@mollymalone I agree with most of your comments. I am retired military. When I retired, I completely retired although I do a fair amount of charitable work that I really enjoy.
Those people that snickered about my old “classic” Saab; they took civilian jobs after they “retired”. I had one guy ask me how I could afford to retire. I just smiled. I worked hard and lived below my salary.
Also, I take care of my “stuff”. I am still driving my 1985 Mercedes-Benz 300D (now 15 years and still running great). I always joke that I will be buried in that car.
I digress. I feel for many of the government employees, but I hope this will be a wake up call to all. You cannot live paycheck to paycheck. You need to defer a little of that instant gratification and have something set aside because things do happen.