The helicopter arrived a little late due to the winds. Their passengers are our “own” Sir Taki -Takis Theodorakopoulos by the world- and his wife Princess Alexandra von Schonberg. “The pilot was in the Army,” he commented, with a clear hint of admiration, as wise men who know the importance of the military profession does. “So young,” he inquired, bringing up a topic that has been troubling me for some time. It was three years ago when he attended a reunion of old classmates for the 40th anniversary of our high school graduation. What was my surprise when, during the dinner that followed, most of those present announced that they had retired. “So I’m the only one working to pay your pensions?” was my reasonable remark, which caused embarrassment in the company. At the risk of being labeled a “Germanic”, we had to go bankrupt in order for a tax to be paid to the insurance company. On the other hand, I understand the pain of the 2,500,000 pensioners who saw their incomes “cut”, but I cannot tolerate the phenomenon of relatively young people, especially military personnel, whom we “paid in gold” to study, leaving from the public sector, burdening the State Budget for decades. I know there are specifics and age limits in some professional categories, but again the question I will ask is not rhetorical. By what criteria is a military helicopter pilot “old” to retire, and “young” to pilot a private helicopter?