Out with the old......

Ah, the sky is blue, the birds are singing, the rain has stopped and the jackhammer is hammering away across the road! I feel better today after getting that rant off my chest last night!!!

It's Monday morning, but that's not a problem, as I haven't found a low paying, long hours with next to no time off job yet! The latest great news on the job hiring front is that Singaporean companies are very ageist as well. Over 30 is considered to be getting past it out here. Yippee!

Read an article last week about a woman getting shafted in her job because of her age and she was only 45! To make matters worse, the old age pension is so low out here (worse for women, who usually don't have enough credits built up as they work less), that unless one of your kids looks after you, you will have to take a menial job cleaning in a food court to survive. Couple those 2 factors together and it's God help you if you lose your job in your 40s! Indeed you do see some really old people working there, usually long hours and getting paid peanuts of course. First world economy? I don't think so!

Not surprisingly then, the main reason that a lot of people in Asia (e.g. China and here) have kids is so that they will have someone to look after them when they get old. That's pretty selfish, but understandable, given the bleak outlook. Maybe people in the West have kids for the same reason, but it's not so obvious. Despite their best plans, some people don't toe the line, thus forcing their elderly parent(s) to take a menial job. You'd have to wonder what kind of person would force his/her 75+ year old mother to do such a thing. Makes you proud to be human, doesn't it?

That's my thought for today!