Everyone has seen the retiree working as a Walmart greeter. Everyone wonders whether the retiree works for the joy of interacting with people or the desperation because money is tight. Everyone shivers at the thought that this might be them in 20/30/40 years.
From the July/August 1955 NorthWestern Newsliner, the internal magazine of the Chicago-Northwestern Railway Systems:
Retired Conductor Edward H. Huddleman, 70, passed away June 12 at Mason City. Since retirement in 1950 he had operated the elevator at Mercy hospital, Mason City.
Reading other gossip in the magazine shows many people working their entire careers until retirement at CNW. Unknown whether Edward did this voluntarily or he discovered that his railroad pension didn’t go far enough, but definitely sounds like he became much the same as Walmart greeters, smiling as everyone walked his way. Uggh.
