In a private ceremony, heavy with emotion, the silences broken only by muffled sobs, two friends, inseparable in death as in life, departed this life having served faithfully, resolutely and without complaining about retirement benefits or pension shortfalls. They weren’t ill, simply worn out after a lifetime of devotion to their employer. They weren’t downtrodden or dismissed as servile as many of their contemporaries often are, but treated with respect for the important role they played. But now time had overtaken them. They could no longer provide the standard required.
So, as a lone piper played a lament on a distant hillside, the inevitable took place, as my loyal, comfortable, but hole ridden slippers were consigned to the bin.
Robert Snaith's blog 