Also, on a brighter note, not all of those old folks are down and out. Some are just workaholics. Back in college I worked in a department store part time after class. One of my coworkers was this old guy named Sydney, who I called "Bam-Bam" because he always hit the keys to the register loud and hard. Looked kinda like Jerry Stiller. Talked a bit like him, too.
He was pretty well-off, but just came in a few days a week for something to do. I believe his wife had died, and he didn't have too many friends. I'd imagine he's passed away by now, as this was back in the early 1990's. actually hadn't thought about him in ages, until this thread jogged my memory.
My Mom and stepdad both whine about having nothing to do in retirement. Mom retired a bit over 3 years ago, and stepdad took an early out about 4 months later. My stepdad, especially, whines about how he regrets quitting his j*b. However, he has selective memory loss. When he was still there, all he did was gripe about it and carry on about how miserable he was, and how they always screwed him over.
I agree though, older people often do make better cashiers, servers, etc than a lot of younger people. Maybe they're not always as fast, but they're often more attentive, thorough, and thoughtful.
