October 2016 Moms

UO Thursday 5.19.16

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Let's hear them people.
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DH and I:  Early/mid 30s
Married 7/15
TTC #1 as of 8/15
BFP 11/21/15 -- MC confirmed 12/1/15
BFP #2 2/18/16
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Re: UO Thursday 5.19.16

  • Holy shit, NOBODY has any UOs today?!

    I'll see if I can think of anything...

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  • Holy shit, NOBODY has any UOs today?!

    I'll see if I can think of anything...
    I've been thinking this all day! Thursdays are my fav for this reason, I just can't think of any UNpopular opinions that I have right now. 
    Me: 31 | DH: 43
    BFP #1: 7/15/15, SB: 11/14/15
    Rainbow baby DS born 9/29/16!!
    BFP #3 3/26/18 | Due 12/3/18
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  • @FemShep I busted my Keurig open a few months ago and was DISGUSTED by what I found inside. I'll never buy another one. 

    E will be 18 on July 24th
    Z was born October 16, 2016
    #3 Due October 9, 2018

    MC - November 29, 2012
    CP - November 15, 2014
    D&C for MMC - October 13, 2015




  • @Kaessi I'm not a huge fan of maternity pants either.  They don't fit right.  And I have some of the demi-panel pants from Gap and Old Navy and they aren't even that comfortable.  (Full panel pants are pretty comfy, but they tend to sag like crazy on me.)  The only maternity pants I've found that look good are the Old Navy compression capri pants and I only wear them for working out.  I can't wait for warmer weather.  I'll be so much happier when I can just wear dresses every day.
  • blaf322blaf322 member
    @kaessi I LOVE my maternity pants and I'm curvy so I get not wanting to accentuate the hips too much. Where are you going for yours? I got mine at either Destination Maternity or Motherhood Maternity (I think they're the same company anyway)
  • klvklv member
    The idea that minimum wage could be $15/hr is BS. I get that McDonalds and cashiers at walmart don't make a living wage. That stinks. 

    However, I worked hard so that I could get a job that pays enough to live on. I have a doctorate and I teach. I have seen thousands of students who do not value education, do not understand the concept of respecting rules or being on time for anything. I am appalled at the possibility that in a few years these kids could be making more flipping burgers than I do as a teacher. 
    image
  • F47F47 member
    @Julia70286 yes! Like I would ever refer to my husband as "Darling Husband" in everyday conversation. lol
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  • My frustration with the minimum wage topic is two fold:

    1) I hold a skilled labor position and am required to maintain a license with the State, I'm frustrated that a starting wage position would suddenly be making significantly more per hour than I do with my employment requirements. 

    2) But then people argue that my job would get a proportionate raise. Great. So would everone else. And suddenly $15/hour wouldn't mean anything because the bar has been raised across the board due to inflation. 

    I agree that people should get a living wage but I don't think that that is the way to do it. 

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  • @Julia70286 I don't even bother using the abbreviations.  It might be because I was never a big texter, but I never felt comfortable using abbreviations.  Now I feel old.

    @Turtlemomma I don't think that's how inflation works.  In fact, the minimum wage hasn't kept up with inflation - it would need to be over $10 an hour to have the same buying power it had when it was originally enacted.  And productivity has increased 72.2% since 1973 whereas wages have only increased 9.2%.  The point of the federal minimum wage was to ensure that a person working 40 hours a week could live on their wages.  It was a check on corporate greed, but it is no longer functioning as intended.
  • Rather than raising wages, I'd prefer to see more subsidies for things like childcare, which costs can rival college tuition or mortgages in many areas (my own, included). Caps on housing costs and health insurance premiums. Things like that. I'm not about keeping people down, I just believe in a different method of social justice. I don't think arbitrarily raising the minimum wage will accomplish making life more liveable for most. We don't *need* $15 an hour, we need basic necessities to be affordable to those who need to use them. 

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  • The tip discussion makes me miss Japan. Why? You do not tip. Ever. If you leave money on the table they will literally chase after you to give it back. Good service is part of the job. You should not have to be rewarded extra for just doing what is part of your job. 
    In Tanzania you're generally not expected to tip either, accept that the very westernized restaurants have kinda made it a thing. Which is funny because service barely exists. 

    Sometimes if I go to a local place with a group of visitors that totally occupy the kitchen staff (usually only one person) then I advise them on an appropriate amount for a local tip, which is still way more than they ever expect to receive because tipping isn't a thing in Tanzanian culture. (With out advise they would  be tipping like 200 times the wage and the stereotype is further enforced that Americans are rich and throw money around. )

    Speaking of, yes, America is the richest country in the world, and it is also one of the most wasteful. The quantity of things, food, ect that are thrown out daily is abhorrent.  One thing that I have come to admire here is that is something is broken, there is always someone who can fix it, and for a small fee at that, and so there is no "just throw it away and buy a new one" mentality. Not to mention most people can't afford a new one. I have a pair of chacos sandals I have had the bottoms replaced on 4 times! Many people have told me to just throw them away but they are still totally comfortable and not ugly and get the job done. 
    *American lady living in Tanzania.
    DH - Tanzanian Maasai 
    BFP #1 - MC Dec 2, 2015 (@ 9weeks)
    BFP #2 - Feb 2, 2016 --EDD 10/10/16 --Abigail- October 6, 2016. Heart warrior.
    October 2017- Began fostering to adopt T, (DOB:November 19, 2013)
  • AlyeenaAlyeena member
    edited May 2016
    *lurking, and I have to post sorry because this is a pet peeve of mine*

    The US is not the richest country in the world. It is the 9th. Quatar is the richest and almost three times more so than the US.

    Here are the standings for 2015 according to gross domestic product (GDP) based on purchasing-power-parity (PPP) per capita:

    https://www.gfmag.com/global-data/economic-data/richest-countries-in-the-world?page=12
    35 years old, TTC #1 Dec 28, 2011
    PCOS, Hypothyroidism.
    First IVF cycle June 5th 2015 --- BFP
    Miscarriage at 8 weeks
    FET December 15th 2015--- BFP!
    First saw  at 6w4d
    It's a boy!

    Luciano Alessandro Maximiliano was born on September 3rd 2016

       



  • Rather than raising wages, I'd prefer to see more subsidies for things like childcare, which costs can rival college tuition or mortgages in many areas (my own, included). Caps on housing costs and health insurance premiums. Things like that. I'm not about keeping people down, I just believe in a different method of social justice. I don't think arbitrarily raising the minimum wage will accomplish making life more liveable for most. We don't *need* $15 an hour, we need basic necessities to be affordable to those who need to use them. 
    Those ideas, while ok on their face, are just band aids. Instead of creating an environment and economy where people can take care of themselves and be self sustaining, we'd be asking the government to fund the middle and working class. Even if (big if) some of those measures pass now, they won't last forever. I'd cite Social Security as an example, which we are both paying into and it's looking less likely that we'll benefit from. I'd also direct you to the very sad, corrupt, and failed policies concerning rent control as why capping housing costs won't work. Those policies were tried with good intentions and have been phased out and abandoned for good reason. 

    @Alyeena I stand corrected! Thank you for the source. I should revise to say "one of the richest" but certainly still wealthy enough, in both cash and resources. 
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  • @SuperNerd42 I totally agree!  But at one time I too was selfishly upset about the whole raising minimum wage thing.  At the time, I had a BA and worked very hard as a preschool teacher (at a school where it was required to have at least a BA).  I was making maybe $10-12/hr, still single and living on my own and I needed my parents help paying for some things like insurance.  I guess I was frustrated to think that my struggle was being overlooked?  But taking a step back, I think that getting people worked up over this perspective is just a big red herring.  The problem isn't that people working minimum wage jobs shouldn't afford to live above poverty if I'm struggling.  The problem is, as you said, that a few select individuals are making an insanely massive, ever-increasing salary, despite the struggle of their employees.  The CEOs of these companies could still be making massive, but slightly less massive salaries, and proportionately raise the pay of skilled and unskilled workers.  These companies are also getting huge subsidies from the government that should be used to support the country as a whole.  I once read that Wal-Mart employees are the largest receivers of food stamps, and then they turn around and spend those food stamps at the place they are employed full-time!  WTF?!  It is shameful that a company pays its employees so little that they need support from the government.  It's disgusting.

    Rant over  :#
    Me (28) & DH (29)
    Married: May 2015
    BFP 1/24/16 EDD 10/4/16
    It's a boy!

  • The problem with raising wages just means that everything else will be raised.  And ultimately, we will all be in the same boat we are now.  The people making the new minimum wage of $15/hr will still be living in poverty because cost of living will go up along with it. 
  • @Ashleymn lol..."Yuge" I giggled at that. I also feel the Bern! 
    Me: 31 | DH: 43
    BFP #1: 7/15/15, SB: 11/14/15
    Rainbow baby DS born 9/29/16!!
    BFP #3 3/26/18 | Due 12/3/18
  • In Seattle where the minimum wage was raised to $15, the only thing that happened was restaurants and coffee place's prices shot up. It's really expensive to go out to eat, so we go a lot less. No one really seemed to be much better off? Hard to tell.  
  • This is a UO! Great work ladies!! 


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  • In Seattle where the minimum wage was raised to $15, the only thing that happened was restaurants and coffee place's prices shot up. It's really expensive to go out to eat, so we go a lot less. No one really seemed to be much better off? Hard to tell.  
    I live in Seattle, too!  The minimum wage before the increase was already $9.25 and right now it actually is only $13 an hour for big companies (over 500 employees) and $10.50 and hour for small companies right now with gradual increases over the next 2-6 years.  I haven't noticed an increase in prices, but I guess that might be because we don't go out to eat that often. 
  • If minimum wage jobs become more competitive, then these "irresponsible kids" will be out in the streets as opposed to flipping burgers.  This will then cause a whole other issue that will have to be dealt with.

    The minute business owners have to increase wages, prices will go up to "make up" for the extra income they will have to pay.  It may not be for everything, but it will be for most including life expenses. 

    ignoscemihi  I thought I would never pay $20 for a movie ticket either, so it is very possible that one day we might be paying $10 for a Big Mac.

  • I'll be brief because 1. I'm a day late and 2. I don't feel educated enough on every facet of the minimum wage issue to really debate. But I will say that I know a lot of small businesses would suffer. My uncle owns his own small, local business and employs several young adults (some college students) who get paid just above minimum wage to do jobs I can truly say are not worth more (I worked for him one summer). If he had to give them all $7.00 raises, he'd be out of business so fast it'd make your head spin. Consequentially, 13 people would be unemployed.

    Most people tend to reference employers like McDonalds and Walmart when they talk about raising minimum wage. To me, they're not the real issue- everyone knows successful, large corporations like that can most certainly afford to pay their employees more. It's the little guys who will suffer. 
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