Woman Says Seeing Elderly People Working 'Affects Her Soul'
She feels deep empathy for seniors who don't have the option to retire.
Zamrznuti tonovi | Shutterstock Almost 20% of adults over the age of 65 are employed today and the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics projects this number to grow in the coming years.
Yet one woman admits that her “soul is gutted" whenever she sees an elderly person working at a local grocery store or restaurant.
A woman explained why seeing elderly people working 'affects her soul.'
“It's sad to me,” the woman, Jenn, confessed. “And I know that it's not always a sad circumstance that has elderly people work, but to me, in my brain, it goes right to broke or lonely, and that's really sad to me.”
Jenn’s empathy for elderly people runs so deep that she will not even ask the elderly butcher at her local deli to cut her meat, and will purchase pre-cut meats instead.
“It affects me,” she stressed, noting that she didn’t want to put the elderly butcher through any trouble.
A recent interaction with an 82-year-old cashier at Target left her feeling particularly emotionally wounded.
“He told me that his daughter is a nurse and that when she gets out of work, she sits at her kitchen table and does puzzles, and that he taught her that as a kid to calm herself down, and she still does it today,” Jenn recounted. “He was telling me about how proud he was of her. And this man clearly needed somebody to talk to.”
The conversation left her feeling heartbroken and thinking of her own parents, who were approaching their elderly years.
“My parents are in their early 60s. They're both either retired or in the process of retiring. I want them to be able to enjoy the retirement,” she said. “I don't want them lonely. I don't want them broke.”
Jenn admitted that she wished she could have talked to the cashier for the rest of the day just to keep him company.
"I wanted to sit there and talk to that man forever," she said. "I don't want him to have to work anymore."
Many commenters related to the woman's sentiment.
Viewers admitted that they, too, feel a bit gloomy when they notice an elderly janitor or cashier.
“I always wonder what their story is,” one TikTok user commented. “It highlights the moral depravity of our nation. We don’t take care of our most vulnerable, as one of the richest countries in the world. Shameful,” another commenter wrote.
Lysenko Andrii | Shutterstock
The sad truth is that adults are carrying more debt into retirement now than ever.
In 2022, nearly 65% of Americans ages 65 to 74 were in debt, compared to about half of seniors aged 75 and older. In 2024, more than two-thirds of retirees have outstanding credit card debt.
Some of them have no choice but to continue working well into their retirement.
Debt is not the only reason why elderly people continue to work after retirement.
As humans, we are social creatures. We can become lonely and depressed if we are bound to our homes all day with little interaction with other humans.
Before retiring, people have an opportunity to socialize with their colleagues every day and maintain social connections. After retirement, some people have a difficult time coping with the absence of socialization, the silence, and the lack of purpose.
Working at their local grocery stores or restaurants may give them their spark back and the chance to connect with others outside of the house. Others simply enjoy working and getting to know new people!
The next time you are checking out at your local store and notice that your cashier is a bit on the older side, give them some compassion. Ask them how their day is going and give them the chance to chat. You never know how far a quick conversation can go.
Megan Quinn is a writer at YourTango who covers entertainment and news, self, love, and relationships.