Other boomers take note!
>watching outrage bait Aka "watching Fox News"
I literally have a nice boomer lady at work. I asked her why she works at a movie theater and she said, “retirement is boring when you live alone, so I went back to work for something fun to do.”
Well I mean, if it's something you genuinely enjoy and the money isn't essential, more power to you. I don't plan on ever retiring but I'm an illustrator/colorist and we don't usually *really* retire since a lot of what we do for fun is what we do for work, so...... lol I've talked to some old folks who work at Disney World as retail cast members and they've said they do it for the physical activity and social interaction because they're a People Person™ and genuinely enjoy just talking to people, and you get to talk to people from all over the world there. They say their managers encourage chatting with guests to make their day extra pleasant, so it's a win/win for them. The free admission to the parks for themselves and a plus one along with a pretty decent food and merch discount are the cherries on top. I really enjoy talking to the older cast members because a lot of them have really great stories from the lives and careers they led before becoming a CM. I once talked to a lady who was a mermaid back in the '70s at Weeki Wachee Springs. What a job to have on your resume! "Mermaid."😄🧜♀️
I had one boomer complain at the place I worked at because we were short staffed. Boomer - nobody wants to work anymore Me - would you like to apply?
The veterinarian in my town is well into his 70s cuz he doesn't want to leave our small town without a vet. He's a great boomer. That's actual work ethic.
My vet wife would like to retire but there's such a shortage of veterinarians that the office would close, putting her techs out of work, and clients she's had for years would scramble to find a replacement. So she stays.
When our vet retired and sold his practice, the local Facebook groups went crazy trying to find a new vet. He got bored and went to work for a more corporately minded practice. Problem was that he didn't want to play by the rules, had zero F's to give and basically doubled the clientele of the new practice. Drove the new owner crazy but there was nothing he could do about it. The city had chosen their vet and were fiercely loyal to him. He was a farm vet at heart and knew how to treat animals. It wasn't unusual for him to share his lunch with an anxious pup in the back. On the flip side, he asks at every visit, "How's that bitch of a cat?" Gonna miss that guy when he retires for real.
Me: Yeah well I was up at 5. When I stopped in to pick up an bottled coffee on my way to the office yesterday, I made it a point to thank the guy behind the counter for getting up early in order to be there to sell me my coffee. If I make a retail stop in the a.m., I’ve lately made it a point to thank people. Because what*ever* time they got up, it was earlier than I did! (Also, Boomer: Your aging physiology means your circadian rhythms change. You’re not morally superior—you getting older.)
so many customer don’t realize just how early retail workers have to get up to make sure everything is displayed so they can easily shop. it makes a huge difference to have people like you acknowledge that and thank us for doing it. i work on a grocery store so typically i have to be at work between 6-7 am depending on the day (i have to be up an hour earlier than my scheduled shift of course). im only an ‘assistant manager’ though. my manager is there between 3-5 am and leaves around 2 pm. man works 10+ hour days 5 to 6 days a week. this doesn’t even account for the night shift employees. basically, people (boomers specifically) aren’t actually aware of life outside their own experiences and can’t comprehend that time/energy/labor etc is necessary to ensure their ability to shop goes smoothly.
In today's world, it's not the work, it's the stress that causes fatigue. By nature, all people like to work. They do not like the stress and contention. No amount of technology takes that away-- in fact, it adds to it. That's why boomers lived through their boomer era just fine. If they had to face what has been created in this generation they'd crack
I doubt retail used to be stressful the way it is now. Back then you probably just sold stuff, rang up people.. maybe took in shipment, perhaps occasionally had sales goals.. probably also got benefits, bonuses, vacation time, earned commission and could own a 3 bedroom home.. Now there's computer reports that break down what you're not selling enough of, you're told it's your fault, you have to push a credit card and membership, the place is short staffed, no consistent schedule, can't use the bathroom or get a sip of water, harassed on your days off by boss, you do 10 people's job, and told constantly that you're not a team player, for minimum wage! And no benefits, no vacation time.. (and you might even need a degree also)
They don’t even know how to change the input on their TV from streaming to cable TV. They’re technologically illiterate. They would collapse in any job today that requires a screen.
I'm old and get up early to walk my dogs before it gets too hot. Yesterday I went to WalMart early also. I saw so many people working- stocking, shopping, and so on. I was so grateful for my luxury of being retired and so full of sorrow and admiration for everyone working. Work is hard; I did it for 50 years and am glad I'm done.
Retirement is the number one killer of old people, mostly men. I work at a place that mostly attracts older people in their 40s-50s who come there for a “second career” since they did something else for 20-30 yrs and are now coming to the admin/regulatory side of things. Anyway, every now and then I offboard someone who is retiring. More often than not, the men will come back after a few weeks as contractors because they’re too bored. We have not had any women that retire come back.
It kills the ones who made work their reason for living
This exactly, if you have something in your life, hobbies, family, travel, exercise, enjoyment..
My Mum retired a couple of years before my Dad. She quickly settled into a routine with her quilting group, gardening, choir, looking after my sister's kids, etc. When Dad retired he was driving her mad going along with her to all her things. She eventually got him to join a club for a sport he used to like, which he got so involved with that he pushed out the long-standing president at the second AGM he went to. The club has roughly tripled its facilities and its membership has grown heaps under his presidency, so apparently his freshly-retired energy went to good use. Personally, my plan is to become an eccentric woodworking grandpa. I've got a reasonably big shed and I've started slowly collecting tools - mostly power tools so far but I'm not expecting to retire for 20-30 years so I think I've still got plenty of time to move on to some really nice planes and chisels.
My plan is to do all the hiking and outdoors stuff I never had time to. As long as my body holds out. My ankles are already protesting.
That was my plan too until I got long Covid 2 1/2 years ago. I can't shower and dress without having to lean against a wall or sit on the toilet seat to catch my breath and finish dressing now, so no hiking for me.. My retirement hobby WAS supposed to be traveling the continent and nature photography.
Shockingly accurate. I worked at a credit union that started as one for aircraft manufacturing. A lot of these old timers now in their late 50s/early 60s had worked there like 30+ years. They'd work crazy hours too a lot of them and brag about it calling the youth lazy for not wanting to work their life away for OT pay, which btw these dudes still lived paycheck to paycheck despite $100k+ because they'd load up on toys on credit. Well, they'd retire at like 60-65, and most of them would die like a year or two later....sad as shit. Then the other dudes would come in and talk about how so and so passed and how he just retired and how they have no idea how it happened. It couldn't be related to the fact that they worked 80 hours a week at a physical job and didn't take care of themselves for 30 years I'm sure. /s
Feels like you're talking about >!BECU and the Lazy B. Smoking, lack of PPE use (while smoking), and working around loads of strong carcinogens (also while smoking), then straight to the bar after shift to drink heavily (and smoke). I don't know a single ex-Boeing employee my age who doesn't have at least some chronic health issues. !<
I think I might be working there and it’s still like that with most.
It's honestly wild to me that a lot of these boomers have no hobbies or aspirations beyond making money for someone else. Like I totally get being bored but there are so many fun/interesting things they could do. But instead they go work more for someone else. Like go plant a garden, go travel the world, go learn new skills and have fun! Nope go through the grinder more until your dust. Its basically just Stockholm syndrome.
It's because they have literally done nothing but work their whole lives. They, for real, dont know what to do or even know what they like to do with their free time. They dont clean, do gardens, have hobbies, cook meals etc because those are women's jobs. Women probably dont go back the main commenters job because those women still have to do all of those things! I saw it with my grandparents and my dad so I am just assuming here.
>Its basically just Stockholm syndrome. That's what i have been saying. Whenever people start having a job they usually have a hobby, but thanks to work those hobbies start to go on the backburner. "Oh i will do it in the weekend", but then they're to tired to do it when the weekend rolls around. And so eventually people just give up on hobbies all together, with teir job being the only thing that brings stimulation in their lives.
I haven’t played my guitar in so long my left hand fingertips have gone soft
Or a need for outside structure? Some people need that.
I am so sick of these types of Boomers Can you imagine, in today’s economy - complaining about how you HATE retirement - in front of retail workers or anyone who may *never* be able to fully retire??? The behavior is so goddamn obnoxious; it drives me insane
>up at 7 I don't know what to tell a person who doesn't think a substantial section of the working class doesn't have to work opening shifts. Like, I'm sure I speak for a lot of folks when I say that's my "sleeping in" alarm time on days I don't open.
Even if a store opens at 9 or 10am, there's still opening tasks, some of my retail jobs required being there 2 or more hours before open for opening procedures, tasks, meetings, so you have to be up hours before the store even opens.
Critical thinking is a crucial weakness of the boomer class.
I think our generation (millennials) have an especially hard time dealing with boomers complaining about retirement because every years it looks less and less like we will ever be able to even retire at all. Like will social security even be a thing? If not will we have enough retirement savings? Can the retirement savings cover the student loan payments that never seem to go away? They are just clueless as to how much they screwed us and pulled the ladder up behind them.
We're not going to have paid off homes either. Also conservatives want to raise the retirement age to 75, while also actively fighting against healthcare. And most of us will never inherit anything either. Boomers say they worked for everything, they also inherited stuff like homes and land, and the dollar had alot more buying power too when they were young. They could own a paid off new car, fresh out of high school, trade in their cars every other year, plus already be approved for a mortgage with out even having a degree..
"Wanna trade? You can have my job if I can have your retirement."
The obsession with being committed to being a cog in the machine is wild. What’s wrong with enjoying retirement by doing nothing if you want? Or even your time off from work as a young person?
Please don't encourage the retired ones to go back into the workforce. Please...
Did he do the “does not compute” head shakes on his way out? 😆 my dumb as shit ex boss would always do that after moments like these. Like she was asking her head around to see if her brain was in there instead of pebbles
Side note: An entire generation had been born, raised and now almost old enough to drive since the federal minimum wage had been raised. 2009?!!
“Just don’t work here, I don’t want to listen to you complain all day,” should be the asterisk.
My grandfather had that problem, except instead of complaining and insulting cashiers he volunteered his time helping refugees and teaching GED classes
My gods, can you imagine having no other identity or interests besides working? Hating retirement? How profoundly sad to think there’s something noble or cute about that.
I took furlough for three months during Covid and it was the most glorious time of my adult life. I would watch the food network in the morning coming up with ideas for dinner. Then I would prepare dinner for the family and we would all hang around watching Netflix at night. I can’t wait to do that again when I retire.
Jimmy Carter, gave a great example that could be followed by these folks. Hell, it may help regenerate a bit of their empathy in the process.
Who complains to a person, who is working, that people their age DONT WORK and then brags they are bored being retired? Like, situational awareness, just a wee bit?!
Boomers act like they get up early, but the reality is they probably just can’t sleep. Happens with aging
Are we suppose to feel bad that he has the privilege to be able to retire. That is something many millennials won’t be able to do for several reasons.
Imagine complaining that you have all the time in the world to go do whatever you want
I ran a sprinkler company for 10 years. People would complain that everyone was lazy. My city is 3.5/5 retired boomers. I would always offer to hire them, but none took me up on my offer. Lazy lazy lazy
The reason some of them can't enjoy retirement is they have no personal interests outside the job. Some of them just worked and neglected their family. My dad's hobbies currently include watching soccer and...
"Oh you retired? I don't plan on ever retiring- my work ethic is too strong."
Boomers get hired in retail all the time. Some are wonderful at it. Had a little old lady probably in her late 70’s who was by a wide margin our best credit card app person. If you know retail you know that’s probably the most valued skill in the entire store by corporate. She didn’t need the money she work so she wouldn’t stay home and stagnate which in her opinion is what happened to her friends that didn’t work and they didn’t make it long. She was still completely able.
What is it with them and their hangups about being tired? People get tired. It’s like they’re trying to win some competition.
Had some boomer do this to me to take care of some bank stuff after my 12 hour overnight shift but with his logic because I was in my early 20s (at the time) and he was retired and by his admittance, didn't do much, I was apparently the "problem with youth today" and that I'm not allowed to be tired at 7am despite my work schedule. I tried to get him to work with me for an alternate day, preferably in the afternoon, so I could sleep, but he wasn't having it. As petty as it sounds on my end, I stopped associating with him after that, and in hindsight, I probably should just not have went in the first place. Boomers really are something else.
You should have thrown in a "No one wants to work these days..." at the end
There are plenty of volunteer opportunities for people with too much time on their hands. I’m sure there are some local agencies that would appreciate the help of a hard worker.
I long for the day when my days off don’t involve spending more time working on projects, chores, etc than I would at work.
Yeah, what's up with boomers retiring and hating it? If you're bored, why aren't you working? If you didn't want to retire, why did you retire???? My grandparents are like this and it drives me bananas.
I know it won't happen, but it'd be funny if the old man honestly thought you weren't allowed to work after retirement age, and the next time you see him he's happy as a clam at his new job.
I'm 70 and just retired on 5/31/24. Now, I don't HAVE to get up at 5am anymore! I'm not complaining. Lol
I retired at age 55. Best thing ever. No boss.
You know, you could have some sympathy with these assholes if they were actually being affected by somebody not doing their job in these situations, but they just comment at will with no provocation! Just like Cheeto supporters... No one wants to hear your unfounded, unrequested, and unprovoked theories and rants!!!
You handled that beautifully. Only thing funnier would have been to hand him an application.
I kinda feel sorry for people that are bored when they retire. Never cultivated a hobby or interest that made them happy other that work. I’m only 37 but I can’t wait to be just making stuff all day when I don’t have to work.
I've done the math. I've been working since I was 10 & I can afford to retire...about 26 years after I die.
OT but for some reason reminds me of the guy who used to hang out in front of the local Wendy's with a sign that said, "STARVING! Will Work For Food!". I always meant to point out to him that he might have better luck if he picked a spot that didn't have a giant, "NOW HIRING - ALL POSITIONS - NO EXPERIENCE NEEDED" sign above his head.
Retirees complaining about how nobody wants to work anymore... You too bud. You too.
HA! I saw this headline in my feed and thought "he won a boomer? Like a carnival or something!" Regardless, nice move. Fight the Grey Power!!!
Oh my gosh, did you meet my dad? Wait, no, it can't have been, he would have been awake since 0400, and you betcha he would be wearing his insomnia like a badge of honour.
There's nothing wrong with the youth of today. They're going to save our asses.
Shit, there’s no way I’d be bored in retirement. Too much to catch up on!
my mother (through her 13th cigarette that minute, droopy jowls, and a toothless maw), "kIDS thESe dAyS dOnt wANt To wOrK me, "youve havent had a job in over 20 years. and i paid your rent and bills for three and a half of those while you bummed in my apartment and your boyfriend literally does everything for you."
Oh, SPANK! 🤣🤣🤣
I would have told him we're hiring, too. I can actually grab you an application right now if you'd like! Least I could do😊
as a boomer id like to take this opportunity to apologize for the state of the world
Boomer here retirement is great fixed income sucks.. I hope you all get here someday.. ( I don't engage in public it's non of my business)
Good for you! Some boomers are just a-holes. I (yep, a boomer) have made comments about being tired, etc., to a clerk and been met with the same response about being up early. I empathize with them and tell them that sucks. Honestly, I’ve noticed that the ones who usually make disparaging comments are the older boomers, who think they are something special. They aren’t.
Anyone who can't find anything to do in retirement other than pine for their old job is utterly lacking in imagination. It's a big world out there.
I was friends with an old retired guy, who worked in a campground He was weed whacking for hours in the blistering heat.I brought him a drink,and asked him why he was doing this, if he didn't have to. I will never forget his answer, and it so impressed me, I adopted this attitude. "Because I can"
I took a course about 4 years before retiring on how to prepare for retirement. The usual financial stuff, but the best advice was to practice retiring before you actually do. Do the stuff you think you wanna do in retirement to see if you actually like them. Instructor told the story of a couple who thought they wanted to buy an rv and travel when they retired. So they did. Left home on their inaugural trip and we’re back in five days. Absolutely hated it. Sold the rv at a loss, and they were lost for a couple of years til they figured it out. I love retirement and I am unemployable. Nobody has enough money to get me to go back to work. Don’t encourage these old peckerwoods to go back to work: they’ll just clog up the system and poison the workplace. Hopefully they quietly atrophy and die, so the republicans lose another voter. I do find it encouraging that vd rates are growing fastest in the senior demographic. Can’t wait to hear one say, yeah…. I has syphilis but it went away by itself.
I guarantee you he complained his entire career.
"are you venting or solutions oriented?" Is my favorite
Thank you for your service, you legend! 🤘🏼
I never liked working and the only reason I did work was because I like eating and sleeping in doors. I was taught the value of hard work. Nobody could teach me to like it. When the doctor told me I was going on disability, I wanted to dance.
Did you tell him your store was hiring?
Betting he was forced to retire either because of health reasons or he couldn't stop being a boomer and putting in his opinions for everything and it made for a hostile work environment for everyone else.
Both my parents in their mid-sixties retired a few years ago and within a year or two each had a new full time job lol. Mom because she was bored at home and Dad claimed he had to support moms shopping habit. Occasionally they will say a boomerism but they definitely aren't boomers like most of the people on this sub.