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I wasn't going to say anything about the previous board until I read one particular post.Bacon, I wish you were drunk, if not you're just a major dick
Posted by
Trish (aka trisha)
Sep 14 '13, 00:39
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Your post:
"The people having a problem finding jobs are not the ones making minimum wages. They are middle class, they have skills."
-- Bacon (aka redmond) Sep 13, 18:45
"The job market for that skill took a hit and there are more of them than the market requires."
--No, the market is still there, but not every state is Oregon or Washington. The majority of states use the federal minimum wage and that's what the fast food places pay. They also just want part time people so they don't have to pay benefits.
"Go to a Burger King and ask for a job and they probably have one for you."
--No, no, they really don't. They want young people in their teens to mid 20s and retired people. Fast Food managers don't tend to hire people who can have their job inside of 6 months.
"Middle Class people can't afford to work there, even at 10 bucks an hour. They are looking for work in their trade or they are switching trades."
--Yes they do end up taking minimum wage jobs. Sometimes there aren't ANY jobs in their previous trade or a different one. There are many places that pay minimum wage, not just fast food places.
"Truman did not apply at get a job at Burger King. So you are using a horrible example."
--Truman has been looking for a different job for several YEARS. He absolutely loathed his job and boss. I'm glad you're fat and sassy with your job, but sometimes circumstances interfere when you least expect them to. As for your original complaint about not getting a raise for the last 3 years while Oregon law has raised the mw, that's comparing apples and oranges. You can pick up any financial magazine and read stories about the lack of raises for the ordinary employee. Something like 70% of corporations have failed to give raises in the last 5 years, except for senior management. It's not the fault of people making mw that you aren't getting a raise. You're either working for a company trying not to go under or one run by jerks. You could also be a suck ass employee, but you'll have to figure that out on your own. Every day you can make a choice whether you'll be a jerk or a nice person. I suggest you start picking the latter.
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After Mark had been on unemployment for 9 months, he took the only job he could find, temporary part time (32 hours) at Walmart for the Holiday Season. The job ran from November 2012 to December 31, 2012. His take-home pay was less than his weekly unemployment benefit, but he stuck it out because he said he felt better working. 2 weeks after the job ended, Walmart called him back and offered him permanent part time (again 32 hours) in the grocery dept. He took it. The pay was 15 cents more than minimum wage, but it is the biggest employer in the county after the Air Force and they were not and are not hiring any civilians because of budget cuts. Even though the job was boring and he hated it, he made it a point to learn everything about it. Management noticed and in April, they called him in and said he was going to be mentored by the shift supervisors to be groomed for management. This involves learning all the departments, so a month ago he transferred to what's considered the hardest job in the store, the deli. He got a raise for doing it, but he works until midnight almost every night and that sucks. So back in July, I finally sucked it up and admitted to myself that I wasn't going to be able to work again and applied for disability. I did it online and was surprised when I got a call from an SS rep who told he that I would probably qualify for SSI in addition to regular disability because of our income. After doing a phone interview he told me that we were actually under the poverty level for a family of 2 and were considered living at subsistence level. I was pretty shocked. I knew things were tight, but I didn't realize it was that bad. We've been eating a lot of Mac & Cheese and peanut butter, cut back on a lot of stuff, but we're (barely) making it. I have no idea how people with children do it. So now because of my condition and our income, they're fast-tracking my app. He told me that it normally takes 5 to 6 months to get approved and they were going to push mine through in 2-3, so there is light at the end of the tunnel.
So, circumstances. Here's a story of circumstances. It's long, but it shows an unapologetic look at just how a man with a great education and a job he loves can end up making slightly more than minimum wage. I kind of doubt that you have the concentration required to finish and comprehend it, but I'll throw it out there anyway. I hope you do read it and think really hard about the shit you posted tonight. I wouldn't wish what we've been through on my worst enemy, but it can happen to anyone.
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Mark has a Masters in history and political science. He had always had very good jobs. Right out of college he took a job as a construction manager in Alaska so he could build up a bankroll. His degrees didn't help, but working construction for 5 summers did. After 3 years he moved to Seattle and lived with several of his fraternity brothers. He worked at Chili's for about 3 months before he got a job as a product manager for a wholesale shoe import company. He made pretty good money for a guy in his 20s. He also didn't just sit behind a desk. He unloaded trucks, pulled together orders-tiny to monster, chased down shipping problems and managed 6-8 guys who worked under him in the warehouse. By the time I met him, the company had evolved. His old boss George,(rest his soul)really had a knack for predicting the shoe market. He had divided the company in half, each carrying one product (with numerous skews). One was imported from Lebanon and the other from Sweden. Each line was the number one seller in the US. Mark was given control of the Swedish line. He excelled, made great money, learned fantastic customer service skills, learned importing and customs and shipping, he was an all around expert. A couple of years after that, George decided to retire (at the age of 72). He sold his business quickly, it was easy because it was highly profitable. He has around 50 employees and treated them all like family, he showed them love and respect and got it returned 10-fold.
So this new guy bought the business. George had asked that he keep all the employees, everyone had worked there at least 2 years and were devoted to their jobs. The new guy agreed verbally. Unfortunately, he didn't care about the employees. He felt that there were too many and he wasn't making enough profit he earned at least 100K per month after all expenses and salaries were paid but he wanted more. Within 3 months he had terminated every department manager, supervisor, the entire accounting dept, the HR lady and the 2 VPs of the shoe lines. He also got rid of most of the warehouse staff. By the time he was done, there were about 10 guys left in the warehouse. He did away with half the jobs where people were terminated and he filled the others with his friends. Of course, Mark was one of the first to go. We always figured it was because he knew everything about the company and it made the new guy feel inadequate. The company went bankrupt within 18 months.
Mark was unemployed for 2 weeks. He got a job with Sharper Image making a decent salary plus commissions. In 2 months he was an Asst. Manager. He showed up on time, didn't bitch, and drew on his natural skill for customer service. He worked there for a bit over a year when he got a phone call out of the blue. It was one of his former retail customers at the shoe company. Actually, it was his biggest customer. This dude handled several wholesale and retail lines--school uniforms, chef's supplies and apparel, personalized corporate swag, etc--he had just purchased the Swedish shoe line from the new company owner and he offered Mark the job of managing it. Even better, he said Mark could telecommute, only going to the company HQ in Minnesota 3-4 times per year. He offered Mark more than he was making originally, set up a couple more phone lines in our apartment, shipped out a couple of office machines and got the line up and running within 2 weeks.
Mark loved it. He could roll out of bed and go to work. He took calls from retail customers, sales reps, and the warehouse all day long. Fixed issues with orders, vetted new retail customers, worked with the sales reps, put in orders, balanced the AR, produced commission reports and even collected overdue accounts, I mean he did it all. We even moved from Seattle to Idaho while he was doing this. We moved over Labor Day weekend and Tuesday morning at 8am he was up on the phone ready to go. So he did the job for 9 years then John decided to retire. He gave half the business to his daughter and sold the other half to a new guy. Well, the new guy just didn't believe telecommuting could work. He offered to let Mark keep his job, but we would have had to move to Minnesota. Neither of us wanted to, so he was unemployed as of Feb 1, 2012.
I had developed kidney disease 2 years before that and asked for 2 accommodations at my job--a more flexible schedule and the ability to work from home 2-3 days per week. I coded insurance claims, filed them electronically, posted payments, audited charts checking the doctors' visit coding, straightened out messed up bills and was the unofficial sysop and help desk person. I never had to see anyone face to face, I had my own office with a door that I kept closed. The accommodations would have allowed me to keep on working full time because I could deal with the exhaustion, nausea and vomiting and not have to call in sick. My manager had allowed me to do those things for several months so we decided to officially ask for the accommodations. Not only did I get turned down flat, but the hospital who owned the medical practice I worked for decided to cut my job in half, only giving me 20 hours per week. That made me ineligible for insurance, sick and vacation time, and retirement benefits. They also offered to allow me to quit but say I was unable to perform the job due to illness and allow me to draw unemployment. I took the second choice, then had a stroke the following year, 2011. I also found out, too late, that I could have sued the hospital under the ADA and won. The accommodations I asked for plus the type of job I had would have caused them no hardship. Oh well, you live and learn, right? We were still ok until Mark lost his job. We had paid off all consumer and credit card debt years before. Both vehicles were paid for, yeah they were older, but we took care of them. And we were renting (fairly inexpensively) a house owned by his parents. We ended up going through all our savings, cashing in a 401k and my county retirement account.
Mark collected unemployment from Feb to October 2011. He looked for a job every single day. He sent out resumes up to 50 miles away, went to every business and factory he could find and filled out job apps. Nada. He got several interviews but he never got offers because the employers felt that 1. He was too highly educated to do the job or 2. He had way too much experience to do the job. He assured everyone he interviewed with that he didn't mind doing anything, even sweeping the floors, but again, Nada. Now we get to the first paragraph I wrote, way up above. Congrats if you got this far. I felt like you were sounding like such a dick that you needed to hear just exactly what can happen to regular middle class people. If you choose to keep on acting like a dick, well that's on you.
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