I have a few real life observations.
I had an uncle that I wasn't close to. Most likely he had dyslexia as a child. He didn't do well in school. He never drove. He wore pretty thick glasses. He never married. He worked in a diner for 42 years. Walked to work 5 days a week. He lived in a modest senior housing apartment. When he died he was more or less penniless. He did have his final arrangements all straightened out, including providing the undertaker with the suit he wanted to be buried in.
Another familial example. My grandfather was 1 of 11 children. 1 of his sister's, my mom's aunt never married. My great grandparents left my mom's aunt the family home since she was still at home when my GGM passed. Growing up we considered her our aunt, even though she was my mom's aunt. She was a naval officer during WWII. She was a nurse by profession. She never moved out of the family home she inherited. When she passed away, she had a mortgage on the house. She didn't live an extravagant lifestyle. I don't recall how old she was when she passed but she had to be at least 70 if not more.
In both cases you had 2 people who worked for decades, never had kids but pretty much died with not much materially to show for their labor. I try to use other people as my lessons in life. Some people are the example of what to do while others are the what not to do example.
So is it just me or does it seem highly unlikely in both of the above examples that there was a lot of effort with little to show for it. Granted I'm not a big material person but you would think a person would have something to show for 40 years of labor.
I had an uncle that I wasn't close to. Most likely he had dyslexia as a child. He didn't do well in school. He never drove. He wore pretty thick glasses. He never married. He worked in a diner for 42 years. Walked to work 5 days a week. He lived in a modest senior housing apartment. When he died he was more or less penniless. He did have his final arrangements all straightened out, including providing the undertaker with the suit he wanted to be buried in.
Another familial example. My grandfather was 1 of 11 children. 1 of his sister's, my mom's aunt never married. My great grandparents left my mom's aunt the family home since she was still at home when my GGM passed. Growing up we considered her our aunt, even though she was my mom's aunt. She was a naval officer during WWII. She was a nurse by profession. She never moved out of the family home she inherited. When she passed away, she had a mortgage on the house. She didn't live an extravagant lifestyle. I don't recall how old she was when she passed but she had to be at least 70 if not more.
In both cases you had 2 people who worked for decades, never had kids but pretty much died with not much materially to show for their labor. I try to use other people as my lessons in life. Some people are the example of what to do while others are the what not to do example.
So is it just me or does it seem highly unlikely in both of the above examples that there was a lot of effort with little to show for it. Granted I'm not a big material person but you would think a person would have something to show for 40 years of labor.
