Posted on 06/04/2018 12:21:03 AM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
In 2008, when the economy took a dump and I got laid off, UC didn't cut the mustard. I found a job. Cleaning toilets. Literally. In a Wally World. The pay sucked, but I had a young son and food, shelter and clothing to provide. I later found a slightly better job, with very few benefits, installing milk tanks and walk-in freezers. Finally, after nearly a year and a half, a job in my own trade.
Busting your rear isn't fashionable, nor is getting sweaty and dirty. It IS self rewarding though.
During the very beginning of my journey through under-employed Hell, my now ex developed a hot gall bladder. No insurance, we went for "help" to the appropriate agencies. Just 3 weeks into unemployment, they told me that I made too much. No kidding. It took three years to pay off the hospital bills, while eating Dollar store mac and cheese and going three years without replacement clothes.
People wonder why I loathe Liberals.
Mike Rowe would probably have been the best choice to head up the unconstitutional department of education.
bmk
Our standard of living is falling so quickly, working the jobs you describe in the NYC area wouldn’t even earn you enough to live within 50 miles of your job - if an employer would even choose you instead of a foreigner (we have millions of them here to replace the fleeing Americans).
I never knew how bad it was until I watched my teen children start working for the same wages I took home as a student 30 years ago - not inflation-adjusted, but THE SAME PAY. Gasoline was less than $1 per gallon back then; EVERYTHING costs more, but they get the same paycheck. Much of the wages associated with the jobs Mike Rowe describes are found in some areas but not others; I’ve only seen a few episodes, but I doubt he does shows in areas where employers prefer plentiful cheap immigrant labor.
Excellent article, 2DV! I agree with it all and am sending it on to others.
Last year my daughter worked at the local pizza joint, her first job. After awhile she came back and said she hated it, the manager was disorganized, couldn’t (wouldn’t) get basic tasks done, etc. After a couple of days of complaining about it I told her to stop complaining, and think of ways she could improve things - even if it meant doing her manager’s job for her.
So she straightened and organized things. Took inventory. Would call other stores so they could get stuff that hadn’t been ordered to their shop. Even running across the street to the grocery store to buy supplies (mushrooms, black olives, etc.) when needed.
She still complained about her manager of course. After she quit to go back to school, the manager’s boss was emailing my daughter if she could come back and just work part time during school. By that time she had already found other work that was more flexible.
Of course making pizzas isn’t rocket science - and it’s not a career. But - the work ethic, management, people skills (irate customers), etc. - one can put those to good use in any career.
I’m a “professional”? consultant. When I’m out on projects the welders, pipe fitters, crane operators.... they all drive nicer trucks than me and talk about better vacations and bigger hunting trips. Now granted, some of them might be in debt to their eyeballs with their $80,000 truck - but I think most of them do very well.
(I tried to get my daughter into welding, but....)
Second, the gallbladder surgery issue really irritates me, and I don't want to get off the topic of this thread too far - but feel the need to comment.
The surgeon's fee for a cholecystectomy is generally $2000 - $3500. Add in the hospital costs, however, and total charges can be anywhere from $12,000 to over $90,000. All Obamacare did was to increase these prices, by a variety of mechanisms. Most places in the world have hospital administrative fees that are between 8% and 15% of costs. In the US it is currently 26% - 29%, and has been rising. You won't see that listed on your bill, but it's there - along with a ton of other hidden costs that are reflected in what your room rate is and the cost of medication, supplies, etc. It's out of control, and it is not driven by physician fees. It's not fair that you got stuck with three years of financial hell because of a gallbladder.
I’m a huge fan of Mike Rowe’s attitude.
Years ago, I lost my job due to the economy. I fed my family by doing lots of handyman work and house painting.
One of my kids just graduated college as an aerospace engineer. His first summer home, he said he needed to find a job. I told him a buddy of mine needed a grunt for his home remodeling company. Within an hour, he was heading toward the jobsite. He worked for him for two summers and learned lifetime skills.
Another son has no interest at all in college and wants to do a trade. 100% support. He’s 18 and just got his Class A CDL to drive semi’s. He has a summer commitment and already has a job lined up in August making over $45,000. A buddy of his works for his uncle’s heavy equipment company. Someone else just offered him $16 an hour to come work for him.
Drug free tradesmen are in a position to almost name their price.
Great story. I love hearing about kids who make it work. A few years ago, I stopped at a Checker’s for a burger and a coke. The girl said the coke machine was broke. I suggested she take $20 out of the till and go across the street and buy cans of coke to serve the customers. She said she’d probably get in trouble. I offered her my phone number and told her if her manager got on her case, have him call me. I’ll set him straight on actual customer service.
The BLS just published a statistic last week that now a record number of Americans are out of the labor force.
[I never knew how bad it was until I watched my teen children start working for the same wages I took home as a student 30 years ago - not inflation-adjusted, but THE SAME PAY. Gasoline was less than $1 per gallon back then; EVERYTHING costs more, but they get the same paycheck. Much of the wages associated with the jobs Mike Rowe describes are found in some areas but not others; I’ve only seen a few episodes, but I doubt he does shows in areas where employers prefer plentiful cheap immigrant labor.]
Work ethic is white nationalism... as is success. I’m sure about that.
https://ilovemyfreedom.org/mike-rowe-got-called-white-nationalist-answer-will-leave-stunned/
I have degrees in geology, pharmacy and a minor in chemistry. I obtained the money to go to school the first time by roughnecking on the drilling rigs. It was hot, dirty and dangerous. It paid well. I was lucky to have that job.
Many years later when I graduated in pharmacy I had only 8000 dollars of debt.
If you are willing to work our great nation will provide you with unlimited opportunities.
Well worth the read. Mike Rowe is da Man.
Thank you for your service.
My parents taught me to do whatever I could to never be a burden to anyone else. Work while in school and have something ready to go at graduation. That was the rule.
We might have been much better off, had not the gall bladder issue arose. As it was, the choice was have a home and food or COBRA. That was easy. You work with a cold or a flu, broken finger or strains and aches. Nothing is supposed to be easy. Those who came before all of us, those settlers and pioneers, now THEY had it tough.
That's the situation here in north Florida. The market for the trades is so tight that HVAC business owners on local radio stations plead for motivated high school grads to apprentice.
Good story and I see this a lot where I work ... a lot of younger people can’t get or keep a job because of drugs.
Last summer DD ended up working in a metal fab shop. Not her first choice, but, long story short, she showed up on time, did her job even on the hot end, didn’t complain or antagonize anybody ... and went home. Came back on time every day all summer. She had to train others of her age group who gave up after a day or two, and she had no patience for them.
Her employers were dropping big hints that if the “college thing” didn’t work out she could go back any time.
I’m glad she worked in a factory just one summer. That and baling hay for Dad and me made her appreciate college and a future accounting job :-)
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