Old Codger writes:

On 07/03/2015 22:42, Windmill wrote:
"Dave Plowman (News)" writes:

In article ,
Huge wrote:
On 2015-03-01, ARW wrote:
"Huge" wrote in message
...
On 2015-03-01, ARW wrote:
wrote in message
...
On Sunday, 1 March 2015 09:14:37 UTC, ARW wrote:
'Deferred gratification' is all very well, but at that age you want
sex, booze, drugs (nowadays), and so on.
What do you mean by "but at that age"? Are you suggesting that at some
point
in my life I will not want them?

Not a case of not wanting, but requiring more effort that a nice mug of
cocoa in front of t'telly.


I have no intentions of sitting down in front of a TV with a cup of cocoa
if
there is sex, alcohol and drugs on offer elsewhere.

Your time will come, believe me.


I have no doubt about that. And after working in the hospice last week I
know how lucky I am.

Amen to that.

It's interesting to see how the attitude to retirement etc changes as you
get closer to that time. I'm of an age where most of my pals have.

They generally start off by saying they don't want to retire ever. Work
until they drop, etc.

But things seem to change as they get older - and most have retired early,
if they get the chance.

Or maybe they've just convinced themselves that it was what they
wanted.

Maybe the management and culture changed such that it ceased being a
pleasant place to work?

For about the first 40 years of my working life I, and most of my
colleagues, were really hoping that we would be allowed to continue
working after retirement. Management was relaxed as long as the job was
done. We worked hard and long hours when needed without any pressure
from above. When the work was light we relaxed. In the early 90s there
were changes at the top. Gradually the culture changed. Management
became increasingly demanding and reluctant to accept that there might
be genuine reasons for someone not wanting to work evenings/night or
over the weekend. There were threats, in the limit, of the sack. It
stopped being a pleasant place to work.

When I was 62 an "early retirement" offer (voluntary redundancy) was
made to all over 60s. Many of us jumped at the opportunity. 15 years
later I am still in touch with many of them and we all consider it was
the best thing to have done, yet had the culture been that of the 80s or
earlier I doubt many would have taken it up.

I recognise your description of the change in attitudes, mainly driven
from the top as you say.
Sad really.

--
Windmill, Use t m i l l
J.R.R. Tolkien:- @ S c o t s h o m e . c o m
All that is gold does not glister / Not all who wander are lost