I want to love maternity pants, I really do....but I just don't. Or maybe I just haven't found the right pair yet. They do nothing for the butt & seem to just enhance my growing hips & thighs. And every pair I've worn thus far has ended up saggy & funky by the end of the day Help! Is there a secret I don't know about?
I think the k-cups for baby formula product in the advertisements all over the Bump is stupid. They're ridiculously wasteful, the water filtration system in those things is disgusting, and they're expensive. I'd much rather BF or mix my formula with hot water from the tap or hot pot.
Ok I guess I have one, although I'm not sure if this is unpopular in general. But it's very unpopular among my social group since I work in a salon: I don't believe you have to tip everyone.
Now I'm a tipper. I tip VERY well. But when I was in beauty school, I was taught that getting into a service based industry means you give up you're right to have a bad or lazy day. I've been in the beauty industry for 5 plus years, but I've also worked retail, health care, and as a nanny. I put just as much effort into serving my guests in those industries, where I was never tipped, as I do in my salon. If someone can't do the same when they're serving me, that will be reflected in their tip. If you're rude or really terrible (and can't be bothered to apologize), I won't tip you. No one is entitled to my hard-earned money if they can't even show me the same courtesy I showed to earn said money.
Smiling and being polite requires almost no effort, even on horrible days. If you can't do that, you should probably get a job where you're income is not tip-based. There are plenty of those jobs available, although you'll probably still be required to smile and be polite there too.
@KaessiI'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.
Inspired by @krzyriver, my UO is that I think we should do away with tipping in general. I hate having to figure out tips, particularly when it is part of a routine service and not something "above and beyond." I'm thinking like house cleaners, room service, cab drivers, a grande mocha, a soup and salad lunch, etc. I'm already paying for the service, so I'd rather just bump my base payment- and the employees' base pay- by a few bucks and only leave a tip if the service is actually outstanding and not just the usual.
@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)
I don't find photos of babies with food all over their faces to be cute - at all. The whole cake smash thing is TOTALLY lost on me. Then again, I'm also weird about the newborn photo shoots that place babies in contrived positions with odd props. Something about it really creeps me out!
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.
@klv I think the theory is that raising the minimum wage pushes all wages up. After all, who would go to college for years to do a job that doesn't pay more than fast food work? It upsets me to see comments like yours, especially from teachers. I have a lot of teacher friends who have a similar attitude. But doesn't it make more sense to try to pull everyone up with you instead of pushing them down below you? Teachers get very little respect and they are way underpaid. I would think they'd be the first people to understand and fight for a living wage.
To echo @ignoscemihi, the idea would be that all wages would increase proportionately. I went to school and have worked VERY hard for everything that I have and all of my opportunities, but I still don't make a living wage. I thank my lucky stars that my husband works his ass off to support us. It's not just about 'kids who flip burgers'. Granted, I live in one of the most expensive cities in the US (THAT's going to be changing soon, hopefully...Austin here we come!), but I still think that SOMETHING needs to change so that the minimum wage allows people to afford basic human needs. Most of my friends are college graduates and work multiple jobs just to get food on the table. Being in the restaurant industry, I also know many people, not just young, fresh out of high school kids, who work their asses off at two or three jobs to pay the bills. Someone has to do those jobs, and they should at least be paid a livable wage because what they do can be VERY labor intensive. I'm not saying that we all deserve things to be handed to us. I think that a job well done, and/or a skilled job should have appropriate pay earned, but I think the minimum wage needs to at least be a minimum of what is needed to live.
Edited because my brain is mush by the end of the day.
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.
Let's say you work 40 hours a week for $10/hour. You make, before taxes, $1600 a month or so. Imagine you're a single parent in Boston, where I live. Infant daycare is at least $1200/month, and often double that cost. Rent for a not-very-nice 1BR? $800 minimum. So even before things like food, heat (kind of a necessity here), transportation, clothing..... You're short $400 a month.
I don't understand how a parent could ever be OK condemning a child to a life of hunger and poverty because they don't want to raise the minimum wage. I don't care who you are, what you do, or how much you went to school-if you work 40 hours a week, you should be able to live above the poverty line. Right now, single parents literally cannot afford to work (see the math above), and that's just effed up.
My UO is that I don't think that all millennials are entitled and I'm tired of people thinking we expect everything to be handed to us. We were raised in a time when the economy was better, so yes, maybe our parents were able to provide us with more luxuries. How this is our fault, I still fail to see... we didn't raise ourselves! HOWEVER, we came of age and entered the workforce during a recession and learned to adapt. Those of us who could afford college, still entered a workforce that wasn't hiring, so we've had to take multiple minimum wage jobs to make ends meet. I find us to be competitive and resilient.
This may not be such an UO here since, I'm sure I'm among many millennials as well lol. It's all I got for today though!
This is a very silly topic compared to politics and minimum wage. But, my UO is that I hate the family member abbreviations on The Bump. DH, DS, DD, etc. I use them to conform, but I'd much rather just type out "husband" or "son" (I mean, that's literally one more letter).
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.
I'm a little flabbergasted at the bolded. You understand a huge proportion of the working class doesn't make a living wage (think about what that means) and yet you don't care because you personally worked your ass off to get a doctorate and are now a teacher? What an incredibly privileged point of view that is.
There's an entire economic class of people for whom ANY kind of higher education, nevermind a doctorate, is completely out of reach. It has nothing to do with "not valuing an education," but everything to do with equal access to that education and the funds to pay for it. Congratulations for being so proud of your degree, but at some point you have to realize the playing field is not equal. Those working three or more jobs doing what you turn your nose up to does NOT mean they deserve the poverty in which they live.
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.
Does everyone understand how pitiful it is that we are arguing over minimum wage, in what is arguably the richest nation in the world, and undoubtedly the nation with the largest and quickest growing wage gap? CEOs of US companies make far more than their lowest earners compared to corporations in other countries. It is sad and terrible, but a reality in our country.
Inflation, costs of living, and expenses have far far outpaced average wage increases in the US, minimum wage not withstanding. It should have been done on a national stage before now, but our illustrious government hasn't been known to do much to benefit us regular old plebeians with out being dragged kicking and screaming.
No one expects that the minimum wage should be a middle earner salary, but neither should it condemn a family to poverty. We are a service industry, and the manu and factory jobs that made many a middle class family are no longer in existence. Factories and mills are shuttered and they are not coming back. People work the jobs they can get, and they should be able to live a decent life at the same time.
And frankly, those of you clutching your degrees and certifications, calling foul on increasing someone else's standard of living- for shame. Seriously. How selfish can you be? People are banding together and advocating for a better wage, and it's starting to happen. Fantastic for them- truly. Unhappy with your own wage? Do the same, instead of forcing someone's head back underwater to make yourself feel better.
@Julia70286I 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.
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)
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.
@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.
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.
My two cents: I hate when people argue the "I worked my way through college" Yes, good for you; unfortunately, that is no longer a reality today. College prices have shot up (you used to be able to work 8.4hrs/week and have enough to pay for college now, according to studies now you would have to work 60hrs/week to pay for college on top of paying bills, studying , etc.). It is a myth that anyone can pay there way though college anymore (Yes, there are many many articles on this and studies as well).
Also, I am a YUGE Bernie supporter (so I guess some can say that is OU, at least in the area I live in) and no I do not live off the government.
SO and I have been together: 5 Years+ BFP: 03/10 First Baby: 10/20/2016
@Knottie1456760197I don't think that would happen. The reason wages are so low right now is because the government allows them to be. Corporations are going to make as high a profit as they legally can. If that means underpaying their workers, they'll do it. But they can only charge what the market will pay for goods and services. If McDonald's had to pay its workers $15 and hour, they could raise their prices slightly and still stay in business. But no one is going to pay $10 for a Big Mac, so they wouldn't be able to raise the prices of their goods that much. And McDonald's can afford to pay their workers more without raising their prices in the extreme. They made $1.21 billion in profits in just the fourth quarter of 2015.
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.
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.
All these prices have already been going up. It will not be an across the board hike in all prices. Some industries might see an increase, as @SpaceBurger mentioned, but life expenses are more than just consumer goods.
I also wanted to circle back to the outrage about irresponsible kids making bank as burger flippers. If the wages for those jobs are actually competitive then the slack off kids won't be monopolizing them any longer. Why suffer someone that is always late/doesn't care when someone harder working is competing for that job as well? At $7.25 an hour there is little incentive to do well, but at $15 the demand, and thus quality of worker, will be much higher. Plus people can now afford to work one job, instead of two or three, and will open up those other positions for other workers that are either unemployed, underemployed, or disenfranchised.
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.
Re: UO Thursday 5.19.16
I'll see if I can think of anything...
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
Now I'm a tipper. I tip VERY well. But when I was in beauty school, I was taught that getting into a service based industry means you give up you're right to have a bad or lazy day. I've been in the beauty industry for 5 plus years, but I've also worked retail, health care, and as a nanny. I put just as much effort into serving my guests in those industries, where I was never tipped, as I do in my salon. If someone can't do the same when they're serving me, that will be reflected in their tip. If you're rude or really terrible (and can't be bothered to apologize), I won't tip you. No one is entitled to my hard-earned money if they can't even show me the same courtesy I showed to earn said money.
Smiling and being polite requires almost no effort, even on horrible days. If you can't do that, you should probably get a job where you're income is not tip-based. There are plenty of those jobs available, although you'll probably still be required to smile and be polite there too.
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.
Edited because my brain is mush by the end of the day.
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
I don't understand how a parent could ever be OK condemning a child to a life of hunger and poverty because they don't want to raise the minimum wage. I don't care who you are, what you do, or how much you went to school-if you work 40 hours a week, you should be able to live above the poverty line. Right now, single parents literally cannot afford to work (see the math above), and that's just effed up.
ETA for profanity (even if it's appropriate)
This may not be such an UO here since, I'm sure I'm among many millennials as well lol. It's all I got for today though!
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
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
There's an entire economic class of people for whom ANY kind of higher education, nevermind a doctorate, is completely out of reach. It has nothing to do with "not valuing an education," but everything to do with equal access to that education and the funds to pay for it. Congratulations for being so proud of your degree, but at some point you have to realize the playing field is not equal. Those working three or more jobs doing what you turn your nose up to does NOT mean they deserve the poverty in which they live.
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.
Inflation, costs of living, and expenses have far far outpaced average wage increases in the US, minimum wage not withstanding. It should have been done on a national stage before now, but our illustrious government hasn't been known to do much to benefit us regular old plebeians with out being dragged kicking and screaming.
No one expects that the minimum wage should be a middle earner salary, but neither should it condemn a family to poverty. We are a service industry, and the manu and factory jobs that made many a middle class family are no longer in existence. Factories and mills are shuttered and they are not coming back. People work the jobs they can get, and they should be able to live a decent life at the same time.
And frankly, those of you clutching your degrees and certifications, calling foul on increasing someone else's standard of living- for shame. Seriously. How selfish can you be? People are banding together and advocating for a better wage, and it's starting to happen. Fantastic for them- truly. Unhappy with your own wage? Do the same, instead of forcing someone's head back underwater to make yourself feel better.
@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.
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.
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)
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
PCOS, Hypothyroidism.
Miscarriage at 8 weeks
First saw at 6w4d
It's a boy!
@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.
Rant over
It's a boy!
My two cents: I hate when people argue the "I worked my way through college" Yes, good for you; unfortunately, that is no longer a reality today. College prices have shot up (you used to be able to work 8.4hrs/week and have enough to pay for college now, according to studies now you would have to work 60hrs/week to pay for college on top of paying bills, studying , etc.). It is a myth that anyone can pay there way though college anymore (Yes, there are many many articles on this and studies as well).
Also, I am a YUGE Bernie supporter (so I guess some can say that is OU, at least in the area I live in) and no I do not live off the government.
SO and I have been together: 5 Years+
BFP: 03/10
First Baby: 10/20/2016
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
I also wanted to circle back to the outrage about irresponsible kids making bank as burger flippers. If the wages for those jobs are actually competitive then the slack off kids won't be monopolizing them any longer. Why suffer someone that is always late/doesn't care when someone harder working is competing for that job as well? At $7.25 an hour there is little incentive to do well, but at $15 the demand, and thus quality of worker, will be much higher. Plus people can now afford to work one job, instead of two or three, and will open up those other positions for other workers that are either unemployed, underemployed, or disenfranchised.
LFAF Summer 2016 Awards:
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.
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.