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Thanks, but I'm almost out of the teen-age business.

But, honestly, here in 'small town' TX (since the invasion) it was very hard for my son to find any kind of job before 18.
Construction, mechanics, factory, WAL-MART, oil field, all had to be 18.....he finally was able to sack groceries & (luckily) mow a few lawns.

My girl did go to work for a FF joint @ 16 for $5.15 p.h. & was rewarded by the 'Captain' (after 6 mos. excellent work) with a WHOLE 5 CENT p.h. *raise*......& this was last year..... so far I haven't found anyone who can recall such a measly *raise*.

"But, honestly, here in 'small town' TX (since the invasion) it was very hard for my son to find any kind of job before 18. Construction, mechanics, factory, WAL-MART, oil field, all had to be 18"

If they didn't have illegals to do the jobs that have to get done, they'd either hire young people or pay older people more money. One way or another, they've got to have cashiers. Construction or factory jobs often can't do anything because of insurance. Retail locations and fast food locations most certainly can, and will, if they have no other choice.

"he finally was able to sack groceries & (luckily) mow a few lawns."

That's the spirit - get the lad out there working. I don't think anyone's ever understood the value of a good day's work until they've been there. Mowing lawns and sacking groceries may not be much fun or well-paying, but it'll teach him valuable lessons.

"My girl did go to work for a FF joint @ 16 for $5.15 p.h. & was rewarded by the 'Captain' (after 6 mos. excellent work) with a WHOLE 5 CENT p.h. *raise*......& this was last year..... so far I haven't found anyone who can recall such a measly *raise*."

Young people always get bad-paying jobs because they have no skills, no experience, no training, and no specialized education. Further, they don't need the money, as they're not raising a family or supporting anyone, so they'll take whatever they're offered. Also, with the number of jobs young people could be doing being taken by illegals who will work harder and cheaper, there are more kids in supply to work at places that will hire kids. The laws of supply and demand say that if you have 10 people looking for 1 job, you can tailor your offer to meet the demands of the most desperate person. That translates to bad pay, no benefits, and no raises.

As a side note, that is a horrible raise. Perhaps she should start looking for another job. It's always easier to get a job when you already have one. That being said, I wouldn't expect too large of a raise (or often any raise at all) in such positions, but $0.05 is ridiculous. My first raise was $0.50/hr at a fast food place where I had worked for about six months and had several customers talk to managers about how wonderful my service was.