I think is important to note that as worker productivity has gone up for three decades, wages have remained stagnant. If harder work was really rewarded by higher wages, then you would see a direct relationship between two, which is not the case. In a perfect world, you would absolutely be able to work your way to the top, but now its a fight just to work your way to the middle.
This is completely accurate. It's about working smarter and not harder.
I'm still waiting for someone to answer my question. Do we really think raising the minimum wage, and then every other subsequent wage, is the solution. Everyone will make more, the cost to do business will increase that cost will get passed onto the consumer and taxpayer and goods and services will cost more. INFLATION.
To me, raising the subsequent wages is where a lot of the cost will increase. Sure, raising minimum wage only may only pass down a 1% increase in cost to the consumer, but are we raising every subsequent wages (including the 1%) by 80-90% then? It's not feasible. Minimum wage should have followed inflation better, absolutely, but I don't think trying to jump that gap at once will fix anything long term. A long term plan with annual increases I think I'd be able to condone better. And while we wait for inflation to catch up, the mandatory raise can potentially cause a lot of companies to have to lay off employees or shut down because they can't afford to operate.
Regarding piercing baby ears-I think pierced ears on baby girls is adorable. I'm not sure what age I
would do it at if I had a girl, but I think it’s cute when I see it. There’s
also a cultural element to baby ear piercing that I think sometimes people
forget about. Not everyone does it that young because of culture, but many
people do.
Definitely a cultural thing, in my country, you can get baby girls ears pierced before even leaving the hospital by the nursing staff, most people do. It's not a big deal here.
I can almost feel the side-eyes coming but we're going to pierce our baby girl's ears when she's a few months old. Where I grew up they also pierce girls' ears shortly after birth in the hospital. I didn't know one girl growing up that didn't have pierced ears since birth. It's a cultural thing for us.
I just really want to ask if anyone here is a small business owner or knows a small business owner? How will a raise to minimum wage directly affect your/their business?
Yes, large conglomerates can afford to pay a higher wage. They shouldn't be paying anyone minimum wage anyway. But some businesses can't afford it.
Furthermore, no one has addressed inflation. If people making minimum wage now make $15/hour, those making $15 will have to get a raise, etc. that will lead to everyone making more. These studies don't account for that increase.
I think is important to note that as worker productivity has gone up for three decades, wages have remained stagnant. If harder work was really rewarded by higher wages, then you would see a direct relationship between two, which is not the case. In a perfect world, you would absolutely be able to work your way to the top, but now its a fight just to work your way to the middle.
This is completely accurate. It's about working smarter and not harder.
I'm still waiting for someone to answer my question. Do we really think raising the minimum wage, and then every other subsequent wage, is the solution. Everyone will make more, the cost to do business will increase that cost will get passed onto the consumer and taxpayer and goods and services will cost more. INFLATION.
To me, raising the subsequent wages is where a lot of the cost will increase. Sure, raising minimum wage only may only pass down a 1% increase in cost to the consumer, but are we raising every subsequent wages (including the 1%) by 80-90% then? It's not feasible. Minimum wage should have followed inflation better, absolutely, but I don't think trying to jump that gap at once will fix anything long term. A long term plan with annual increases I think I'd be able to condone better. And while we wait for inflation to catch up, the mandatory raise can potentially cause a lot of companies to have to lay off employees or shut down because they can't afford to operate.
California's plan is over 5 years. I still think we'll eventually be back to where we started.
I think is important to note that as worker productivity has gone up for three decades, wages have remained stagnant. If harder work was really rewarded by higher wages, then you would see a direct relationship between two, which is not the case. In a perfect world, you would absolutely be able to work your way to the top, but now its a fight just to work your way to the middle.
This is completely accurate. It's about working smarter and not harder.
I'm still waiting for someone to answer my question. Do we really think raising the minimum wage, and then every other subsequent wage, is the solution. Everyone will make more, the cost to do business will increase that cost will get passed onto the consumer and taxpayer and goods and services will cost more. INFLATION.
To me, raising the subsequent wages is where a lot of the cost will increase. Sure, raising minimum wage only may only pass down a 1% increase in cost to the consumer, but are we raising every subsequent wages (including the 1%) by 80-90% then? It's not feasible. Minimum wage should have followed inflation better, absolutely, but I don't think trying to jump that gap at once will fix anything long term. A long term plan with annual increases I think I'd be able to condone better. And while we wait for inflation to catch up, the mandatory raise can potentially cause a lot of companies to have to lay off employees or shut down because they can't afford to operate.
California's plan is over 5 years. I still think we'll eventually be back to where we started.
Agreed - 5 years still implies $2+/hr PA. Although I will say, at least the states that jumped on this are the ones with insanely high cost of living. I can more so understand the need in these states (although I agree it won't solve anything long term) than say, Florida where I live.
My daughter has the pink kitty wubbanub. You throw it in the washer to clean the body and then you boil the nipple while holding it. My mom hates it, but LO loves it! She can hold the kitty and pop it back in her own mouth. And when I'm driving and she drops her paci, the unattached ones fall down in the crevices of her car seat, but the Wubbanub stays on her chest and I can help her retrieve it. They're pretty awesome.
Wow. This was a juicy read after a 12 hour day. I can't think of an UO of my own so I'll just chime in
Pierced ears: I think it's tacky before a certain age, and it's subjecting your infant to pain that they don't need to endure for a purely cosmetic reason. But I also agree that it's a cultural choice. My cultural beliefs and my ideals land on the side of it being unnecessary. If my daughter (if I have one) decides when she's older she wants pierced ears, we'll go to a legitimate piercer and get them done the right way (those guns are disgusting and do more damage then most people realize).
Facebook: I'm on Facebook, I'm on it daily, but I honestly wish I'd never signed up. I do love that it keeps me in greater contact with friends and family overseas, for a lot cheaper than calling. I don't see the need to post every single little detail of my life but I'm guilty of pointless status updates just because I'm bored. DH didn't join up and actually use it until about a year ago. I think a lot of hate and useless information gets thrown around online social media because people are a lot braver behind their computer screen than in real life. I've had to cut off relationships with people because they post racist, misogynistic and bigoted crap on FB that they wouldn't have the balls to bring up in real life. I've deactivated my profile 3 times since 2007 when I joined, and got many of the responses others have gotten about people thinking there's something wrong. It's weird.
Transgendered awards: I can see both sides of this coin. I think it was a fucking travesty that Caitlyn Jenner got that award. Especially after he/she killed someone in a collision where s/he was under the influence; what exactly did s/he contribute to society other than being famous, being the step-father to the Kardashians, or landing her own tv special? I don't care, she's irrelevant in my eyes, she gives the entire community a bad name. If that award was going to go to a transgendered woman, I would much preferred to have seen it go to someone like Laverne Cox, who has actually championed and done amazing philanthropic work within the LGBTQ2S community.
Re: Transgender argument... Caitlyn Jenner is a terrible spokesperson for the community (in my opinion), and there are so many other trans people who deserve that award more.
ALSO, trans women have just as much a right to win a woman of the year award as I do. They're women. Period. A trans woman winning that award over a cis woman doesn't bother me in the slightest. Caitlyn Jenner winning it bothers me, because there are better candidates.
*************************************** FORMER USERNAME:@runningisrad
My last bit before I let this fade off into Thursday's of the past, regarding an increased minimum wage hurting small business. Any business model who's success depends on not paying employees living wages deserves to fail.
I don't know what the solution is, but the one thing I do know is that low-wage jobs and the people who work them are not a black-and-white issue. It is not as simple as, "These jobs are designed for high school aged people, and if older people are working them, they aren't ambitious enough."
There are too many factors that play in any given individual's story. There are disabled people, there are disadvantaged people, there are uneducated people. Not all adults who work low-wage jobs are irresponsible and lazy. You cannot lump everyone in the same category.
Like I said, I don't have an answer. What I do know, though, is that everyone - EVERYONE - deserves the right to a wage that at least gives them a chance to live.
*************************************** FORMER USERNAME:@runningisrad
Re: Transgender argument... Caitlyn Jenner is a terrible spokesperson for the community (in my opinion), and there are so many other trans people who deserve that award more.
ALSO, trans women have just as much a right to win a woman of the year award as I do. They're women. Period. A trans woman winning that award over a cis woman doesn't bother me in the slightest. Caitlyn Jenner winning it bothers me, because there are better candidates.
Yes! This is exactly how I feel about it.
I don't agree a trans woman shouldn't win a woman of the year award, but Jenner sure as hell didn't deserve it. I'm glad @yellowrose314 brought up Jenner killing a person while DUI. I feel like not enough people know this happened. I hadn't heard a single thing about it until she won the award, and it's sick to me that it just got brushed under a rug. And instead of being punished, she's being now celebrated.
@SuperFudge00 I was going to wait until I finished reading all of the conversation but I can't wait any longer. Here's why I'm fighting for a $15/hr minimum wage. I work two jobs. My husband works two jobs. I have a bachelors and he has a master's. At my jobs I make $10.50 at one and $11.50 at the other. He makes $10.50 and $12. California says that minimum wage is $10/hr. We work a collective 90 hours a week usually over 6 days and we are barely making it. Three times a week I work 13-15 hour days (7:30a-10:30p). I don't know how your pregnant body reacts to not enough sleep but it just makes me nauseous the whole next day which is not good when, once again, I have to work 15 hours. Even though we work a long day, We get zero overtime which is delightful and since we work part time for two different employers, we get no benefits. Thanks to Obamacare we were able to get decent and affordable health insurance which for some reason covers the whole pregnancy but not the delivery. I tried to apply for mediCAL but we apparently make too much money (pre-tax) so I didn't qualify for that. Because of that I don't qualify for many of these social assistance programs even though in reality, we could totally benefit. The only one I qualify for is wic because for this one, I qualify as two people. We still have not figured out what we are going to do when baby comes because I personally do not want a home birth and I would like an epidural. My Husband has been applying for an average of a job in his field (history) a week since October 2014 and he has received a total of 2 responses. I am unable to work in my field (theatre) because it doesn't pay so I'm stuck working in food service at places where no matter how hard I work, I will not be able to move up. Because I'm part time, I also get no sick pay or vacation time so when this baby comes I can take up to 12 weeks unpaid while still keeping my job (there goes half of our income). As much as I would like to take some of that, I don't know that I'll be able to. And even if I were to come back to work, paying for childcare would very likely cost all or more of what I make. so please tell me that you honestly believe that the minimum wage should not be raised just because you are a "skilled" worker and I'm just a "burger flipper"
@marikkita12 I am sorry that you have to go though this. THIS is exactly why I totally agree with the minimum wage hike. I consider myself fortunate to have had things work out well for me and that I do not have to struggle but just because someone works hard does not mean that things will always work out for the best. I know plenty of people with degrees that they have never been able to use and find jobs for.
Not to mention that many skilled/trade workers might not make exactly minimum wage but pretty close to it. Like your paramedics and firefighters- all of which went through schooling to get there. I wage increase would help them too.
I wasn't even going to add to anything more to this thread but @marikkita12 post I didn't want to ignore.
Me: 32 DH: 31
TTC #2 since January 2018
Baby #1 DD Born 8/25/2016 BFP: 8/11/18 Due: 4/26/18
@SuperFudge00 I was going to wait until I finished reading all of the conversation but I can't wait any longer. Here's why I'm fighting for a $15/hr minimum wage. I work two jobs. My husband works two jobs. I have a bachelors and he has a master's. At my jobs I make $10.50 at one and $11.50 at the other. He makes $10.50 and $12. California says that minimum wage is $10/hr. We work a collective 90 hours a week usually over 6 days and we are barely making it. Three times a week I work 13-15 hour days (7:30a-10:30p). I don't know how your pregnant body reacts to not enough sleep but it just makes me nauseous the whole next day which is not good when, once again, I have to work 15 hours. Even though we work a long day, We get zero overtime which is delightful and since we work part time for two different employers, we get no benefits. Thanks to Obamacare we were able to get decent and affordable health insurance which for some reason covers the whole pregnancy but not the delivery. I tried to apply for mediCAL but we apparently make too much money (pre-tax) so I didn't qualify for that. Because of that I don't qualify for many of these social assistance programs even though in reality, we could totally benefit. The only one I qualify for is wic because for this one, I qualify as two people. We still have not figured out what we are going to do when baby comes because I personally do not want a home birth and I would like an epidural. My Husband has been applying for an average of a job in his field (history) a week since October 2014 and he has received a total of 2 responses. I am unable to work in my field (theatre) because it doesn't pay so I'm stuck working in food service at places where no matter how hard I work, I will not be able to move up. Because I'm part time, I also get no sick pay or vacation time so when this baby comes I can take up to 12 weeks unpaid while still keeping my job (there goes half of our income). As much as I would like to take some of that, I don't know that I'll be able to. And even if I were to come back to work, paying for childcare would very likely cost all or more of what I make. so please tell me that you honestly believe that the minimum wage should not be raised just because you are a "skilled" worker and I'm just a "burger flipper"
Perfect example of how one size does not fit all when it comes to this. I'm so sorry for your family's struggles.
*************************************** FORMER USERNAME:@runningisrad
I made the point about needing burger flippers as a way to say that there will always be a need for "unskilled labor". Not everyone has the ability or the desire to go to college, especially in light of the crushing debt that so many college graduates are carrying these days. But just because someone works at McDonald's doesn't meant that they aren't entitled to a living wage.
I made the point about needing burger flippers as a way to say that there will always be a need for "unskilled labor". Not everyone has the ability or the desire to go to college, especially in light of the crushing debt that so many college graduates are carrying these days. But just because someone works at McDonald's doesn't meant that they aren't entitled to a living wage.
Amen.
*************************************** FORMER USERNAME:@runningisrad
Sharing my personal story, I dropped out of high school at 17. I wasn't lazy, I wasn't a burnout, I was in a toxic home situation and had to get away. So I dropped out of high school.
I moved to Chattanooga (from Chicago) with my boyfriend. I began working at 17 and have worked ever since. I made $5.15 an hour. That was in 2001. Since then, I've worked various jobs (retail, serving, office) and have managed to land myself a position with a great company making a decent wage. Not great, but it's enough to help support my family and allow us to live comfortably. I did that with no college education; just a GED (that I didn't get until I was 26).
I could very easily get up on my high horse and say that if I could do it, anyone can. They just have to want it bad enough and be determined enough. I am not going to do that, though, because I am fully aware of the privileges that life has awarded me: I am an able-bodied, white American. I was raised in a middle-class, two-parent family (until my parents split when I was 12). I have always felt secure in the knowledge that if I really got in a tight spot, my father would help me out. In the 15 years I've been on my own, I have asked him for help once. But I know that if I needed it, he would be there.
I am also a fairly intelligent person, I am naturally good with words, I learn very quickly and can multi-task, and I interview well. None of these things came as a result of something I did. It is just who I am. I also got lucky when it came to this particular job. Right place, right time.
I am not better than anyone because I went from a high school dropout to having a management-level position at a thriving company. My privileges plus the fortune of having intelligence and natural, useable skills, plus being in the right place at the right time, are the reasons I am where I am.
I could, however, ignore all of that and simply say, "Well, I did it. And you should be able to, too." It'd be a hell of a lot easier than accepting the privilege that life has handed me simply by the circumstances I was born under, and the inherent qualities that make me who I am. I am fortunate. Others aren't. That is why I support a higher minimum wage. Everyone deserves to be able make a living wage without having to work multiple jobs to barely make ends meet.
*************************************** FORMER USERNAME:@runningisrad
Thanks ladies. It sucks a lot but we make it work. I know many people that are against the minimum wage hike don't personally understand why people need it and they just see it as "entitles teenagers" wanting more money. Hopefully @SuperFudge00 will realize that there is more to it than she realizes.
So many of these stories resonate with me because I started my career in tech support at $10/hr, lived that way for years, and I wouldn't say quality of life was great. I could pay my bills, which I kept as modest as I could (lots of ramen, sharing a 1-bedroom 600 square ft. apartment in a really questionable area, this was in the pre-smartphone era so basically my only real splurgy item was a World of Warcraft subscription for $15/mo), but my savings were negligible and for emergencies only.
I had no delusions about owning a car on that income, let alone a house, or getting an IRA/money market/etc. rolling. I was in an whirlpool of paycheck-to-paycheck and it sucked. Love or hate tech support, it's a job that requires training, in-depth knowledge of computers, an ability to multitask, etc., but the market dictated that I should be grateful to be paid like dirt. And the stupid thing was I was grateful. I was doing better than my peers on something that would not at all sustain me today, something that didn't allow me to even entertain the idea of something as luxurious as a road trip or a <$100 trip to a water park. Life doesn't have to be 100% tumult and toil.
I think we've seen a lot of bootstrap stories in here, and I'd consider myself one of them. I'm a tech writer/document designer now and I make enough that I get to save, have disposable income, demand a flexible schedule, and I get to bitch and complain about being in a tax bracket in which I actually have to pay a decent amount of money every year. This isn't everyone's story. The real story is that we're in a limited job market where college degrees are a dime-a-dozen and there are 50 brilliant individuals desperate to fill every 1 salaried position. There are more of @marikkita12 than there are of @superfudge00 and I.
I don't think other people should have to scrimp like that just because I did. I would hate for my kids to have to live that way. I think of the borderline minimum wage period of my life and my prevailing memories are of stress, joylessness, and despondency. There's no compelling reason for this. There's no need for other people -- people who are willing to work, and work hard -- to deal with it.
To think of what an extra $5 would have afforded me personally ... I hope the increase passes. Really, truly, even if I had to pay some more in the taxes I so readily bitch about (though really, I think CEOs can spare some of that multi-million dollar income).
September '16 - May Signature Challenge Awkward Family Fun
So many of these stories resonate with me because I started my career in tech support at $10/hr, lived that way for years, and I wouldn't say quality of life was great. I could pay my bills, which I kept as modest as I could (lots of ramen, sharing a 1-bedroom 600 square ft. apartment in a really questionable area, this was in the pre-smartphone era so basically my only real splurgy item was a World of Warcraft subscription for $15/mo), but my savings were negligible and for emergencies only.
I had no delusions about owning a car on that income, let alone a house, or getting an IRA/money market/etc. rolling. I was in an whirlpool of paycheck-to-paycheck and it sucked. Love or hate tech support, it's a job that requires training, in-depth knowledge of computers, an ability to multitask, etc., but the market dictated that I should be grateful to be paid like dirt. And the stupid thing was I was grateful. I was doing better than my peers on something that would not at all sustain me today, something that didn't allow me to even entertain the idea of something as luxurious as a road trip or a <$100 trip to a water park. Life doesn't have to be 100% tumult and toil.
I think we've seen a lot of bootstrap stories in here, and I'd consider myself one of them. I'm a tech writer/document designer now and I make enough that I get to save, have disposable income, demand a flexible schedule, and I get to bitch and complain about being in a tax bracket in which I actually have to pay a decent amount of money every year. This isn't everyone's story. The real story is that we're in a limited job market where college degrees are a dime-a-dozen and there are 50 brilliant individuals desperate to fill every 1 salaried position. There are more of @marikkita12 than there are of @superfudge00 and I.
I don't think other people should have to scrimp like that just because I did. I would hate for my kids to have to live that way. I think of the borderline minimum wage period of my life and my prevailing memories are of stress, joylessness, and despondency. There's no compelling reason for this. There's no need for other people -- people who are willing to work, and work hard -- to deal with it.
To think of what an extra $5 would have afforded me personally ... I hope the increase passes. Really, truly, even if I had to pay some more in the taxes I so readily bitch about (though really, I think CEOs can spare some of that multi-million dollar income).
Agree. Completely.
*************************************** FORMER USERNAME:@runningisrad
I have always had some mixed feelings regarding the minimum wage hike, and still haven't fully formed my own opinion, but I just wanted to say thanks for bringing up this topic, discussing it fairly, intelligently and respectfully. I feel like I've learned something from this discussion and for that I am appreciative.
Hear, hear! I know this has been said before, probably even by myself, but this thread merits it again; thank you S16 ladies for being able to discuss divisive issues with passion, but not anger. Even the occasional high-emotion post is still respectful. Plus, we can still be supportive and friendly everywhere else! You guys are all so awesome!
Let us refocus. My UO is that I don't believe that minimum wage should be raised to a level of skilled or college educated level pay. That is unfair since those people had to make some sort of effort (school, training, cost and/or time) to earn that.
The next argument agreed with that portion but that those people deserve a raise too. I argued that if those people get a raise, so would the bracket above them, and then the bracket above then, and so on.
This pattern will result in everyone getting paid more, everything costing more and being back in the same position because all that would have happened is "inflation".
The only way for the minimum wage worker to make more money that won't result in this cycle is for them to increase their skill set in some way and move out of the minimum wage job.
I dont disagree that that the minimum wage is impossible to thrive on, or impossible to independently support a family on. My argument is that either raising it to a level to match a skilled worker's wage is unfair and raising everyone's wage is unproductive.
My last bit before I let this fade off into Thursday's of the past, regarding an increased minimum wage hurting small business. Any business model who's success depends on not paying employees living wages deserves to fail.
Then those people will lose their jobs. That's the point.
If you are making enough money at your "skilled" job that you are able to live a comfortable life. Why do you care what other people that work jobs that are "below" you make. You're still upset that someone that has less education than you could possibly make what you make because you "earned it". Ill tell you that my husband's last semester of grad school, he stopped working to focus on finishing and I worked 70 hours a week to support us both. That was from January to May with a total of 4 full days off in four months. He's now more educated and is still unable to find work in his field. So because he's working at a rec center he doesn't deserve to make a living wage that would be so close to yours? Or you agree that he should be paid more because of his master's but one of his co workers who is still in high school should be paid less because he's not educated? Unfortunately, that's discrimination and while I understand that a teenager making almost as much money as you upsets you, the minimum wage is set for people who work more than just on the weekends and are actually trying to make a living and support a family. I saw this image on Facebook that really resonated with me. (Sorry if it is huge).
Agree w the FB opinions thus far. I had a patient who was dying and his young 20s son was taking selfies with him. When he said he was going to post it on FB, I asked him to step out of the room w me for a minute. I told him it was wrong to do that because his father, who was unconscious and dying, did not consent to the photo. I told him I understood why he might like to remember his dad's last hours, but posting on social media was not a part of him remembering. The boys auntie overheard me and walked up all angry. I thought she was going to say something to me, but snatched the phone out of the young mans hands and put it in her purse. I had taken care of this man for two weeks, he was a tough old retired Navy Chief. I felt like I owed it to him.
My UO is I know everyone loves their Bella band but I can't stand it. Maybe I'm not using it right. But the lumps from the undone buttons on my pants look so tacky. The bottom is tight but the top is loose and then that adds volume under my shirt too. I have the elastic side at the top and the writing on the tag is up there too. I tried upside down just in case but that was just as bad. I still have to keep hiking up my jeans in addition to it looking lumpy
Have you tried to fold the button parts down inside the pants? Like just tuck them inside. That helps smooth things out and your pants still stay up b/c the band is over everything. Kept me sane from lump drama :-)
@marikkita12 I think the image you posted hits the nail on the head. Not to open a new can of worms, but at least within the confines of my own family members, I see it as the same the logic/blinders that allows for thoughts like "MY abortion was okay, everyone else's is murder." When we're removed from the suffering people experience, it's easy to look at someone having a hard time and think "they haven't worked hard enough," "they're lazy," "they're stupid," as opposed to we're living in a fundamentally broken, bastardized version of capitalism that does little more than encourage the absurdly rich to get richer. "Entry-level" salaried positions are furiously competitive and there just aren't enough jobs available for degree holders or hard workers. Like your husband, these people fall through the cracks and seriously, what are you supposed to do? Not work at all? Good luck sitting back and calling the shots in this economy, it ain't gonna happen.
I've worked hard, gotten myself an education in an area that I'm genuinely passionate about, but my current job was earned partially through friend-based nepotism. I'm qualified and I work my hypothetical balls off, but I don't know that I ever would have first breached the resume shuffle (100 resumes for one position) without an in. I say that as someone who writes and constructs documents for a living so I'd damn well better have an attractive resume. That "in" is a luxury few people have.
I already pay substantially in taxes, and if it came down to it, I'm not fundamentally against paying more so sensible young people don't start off their professional/adult lives with a session of Roshambo. If the costs are passed to employers, (and they should be, I think people gloss over the gross overpayment CEOs/executives receive and it's appalling) I'll pay the extra $2 at McDonalds. I can afford it, people scraping by on $10/hr with 2 30-hour part time positions can't.
September '16 - May Signature Challenge Awkward Family Fun
@marikkita12 that image is perfect. I won't say every single conservative has that attitude because there is always the exception to the rule, but I feel that's the general attitude of most people who identify as conservative.
*************************************** FORMER USERNAME:@runningisrad
@marikkita12I'm not a conservative and my argument does not have anything to do with your husband not being able to find work in his field.
I'm not concerned with others making more because that will mean that I will make more. I will also pay more because everything will cost more and things will basically be the same. Except maybe I'll be better off because my mortgage payment will be lower in comparison to my increased wage thanks to everyone's increased wage and housing prices will most likely increase, increasing my home value.
Again, my point is that it will eventually balance out and this raise in minimum wage won't amount to anything.
Re: UO Thursday
Yes, large conglomerates can afford to pay a higher wage. They shouldn't be paying anyone minimum wage anyway. But some businesses can't afford it.
Furthermore, no one has addressed inflation. If people making minimum wage now make $15/hour, those making $15 will have to get a raise, etc. that will lead to everyone making more. These studies don't account for that increase.
November Siggy Challenge: Selfie Fails
Hidden for the sake of your eyes!
November Siggy Challenge: Selfie Fails
Hidden for the sake of your eyes!
My daughter has the pink kitty wubbanub. You throw it in the washer to clean the body and then you boil the nipple while holding it. My mom hates it, but LO loves it! She can hold the kitty and pop it back in her own mouth. And when I'm driving and she drops her paci, the unattached ones fall down in the crevices of her car seat, but the Wubbanub stays on her chest and I can help her retrieve it. They're pretty awesome.
Pierced ears: I think it's tacky before a certain age, and it's subjecting your infant to pain that they don't need to endure for a purely cosmetic reason. But I also agree that it's a cultural choice. My cultural beliefs and my ideals land on the side of it being unnecessary. If my daughter (if I have one) decides when she's older she wants pierced ears, we'll go to a legitimate piercer and get them done the right way (those guns are disgusting and do more damage then most people realize).
Facebook: I'm on Facebook, I'm on it daily, but I honestly wish I'd never signed up. I do love that it keeps me in greater contact with friends and family overseas, for a lot cheaper than calling. I don't see the need to post every single little detail of my life but I'm guilty of pointless status updates just because I'm bored. DH didn't join up and actually use it until about a year ago. I think a lot of hate and useless information gets thrown around online social media because people are a lot braver behind their computer screen than in real life. I've had to cut off relationships with people because they post racist, misogynistic and bigoted crap on FB that they wouldn't have the balls to bring up in real life. I've deactivated my profile 3 times since 2007 when I joined, and got many of the responses others have gotten about people thinking there's something wrong. It's weird.
Transgendered awards: I can see both sides of this coin. I think it was a fucking travesty that Caitlyn Jenner got that award. Especially after he/she killed someone in a collision where s/he was under the influence; what exactly did s/he contribute to society other than being famous, being the step-father to the Kardashians, or landing her own tv special? I don't care, she's irrelevant in my eyes, she gives the entire community a bad name. If that award was going to go to a transgendered woman, I would much preferred to have seen it go to someone like Laverne Cox, who has actually championed and done amazing philanthropic work within the LGBTQ2S community.
ALSO, trans women have just as much a right to win a woman of the year award as I do. They're women. Period. A trans woman winning that award over a cis woman doesn't bother me in the slightest. Caitlyn Jenner winning it bothers me, because there are better candidates.
FORMER USERNAME: @runningisrad
There are too many factors that play in any given individual's story. There are disabled people, there are disadvantaged people, there are uneducated people. Not all adults who work low-wage jobs are irresponsible and lazy. You cannot lump everyone in the same category.
Like I said, I don't have an answer. What I do know, though, is that everyone - EVERYONE - deserves the right to a wage that at least gives them a chance to live.
FORMER USERNAME: @runningisrad
I don't agree a trans woman shouldn't win a woman of the year award, but Jenner sure as hell didn't deserve it. I'm glad @yellowrose314 brought up Jenner killing a person while DUI. I feel like not enough people know this happened. I hadn't heard a single thing about it until she won the award, and it's sick to me that it just got brushed under a rug. And instead of being punished, she's being now celebrated.
My Husband has been applying for an average of a job in his field (history) a week since October 2014 and he has received a total of 2 responses. I am unable to work in my field (theatre) because it doesn't pay so I'm stuck working in food service at places where no matter how hard I work, I will not be able to move up. Because I'm part time, I also get no sick pay or vacation time so when this baby comes I can take up to 12 weeks unpaid while still keeping my job (there goes half of our income). As much as I would like to take some of that, I don't know that I'll be able to. And even if I were to come back to work, paying for childcare would very likely cost all or more of what I make.
so please tell me that you honestly believe that the minimum wage should not be raised just because you are a "skilled" worker and I'm just a "burger flipper"
Not to mention that many skilled/trade workers might not make exactly minimum wage but pretty close to it. Like your paramedics and firefighters- all of which went through schooling to get there. I wage increase would help them too.
I wasn't even going to add to anything more to this thread but @marikkita12 post I didn't want to ignore.
BFP: 8/11/18 Due: 4/26/18
FORMER USERNAME: @runningisrad
@marikkita12 thank you for sharing.
I made the point about needing burger flippers as a way to say that there will always be a need for "unskilled labor". Not everyone has the ability or the desire to go to college, especially in light of the crushing debt that so many college graduates are carrying these days. But just because someone works at McDonald's doesn't meant that they aren't entitled to a living wage.
FORMER USERNAME: @runningisrad
I moved to Chattanooga (from Chicago) with my boyfriend. I began working at 17 and have worked ever since. I made $5.15 an hour. That was in 2001. Since then, I've worked various jobs (retail, serving, office) and have managed to land myself a position with a great company making a decent wage. Not great, but it's enough to help support my family and allow us to live comfortably. I did that with no college education; just a GED (that I didn't get until I was 26).
I could very easily get up on my high horse and say that if I could do it, anyone can. They just have to want it bad enough and be determined enough. I am not going to do that, though, because I am fully aware of the privileges that life has awarded me: I am an able-bodied, white American. I was raised in a middle-class, two-parent family (until my parents split when I was 12). I have always felt secure in the knowledge that if I really got in a tight spot, my father would help me out. In the 15 years I've been on my own, I have asked him for help once. But I know that if I needed it, he would be there.
I am also a fairly intelligent person, I am naturally good with words, I learn very quickly and can multi-task, and I interview well. None of these things came as a result of something I did. It is just who I am. I also got lucky when it came to this particular job. Right place, right time.
I am not better than anyone because I went from a high school dropout to having a management-level position at a thriving company. My privileges plus the fortune of having intelligence and natural, useable skills, plus being in the right place at the right time, are the reasons I am where I am.
I could, however, ignore all of that and simply say, "Well, I did it. And you should be able to, too." It'd be a hell of a lot easier than accepting the privilege that life has handed me simply by the circumstances I was born under, and the inherent qualities that make me who I am. I am fortunate. Others aren't. That is why I support a higher minimum wage. Everyone deserves to be able make a living wage without having to work multiple jobs to barely make ends meet.
FORMER USERNAME: @runningisrad
I had no delusions about owning a car on that income, let alone a house, or getting an IRA/money market/etc. rolling. I was in an whirlpool of paycheck-to-paycheck and it sucked. Love or hate tech support, it's a job that requires training, in-depth knowledge of computers, an ability to multitask, etc., but the market dictated that I should be grateful to be paid like dirt. And the stupid thing was I was grateful. I was doing better than my peers on something that would not at all sustain me today, something that didn't allow me to even entertain the idea of something as luxurious as a road trip or a <$100 trip to a water park. Life doesn't have to be 100% tumult and toil.
I think we've seen a lot of bootstrap stories in here, and I'd consider myself one of them. I'm a tech writer/document designer now and I make enough that I get to save, have disposable income, demand a flexible schedule, and I get to bitch and complain about being in a tax bracket in which I actually have to pay a decent amount of money every year. This isn't everyone's story. The real story is that we're in a limited job market where college degrees are a dime-a-dozen and there are 50 brilliant individuals desperate to fill every 1 salaried position. There are more of @marikkita12 than there are of @superfudge00 and I.
I don't think other people should have to scrimp like that just because I did. I would hate for my kids to have to live that way. I think of the borderline minimum wage period of my life and my prevailing memories are of stress, joylessness, and despondency. There's no compelling reason for this. There's no need for other people -- people who are willing to work, and work hard -- to deal with it.
To think of what an extra $5 would have afforded me personally ... I hope the increase passes. Really, truly, even if I had to pay some more in the taxes I so readily bitch about (though really, I think CEOs can spare some of that multi-million dollar income).
Awkward Family Fun
FORMER USERNAME: @runningisrad
The next argument agreed with that portion but that those people deserve a raise too. I argued that if those people get a raise, so would the bracket above them, and then the bracket above then, and so on.
This pattern will result in everyone getting paid more, everything costing more and being back in the same position because all that would have happened is "inflation".
The only way for the minimum wage worker to make more money that won't result in this cycle is for them to increase their skill set in some way and move out of the minimum wage job.
I dont disagree that that the minimum wage is impossible to thrive on, or impossible to independently support a family on. My argument is that either raising it to a level to match a skilled worker's wage is unfair and raising everyone's wage is unproductive.
November Siggy Challenge: Selfie Fails
Hidden for the sake of your eyes!
November Siggy Challenge: Selfie Fails
Hidden for the sake of your eyes!
I saw this image on Facebook that really resonated with me. (Sorry if it is huge).
Have you tried to fold the button parts down inside the pants? Like just tuck them inside. That helps smooth things out and your pants still stay up b/c the band is over everything. Kept me sane from lump drama :-)
I've worked hard, gotten myself an education in an area that I'm genuinely passionate about, but my current job was earned partially through friend-based nepotism. I'm qualified and I work my hypothetical balls off, but I don't know that I ever would have first breached the resume shuffle (100 resumes for one position) without an in. I say that as someone who writes and constructs documents for a living so I'd damn well better have an attractive resume. That "in" is a luxury few people have.
I already pay substantially in taxes, and if it came down to it, I'm not fundamentally against paying more so sensible young people don't start off their professional/adult lives with a session of Roshambo. If the costs are passed to employers, (and they should be, I think people gloss over the gross overpayment CEOs/executives receive and it's appalling) I'll pay the extra $2 at McDonalds. I can afford it, people scraping by on $10/hr with 2 30-hour part time positions can't.
Awkward Family Fun
FORMER USERNAME: @runningisrad
I'm not concerned with others making more because that will mean that I will make more. I will also pay more because everything will cost more and things will basically be the same. Except maybe I'll be better off because my mortgage payment will be lower in comparison to my increased wage thanks to everyone's increased wage and housing prices will most likely increase, increasing my home value.
Again, my point is that it will eventually balance out and this raise in minimum wage won't amount to anything.
November Siggy Challenge: Selfie Fails
Hidden for the sake of your eyes!
PCOS, Hypothyroidism.
Miscarriage at 8 weeks
First saw
It's a boy!
November Siggy Challenge: Selfie Fails
Hidden for the sake of your eyes!