The Town That Never Retired

On tonight's episode they sent in some youngsters to compare with the 70-year-olds from yesterday. The plumber Ashley was outstanding from the first second he walked onto the job. The rest of the

20-year-olds were such a appalling example of "today's yoof" they could be poster-childs for any Daily Wail young benfer scrounger scum campaign.

JGH

Reply to
jgharston
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Is this series propaganda by any chance. The bit I saw smacked of set up.

Brian

Reply to
Brian Gaff

If it appears on BBC, then yes, I agree. These two programmes have attempted to show how we can all work into our 70s, as that is what the government keeps telling us is going to be necessary. But the truth is that even with healthy pensioners, they just don't have the stamina and cannot be expected to be as flexible as 20-year-olds.

The results of the programmes are going to throw the government's plans haywire. The pensioners shown were probably above average. There are going to be many thousands who canot stand for longer periods, do not have the dexterity to manipulate small items, cannot concentrate too well and so on, exhibiting all the signs of natural aging in fact. Imagine 75-year-old bus drivers driving your kids to school? They could have a heart attack or stroke any minute.

No, what is needed is a fundamental re-think of the whole concept of capitalism, because it is now coming to the end of its useful life as fewer and fewer jobs are available due to mechanisation and robot processes.

As for the young people in the second programme, what a bunch of dropouts, largely!

MM

Reply to
MM

but they do seem to drive tour busses. ;-(

Reply to
charles

The pension age will doubtless drift upwards. I will get state pension at

65 and after various increases in age my wife will now get hers a week before her 65th birthday. Fortunately we can get by on savings and private pensions since neither of us is now working. There is a big difference between people continuing to work through rather than having 8 years retired and then going back as happened in the TV programme. Personally many years of stress did my head in and I gave up before I reached 60. Similarly a lot of people would be incapable of demanding work by late 60s I suspect. Of course if the government did not have its dogma over immigration we would only need a third of anticipated austerity measures and the retirement date would not have to go up so quickly.
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Reply to
Hugh - Was Invisible

Any bus or coach driver over 65 has a compulsory medical every year, and the slightest doubt about their fitness to drive removes their licence. We have a few drivers over 70 working for us, and they are as good at their job, within their limits, as the younger ones.

They normally potter around on school contracts and local work for a few hours a day, leaving us younger ones to get on with the touring and other jobs that need more stamina.

They also seem to have less trouble with the kids' behaviour than the young drivers, but that's another thread.

Reply to
John Williamson

Well, yes. But these proposals are of course from politicians. And it would make no difference to anything if they had a heart attack or stroke on the job. Apart from the noise level in the H of C, possibly.

Reply to
Dave Plowman (News)

I have watched it.

There is no way I can do what I do now when I am 70 at the same speed.

Could I still do it? Why not?

BTW we have a new apprentice. There is something seriously wrong with this one. He is interested in what he does, he is a quick learner and is good at his job. And for some reason I liked him the moment I met him (just the way he spoke to me when we met did the trick).

He cannot afford to insure a car so he takes the train to Doncaster and then bikes it from the train station to the unit. He is an absolute pleasure to talk to and is just superb in every aspect of his work. In fact he is causing problems because he is fitting the gear faster than we can get it delivered! And everything he has installed is perfect.

Much better than the tosser that was fired yesterday (that was the one I punched in the bollocks a couple of months ago).

Reply to
ARWadsworth

It won't be a matter of whether you want to work at 70. It will be a matter of necessity (for most people). However you slice the cake, you have retired people and working people, and all pensions (whether funded or not) involve a transfer of income from workers to retired. If that imposte becomes too great, the workers will simply revolt and refuse to pay it. Apart from an annual cull, the only way to keep down the proportion of retired people in the population is to raise the retirement age.

Reply to
GB

My knees have already crapped out and I'm in my mid-40s. Light switches I can do. Sockets and underfloor wiring leaves me in agony.

They do exist! Seems the same as the one in six rate on the TV.

JGH

Reply to
jgharston

I've just done some insulation and boarding in my son's loft. A cross between carpentry and yoga with all that stretching and crouching etc. I reckon 3 hours maximum at my age (69) if I want to be able to move next day.

Reply to
stuart noble

Hearing that has made my day. I'd like to meet his parents. They should be appointed special advisors to the government

Reply to
stuart noble

Balls, sorry to hear that Dave. I hope you are making plans to burn all your money doing as many fun things as you can before it takes the best of you?

Reply to
fred

Take lots of E - apparently its the dogs bollocks for that.

Reply to
The Natural Philosopher

They don't say what job exactly they expect you to be doing.

I suspect it'll be pensioners working for free in Poundland on the tills or stacking shelves via the workfare scheme.

Probably will be nothing at all for younger unemployed who will have to scrounge of mum and dad (if they can) or be left to rot dossing on the streets.

Philip

Reply to
philipuk

Back in 2005 I advised on recruiting a helpdesk operator - I gave them a technical test. The guy we chose had just finished Uni. In the holidays, he advertised a PC-fix service, and because he couldn't drive, picked them up and dropped them off by bus. He was very keen, very quick, and in the space of a year got into developing, and then had a guy under him.

To be fair, my then boss was so impressed, he paid for him to have driving lessons (passed first time).

So not all young'uns are a waste of space.

Reply to
Jethro_uk

Ecstacy? Or Vitamin E?

Owain

Reply to
Owain

Things have changed. There are loads of treatments out there and at your age you will be fine. Take care.

Reply to
Mr Pounder

XTC

Reply to
The Natural Philosopher

If we start working on a time machine now we can go back to the 90s and have at least some hope of getting some clean ones or maybe someone has Alexander Shulgin's phone no?

Reply to
fred

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