OK still-born-albatross...
You've driven me to it....
"I want to work to 65, I know it's going to shaft you but at this stage in life I really don't f*cking care.................................."
From the mindless ramblings of acerbic hatred that you direct towards your colleagues, you are clearly still reasonably young, in your early 30s at the most I would say; however, you have the intellect of a teenager.
A lot has changed in the world and indeed this company over the last 20 years.
Since the heyday of the late 80s we have seen
1. The introduction of the B (and subsequent) scales.
2. The introduction of ASL.
3. The slashing of A scale salaries in 1999.
4. The disaster of July 2001.
5. SARS
6. The current economic mess.
I find it hard to imagine that anyone one of us can have organised his retirement provisions to cater for where we find ourselves now.
Everyone suffered as a result of the ASL shambles, commands slipped almost overnight from 5 years to 10 years. Guys grumbled but really we just got on with life, with an expectation that retirement would begin at 55 with much less gold in the pot than previously expected, or hoped for.
The opportunity to retire at 65 is becoming the world-wide norm. It happened recently at British Airways and yes command time there has slipped. These things happen, it IS going to happen here, one day.... maybe sooner, maybe later than we all think. But yes, it is going to happen. I will pity those of you who joined and whose command has now slipped to perhaps the age of 40. Most of us here who have been lucky enough to get a command were in our 40's when the day came, why should you be any different.
I'm afraid that it is the narrow, short sightedness of the likes of you that have made my mind up.
"I really don't care, get some time in!"