[quote=bearishgurl][quote=AN][quote=SK in CV]Why should they work in 911 centers or schools or in the office if they can afford and prefer being retired? You think they should be forced to work? Should everyone be forced to work until they’re over 60 or just cops and firemen?[/quote]
How many profession in the private sector can afford to retire before 60?[/quote]
How many professions in the private sector put their lives on the line every day and typically have MUCH less than stellar working conditions (clean cubicle/office, multi-line phone, computer and gadgets at their constant disposal, restroom and lunch nearby, etc, etc).
AN, do you think hanging out on the streets of San Diego County (or its fwys) are more “fun” than what you, as a “white collar” worker are doing everyday?
IIRC, jimmyle’s neighbor is living close to the SD substation where EVERY SD street cop begins his/her “lofty” career:
Drive to SE Division Stn. Park in the parking lot. Lock your “luxury” car. Start walking eastbound. Get to know the folks out there. And … have a nice life![/quote]
I note nobody has actually answered my question of whether everyone should be forced to work until their over 60 or just cops and firemen. I don’t know the circumstances of the retired cop in the original post. Maybe he has a rich wife. Or he saves pretty well.
What I do know is that BG is right. It’s only anectodotal, but my brother has been a SD cop for over 30 years. He’s 55 years old. He’s had 2 knee surgeries, 2 back surgeries, 2 shoulder surgeries, and needs a knee replacement and a shoulder replacement. It’s been more than 15 years since he went to sleep pain free. Every one of those injuries are work related. He’s been shot at twice, had a brick dropped on his head, and hit with a baseball bat in the back. He’s worked SE, and vice, and robbery, and homicide and arson. I’ve been trying to convince him to retire on disability, but he likes his work, so he hasn’t.
His wife has been a cop for about a year less. For the last 15 years or so, she’s been working with CPS, pulling kids out of dangerous homes. She’s had at least 4 surgeries from work related injuries. She comes from a family of addicts, so she doesn’t drink or take pain meds for fear that she’ll get addicted. So she sucks it up every night, despite the pain from her torn rotator cuff surgery. She could retire on disability too, but she likes her work.
Both of them will be retiring before they’re 60. Between the two of them, they’ll have pensions a bit over $100K a year. Somebody here really think they haven’t earned it?
