For me it was a sort of ... romance of work.
Now, my body won't co-operate and I understand how older men can get crabby.
I miss the work
Ditto.
The coal mine was my intro to management.
I had one of the pit truck drivers come at me with an axe. One of our welders threatened to kill me. (I got a carry permit shortly after.)
We were producing 17.5 tons per man day when I took over. 25 tons per man day one year later.