Current Events > What's the story behind old people working retail and other minimum wage jobs?

(+) Yeah! (+)

I'm honestly not trying to sound offensive about it. But I'm wondering what is the explanation for all the old people, both men and women, that you see working as cashiers or doing other menial labor that you'd normally expect to find teenagers doing.

I don't know how old they are, but definitely in their 40s or more if they're granny-looking and have gray hair. I'm going to guess that they have minimal skills and education, but they were apparently able to survive somehow up to that point. These people presumably were able to eat after all this time in their lives, so what happened to them? Did they work better jobs before but lost them? Or have they genuinely never been able to find better jobs in their entire lifetimes?
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Some old people retire from their careers. Then they find out that they find the retired work life to be boring. Thus, many of these old people take any elderly friendly job for something they can do.

probably need money and there aren't a whole lot of places that will take them at that age
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my dad is retired and considered / is considering becoming a walmart greeter or something because he's bored
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As for like middle age people. I think that some people just don't have much ambition and are content with working for the minimum and living within their means.

They can be much more polite to customers than young people with attitudes. I saw this one cashier laugh at a mother when she checked her phone to see if she needs milk, I would have gotten it for her. somehow his attitude made sense? why laugh if you guessed right?
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Gives them something to do instead of shitposting.
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My dad switched from accounting to retail when he found it too hard to concentrate anymore. He was 53.

I mean the sad part is it was likely early warning signs of dementia.. and the fact his dementia progressed over 11 years of working in retail and he kept his job.
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I don't get it. Isn't the whole point of retiring so that you don't have to work anymore? Isn't the idea of sitting around at home all day, watching TV and playing video games what everybody yearns to do for decades? I would take that kind of life in a heartbeat if I had the money, and old people are willingly throwing it away so they can be cashiers for minimum wage?
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slk_23 posted...

I don't get it. Isn't the whole point of retiring so that you don't have to work anymore? Isn't the idea of sitting around at home all day, watching TV and playing video games what everybody yearns to do for decades? I would take that kind of life in a heartbeat if I had the money, and old people are willingly throwing it away so they can be cashiers for minimum wage?

Spoilers: That gets boring when you do it everyday for a few months.
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If they work at Costco it makes sense; their topped out cashiers make $24.85 an hour. Topped out ppl standing by the door make $22+ an hour.
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slk_23 posted...

I don't get it. Isn't the whole point of retiring so that you don't have to work anymore? Isn't the idea of sitting around at home all day, watching TV and playing video games what everybody yearns to do for decades? I would take that kind of life in a heartbeat if I had the money, and old people are willingly throwing it away so they can be cashiers for minimum wage?

Have you ever been inbetween jobs for a few months? What do you do for a living? That life style is appealing for a month before you realize you're not getting anywhere in life.
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My friends mom owned a restaurant and sold it for a small fortune now she waits tables there because sitting home alone for 9 hours a day gets boring.
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slk_23 posted...

I don't get it. Isn't the whole point of retiring so that you don't have to work anymore? Isn't the idea of sitting around at home all day, watching TV and playing video games what everybody yearns to do for decades? I would take that kind of life in a heartbeat if I had the money, and old people are willingly throwing it away so they can be cashiers for minimum wage?

For many people, probably most people, this becomes aversive pretty quickly.
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They can't afford not to work
http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/ct-elderly-workers-20170929-story.html
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Also, those folks (retirees) work part-time jobs because the government allows those who collect social security to earn up to a certain amount per year, something around 12-15k. I'm sure a lot of them do it because it keeps them active which is actually important when you're 60+, but they're still making pretty good money and have the freedom to walk away from the job without any concern in the world.

Not a bad situation, really. Especially when considering that social security might not even exist for me since they keep pushing the retirement age back every year. I'll have to work until I'm 80 to collect social security. That blows.
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A job's a job. They just trying to pay bills.
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because their job was automated

Thanks Trump
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I have a few co workers that are over 50, some of them hang around just to stay active while others are waiting for their Penchant/401ks to kick in which they can't touch until they reach 65.

Unless people play their cards right (making smart investments etc.) This will continue to be the case.
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need something to do and people to talk to

maybe they spent 40 years as a salesman or financial manager or IT expert or something but don't want to do it anymore and just want something to do with 0 stress or expectations
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ehhwhatever posted...

They can be much more polite to customers than young people with attitudes. I saw this one cashier laugh at a mother when she checked her phone to see if she needs milk, I would have gotten it for her. somehow his attitude made sense? why laugh if you guessed right?

Can someone translate this post into english please?
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my dad was terrified of his mind gong before his body did so he learned how to be an accountant and did taxes for jackson hewitt

joke was on him he fucked his body up way too bad via 40 years of smoking and alcoholism to live long enough for his mind to go

COVxy posted...

For many people, probably most people, this becomes aversive pretty quickly.

those suckers need to discover board games

i could play terraforming mars and twilight struggle 8 hours a day no problemo

when i visit my old college roommate that's what we do
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As a hiring manager I've seen it all. Many times it's people who worked a skilled trade for years and for whatever reason can't do it anymore so they default to retail.

Other times it's someone who worked a factory for 30 years and it shut down and that's the only work they could find in short notice.

Then you get people that are brain damaged or mentally incompetent to do anything but a simple stock job, and they take it so they have some income and something to do with their time.

I don't look down on people in retail or fast food at any age. Work is work and at least they are making an effort at an honest living.
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A lot of times there husband is the breadwinner and they just work whatever.

A lot of times you just underestimate how much a job pays. Serving jobs usually work out to $15-$30 an hour.
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Keeps their mind sharp and engaged

My mom was forced to retire from IBM a couple years ago. She got bored and started working at Amazon and packs up items in boxes for them. She said she just wanted a job that was easy to do just so she won't be bored.
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