this post was submitted on 31 May 2024
66 points (92.3% liked)

Weird News - Things that make you go 'hmmm'

903 readers
65 users here now

Rules:

  1. News must be from a reliable source. No tabloids or sensationalism, please.

  2. Try to keep it safe for work. Contact a moderator before posting if you have any doubts.

  3. Titles of articles must remain unchanged; however extraneous information like "Watch:" or "Look:" can be removed. Titles with trailing, non-relevant information can also be edited so long as the headline's intent remains intact.

  4. Be nice. If you've got nothing positive to say, don't say it.

Violators will be banned at mod's discretion.

Communities We Like:

-Not the Onion

-And finally...

founded 9 months ago
MODERATORS
 

We should not be celebrating this.

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] [email protected] 6 points 5 months ago (10 children)

Why not celebrate it?

The man seems to enjoy his work. As long as he could retire if he wants, there's no problem there, and the article doesn't cover that info.

There's nothing wrong with doing something as work at any age, so long as the worker is given freedom and respect.

This dude wants to keep going, I say party on. Celebrate him being that age and not only in good enough health to keep doing a job he enjoys, but being recognized for having done it well enough to have kept doing it all those decades.

Don't get me wrong, I despise the grind, and I despise the way workers, labor, are treated as a commodity. But when an individual person is happy with their life, and their job is part of that, that's a thing of goodness. This guy has spent his working life getting things where they need to go. That's a pretty damn important job, enough that he's considered an essential worker. Here in the US, truckers are the lifeline that keeps us going. I don't know about elsewhere, but something similar has to be in place for a complex society amd economy to exist at all.

We should a absolutely celebrate a man, a human, having led a life they're satisfied with.

[–] [email protected] 23 points 5 months ago (1 children)

Because no one wants to drive next to a nonagenarian in a fucking semi. Who's even insuring this dude?

[–] [email protected] 10 points 5 months ago (1 children)

Yeah, my family had to convince grandpa around that age not that he was incapable of driving, but that he couldn’t drive anymore because it was too dangerous. Who knows what would have happened if he didn’t have family living close enough to act as his taxi for years until he died. Elderly people legitimately need community access and participation, but I don’t think that should come in the form of driving a semi.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 5 months ago (1 children)

Do your towns not have elderly transport services?

[–] [email protected] 5 points 5 months ago

Where I grew up we didn’t have public transit, period, other than K-12 school buses. If you can’t drive you either ride with friends and family or pay someone to drive you, either of which can easily be an issue for the elderly. Medicare might pay for medical transport to doctor visits, but I’m not positive on that.

load more comments (8 replies)