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How do you deal with the thought of having to work for 40+ years and then when/if you retire, you're too old to do much? (lemmy.world)

submitted 9 months ago by return2ozma@lemmy.world to c/asklemmy@lemmy.world

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There has to be a better system than this.

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[-] kratoz29@lemm.ee 6 points 9 months ago

(I got lucky, since I happened to be passionate about computer programming. I know most other people don't have the same option.)

When I was in high school I was very passionate about PC stuff (I mainly used Linux) and while there were not many careers about this where I live the few related ones I stayed away from them because I felt like turning your hobby into your job would get rid of the fun of it (I still think it to a degree, I see it in many hobby type sectors, like gaming).

I kinda regret my decision nowadays though, but still I feel I wouldn't enjoy my hobbies with timelines and crappy bosses, oh and making them rich in the process ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[-] PhobosAnomaly@feddit.uk 3 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

I love computing in general, it's just fascinating that we put electric into a bit of sand and people can be as creative as making immersive worlds, or be as positive as making lifesaving machinery, or just make Fortnite porn.

I started my post-secondary school study at college, fucking about on a particular study topic with Visual C++ as it was at the time on a winter evening. The kind of evening where it got dark early, you got up in darkness and went home in darkness.

It was towards the end of a particular day, sat at a terminal on such an evening, and the lights were so bright that you couldn't see out of the window but only your own reflection. I saw myself in the window, and honestly thought "fuck, do I really want to be doing this for another fifty years?"

...so I wrapped it that term, banked whatever qualifications I could, and fucked off into a different field where I'm out of the office at different locations most days. I get the benefit of both having a varied career and meeting people from vastly different backgrounds, while getting to go home and enjoy the nerdy tech life.

Admittedly, I have gone back to distance learning to tie off that loose end of working towards a degree in the field.

this post was submitted on 30 Jan 2024

317 points (95.4% liked)

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