Newest coworker is oddly elderly for his position, which is entry level laboratory stuff. Pressing a button on a machine and writing down the results basically. He's nice enough and friendly. Not great at his job but he's only worked for about two months so that's natural, plus again he's on the older side, at least late 60s or early 70s.
Just learned today that he was retired, he's on a pension, and he knew the owner from some business connections or something. Owner invited him to spend time at the company a few days a week. Dude is cosplaying as a worker. He doesn't even have experience in this role, he was an accountant or something for a similar industry, then management for decades, and now he's doing grunt laboratory labor for fun or something? What the fuck is going on
Dude I'm super glad you can have a job out of boredom. Some of us have to work for a paycheck and pay rent. Really glad that your retirement is so unfulfilling you can mingle with people who have student loan debt. Really cool that you can use the workplace as your adult day care so you don't have to spend time with your wife or grandkids.
I don't know how to feel about this and it's instantly made stuff super awkward. I'm upset at his mere existence. Like my workplace is a soul erasing facility where I begrudgingly drag myself so I have healthcare and an apartment. This guy has a pension and Medicare and shows up with his thermos and steel toes like "hello fellow proletariat"
Edit: ok to be clear, this guy in his own words, plus the testimony of other coworkers. He's told me he's materially comfortable, owns multiple houses, and has far more than enough money stay retired forever. He's showing up at a job just to have something to do. Which wouldn't be so off-putting if it were something more interesting but this is glorified data entry.
Like go volunteer at a shelter, dude.
There is something incredibly sad to me about this kind of guy. He really made it to retirement with the ability to do so comfortably and he gets an entry-level job to get out of the house? He has nothing he'd rather do? No friends or family he wants to spend time with? No hobbies he'd like to indulge in? No interests he wants to pursue? Nothing? God what a sad empty life
It is also frustrating that he's taking an entry-level coded job from someone that actually is trying to get their life started/pay off student debt/start a career. It's already hard enough for young people to get started now a days without bored retiree landlords looking to fill the time till they die. Like you said, if it's just about connecting with people/staving off loneliness he could be volunteering somewhere more stimulating/rewarding. This guy can't imagine a way to fill his time that isn't work. I'm split between pitying this poor bastard for having such an empty life and being pissed at him for squandering an opportunity that most people my age will never have (that is actually being able to retire and be in a position to enjoy it)
Yeah this was what I was trying to communicate. This guy is both sad and frustrating to me. Really I shouldn't care because I get paid regardless and he's not really malicious towards me. He's actually kinda funny and charming, also he's gotten donuts a few times and made sure at least a few were vegan for me. But learning these facts about him really put a divide down mentally between him and me.
It feels patronizing. When I had an entry level job like his I was barely scraping by, got malnourished a few times, had student debt weighing me down (still do honestly). And this guy wants to try it for fun. I don't know how to feel.
You hit the nail on the head when you said he's cosplaying as a proletariat, and I don't know where the other posters are coming from when they disagree. Between his retirement savings and landleech income he does not need this job, it's literally play for him ie a way to entertain himself. He personally might seem like an okay guy in this context but I doubt he'd be as understanding if one of his tenants fell on hard times and was struggling with rent.
Maybe I'm just bitter because I've been through the ordeal of searching for an "entry level" job (all still require experience of course) and this bozo has one handed to him because he's buddies with the owner and can't think of literally anything else to do other than do mind numbing button pressing. I'd kill for the opportunity to have an enjoyable retirement and this fucker is squandering it while fucking over younger workers who need the job.
If I was in this guy's position I'd splurge on random expensive hobbies and stuff. Idk like expensive camera gear and take pics of critters in the forest and sell postcards.
Right!? There's literally an endless list of stuff I'd do with free time and even a modest/livable income before I got a boring job like that. Money is wasted on the wealthy