All the old people out during the day

[Kabekew]

Honestly this was my biggest adjustment to ER at 40. SO MANY OLD PEOPLE!

Apparently they avoid the weekends when the "young kids" are out, and come out during the week. Yes, God Bless them, we're all going to be that age one day, and my own parents are among them -- but still -- it takes some adjustment. When you ER, your real peers are at w*rk, so these elderly become your new peers.

Get used to slow driving, slow parking, slow moving down the golf course, slow moving up the grocery store aisles, and long talks with retail clerks while you wait and wait behind them.

Just another thing to consider when thinking ER.

[luckydude]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kabekew Honestly this was my biggest adjustment to ER at 40. SO MANY OLD PEOPLE! Apparently they avoid the weekends when the "young kids" are out, and come out during the week. Yes, God Bless them, we're all going to be that age one day, and my own parents are among them -- but still -- it takes some adjustment. When you ER, your real peers are at w*rk, so these elderly become your new peers. Get used to slow driving, slow parking, slow moving down the golf course, slow moving up the grocery store aisles, and long talks with retail clerks while you wait and wait behind them. Just another thing to consider when thinking ER.

The ironic thing for me is that when I was younger, I didn't really "see" old people. But now that I'm getting older, I've started to notice them more and more.

Of course one day I'll be old too and become invisible to the younger generations.

[Cassie]

Yes, this 63 year old goes out during the week...it's one of the joys of retirement as well as not having to rush around cram errands into one day. I stay out of stores etc on weekends when employed people are out & about.

[Kabekew]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cassie Yes, this 63 year old goes out during the week...it's one of the joys of retirement as well as not having to rush around cram errands into one day. I stay out of stores etc on weekends when employed people are out & about.

Well, to me 63 is still young... I'm talking 90, 95+. Maybe it's just in my area, but here they're still out driving around and shopping. Just a different lifestyle you have to adapt to, here anyway.

[akck]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kabekew Honestly this was my biggest adjustment to ER at 40. SO MANY OLD PEOPLE!

That was the first thing I noticed too. That and of course SAHMs, shopping with the toddlers. Of course at 60, you'd consider me to be one of the old people.

[FIREd]

Where I live now, the weekday crowd is younger. Coffee shops always seem to be teeming with young tech workers hogging tables. Grocery stores and casual eateries get overrun by younger professionals around lunch time and in the early evening. And then we have a lot of tourists of all ages. When I lived in the suburbs, the crowd was definitely older.

[iac1003]

They all seem young here in Austin TX. I am off on Mondays and Fridays (and pay for it Tues-Thurs) and see young people everywhere I go.

I lived in NYC for the vast majority of my life and I could never figure out how so many people were out and about and obviously not working during the day.


Sent from my iPhone using Early Retirement Forum

[jon-nyc]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kabekew Honestly this was my biggest adjustment to ER at 40. SO MANY OLD PEOPLE! Apparently they avoid the weekends when the "young kids" are out, and come out during the week. Yes, God Bless them, we're all going to be that age one day, and my own parents are among them -- but still -- it takes some adjustment. When you ER, your real peers are at w*rk, so these elderly become your new peers. Get used to slow driving, slow parking, slow moving down the golf course, slow moving up the grocery store aisles, and long talks with retail clerks while you wait and wait behind them. Just another thing to consider when thinking ER.

I retired at 44 and I noticed all the SAHMs. Maybe you're not hanging out in the right places.

[Cassie]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kabekew Well, to me 63 is still young... I'm talking 90, 95+. Maybe it's just in my area, but here they're still out driving around and shopping. Just a different lifestyle you have to adapt to, here anyway.

I really never noticed who was out, I sure will now. I'm in the suburbs of Houston. Maybe location makes a difference. Thanks for the discussion and congrats to you for ER'ing.

[aaronc879]

I was sitting on the front porch on a weekday with my recently retired Dad and I said "gee, must be nice to sit outside in shorts and a t-shirt instead of being at work". He said "you mean like the wife next door on either side, the guy across the street and the 2 next two him". None of them are retired yet they were all home on a weekday. It's shocking how many people aren't working during the day during the week. Still, I do all my shopping during the week after morning rush but before lunch when it's the least busy. I've done that my entire adult life. I've never worked a mon-fri job so i've always done my errands during the week and avoid all shopping on weekends.

[Amethyst]

I remember being a college student, living in South Florida and walking early in the morning for exercise. All the drug stores had their crowd of oldsters waiting outside at 7 a.m. for the stores to open so they could cherry-pick the sales.

I remember wondering why all the old men and women looked exactly alike, even being the same height and cookie-jar shape. I wondered how they told one another apart.

I worried that I would become like that at their age - nothing better to do than hang around outside a drug store, waiting for the doors to open.

Amethyst

[athena53]

Quote:

Originally Posted by aaronc879 It's shocking how many people aren't working during the day during the week.

Yeah, I've noticed that, too, now that I'm retired. This time of year I can explain some of it as teachers and students off for the summer. Some are stay-at-home parents and some might be people who have more flexibility because they work at home or are contractors, consultants, etc. and make their own hours. I hope that the proportion who want to work but just haven't found anything is relatively small.

[eytonxav]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kabekew Well, to me 63 is still young... I'm talking 90, 95+. Maybe it's just in my area, but here they're still out driving around and shopping. Just a different lifestyle you have to adapt to, here anyway.

If you think there are so many 90+ Srs that are causing slow downs during the week, I think your perception of age may be off by 10-15 years, unless you are in St Pete, FL or the like.

[ls99]

Quote:

Originally Posted by aaronc879 I was sitting on the front porch on a weekday with my recently retired Dad and I said "gee, must be nice to sit outside in shorts and a t-shirt instead of being at work". He said "you mean like the wife next door on either side, the guy across the street and the 2 next two him". None of them are retired yet they were all home on a weekday. It's shocking how many people aren't working during the day during the week. Still, I do all my shopping during the week after morning rush but before lunch when it's the least busy. I've done that my entire adult life. I've never worked a mon-fri job so i've always done my errands during the week and avoid all shopping on weekends.

Folks aften forget or not even consider the fact that a good many people work night and evening shifts. I was one of those for a while. It is a chance to get some rays when weather is good, before heading to the salt mines.

You may also see them in diners, stores etc. having got off shift around 7 or 8 AM. Nurses tend to be more visible due to the colorful uniforms. The unsung heroines.

Miners, factory, railroad workers, often take a shower and change before leaving work, they blend in more. And don't forget night cleaners, supermarket stockers, cops, trashmongers, hookers, lot lizards, barkeeps, night watchmen, hotel bookeepers and many more who make the wheels of life revolve while the cubicle dwellers party or sleep.

[scrabbler1]

There is definitely a different demographic since I ERed and do my errands during the day on weekdays instead of on weekends. But it depends on where I am doing my errands and what time of year it is.

At the supermarket, there are more older people but far fewer people overall, a favorable trade. The checkout lines are very short, sometimes with no customers on them at all. Sometimes, I get stuck trying to get through the mostly empty food aisles due to some older people blocking them.

At the bank the number of bank employees usually exceed the number of patrons, so waiting for a teller is nil or next to nil.

At the mall is like at the bank. I can park near the eentrance which is handy if it is raining or cold out. No crowds in the aisleways once inside, and the stores are nice and empty, even if the few customers are mostly older people.

But, at the local pizza joint things are different. If it is during the school year, the place is crowded with kids from the local high school which is walking distance away. Geez, but back in 1980 we high schoolers did not dress like THAT, and it isn't like we dressed like the Amish. Good thing I bring a book to read so I don't ogle the girls LOL! During the summer, there are more SAHMs with younger kids in there a lot.

[Senator]

I always wonder what old is anymore... Sometimes, when describing someone, I might say something like "You know, that old guy that ...".

And, after thinking about it afte I say it, the guy is often younger than me...

[NW-Bound]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ls99 Folks aften forget or not even consider the fact that a good many people work night and evening shifts. I was one of those for a while. It is a chance to get some rays when weather is good, before heading to the salt mines. You may also see them in diners, stores etc. having got off shift around 7 or 8 AM. Nurses tend to be more visible due to the colorful uniforms. The unsung heroines. Miners, factory, railroad workers, often take a shower and change before leaving work, they blend in more. And don't forget night cleaners, supermarket stockers, cops, trashmongers, hookers, lot lizards, barkeeps, night watchmen, hotel bookeepers and many more who make the wheels of life revolve while the cubicle dwellers party or sleep.

+1

On a past RV trek, I had an overnight stop at a Walmart in Montana, and happened to be up in the early morning hours, so took a walk around the block. I saw so many workers out and about doing things that cubicle dwellers at megacorps like myself took for granted.

I had forgotten that during my undergraduate years, I worked at a factory on a weekend job. It was a 10-hr shift that ran from 4PM to 2AM. That was how I spent Friday and Saturday nights. Sunday was for recovery to prepare for another week in school.

[W2R]

When I was still working, my office was in a high rise across from a movie theater that was constantly busy. The patrons were almost all young people. My co-workers and I would stare out the window at the swarms of moviegoers sometimes when we were tired. We wondered how all those young people managed to do that! I don't think I ever had the time and money to see a movie in the middle of a weekday when I was young. Maybe they were working nights, as someone suggested, or maybe they were on extended unemployment or some such thing. I have no idea.

When I retired, I told my co-workers to watch that theater parking lot from the window and one day they would see me out there too, headed for the theater. In reality, I haven't done that even once so far but if I did, I'd turn around and wave towards my former workplace.

[BTravlin]

Shop on Friday night is you really want to avoid the crowds at the grocery. Cuts the time almost in half.

[DallasGuy]

Never noticed it at all here in Dallas. I'm guessing that in a bigger city like Dallas, you see all kinds of people out at all times of the day.