Things that make you go

[Dave's Not Here Man]

Well, duh.

ktla.com/news/california/more-california-fast-food-chains-announce-changes-ahead-of-minimum-wage-hike/


We stopped at Jersey Mikes on our way home from her appointment at UVA yesterday and got 2 subs. $30. Never. Ever. Again. Just imagine that the same 2 subs in CA are going to cost you $50.

This is the part where you lecture me about how much money these companies are making. And this is the part where I tell you that the only thing anyone can do about that is to stop spending your money of stupidly overpriced shit. Yes, it will mean lost jobs and a reminder that unskilled, part-time labor jobs have never been the ones you can support yourself or God forbid a family on. They just aren't. Trying to make it so they are, well, I refer you to the article and supportive testimony. $20 an hour to squirt ketchup on a bun really gives no incentive to anyone to get educated or develop a skill that will pay the same amount for 100 times the effort as entry level ketchup squirter.









 

[minx]

I agree that the majority of retail jobs are and should not be designed to support a family (or being honest, even yourself).
But I also think that those people should be making more than $10/hr simply because the minimum wage itself should be higher and should have gradually increased each year - that way we wouldn't find ourselves in the situation where workers are getting huge raises to bring them to parity.

Remember that when the minimum wage was set to $7.25/hr, gas was still below $1.50 a gallon and other prices were lower as well. So it makes sense to me that the minimum should be in the area of $12/hr now. Of course since nothing has been done for ages, we're making a huge jump which allows corporations to say that their costs have gone through the roof so prices have to go up, up, up!

But I also agree that the only way to shut down corporate greed is with your money - Papa John's charging too much for pizza? Go to Dominoes where the pizza is .50 less (as an example).

And we all need to put more pressure on companies to stop outsourcing and provide opportunities for people to move up the ladder without requiring a degree.
Both of my kids applied for 'entry-level' jobs (think answering phones in a call center) - the jobs required not only a degree, but at least one year of office experience. WTF?

When I graduated, those jobs were indeed entry-level (HS diploma), and if you did your job and excelled, you could work your way up to a management position. Not any more.

[Dave's Not Here Man]

We have to live with the reality that things have changed drastically over the years while other things haven't changed at all, and work to find some sort of equilibrium.

[minx]

Agreed. Things that worked in the past are no longer working today. And things have been introduced that have changed the playing field (in some cases better, others worse).

And yes, we also need to realize that the old solutions may not work anymore either.
So a $10 minimum wage probably works. A $20 one, probably not.

Same with job applications.
Applying face-to-face where you can talk to someone? Nope, not a thing anymore.
Applying online - that's the ticket!

So people (especially older ones) need to adjust their expectations on that front. Personally, I didn't realize that pretty much everything is completely online until the eldest graduated from college.

[Dave's Not Here Man]

Dumb thought of the day

Will that raise bring them up in tax brackets? That's over 44k @40 hrs a week. How many people get booted from Medicaid as a result?
Kind of a socialist mentality but whatever. Is anyone really winning here except for the people that take fast food out of their budgets?

[Dave's Not Here Man]

It almost sounds like a perfect recipe to crash the economy. You used to sell me a meal for less than five bucks but tomorrow it'll be over 10.

Solve this problem using consumer math only.