There's a lot of retired people where I live.

It's just a function of what people choose to do when they've spent their life working, and then finally, once they have the means to, choosing a lifestyle they'd always dreamed of.

Lots of sunshine, temperate climate, crashing waves, white sandy beaches. We homo sapiens flock to it. And so it's newly weds and "nearly deads".

What it means for me is when walking on the beach I will often bump into neighbours (picking on the retired ones here), and sometimes we'll walk together.

Reflecting on the conversations, what's striking is how we accommodate in our minds for the mistakes we've made.

This makes sense because regret is a bitter pill and makes you a miserable person. Nobody likes that. Hands up who wants to hang around a miserable old fart who's always harping on about how life screwed him over?