If you got bored in retirement, would you work as a fast food worker?

[Jerry1]

Point to take from this thread is that if you do eat at a fast food restaurant, which I know is not common for folks on this board, have some mercy on the workers there.

I worked in a restaurant as a bus boy. Never in a fast food restaurant. Never thought it as a fun or great job but from the comments in this thread, it sounds worse than I thought.

 

[blueskyk]

Food service is a really tough gig. I worked at a Der Wienerschnitzel briefly in college and after loading cases of grey hot dogs on a grill ( over time they would gradually turn their usual reddish brown color) and repeatedly being instructed on the fastest way to securely put the plastic top on a soft drink cup I found a deep well of motivation to finish my degree. And dealing with the public was an unpleasant eye-opener...
I’ve never had a hot dog since.
I also had the unfortunate experience of pulling the late shift till 2 AM when the bars closed. I can pretty much say that nothing good happens at the drive up when drunk people are looking to eat in the middle of the night. Here’s where my application of the lid on the soft drink would become well, sloppy.
So, no, I would find something else.

 

[snowboarder]

Screw fast food!! There are other more pleasant jobs I'd rather do if I got bored in retirement. For instance I'd rather work in a car rental place at the airport and take back the returned cars; easy and probably pays the same or better.
I would also get a Realtor license and would sell homes part time.

 

[jldavid47]

Not just no, but hell no. I would have to be well beyond bored. I'd have to be desperate.

 

[ychuck46]

Sure, but ...

While it wouldn't be my first choice, sure, I would definitely do so. I feel so bad for the owners and managers of many of the establishments in our area. Talk to them and you will find out how hard it is to find good employees who actually show up. I can see why many are employing older folks.

 

[Hawkeye]

NO!

If I got bored, which thankfully never happens, I'd get a job working at a golf course. Here in SW florida, especially in season, there are always cart/bag attendant or golf course maintenance jobs to be had.

 

[Kroeran]

Seem to be a lot of retired people having fun as real estate agents in Florida. A friend does model house sitting.

I had fun doing Uber for a few years, very social job, very flexible, but with a new car DW insisted on a detailed cost benefit, which revealed how little I was making after expenses, with even worse metrics considering every dollar is a high marginal tax rate.

 

[morriss003]

No, but I might work for tips as a free tour guide on Maui. The easiest job I ever had was selling clothes.

 

[davidfin]

No way. However, I did get bored and worked at my home depot for eight months until we snowbird to Palm Springs. Great experience. I highly recommend The Home Depot for part time opportunity.

 

[Moemg]

No , I would reopen my ebay store before I would be at Mc Donald's .

 

[Ally]

I could never be that bored!

 

[gwraigty]

Point to take from this thread is that if you do eat at a fast food restaurant, which I know is not common for folks on this board, have some mercy on the workers there.

I worked in a restaurant as a bus boy. Never in a fast food restaurant. Never thought it as a fun or great job but from the comments in this thread, it sounds worse than I thought.

I worked in fast food for about 5 or 6 years. I much preferred flipping the burgers (and eggs) than cashiering, for many of the reasons given.

 

[Elizrogers]

That is too much work (physically) for too little pay. I have considered part time or temp work, but would like to not have to get up a crack if dawn or fight rush hour traffic. That's one reason why I retired to begin with.

 

[kingkarmann]

I was unskilled and had to find work straight out of high school. For twenty five years I worked in the service/retail business. I treated people the way I hoped to be treated and believed the customer was king. Rarely was that credo returned. I left that environment for a career in automotive manufacturing and have been doing this for nearly 20 years. As I near retirement, I could never imagine working or serving the general public ever and would strongly advise anyone not to do it unless left with no choice.

 

[ncbill]

That is too much work (physically) for too little pay. I have considered part time or temp work, but would like to not have to get up a crack if dawn or fight rush hour traffic. That's one reason why I retired to begin with.

+1000

A few years ago I remember reading about an older lady left near destitute after the sudden death of her husband.

Apparently she was able to go straight into a call center (collections) and soon became the top employee.

Not for everyone of course but better than being on your feet all day.

 

[RetiredAt55.5]

I'll fess up ....

Been following this thread and hesitated to post, but I seem to be the outlier.

I retired June 2016 and stayed 100% retired until March 2017, at which time I took a part time job at the elementary school up the street (100 yards) as a dishwasher. I'm still there 25 months later.

It's not a bad gig - it's only 3 hours a day, I get a free lunch, and I don't have to be in until 10:30. More importantly, I don't have to work nights/weekends/holidays and I have the whole summer off. No commute and the school's closed whenever there's any snow.

It pays about $15 an hour BTW. It's not hard work (compared to a fast food restaurant) but it gets busy at times so sometimes you have to hustle.

Why did I do this?? I definitely wasn't bored in retirement.

A couple of reasons -
1. I was uncomfortable with the new regime in Washington DC (he who shall not be named). Was the sky going to fall in?
2. The state of ACA (attempts to weaken/repeal it). I do have the option of healthcare with my former employer, but it's non-subsided so it's pricey.
3. Short term market volatility made me question things, like my withdrawal rate (should I stick with 4%, 3.5%, 3%, etc.)
4. Having a paycheck again made me feel better. I started playing mental games with myself - hey I made enough money this week to pay for the landscaping stones from Lowes, and I earned enough this year to pay for most of the planned re-roof job coming soon.
5. If I had earned income, I could contribute to my Roth IRA, which is never a bad thing.
6. I swore to myself I'd never get another job in IT after 33 years. Despite the good pay, I'm done with the deadlines/commute/stress/competition/learning curves of new technologies.

Fast forward 2 years, the sky hasn't fallen in. The ACA is still alive, and we have more $ in our retirement accounts than when I retired in 2016 (by about 20%).

Sometimes I do question my own sanity - I do wonder how many multi-millionaires would work as a dishwasher (probably not many).

The bad thing is that 2 years have gone by, so I've lost 1,140 hours of quality retirement time I'll never get back.

Be gentle, like I said I do question my own sanity.

 

[tmm99]

Been following this thread and hesitated to post, but I seem to be the outlier.

I retired June 2016 and stayed 100% retired until March 2017, at which time I took a part time job at the elementary school up the street (100 yards) as a dishwasher. I'm still there 25 months later.

It's not a bad gig - it's only 3 hours a day, I get a free lunch, and I don't have to be in until 10:30. More importantly, I don't have to work nights/weekends/holidays and I have the whole summer off. No commute and the school's closed whenever there's any snow.

It pays about $15 an hour BTW. It's not hard work (compared to a fast food restaurant) but it gets busy at times so sometimes you have to hustle.

Why did I do this?? I definitely wasn't bored in retirement.

A couple of reasons -
1. I was uncomfortable with the new regime in Washington DC (he who shall not be named). Was the sky going to fall in?
2. The state of ACA (attempts to weaken/repeal it). I do have the option of healthcare with my former employer, but it's non-subsided so it's pricey.
3. Short term market volatility made me question things, like my withdrawal rate (should I stick with 4%, 3.5%, 3%, etc.)
4. Having a paycheck again made me feel better. I started playing mental games with myself - hey I made enough money this week to pay for the landscaping stones from Lowes, and I earned enough this year to pay for most of the planned re-roof job coming soon.
5. If I had earned income, I could contribute to my Roth IRA, which is never a bad thing.
6. I swore to myself I'd never get another job in IT after 33 years. Despite the good pay, I'm done with the deadlines/commute/stress/competition/learning curves of new technologies.

Fast forward 2 years, the sky hasn't fallen in. The ACA is still alive, and we have more $ in our retirement accounts than when I retired in 2016 (by about 20%).

Sometimes I do question my own sanity - I do wonder how many multi-millionaires would work as a dishwasher (probably not many).

The bad thing is that 2 years have gone by, so I've lost 1,140 hours of quality retirement time I'll never get back.

Be gentle, like I said I do question my own sanity.

RetiredAt55.5,

Nothing is wrong with what you're doing, and I actually think it's great you found something that fits what you need! Maybe these 3 hours per day during non-summer months give you some kind of structure to your life? Do you find the job interesting in some ways? Maybe some interesting social interactions? Anyway, I think it's great.

 

[RetiredAt55.5]

RetiredAt55.5,

Nothing is wrong with what you're doing, and I actually think it's great you found something that fits what you need! Maybe these 3 hours per day during non-summer months give you some kind of structure to your life? Do you find the job interesting in some ways? Maybe some interesting social interactions? Anyway, I think it's great.

tmm99,

Yes, you're right. I did find I was getting pretty "unstructured" (aka lazy) in retirement.

The job's not really interesting or social. To be honest, the best part of the job is that it's all manual labor - no thinking required. I find dishwashing therapeutic. At home, I seldom use the dishwasher since I don't mind hand washing.

One of my friends that's still in IT is jealous of my low stress non-thinking job. That's his dream job - come into work, put your brain on the shelf, work your shift without needing to think about anything (no big responsibilities), and then pick up your brain off the shelf on the way out the door.

Thanks for the kind words!

 

[USA]

Nope. I like my Sketchers looking fresh. I could also stumble on a dang rubber mat and do a face plant.

 

[blueskyk]

tmm99,

One of my friends that's still in IT is jealous of my low stress non-thinking job. That's his dream job - come into work, put your brain on the shelf, work your shift without needing to think about anything (no big responsibilities), and then pick up your brain off the shelf on the way out the door.!

I had my own IT business for a while (custom database design and application development) and I get the simplicity of working at a task that is direct and solitary and complete when you leave and does not require responding to questions at all hours or managing others.

Good for you! This one goes on my list for possibilities should I decide to work for pay.

 

[brett]

Bored? I would have to be in mid stage dementia to work in a fast food joint in retirement if I was bored. Think of that smell hanging over you and your clothing after every shift end.

 

[Out of Steam]

I worked in a supermarket when I was young, and would be willing to do it again if I needed to. Wouldn't enjoy fast food or waiting tables.

 

[Kroeran]

I found a deep well of motivation to finish my degree.

A job just out of high school that is sort of fun, is deadly. A painful job that scares you back to school, and instills enough fear to pull you through the tough parts of finishing your education, can be priceless.

There was that moment for me working in the printing shop basement, looking up at the barred windows, where I thought, university can’t suck as much as this, The big surprise was how much fun University was compared to high school, all aspects.

 

[bada bing]

If I get "bored", the contingency plan is to flip a house or two,
not flipping burgers. I worked construction for 10 years early
on and am familiar with building trades. Any type of retail job
is out for me, I have no aptitude for dealing with people in that
way.

I sort of expect to get unsolicited offers for part time and
temporary work in retirement. I don't anticipate doing much
of it, if any at all.

 

[scrabbler1]

I sort of expect to get unsolicited offers for part time and temporary work in retirement. I don't anticipate doing much
of it, if any at all.

A few years ago, still many years into my ER, a friend and former coworker floated the idea of my doing some work from home for the old company. I turned it down without a second thought. I also had no faith in any promise of never having to make the long, lousy trip back to the office.

I would have considered it 10 years earlier, at the end of my working days, at a time when they were not allowing open-ended telecommuting. I had become so sick of commuting that I would not have taken back the mostly telecommuting gig I enjoyed for 2 years before they pulled it.