This is where we could all be headed

[MadHound]

I went to Wal Mart today to pick up some things(I live in a rural area and Wal Mart is the only place within a few dozen miles where I can get certain items, shoot me). Now I've seen greeters at the door using walkers to prop themselves up, and thought that was rather sad. But today took the cake, the greeter was an elderly man, well into his seventies, seated in his scooter/wheelchair, and he was on OXYGEN.

This is where we are headed, the elderly unable to retire, forced to work despite their disabilities and medical conditions. This is what this bipartisan attack on Social Security and Medicare is going to result in. Old folks, unable to afford to retire, forced to work on and on.

Sad, it was just sad.

[Liberal_in_LA]

1. Two sides to this - glad Wal Mart is willing to give him a job, maybe the man wanted to work?

[ProdigalJunkMail]

4. my dad is 70+ and loves to work

he has a cushy little job that pays OK and let's him play golf for free...perfect job for him. he gets bored sitting around the house. and to be honest, it gives him something to look forward to and feel obligated to...so he is probably taking a little better care of himself than he otherwise might.

sP

[Liberal_in_LA]

15. +1

[RebelOne]

27. I was laid off my job in 2010. I was 70 at the time.

It was not because of my age because three others who were a lot younger than me were also laid off including my boss. I would still be working now if I could find a company to hire me. But I would not want to be a WalMart greeter at minimum wage.

[ProdigalJunkMail]

28. Dad is at minimum wage...but he gets free lunch

and golf whenever he wants. plus he gets to be outside which he loves and a lot of the course members recognize him from his football days (played for a major college back in the leather helmet days...well, maybe not THAT far back). it really is the perfect job for him...he gets sun, exercise, a little food and camaraderie... but I know he would not like a WalMart greeter type of job either.

his life was well managed...even into retirement. he is a hell of a role model. sorry you lost your spot...if dad had been any higher on the pay scale they would have probably let him go in favor of a cheaper resource...

sP

[Lorien]

40. Who wants to work at Walmart at any age?

I never intend on retiring because I hate having nothing to do, but I sure as hell wouldn't fill my time with a retail job by choice!

[ProdigalJunkMail]

42. my wife's grandmother would do it in a second...

she's lonely and would jump at the chance to be a greeter at Wally World. it would be perfect for her...

sP

[exelwood]

49. Any Hampton Inns in your area?

Or any of that chain that give free buffet breakfasts from 6-11 AM. They ALWAYS hire retired ladies to be the "breakfast lady". She sets up, keeps things filled up, then puts things away and home by noon. They use older women because it turns out everyone likes to have a granny bustling around at breakfast. :)

[Enthusiast]

46. No one is objecting to the elderly working

if they choose to do so.

[ProdigalJunkMail]

48. the main thrust of my post is that some DO love the work

while the OP seemed to be suggesting that this person was having to work despite wishing to NOT be working (and never spoke to the person involved to find out what his situation was).

sP

[MadHound]

5. An elderly man, unable to walk, on oxygen, shouldn't be working

He is causing himself harm, and could cause a major problem for others.

And do you honestly think that if you were in his shoes that you would still want to be working? I know I wouldn't to be.

[Liberal_in_LA]

13. I see your point but I can't say how I'd feel in his circumstances.

is it harmful to others that a person in wheel chair with oxygen be out in public?

[MadHound]

17. I didn't say it is harmful,

But rather a major problem, since his risk for having a catastrophic medical disaster is rather high.

[Liberal_in_LA]

22. ok.

[scarletwoman]

39. Yeah. Better he be home alone so if he has a "catastrophic medical disaster" no one will have to

witness it. He can just quietly die out of sight.

[dtexdem]

23. That's between him and is doctor -- but his choice.

Assuming, of course, that he has a choice about whether or not to work.

[gateley]

21. He may HAVE to work. :( nt

[Liberal_in_LA]

26. yes, I understand that.

[Shireling]

45. The point is

that many have lost their savings, their dreams, and don't even have enough money to care for their serious medical conditions. THANKS TO WALLSTREET, ETC.

If more cuts are made to the already extremely small Social Security and Disability Social Security checks and Medicare, this could be our future.

If you guys keep saying you want to work when you get old, the wealthy and greedy who own this country just might make sure that you do.

PLEASE do miss the point.

[Jim_Shorts]

51. Exactly....and don't pat Wallmart on the back

Wallmart might be the worst wage killing, union busting, small business destroying company in the U.S.of A.

They get a 2-fer by hiring an elderly man, a needed low paid employee and a good public relations move at the same time.

This elderly man may(?) be the one in a five hundred that actually wants that job but he is doing Wallmart a BIG,BIG favor by taking it.

[secondwind]

2. I feel for you, but maybe this guy just wants to get out of the house for a couple of hours,

[MadHound]

9. There are other ways of getting out of the house than working,

Ways that are a lot less stressful, both physically and mentally.

[virgogal]

3. I'm elderly. Lots of us WANT to work.

[MadHound]

7. Are you unable to walk, and require oxygen? n/t

[TBF]

20. And that's fine while you're healthy -

my mom is in her 60s and works part time in fast food. I think she likes getting out and the little extra money.

I can't see her doing it in her 70s-80s with an oxygen tank however, nor should she have to.

[nichomachus]

25. Not me. I want to PLAY.

[Fire Walk With Me]

6. I believe the Anaheim convention center hires local retirees to patrol and serve.

Nice folk, happy to be active and helpful. And in some places in Japan, aren't some active elderly given work gardening public greenery?

But with WalMart, it's more like a cynical manipulation than something good-hearted...well, at least he can make some money doing that. :shrug:

[MadHound]

11. Key word, "active".

This man can't walk, and is on oxygen. I don't consider that "active".

[Fire Walk With Me]

24. Yep, that's why I qualified it. But WalMart is like Disney. Putting a clean, happy mask upon

pure greed and manipulation.

[Lunabelle]

8. Don't feel bad about shopping at Wally world

They have bought all of rural America!

[monmouth]

10. I have my app to work at Macy's part-time for the holidays. Here's hoping...n/t

[MadHound]

12. I hope you get it as well,

But are you still able to walk? Are you going to have to tote around oxygen?

[monmouth]

18. Able to walk, breathe free, thank goodness..n/t

[woo me with science]

14. K&R

[Capitalocracy]

16. BANG!

Take that, Wal-Mart shopper! :nuke:

But seriously, totally agree.

[TBF]

19. Madison, Wall Street, it builds -

If WalMart Greeter is what we all have to look forward to you can bet people are going to figure out they have nothing to lose.

:toast:

[scarletwoman]

29. You are making an awful lot of assumptions here. Did you bother to talk to him?

You most certainly do not know whether he felt forced to take this job for financial reasons, or whether he wanted to continue to feel useful in the world, despite his physical limitations.

You do not know, for instance, how many hours he works a week.

You do not know, for instance, whether he simply enjoys interacting with the public and is glad for the opportunity to do so.

You do not know, for instance, what his retirement income may be. Perhaps he works only enough hours not to impact the taxation rate on his Social Security.

You do not know, for instance, whether having this job is a source of personal pride for him. You are assuming it is an oppressive situation purely out of your own pre-judgement about the quality and worthiness of that job.

Assuming that you did not actually interact with this man, you really have no idea why he made the choice to take this job. He obviously made this choice or he would not have been there.

I wonder if your disturbance over this man's situation may be more rooted in your own personal discomfort over witnessing the ravages of age and ill health than it is in any sort of compassion. And I wonder if the truth is that you would prefer not to see someone whose body is less than wholly functional out in public view.

On the other hand, I do not wish to pre-judge you any more than I think you ought to pre-judge why this elder was working as a greeter for Walmart. At least you and I are in a situation in which we can discuss this matter. Perhaps if you encounter this elder again, you can engage him in conversation and learn his actual reasons for doing what he is doing.

sw

[MadHound]

32. You know something, in 1935, after FDR submitted his Social Security bill,

There were amoral arguments very similar to yours used by the Republicans in order to try and defeat Social Security.

[scarletwoman]

34. You looked upon this man as a laboratory specimen on which to base to a political argument.

You did not make human to human contact with him in order to find out what his story is, you simply assumed that he was an unwilling and unwitting victim with no autonomy, no choice, no self-will.

The fact is, Social Security exists NOW, and there is no reason to assume that he is not collecting it, if he is of the age you guess him to be.

It's possible that his Social Security payments are insufficient to his needs, but YOU DO NOT KNOW THAT, because you did not stop to ask him about his situation.

If your proclaimed concern for this man's fate were genuine, you would have engaged him right then and there and enquired as to his well-being. But that would mean you would have had to see him as a distinct human being, instead of just an oxygen hose and a scooter.

sw

[MadHound]

35. Wow, OK, you're going on a rant that I don't want to ride along with

You're reading far too much into far too little. There is no reason to even attempt a dialogue with you, good night and good luck.

[scarletwoman]

38. Nor do I wish to ride along with someone who professes concern for humanity at large but has not

bothered to learn the true situation of this particular human being he encountered before painting him as a cautionary tale.

[JI7]

30. actually i find most of the old Walmart Greeters WANT to work, they enjoy that job

the others who work there don't like it too much. but the greeters usually do. and many don't have to work ither but want to.

[alphafemale]

37. The greeters do seem pretty happy about their jobs.

It's not like they're making that O2 Dude cart jockey in the rain.

He gets a chance to talk to people all day, while mostly doing the same sitting around he'd be doing in his lonely little home talking to the TV and the plants.

So they are hiring seniors in these positions, many of whom are not really capable of doing other jobs, and in a position that is invented and completely unnecessary; it's one of the few things WalMart does that is somewhat commendable.

[sabrina 1]

31. When I flew into Phoenix about two and a half years ago in the

middle of the night and had to wait to be picked up as my NY flight had been delayed by five hours, I was almost alone in the airport except for the cleaning woman. She looked to be in her seventies, out at that time of night, pushing around a heavy cart, and basically alone in the airport as all of the food vendors etc. were gone for the night. My heart went out to her and I wondered why she was there.

Shame on America. We can do better than this.

[leftstreet]

33. Does it bother you when a young, healthy person is SprawlMart Greeting for shit wages?

Because that's what this O2 dude is making

I'm not interested in why people labor where they do, just what they're being paid

[MadHound]

36. Then you are taking a rather narrow view of the world there,

Not everything is about money.

[Cherchez la Femme]

41. More than sad: it's a sin

[seabeyond]

43. my dad is 72. he works because he wants to and doesnt want to sit around all day doing nothing

he has golf, watching sports and work. he enjoys it. he keeps trying to retire and gets bored adn goes back to work

when seeing the old in walmart or our local grocery store, i dont assume they are there cause they gotta. i dont know. some people, it is their only people interacting time.

[blindpig]

44. Oh, but they choose to work......

they choose not to starve.

This is capitalist 'freedom'.

[mother earth]

47. Yes, slave labor right to the end. It's an abomination.

[KansDem]

50. Here you go! Here's where we're all headed!

Welcome to Costco...

[Doc Holliday]

52. I feel for the guy.

Me, I'm so po' that I'll be working for at least another two to three years after I'm cremated.