Do People Just Not Want To Work Anymore?

[minnesotapaintlady]

Dec 2, 2021 16:39:08 GMT -5 andi9899 said:

Dec 2, 2021 15:53:38 GMT -5 minnesotapaintlady said:

We can't pick and choose what we want from the "good old days".  It's a completely different time.  In 1950 only 1 in 3 women worked.  There was no fast food or big box retailer on every corner. 

People should still be able to feed their families without working 2 or 3 jobs.

In my world people aren't raising families on a McDonald's check.  Those jobs are full of students and SAHPs that want to make some extra money while the kids are in school kind of thing.  But there are tons of factories around here.  If you can't get a full time job with benefits in my county it's because you can't pass a drug test or have a (serious) criminal history.  Honestly, I don't think they even fault you for either of those things these days. I just heard we don't even interview for production anymore, they just call people in to start when they get their application. 

[apple 2]

Dec 2, 2021 15:20:20 GMT -5 nidena said:

Here's a testament to why some people don't want to work...

Backstory: I'm a big advocate for discussing salary at work; mainly because I feel if they've been there longer than me, they're hourly wage (or hourly breakdown of their salary) should be more than what I make just based on the fact that they have more experience in the field.  We don't have the same bosses so there will be some differences but still...

So, in conversation with a coworker friend, we're discussing my frustration with my job and another coworker's name comes up, as does their salary.  I was appalled.  Not AT them but FOR them.  So, a little bit later, I go strike up a conversation with them.  "Hey, C, did you google the salary of your position before you came to work here?"  "No...."  "Go ahead, look it up."  And she does while I'm standing there.  Right there, on google's white screen it states that those in our job, at entry level with less than one year experience make approximately $40,000.  Mind you, when I did a search a year ago, it said the overall range was $40k-$65k so this hasn't changed much.  Anyhow, she currently makes $12/hr.  Working full time.  And for a boss who got pissed at her because she didn't pick up her *personal* phone while she was at a funeral nor on Thanksgiving.  Not her *work* phone.  Her *personal* phone.  And this is a guy who works in one of the outer/with a window offices so he's a successful guy and I'm sure I've seen his name on the monthly newsletters more than once for being in the Top Whatever.



Going back to my other post on the previous page...I just feel like that those who make more, donate such a smaller percentage than those who make less.  And at what point does it just become hoarding 1s and 0s.

I totally get having money in investments and savings so that you can draw from that later when you're no longer working but there really is a point where someone is just emulating Smaug.

Interesting thoughts there. 
I run a company with 20 employees. I would rather they not discuss money but I am sure they do. 
I have a scenario that I wanted to run by you and get your thoughts. For example I hired 2 people at approximately the same time, both for the same position, same job title.
Both were hired with the standard 3 months probation, both hired at the same starting wage. 

Employee A immediately showed how great she is at her job, she took initiative, was engaged in all details and is always looking for ways to improve our customers experience. She is a 10 out of 10 and I gave her a $2.00 per hour raise within 3 weeks of starting. She has since gotten another raise.

Employee B, is pleasant and she does her job, no complaints. She shows up, works and leaves.  Her level of engagement is not great, but she shows up every day and is a very nice person.
She will not be making as much money as her counterpart.

Do you think this is unfair?

[andi9899]

Dec 2, 2021 16:48:45 GMT -5 minnesotapaintlady said:

Dec 2, 2021 16:39:08 GMT -5 andi9899 said:

People should still be able to feed their families without working 2 or 3 jobs.

In my world people aren't raising families on a McDonald's check.  Those jobs are full of students and SAHPs that want to make some extra money while the kids are in school kind of thing.  But there are tons of factories around here.  If you can't get a full time job with benefits in my county it's because you can't pass a drug test or have a (serious) criminal history.  Honestly, I don't think they even fault you for either of those things these days. I just heard we don't even interview for production anymore, they just call people in to start when they get their application. 

The rest of us don't live in your world. There are plenty of people out there that are trying to support families working at fast food restaurants. Not all of us work in factory towns that don't vet employees. There is a whole world outside of your bubble.

[andi9899]

Dec 2, 2021 16:49:04 GMT -5 apple 2 said:

Dec 2, 2021 15:20:20 GMT -5 nidena said:

Here's a testament to why some people don't want to work...

Backstory: I'm a big advocate for discussing salary at work; mainly because I feel if they've been there longer than me, they're hourly wage (or hourly breakdown of their salary) should be more than what I make just based on the fact that they have more experience in the field.  We don't have the same bosses so there will be some differences but still...

So, in conversation with a coworker friend, we're discussing my frustration with my job and another coworker's name comes up, as does their salary.  I was appalled.  Not AT them but FOR them.  So, a little bit later, I go strike up a conversation with them.  "Hey, C, did you google the salary of your position before you came to work here?"  "No...."  "Go ahead, look it up."  And she does while I'm standing there.  Right there, on google's white screen it states that those in our job, at entry level with less than one year experience make approximately $40,000.  Mind you, when I did a search a year ago, it said the overall range was $40k-$65k so this hasn't changed much.  Anyhow, she currently makes $12/hr.  Working full time.  And for a boss who got pissed at her because she didn't pick up her *personal* phone while she was at a funeral nor on Thanksgiving.  Not her *work* phone.  Her *personal* phone.  And this is a guy who works in one of the outer/with a window offices so he's a successful guy and I'm sure I've seen his name on the monthly newsletters more than once for being in the Top Whatever.



Going back to my other post on the previous page...I just feel like that those who make more, donate such a smaller percentage than those who make less.  And at what point does it just become hoarding 1s and 0s.

I totally get having money in investments and savings so that you can draw from that later when you're no longer working but there really is a point where someone is just emulating Smaug.

Interesting thoughts there. 
I run a company with 20 employees. I would rather they not discuss money but I am sure they do. 
I have a scenario that I wanted to run by you and get your thoughts. For example I hired 2 people at approximately the same time, both for the same position, same job title.
Both were hired with the standard 3 months probation, both hired at the same starting wage. 

Employee A immediately showed how great she is at her job, she took initiative, was engaged in all details and is always looking for ways to improve our customers experience. She is a 10 out of 10 and I gave her a $2.00 per hour raise within 3 weeks of starting. She has since gotten another raise.

Employee B, is pleasant and she does her job, no complaints. She shows up, works and leaves.  Her level of engagement is not great, but she shows up every day and is a very nice person.
She will not be making as much money as her counterpart.

Do you think this is unfair?

You didn't ask me, but IMO, absolutely not unfair. If you make yourself more valuable, you should be paid more. If you do the bare minimum then you should be paid according. Just doing the job gets you paid the agreed upon salary.

[apple 2]

Dec 2, 2021 16:52:32 GMT -5 andi9899 said:

Dec 2, 2021 16:48:45 GMT -5 minnesotapaintlady said:

In my world people aren't raising families on a McDonald's check.  Those jobs are full of students and SAHPs that want to make some extra money while the kids are in school kind of thing.  But there are tons of factories around here.  If you can't get a full time job with benefits in my county it's because you can't pass a drug test or have a (serious) criminal history.  Honestly, I don't think they even fault you for either of those things these days. I just heard we don't even interview for production anymore, they just call people in to start when they get their application. 

The rest of us don't live in your world. There are plenty of people out there that are trying to support families working at fast food restaurants. Not all of us work in factory towns that don't vet employees. There is a whole world outside of your bubble.

Why do I keep hearing this excuse ( shouldn't be raising a family while working at minimum wage), look how the world is falling apart without these workers. Pay them a livable wage for goodness sake.

[nidena]

Dec 2, 2021 16:49:04 GMT -5 apple 2 said:

Dec 2, 2021 15:20:20 GMT -5 nidena said:

Here's a testament to why some people don't want to work...

Backstory: I'm a big advocate for discussing salary at work; mainly because I feel if they've been there longer than me, they're hourly wage (or hourly breakdown of their salary) should be more than what I make just based on the fact that they have more experience in the field.  We don't have the same bosses so there will be some differences but still...

So, in conversation with a coworker friend, we're discussing my frustration with my job and another coworker's name comes up, as does their salary.  I was appalled.  Not AT them but FOR them.  So, a little bit later, I go strike up a conversation with them.  "Hey, C, did you google the salary of your position before you came to work here?"  "No...."  "Go ahead, look it up."  And she does while I'm standing there.  Right there, on google's white screen it states that those in our job, at entry level with less than one year experience make approximately $40,000.  Mind you, when I did a search a year ago, it said the overall range was $40k-$65k so this hasn't changed much.  Anyhow, she currently makes $12/hr.  Working full time.  And for a boss who got pissed at her because she didn't pick up her *personal* phone while she was at a funeral nor on Thanksgiving.  Not her *work* phone.  Her *personal* phone.  And this is a guy who works in one of the outer/with a window offices so he's a successful guy and I'm sure I've seen his name on the monthly newsletters more than once for being in the Top Whatever.



Going back to my other post on the previous page...I just feel like that those who make more, donate such a smaller percentage than those who make less.  And at what point does it just become hoarding 1s and 0s.

I totally get having money in investments and savings so that you can draw from that later when you're no longer working but there really is a point where someone is just emulating Smaug.

Interesting thoughts there. 
I run a company with 20 employees. I would rather they not discuss money but I am sure they do. 
I have a scenario that I wanted to run by you and get your thoughts. For example I hired 2 people at approximately the same time, both for the same position, same job title.
Both were hired with the standard 3 months probation, both hired at the same starting wage. 

Employee A immediately showed how great she is at her job, she took initiative, was engaged in all details and is always looking for ways to improve our customers experience. She is a 10 out of 10 and I gave her a $2.00 per hour raise within 3 weeks of starting. She has since gotten another raise.

Employee B, is pleasant and she does her job, no complaints. She shows up, works and leaves.  Her level of engagement is not great, but she shows up every day and is a very nice person.
She will not be making as much money as her counterpart.

Do you think this is unfair?

I see it as different trajectories.  If the differences are static, measurable, and easily compared like you did, I don't see why A shouldn't get the raise.

In my anecdote about the person I work with, she's making the equivalent of $8/hr LESS than I and we do comparably the same amount of work (in different ways).  I could understand if she made just under what I do, since I've been there a year longer than she has, but to make so much less tells me that her boss is taking advantage of her.

[minnesotapaintlady]

Dec 2, 2021 16:52:32 GMT -5 andi9899 said:

Dec 2, 2021 16:48:45 GMT -5 minnesotapaintlady said:

In my world people aren't raising families on a McDonald's check.  Those jobs are full of students and SAHPs that want to make some extra money while the kids are in school kind of thing.  But there are tons of factories around here.  If you can't get a full time job with benefits in my county it's because you can't pass a drug test or have a (serious) criminal history.  Honestly, I don't think they even fault you for either of those things these days. I just heard we don't even interview for production anymore, they just call people in to start when they get their application. 

The rest of us don't live in your world. There are plenty of people out there that are trying to support families working at fast food restaurants. Not all of us work in factory towns that don't vet employees. There is a whole world outside of your bubble.

And why is that??  Everyone wants the cheapest of everything and Walmart and McDonalds and all the big box places were happy to oblige.  Cheapest of everything means Chinese factories and low wages.  I'm fine with them just all shutting down and the cost of everything doubling myself.

[andi9899]

Dec 2, 2021 16:56:29 GMT -5 nidena said:

Dec 2, 2021 16:49:04 GMT -5 apple 2 said:

Interesting thoughts there. 
I run a company with 20 employees. I would rather they not discuss money but I am sure they do. 
I have a scenario that I wanted to run by you and get your thoughts. For example I hired 2 people at approximately the same time, both for the same position, same job title.
Both were hired with the standard 3 months probation, both hired at the same starting wage. 

Employee A immediately showed how great she is at her job, she took initiative, was engaged in all details and is always looking for ways to improve our customers experience. She is a 10 out of 10 and I gave her a $2.00 per hour raise within 3 weeks of starting. She has since gotten another raise.

Employee B, is pleasant and she does her job, no complaints. She shows up, works and leaves.  Her level of engagement is not great, but she shows up every day and is a very nice person.
She will not be making as much money as her counterpart.

Do you think this is unfair?

I see it as different trajectories.  If the differences are static, measurable, and easily compared like you did, I don't see why A shouldn't get the raise.

In my anecdote about the person I work with, she's making the equivalent of $8/hr LESS than I and we do comparably the same amount of work (in different ways).  I could understand if she made just under what I do, since I've been there a year longer than she has, but to make so much less tells me that her boss is taking advantage of her.

At my last job one of the girls was doing the exact same job as me but had a different title. Based on comments I surmised that she made roughly $20K less than I did. She did the same freaking job as me. She went to a different place and got a decent raise. She still has her same title as a support person, but at least she's doing that lower level job instead of what I do AND she's getting paid better. She told me they want to move her up to my level after just 6 months there which would come with another raise.

[andi9899]

Dec 2, 2021 17:02:55 GMT -5 minnesotapaintlady said:

Dec 2, 2021 16:52:32 GMT -5 andi9899 said:

The rest of us don't live in your world. There are plenty of people out there that are trying to support families working at fast food restaurants. Not all of us work in factory towns that don't vet employees. There is a whole world outside of your bubble.

And why is that??  Everyone wants the cheapest of everything and Walmart and McDonalds and all the big box places were happy to oblige.  Cheapest of everything means Chinese factories and low wages.  I'm fine with them just all shutting down and the cost of everything doubling myself.

Walmart and McDonald's have plenty of cash to be able to pay their employees a liveable wage, they just won't. Some companies are starting to, those companies will be the ones with staff. Who wants to do that kind of work for pennies?

[andi9899]

Starbucks announced that they were raising their minimum wage to either $15 or $17/hr. I'll definitely be supporting them more.

[Deleted]

Dec 2, 2021 16:30:51 GMT -5 apple 2 said:

Wal-Mart took away the cashiers and replaced them with self service. Did they reduce price in the store?

I am appalled at how low your minimum wage is in the USA. 

I don’t shop at WalMart, but Ireally, really have an issue with self checkout. I feel like stores want me to work for them for free, by ringing up my own purchases.

I saw a post on FB a while ago saying, they don’t get employee training to use the self checkout, so don’t be mad if due to lack of training, all of their items don’t get paid for. That’s not word for word what it said. I’m not a thief, but I kinda felt whoever originally made the post.

I’d rather stand in a short line with a cashier than use self checkout. I do grudgingly use it when I only have 1 or 2 items and I’m in a hurry. And I get really, really irritated when there are lines to use the self checkout. Stand in line to work for free?! At least give me a freaking discount if I’m helping your bottom line by doing the work of a cashier that you don’t want to hire and pay.

Maybe I’m unreasonable with how much I detest the self checkout thing. If stores went to that being the only way to buy things, Idk what I’d do. Well, I’d seriously stop shopping at the first stores that did it, and the list stores I shop at would get smaller and smaller until it became a real problem for me because there’s no avoiding it.

I understand that CEO’s and whoever have a lot of responsibility, and the salary needs to be appropriate to get qualified people to do the job. I also understand it’s important for shareholders to receive a return on their investments. But in my mind, some of the compensation could be considered excessive, especially when customers get crappy products and service for their money and employees don’t even make enough money to be self sufficient and have to rely on help from the government to survive, even if they work full time. Call me stupid, but I don’t even see how that makes logical sense. But what do I know? That is the American way.

[Deleted]

Dec 2, 2021 17:22:58 GMT -5 @pinkcshmere said:

I don’t shop at WalMart, but I really, really have an issue with self checkout. I feel like stores want me to work for them for free, by ringing up my own purchases.

I saw a post on FB a while ago saying, they don’t get employee training to use the self checkout, so don’t be mad if due to lack of training, all of their items don’t get paid for. That’s not word for word what it said. I’m not a thief, but I kinda felt whoever originally made the post.

I’d rather stand in a short line with a cashier than use self checkout. I do grudgingly use it when I only have 1 or 2 items and I’m in a hurry. And I get really, really irritated when there are lines to use the self checkout. Stand in line to work for free?! At least give me a freaking discount if I’m helping your bottom line by doing the work of a cashier that you don’t want to hire and pay.

Same here. I'd never steal but I really try to avoid self-checkout. My local grocery store has it and I had about a half-dozen failures with fresh produce (a major part of my orders) before I gave up. Look up "Asparagus". Is it Large Asparagus or Small Asparagus? I take a wild guess. BEEP. Employee comes over, tells me I chose the wrong one and they don't carry the version I input. So why is it in your $^^%##! computer? ">

I go to Costco every 2 weeks and never get out for less than $100 so no, I will NOT check myself out.

[nidena]

I'm not a fan of self-checkout.  I used to be, back when I couponed, because you could "work the system" with a lot of coupons but, then, Extreme Couponing killed manufacturers really having good coupons after that.  Now, I use regular checkout, especially at Lowe's and other places that offer military discount.

It does frustrate me how much companies are willing to abuse their employees for the sake of customers getting what they want when they want it.  And consumers expect it.

[swamp]

Am I the only one who likes self check out? I’m happy to not interact with people.

[Lizard Queen]

Dec 2, 2021 18:00:17 GMT -5 swamp said:

Am I the only one who likes self check out? I’m happy to not interact with people.

Depends on how much stuff I have
Less than 10? Self checkout is quicker, unless you have a cashier right there waiting for you
More than 20? You might want to look for a cashier, depending on the lines.

[Opti]

Dec 2, 2021 18:00:17 GMT -5 swamp said:

Am I the only one who likes self check out? I’m happy to not interact with people.

I prefer it in Walmart and am OK with it in one of the grocery stores I frequent. I don't buy much at a time, so its not a hardship. 

[apple 2]

Dec 2, 2021 18:04:52 GMT -5 Opti said:

Dec 2, 2021 18:00:17 GMT -5 swamp said:

Am I the only one who likes self check out? I’m happy to not interact with people.

I prefer it in Walmart and am OK with it in one of the grocery stores I frequent. I don't buy much at a time, so its not a hardship. 

lol  while I agree its nice sometimes NOT to interact with people, I prefer to have a human check me out. 

I don't shop at walmart but I have noticed some self check outs at the grocery store.

[minnesotapaintlady]

Dec 2, 2021 17:37:45 GMT -5 @athena53 said:

I go to Costco every 2 weeks and never get out for less than $100 so no, I will NOT check myself out.

Costco needs to get on board with the "Pay and Go" thing that Sam's Club does.  That is slick.  Just use the app on your phone to scan everything in as you throw it in your cart then when you're done, slide to pay and head out the door.  They do a check where they scan a few items at the door just to keep people honest, but it's so quick. 

[Deleted]

Dec 2, 2021 18:00:17 GMT -5 swamp said:

Am I the only one who likes self check out? I’m happy to not interact with people.

I’m sure you aren’t the only one lol.

It just rubs me the wrong way, because stores started doing it so they don’t have to hire as many employees and can save money by having fewer employees……  but I don’t see any of their savings passed on to me when I do the work of a cashier by ringing up my purchases myself.

But I’m also one who tries to support the “little guy”, whether it’s an entrepreneur, small business owner, or employee/potential employee of a major corporation. 

And I really do see it as working for free, because if I do the self checkout thing, I’m doing the exact same job that an employee a few lanes over is doing. Wrong, or right, the “working for free” part really does upset my nerves. “Pay” me by giving me some sort of discount, even if it’s a token sum like just a small percentage off my purchase prices. 

I understand that other people may like it for the convenience, even though I don’t consider it convenient when there’s a line to use the stupid self checkout stations, or for other reasons, like you do. I just don’t like it myself. At all.

[jerseygirl]

Don’t like self check at either grocery store I go to. Seems something always goes wrong snd need to have an employee wave their magic card before I can continue
I’ll only use SCO when I have only a few things and check out employee lanes are full

[NoNamePerson]

I used self checkout the other day. Nice lady employee came over and did it for me. She was just standing there and pulled me from long line at manned cash register   Guess she felt sorry for this poor ole senior citizen.    I do use it when shopping for my neighbor. Every thing is canned or packaged.

I rarely use self checkout for same reason as @athena53  It takes twice as long when doing fresh vegetables and that’s  99 percent of my shopping. And it screws up half the time.  

[giramomma]

The problem I have with full service check outs is that it's assumed part of good customer service is chatting the customer up.

No, I don't want you to comment about my purchases. I don't want to hear how cute something is. Or hear how someone has never seen X product before, or hear their opinions about what I'm baking for Christmas cookies.

No, I don't want you to spend 2-3 minutes making multiple comments about how someone 8 people in front of me has saved $400. I  have been standing in line for 20 minutes to do an in store pick up. I'm beginning to regret shopping at your establishment.

Grocery stores with little or no self-check out lines in my neck of the woods also charge $.25-$1 more per item, carry less loss leaders, pipe in classical music, and make their workers wear white shirts and black pants. I don't need to spend an extra $200 a month in groceries to hear vivaldi, stand in longer lines, and then be checked out by someone wearing black slacks.  

ETA: One of the reasons I stayed with my hair stylist person after she got expensive is because she knows I don't want to make small talk and doesn't press it. I pay her to cut my hair, not to get an update of my kids.

There are times for relationship building. I do it at my job all day long. I do it when I teach. I'm not doing it for services I buy. 

I will now slink away and go shake my fist at teenagers.

[giramomma]

Dec 2, 2021 17:13:05 GMT -5 andi9899 said:

Starbucks announced that they were raising their minimum wage to either $15 or $17/hr. I'll definitely be supporting them more.

Target upped their starting wage to 15.50 in my parts.

McDonalds is now paying 16-18/hour. 

The unemployment rate in my city is now down to 1.8%.

We're not getting good applicants for the open jobs at work. My team is now operating at 50% staffing. It's going to get worse if I leave my team. There will be 2ish left to do the work of 5-6. The amount of work has to start increasing.

[NoNamePerson]

Dec 2, 2021 19:36:39 GMT -5 giramomma said:

The problem I have with full service check outs is that it's assumed part of good customer service is chatting the customer up.

No, I don't want you to comment about my purchases. I don't want to hear how cute something is. Or hear how someone has never seen X product before, or hear their opinions about what I'm baking for Christmas cookies.

No, I don't want you to spend 2-3 minutes making multiple comments about how someone 8 people in front of me has saved $400. I  have been standing in line for 20 minutes to do an in store pick up. I'm beginning to regret shopping at your establishment.

Grocery stores with little or no self-check out lines in my neck of the woods also charge $.25-$1 more per item, carry less loss leaders, pipe in classical music, and make their workers wear white shirts and black pants. I don't need to spend an extra $200 a month in groceries to hear vivaldi, stand in longer lines, and then be checked out by someone wearing black slacks.  

ETA: One of the reasons I stayed with my hair stylist person after she got expensive is because she knows I don't want to make small talk and doesn't press it. I pay her to cut my hair, not to get an update of my kids.

There are times for relationship building. I do it at my job all day long. I do it when I teach. I'm not doing it for services I buy. 

I will now slink away and go shake my fist at teenagers.

I must have that pissed off face on in check out. I’ve never had a cashier chat me up. Of course I have so little to check out not much time for chit chat. But I had someone tell me long ago I had that don’t approach me look.    Dang I just realized I’ve never noticed color of their slacks. Going to Fresh Market tomorrow. Will have to check this out. They don’t have self checkout unless added since there couple weeks ago 

[Deleted]

Dec 2, 2021 19:36:39 GMT -5 giramomma said:

The problem I have with full service check outs is that it's assumed part of good customer service is chatting the customer up.

No, I don't want you to comment about my purchases. I don't want to hear how cute something is. Or hear how someone has never seen X product before, or hear their opinions about what I'm baking for Christmas cookies.

No, I don't want you to spend 2-3 minutes making multiple comments about how someone 8 people in front of me has saved $400. I  have been standing in line for 20 minutes to do an in store pick up. I'm beginning to regret shopping at your establishment.

Grocery stores with little or no self-check out lines in my neck of the woods also charge $.25-$1 more per item, carry less loss leaders, pipe in classical music, and make their workers wear white shirts and black pants. I don't need to spend an extra $200 a month in groceries to hear vivaldi, stand in longer lines, and then be checked out by someone wearing black slacks.  

ETA: One of the reasons I stayed with my hair stylist person after she got expensive is because she knows I don't want to make small talk and doesn't press it. I pay her to cut my hair, not to get an update of my kids.

There are times for relationship building. I do it at my job all day long. I do it when I teach. I'm not doing it for services I buy. 

I will now slink away and go shake my fist at teenagers.

Maybe it’s because I look angry and mean even when I’m in a good mood (which has been brought to my attention a zillion times during my lifetime), but I don’t have cashiers talking to me about random stuff that I don’t care about. I get the cordial greetings and pleasantries, and that’s it.

My resting bitch face must be something serious.

I’m not upset about it either, I can truly understand how that would drive a person batty. 

[Tiny]

Dec 2, 2021 15:53:38 GMT -5 minnesotapaintlady said:

Dec 2, 2021 15:38:08 GMT -5 Lizard Queen said:

If everyone did, more people would be willing and able to enter and stay in the workforce. My understanding is, back in the good ol days of yore, even the basic jobs paid enough to support a family. Now sometimes even two jobs isn't enough. While the C-suite makes out like bandits.

We can't pick and choose what we want from the "good old days".  It's a completely different time.  In 1950 only 1 in 3 women worked.  There was no fast food or big box retailer on every corner. 

I'm not sure what few women working in the 50's has to do with it?   I imagine many of them were either working in the family business or if they worked for someone else - they were doing work that would free up a man so he could climb the ladder OR earn more.   

I'm guessing back in the 50's the percentage of the total number of jobs  that those low paying "woman" jobs represented was very small in comparison to percentage of the higher paying "man" jobs.

The problem now is that there is a higher percentage of jobs that are traditionally low paying and a lower percentage of the higher paying jobs.   


FWIW:  one way for having people with lower incomes NOT descend into poverty is to find a way to make the money they do earn go further - so affordable housing, low cost healthcare, good public schools and after school programs for the kids...       I think this is where  the idea of "basic income" comes in - to boost someones income so it's easier to afford housing, healthcare, education, etc... while working a full time job at a low pay point.   

[countrygirl2]

Here McD's started paying $12 an hour after they couldn't hire anyone.  Lots of older workers there, believe it or not in our tiny town that's better pay, some of those people have likely never made that much before.

[Deleted]

I wonder how many of the fast food places will remain permanently "locked down" with drive-through and takeout only.

On one road trip to SC earlier this year I tried to get into a McD's to use the bathroom- checked every door.  Making food but locked up tight as a drum.  A local Starbucks where I go periodically took months after lockdowns were lifted to open their seating areas.  You could go in and place an order and wait for it- but the seats were blocked off.  They're finally fully open again.  I take my grandchildren to a pizza place in Des Moines, not part of a franchise, that hasn't had its seating area open since we first went there around the middle of this year.  

It would be interesting to know if owners have decided it's more profitable to go takeout/driver-through only (they save money on people and have less cleaning to do and maybe even cheaper liability insurance) or a combination of both.

[andi9899]

Dec 2, 2021 18:00:17 GMT -5 swamp said:

Am I the only one who likes self check out? I’m happy to not interact with people.

No. I prefer it too. I want to get in and out and move on.

[daisylu]

Dec 2, 2021 18:00:17 GMT -5 swamp said:

Am I the only one who likes self check out? I’m happy to not interact with people.

Nope. I like it. Most of the times the cashier lines are long and the carts are full. Add in that I can scan my own faster than any cashier, and bag my items properly (by my standards at least), and I am in. Also, at our grocery store there are no baggers and the cashiers bag very little, so you end up doing that yourself anyway.