It was then that the picture of the lady who I met sometimes at the check-in counter came to mind. I realized that over here in America a lot of people hold jobs even after they are past 60. At the airport a lot of the workers there are well in their 70s. It was a bit unusual for me the first time because back home most of the elderly people do not work.
I also noticed that most a lot of the air-hostess on my flights were in their 50s-60s. Now this is very different from what we have in Ghana. I don't even think you can apply for an air-hostess job if you are above 30. Most times it is even required that your body should have model-like proportions.
Being the African that I am and with the respect we have for the elders, sometimes I feel bad when I see people above 60 working. There was this time when one of the older air-hostess was trying to push a bag into the carry-on bag compartment. I was feeling very bad seeing her struggle to close the door and I got up to help her even though I knew it was part of her job.
I think there might be a lot of reasons why people work even after they are past the retirement age. It could either be financial reasons or maybe they just want to work so they can be busy. Either way I hope we have systems in place in Africa that would make sure that there is no age discrimination when applying for jobs
I believe the extended family system is not operable there, and some do it to avoid loneliness and not necessarily because of the money.
ReplyDeleteOur culture makes it mandatory for us to take care of our aged parents, and the official retirement age is 60. But due to the economy now, aged parents operate small time business to continually fend for themselves while the children support.