Old people working

I usually respect the fact that this economy makes folks do all kinds of things to make ends meet.

I help the oldsters and often find that they are much more interesting and capable of putting stuff in the right bags than the disinterested teenagers. (there IS an art to sacking groceries)

I never get help out to the car anyway...

Old people working! Whooda thunk? So that's how all the raisins get in the shredded wheat.

They are definately much more pleasant than the usual sullen teens - but I sometimes feel compelled to help them bag - and also so I can get out much faster.

There is one older woman at this Rite Aid - she is so sweet and always smiles and asks how you are doing and crap like that.

They are better in the sense of the nicety factor - but when you are in a hurry...not so much.

to me the worst are the old folks who don't need to work, but still do

my mother is a retired school teacher, and has met many other retired teachers and principals working jobs they didn't need to be working (at least they didn't need the money) because they were bored and needed something to do, meanwhile there are folks who are unemployed and need jobs

What bothers me about old people working is that I'm going to be one of
them.


If you see a geezer with GEORGE on his name tag stocking shelves at the
Stoneham CVS a couple of years down the road, say "Hi". It might be me.

Old people need money, too.

Food is good.

I'll have to keep that in mind.

Yeah, but can't they be like a Walmart greeter or something - something that doesn't require heavy lifting and something where you don't feel you have to help them out.

Yes, this is work that a pimply faced 16 yo should be doing. Work is good for the soul, but if it is not appropriate work then we as a society have done something wrong. Even with the massive theft from the young to finance the lives of the adults the wealth has not been distributed fairly. There are old people who are truly hard up, who feel like they have no choice but to take work that they should not be doing and should not need to do simply because they have no other options.

The fact is that teenagers increasingly cant get into the job market because it is clogged up with old people who refuse to leave it. Most of these old people don't need to work but want more spending money, and they don't feel one bit bad about depriving teens of work. These people would if they had any decency get out of the job market, and do volunteer work to stay busy.

If the old people are working because they have no other choice then we have done something wrong. If they are working out of choice then they have done something wrong.

I never worked when I was working, my only change is now I don't get paid as much as I used to. I was employed by the government.

Yesterday I hauled a refrigerator up the stairs while my 32 year old lead man nursed his sore back. Don't underestimate the abilities of the old.

Yes, but that varies case to case.
Some older folk are quite capable of physical work.

I agree - there are some old farts that have the strength of 10 men (especially if those men are government workers), but alas I am referring to the obviously feeble.

Some one mentioned old people that don't need to work, but do so to keep busy. We once employed such a man to do some work in our bathroom. His wife actually made him work to keep him out of the house - at least that is what he told us - it took him several weeks to do the work that any other normal human being would do in a couple of days. He had wonderful time talking with our neighbors and such during the day. He did get the work done and did a good job, but if you wanted it done quickly he would not be your man.

I'm an old fart, or biddie, whatever. There is a long time complaint out there, especially among women, that older people are written off by the young, which is ironic when that is when a lot of people start to get it together, be really interesting. A couple of days ago, I was at Brooks Grocery and my stuff was bagged by a somewhat haggard looking older woman who is probably younger that I am. As she put the last bag in the cart I looked straight at her and smiled. She grinned back and wished me a nice evening (as had the young stud at the cash register who had been very interested in my purchase of some Dr. Brommer's shampoo, no laurel sulfate).

On the question of helping her bag, no, she could clearly do that. And I agree with RH that grocery bagging is an art. I happen to disagree with many stores' rules, that end up giving me a lone bag for, say, the small bottle of shampoo and several bags of heavy stuff together. Indeed, I tend to organize how I want it packed surreptitiously when I deposit stuff on the counter rollaway. That is probably passive aggressive and useless. But I've tried verbalizing my preference to very confused looks. Data not in yet. At one store, Smith's, I stop on my way out and rearrange the bags. This being related to when I wrenched my back once when putting a grocery bag down on my kitchen floor - when I was much younger.

Due to eye stuff in the last few years and general stupidity in the face of confusion, I haven't learned to self checkout, but that's next on my accomplishment list.

That hasn't been the experience of my son or his highschool friends. They can't get jobs because there are hardly any employers left who will hire part-time employees. Most have reduced their workforces to the point where they have the absolute minimum number of full-time employees they can get away with. The only students we know with part-time jobs are the ones who have family friends who own businesses and will hire them as a favor to their parents.

The one grocery store chain in town that hires part-time teenage help for stockers & sackers had more than 3,000 applications for its 30 positions this summer. SonofEva applied there last year and again this year even though he knew there was no hope. So he is mowing lawns again. And, I might add, making much better money.

I have three 16-21...what I see is employers who once hired high school kids now hire older, often collage grads who can not get a job in what they trained for. The ultimate problem though comes from the top, and the lack of job opportunity rolls down hill.

As European countries have found, unemployed and disgruntled young people can rapidly turn into a huge problem. People who feel they have been treated poorly and whom have no stake in the collective are often willing to burn it down. Most Americans think that it can not happen here, our kids are too sweet and we have done a good job with indoctrinating them with liberal non confrontation theory.....they are wrong.

I have no problem with technically retired people working - if they want to. Sad thing is many have to. We had a 66 year old apply to us for work this year and when I asked him why he wanted to do such a hard, dirty job (basically hole digging) at his age he said he felt it was the only work he could get. He said he didn't read well (dropped out around 6th grade) and didn't know anything about computers. He also said he worked for cash most of his life (fixed boats at a Marina) and didn't put anything into social security or savings. He was going to apply at some big box stores but didn't because you have to use a computer to fill out the application. This guy is obviously working to eat and keep a roof over his head, but with such limited abilities he's soon going to end up on the lowest rung of the poverty ladder. Bagging groceries would probably be a good job for him.

I always help bag while I'm waiting for the check-out person, no matter who's bagging. I don't avoid lines on any basis other than how long the line is and how much each person is buying.

I think a lot of older people who work do so because they want to - it helps them feel needed, it gets them out of the house, or it gives them a little exercise.... Some may, I suppose, bag groceries because they have to (money).