Posted on 02/24/2005 9:12:40 AM PST by Willie Green
A waitress at one of my favorite Strip District restaurants last week used one of the industry's oldest cliches. She delivered a meal and reminded me that she "really didn't do this" for a living.
Waiting tables, she explained, was simply something she was doing until a well-paying job opened up in the field she studied during six years in college.
While this is rote conversation for wait staff in places like New York and Los Angeles, where everyone with a tray of linguini in their hands is waiting for a slot on NBC's "Fear Factor," it's unusual for Pittsburgh.
Or is it?
The waitress, it turns out, spent all that time and nearly $150,000 of her family's money studying social sciences, but after graduating she became disappointed with the entry-level salary of her chosen field.
"I can make, like, twice what I'd make as a social worker waiting tables," she confided, "so I'm probably going to just stay here."
(Excerpt) Read more at pittsburghlive.com ...
The problem with Liberal Arts degrees is they don't give you a foundation for doing any job. When someone hires a LA grad, they know they have to teach them the very basics of any job.
"You know a RN that works 3 days a week? Most I have met work 6! "
I work 3 12's- cardiac critical care. Best move I ever made. I was laid off in the 80's from a tech job. I took the severance and went back to school. Figured we would never run out of sick people. Plenty of time for family and a small side business.
Seems you did not look hard enough. I'm in the utility biz and they've been paying starting salaries of $30000+ for 5 years or more.
"So someone who actually makes something, as oppossed to someone who waits for other folks to make somethng and then grabs the value of the trading of that thing so made -- that maker of real things -- just a peon. Of no value."
What's the demand for baskets vs the demand for financial services? hmmmmmmmm?
What's required to make baskets vs what's required to put together an M&A deal? Hmmmmm?
Later in this article there is a story of a guy who "attended two very expensive years of training at Orlando's prestigious Motorcycle Mechanics Institute, where he graduated near the top of his class as a four-stroke engine technician." Later, he finds out that it is "hard work." and turns working as check-out clerk at convenience store. Too bad for him. He could have been in the bucks.
"If you want your children to be rich, get them into a trade school for air condition/heating, diesel repair, plumbing, electrical work or auto repair"
Amen.
Elite colleges now charge $40,000+ a year, with housing and meal plan.
University of Arkansas (my experience was not typical). Anyway, I was so thankful to have that 19K job I probably would have stayed there a good while, but they annoyed me with their low raises, so I went and found a job with a state gov't (regulating drinking water) for about 34K. I've moved on from there, but still in the environmental field. Plan to get my P.E. one of these days, as I've already satisfied the experience & EIT requirements.
Really?
I graduated in the fall of 98, and started at $49K. Granted, I had to work hard to get that job.
What type of work were you looking into?
I thought MIT was $25,000 a year a long time ago. Don't forget tuition doesn't include books or meals and so on and if the kid is studing certain things - the books are outrageous. My daughter-in-law had to pay $400.00 for a book for nursing.
My 16 year old son wants to be a cop. Any advice, FReepers?
Are you doing yoga while posting? Sounds like it.
College falculty pushes these weak studies so that they can have weak students. Weak students buzzed on drugs and booze are easier to seduce for sex, and the kids are more willing to risk breaking the law to bring more pot and other drugs to the teachers.
3 days a week, 12 hours a day, $39 an hour. She takes 4 weeks off a year and still grosses over $65K
>>Any Freeper's with some experience in the dance world?
I don't, but I know aerobics instructors who pull down pretty good money teaching to rich housewives in their homes. And gigs at the local exercise facilities also help supplement. Obviously not something you can do forever, but she should take some business classes and maybe turn it into her own business.
Nothing is an excuse for not going after a good education. The bell shaped curve takes care of who succeeds and who fails. This thinking that we shouldn't compete in life is as loony as Clinton having a BJ in the oval office.
My roomate and best man is a cop. Seems that the factors that would have helped him obtain a job sooner were (a) being a minority and (b) having military service bonus points. The college degree was a necessity as well.
Annual in-state tuition, room/board, books and other fees at Penn State is $18,326. Times 4 years = $73,304.
Well, I majored in history and am now on my third career. I graduated from college more than 30 years ago, so I have achieved a modicum of success in each field.
The waitress in the story proves, I guess, that not everyone needs or should go to college. On the other hand, it may be just as simple as this: She's got rocks in her head.
Fiat Lux et Veritas!
Viva Bush!
The quality of job one gets depends on what degree one gets, internships and etc. And some fields pay better and are in more in demand than others. Consider nursing and accounting.
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