Posted on 07/30/2017 9:55:35 AM PDT by canalabamian
NEWARK, Calif. (KTVU) - The high cost of living in the Silicon Valley is taking its toll- even on tech workers.
Just ask Unique Parsha.
She has a job at Facebook and is also homeless, living out of her car.
Parsha's nickname is "Pinky"- she has pink hair, a pink car, and even a pink dog. But she says, things aren't always as rosy as they appear.
photo Parsha says, "I tell people all the time, stop looking at what somebody got and what you see on the outside".
On the outside, Parsha is a model Facebook worker, who runs a non-profit in her spare time. But she's been living out of her car since April.
"Everything I do here, this is my life. This car means everything to me because it's all I have basically".
Except she also has student loans and medical bills. Even with her salary, an apartment can run more than $2,000 per month in Silicon Valley- and that's out of reach.
"I'm very embarrassed because I don't want to be looked down upon or talked about".
Parsha says until now, she hasn't told her co-workers that she's homeless. It's a matter of pride.
"They would be shocked that I'm going through that because they would be like 'I see you smiling at work, you appear to be happy. You look normal, you look clean".
Parsha decided that now is the time to start talking about her situation, in the hopes of opening a real dialogue about the high cost of living in the Silicon Valley.
"I think that companies need to look at the salaries. Are we paying employees enough to survive?"
Tonight, Parsha broke down, renting a hotel room so she can get a real night's sleep.
She says she's trying to stay positive and that a home is just around the corner- and the security that comes with it.
Parsha has only worked at Facebook for two months, but says she is already looking into getting a second job to help make ends meet.
Considering the economic contribution of Facebook, all their employees should be able to afford no better...
The most cynical advertising company ever.
LEAVE silicon valley! It’s just that simple. There’s TV jobs here to be had, but I didn’t even apply there what I was recently looking for work. I KNEW that the standard of living would be lousy due to the housing cost. If talent leaves, the companies will either take action to make housing more affordable, or (HORRORS!) move themselves!
Regarding medical payments: these are even easier to defer than student loans. I am highly skeptical the reason this woman lives in her car is because she is scrupulous about paying off her medical bills.
Food: I am a stress eater, so I understand why she is fat. However, the argument — I am addressing what liberals inevitably argue — that the only reason this woman is fat is that she can afford to buy only junk food is nonsense. Life is hard; people eat. Again, I understand this. But “junk food” is not free, or necessarily even cheap, especially if there is no way you can boil the pasta yourself (because you're living in your car). Have you been to McDonald's lately? Buying only 850 calories can cost more than $12, and in Silicon Valley, it probably costs more than that. To eat what this woman has to consume to maintain that weight, you'd have to spend a great deal of money on food.
You don't necessarily have to live alone. If you post an ad on Craig's list that you have steady employment at a place such as Facebook and would like to rent a room in someone’s place for, say, a year, you will get responses. If you pass a simple internet-based background check, and you can pay a few hundred dollars in cash a month, you'll get a room in someone’s house.
Another thing, this woman was willing to go to the press...why didn't she go to Facebook’s HR department first? The last thing FB as a corporation wanted was an employee -- especially a black woman in lily white Silicon Valley -- giving interviews, telling the world she is forced to live in her car. I'll bet she could have got all the above advice from them, plus some help finding a place to live.
That was my first guess...Food Services.
I knew a well-paid engineer ages ago that lived in his car. He didn’t mind it, and just wanted to save a ton of money.
That word could possibly be “Pink” rather than “Pimp”. Just as silly but in keeping with the pink theme.
When I was younger one generally had "room mates". Suddenly that $2000 apt. is $500.
Is there a reason she doesn't have room mates?
Knowing what her compensation would be why did she move to a high rent area without proper funds
Yes, poor reporting.
Really, does Facebook make anything?
To me, it is just ego-stroking blather.
Time for everyone to opt-out of FakeBook.
I would be interested to see a list of her actual duties at facebook.
She could live with some roommates for awhile as an option.
= = = = = = = = = = =
Of course the roommates would have to be White even if they make the same salary and have the same ‘story’ of success or unsuccess.
I would only ‘room’ with her were she to purchase ALL the food for both of us because she would end up eating all my food etc.
To her credit there appear to be no tats.
Is ‘English’ her 1st language or do we talk in ghettoese?
Of course the pink hair is definitely a plus.
Growing up in the 40s & 50s, I do realize that long about the early 60s the Black population ‘deserved’ something along the lines of ‘Affirmative Action’.
However that should have been phased out and completely gone by the turn of the century.
Like MOST ‘social engineering programs’ once started it is impossible to discontinue them and ‘we’ get stuck with this supposedly ‘feel good’, get a ‘step up’ or an attempt to make it an ‘even playing field’ they never go away and in a lot of cases, it ends up putting people in a worse position than where they started.
I was ‘fortunate’ that I went in the Navy at 17.
A youth (even back then) who went in with roommates at 18, virtually had no idea about bills and there origin, thought the TP grew on that roll etc etc etc
Even when I went into construction in the 70s I was amazed at how many HS grads really had no clue which end of a shovel was the ‘business’ end and most lacked basic work habits.
Admittedly, when I was coming up I am sure all the old timers (25-30+) thought ours/my generation was the generation from hell, stocked with a bunch of whining dummies.
That is about the ONLY thing that hasn’t ‘changed’ since the late JC was ‘mess cooking’:
THE PRESENT GENERATION LITERALLY SUCKS AND HASN’T A CLUE
has been the rallying cry since the Garden of Eden.
Eve was heard to tell Adam she had no idea where Cain & Abels bad manners, slovenly attitude, lack of work ethic etc etc came from.
She could live with some roommates for awhile as an option.
= = = = = = = = = = =
Of course the roommates would have to be White even if they make the same salary and have the same ‘story’ of success or unsuccess.
I would only ‘room’ with her were she to purchase ALL the food for both of us because she would end up eating all my food etc.
To her credit there appear to be no tats.
Is ‘English’ her 1st language or do we talk in ghettoese?
Of course the pink hair is definitely a plus.
Growing up in the 40s & 50s, I do realize that long about the early 60s the Black population ‘deserved’ something along the lines of ‘Affirmative Action’.
However that should have been phased out and completely gone by the turn of the century.
Like MOST ‘social engineering programs’ once started it is impossible to discontinue them and ‘we’ get stuck with this supposedly ‘feel good’, get a ‘step up’ or an attempt to make it an ‘even playing field’ they never go away and in a lot of cases, it ends up putting people in a worse position than where they started.
I was ‘fortunate’ that I went in the Navy at 17.
A youth (even back then) who went in with roommates at 18, virtually had no idea about bills and there origin, thought the TP grew on that roll etc etc etc
Even when I went into construction in the 70s I was amazed at how many HS grads really had no clue which end of a shovel was the ‘business’ end and most lacked basic work habits.
Admittedly, when I was coming up I am sure all the old timers (25-30+) thought ours/my generation was the generation from hell, stocked with a bunch of whining dummies.
That is about the ONLY thing that hasn’t ‘changed’ since the late JC was ‘mess cooking’:
THE PRESENT GENERATION LITERALLY SUCKS AND HASN’T A CLUE
has been the rallying cry since the Garden of Eden.
Eve was heard to tell Adam she had no idea where Cain & Abels bad manners, slovenly attitude, lack of work ethic etc etc came from.
Allow me to once again Quote my Late Father.
“Nobody owes you a living, so shut up and get back to work”.
Have a Fakebook Day.
More “Fake News”
From Zillow.com - Rentals
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Undisclosed address, Fremont, CA 94539, $1,499/month, 1 bedroom, 1 bath, 420 sq. ft., private entrance, walk to Starbucks, market, etc., remodeled full bathroom, mini-kitchenette, full size refrigerator, microwave, 2 hot plates, dishwasher, 4 minutes from Tesla, Thermo Fisher, 5 minutes from Lam Research, 7 minutes from Sandisk, 10 minutes to Broadcom, easy access to Bart Station, No Section 8, we check previous landlords/income verification, criminal history & credit. Shared laundry, no pets, off street parking.
Silicon Valley is notorious for screwing workers. Hire them young/ foreign and cheap, filter out the slightly older and experienced worker. Zuck should fork over more money to his employees. He can afford it.
We were in Vancouver before our cruise to Alaska. Our bus tour guide in Vancouver said that young people love to live there but can’t afford the rent. So it isn’t rare to find 8 of them living in one apartment. Miss Piggy could try that! My son has rented a room in a small house in Santa Ana Calif for many years. There are 3 or 4 guys living there. It is crowded, but cheap!
200K a year for a software developer seems like a great salary, unless your job is in San Francisco ...
She works the nanner and juice box concession
So gentrify Oakland.
facebook may defend itself by saying she is not an actual employee, but only an independent contractor (who’s contract is now up for full review, after this little caper).
Some folks make poor roommates or rent shares because they insist on everything being done to their own satisfaction and feel no need to compromise.
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