Coworker was bitching about her commute - about a 45 min drive, I think, a few towns over. I asked why she lived there and worked here. She looked at me like I was crazy, and said, "What do you mean, why? That's just where I live." To which I replied, "Well, yeah, but you didn't have to live there, or work here. You could live closer." Judging from the look on her face, I don't think she'd ever considered the possibility...
I have another coworker who is literally counting down the days till she reaches retirement age and can quit. Currently she works 6 (12-hr, overnight) shifts per week, has been burned out for ages... but has no money, because she lets her grown kids mooch off of her. She also went on an vacation to Europe a few months ago.
Another fellow employee (from another dept, I don't know her) was talking about our 401K plan and how she'd gone to HR to talk about the possibility of retiring early (by about 2 years). Then she found out about the penalties for early withdrawal, etc. I didn't think there would be any value in pointing out that people who retire early, don't rely on their job investment stuff to do so; they do it independently. Clearly too late for that.
FTR, I work in a hospital. I'm a nursing assistant, CW's 1 & 2 are both RN's, and CW3 is a respiratory therapist.