An 89-year-old man placed an advert in a newspaper seeking a job to stop him “dying of boredom”.
This breaks our hearts.
Joe Bartley is a war hero from Paignton in South Devon, who lives alone in a top floor flat following the death of his wife Cassie last year.
He retired six years ago, but has decided that retired life just isn’t for him.
During an appearance on Good Morning Britain, Joe revealed that he has so far received a few temporary job offers.
He’s been offered a jobs in various bars and cafes, and a local branch of Tesco offered him seasonal work over the Christmas period.
He gushed to Ben Shephard and Susanna Reid: “I’m absolutely flabbergasted at the comeback.
“As far as I was concerned, I was just an old guy putting an ad in a paper. I’m not a journalist.
“This has all been so wonderful.”
Read more: Watch the moment Cheryl and Liam first met – she was 26, he was 14!
The war veteran continued: “I feel a lot younger being at work again.
“I want to be out meeting people. My life can be rather lonely.
“You come in with the shopping and you have no one to talk to. You’re not in touch with people at all.”
“Plus, I would like to pay my own rent rather than rely on the council.”
Read more: Poorly 10-year-old’s thank-you note to her doctors will destroy you
Joe served as a signalman and wireless operator in the 1940s, and later worked as a coach painter.
He told Good Morning Britain: “I would feel more like Joe [if I was working] now I don’t feel like Joe because I’ve got to depend on the Council for rent and everything else.”
Joe is looking for light jobs such as cleaning tables, working in a kitchen and DIY.
“I don’t care if it is menial work,” he said. “I am a working man and I just need a job.”