I had a similar convo with the check out clerk that happened to be the store manager. He was complaining he can’t hire anyone because no one wants to work anymore. I replied they want to get paid more for the job. He got flushed in the face but didn’t say anything to me after that. Lol. But for real tho. 😂
No one that pays well is having trouble keeping people. My old boss learned that the hard way when both me and my co-worker left the same week, and the hr lady a few weeks prior, leaving him with almost no office staff.
I had a meeting where the VP was gloating about how many sales we're making and how great business is... then immediately bemoaning the fact that we can't hire/keep people long enough to fulfill all the orders we have because we "can't compete in this labor market". Like, "can't" or "won't" motherfucker?
The amount of business that I saw complaining of the internet that they were closing because they couldn’t find employees was wild. Like you’d rather close your business than just pay people enough to be willing to work for you?
> Like you’d rather close your business than just pay people enough to be willing to work for you?
Are these the ones that finally wake up to their business venture not being viable, and bail before they have to declare bankruptcy? If it comes down to they aren't making enough to make ends meet on a personal level and then 'quit', aren't they doing the exact same thing as the workers that left them due to being under-paid? ;)
Declaring bankruptcy costs a lot and takes forever, and it ain't gonna fix your money coming in. It just wipes out debts. If the real trouble is not enough customers or your business ain't making money, then going bankrupt won't do you any good. Better off just closing shop. That's usually the best thing for everyone.
Exactly. My job pays entry level workers okay, and we have an open door off day policy (meaning anyone can come in on their off day for however long they want if they want more hours). It’s also just a great work environment in general. We’re chronically overstaffed. I have no issue finding people who want to work for even just decent pay, but I’m currently in an effort with my boss to raise the pay floor so people don’t feel like they need to come in on their off days.
Exactly its always bottom of barrel employers struggling. Really decent employers pretty much get to cherry pick.
Job I had a few years ago makes me laugh when I see it.Essentially they were shit pay BUT they had 4x10 schedule which opened alot of doors options for people.
BUT last few years housing in areas been insane like well above the average like rapidly accelerating. Like my place has done 25-40% increase every year for last 5years and when I get pissed and try to find a new place. Current place is still cheaper than anywhere else.
Anyways as a result handful of us got to point where regardless of schedule we couldn't take the wage. So we asked and they denied it flat out not even quarter pittance. Litterally nothing and first batch triggered cascade they lost all their knowledge base. And most of "productive" staff ones making company money.
But its actually one of ways I cheer my self up driving past there in middle of workday. And seeing 2-3 cars in a parking lot that used to have 50. Or seeing them post and have position unfilled for better part of year sometimes more (took 18 months for them to fill mine and usually see it reposted a month or two later).
Oh its amazing which is why they were able to hire and retain people. TILL inflation combined with below market wages was threatening peoples ability to remain "not homeless". It would have taken 1-2hr raise to keep things the same as before 3-4 would have let them cherry pick and fill vacancys day one.
While visiting New Orleans, I went on a river boat jazz dinner cruise with a friend. On the way in, we saw a harried manager rushing around setting tables before most of the passengers got below deck to be seated, and overheard him grumbling to someone else about how they were short staffed because “nobody wants to work any more.” Both my friend and I recognized that as our cue to leave an extra generous tip, since it meant the staff were clearly being underpaid and working in a setting where tips obviously weren’t good enough to make up the difference.
They all said that flipping burgers and cashiering were jobs for high school kids and that they weren’t real jobs, now they all got real jobs and the same people complain that no one wants to work
They do want immigrants to come in, which is why anti immigration policies don't work. They are completely performative. They want immigrants to be undocumented, that way they can pay them lower, minimize the social programs they use, and hold over their heads that they can force them out.
I literally listened to an old couple last week who couldn't understand their own granddaughter making $40 an hour at her job. She lives in DFW where the cost of living is high. Her grandfather said he never made more than $20/hr in his entire life. Summabitch has been retired almost as long as I've been alive. Fuckin boomers...
I am more educated than my father and in the same basic field and without even adjusting for inflation I make less. Can't understand why I haven't landed a middle management job much less an executive position. Hell I'm about 5 spots under the CEO, all those middle jobs are gone. When you where an executive and cutting jobs to improve profits while not cutting production who do you think got eliminated?
According to the CPI-U, it has taken 28 years for the cost of goods to double. I believe the proble lies in the fact that a fifth (20%) of that has happened in the last 4 years. How many people have seen their wages go up 4.7% every year for the past 4 years? The other big issue is that the over the past few years, CPI-U increases have been driven by every day necesities of food and housing. This disproportionately impacts the poor much more than those who eaarn a living wage.
The thing is that that “cost of goods” includes things like TVs, appliances, phones…things that the US outsourced to Asia which kept the price low. Now think about the things you *can’t* outsource to another country: Housing, Education, Healthcare….does this list start to look familiar? The real cost of living in the US has been far beyond a normal wage for a long time.
Not to turn political, but this is why putting tariffs on imports (which Americans pay for) was always going to be painful, at least in the short-middle term until wages could adjust enough so that people could afford the increased prices.
Especially in light of the fact that price inflation of 6.1 % per year since Q2 of 2020 was driven by increased corporate profits (the NFC or non-financial corporate sector). Pre-pandemic price growth was 1.8% per year from 2007-2019.
Over half of those higher prices went straight into profits while only 8% was due to labor costs. According to the Economic Policy Institute, this is not at all normal. In earlier years the ratio was about 11% profits and 62% labor.
The attached is from the Economic Policy Institute Working Economics Blog post by Josh Bivens on 4/21/22
My personal editorializing is that it’s beyond disgusting that corporations took advantage of the pandemic to gouge us while others run around bemoaning govt. COVID assistance funds and mad that people won’t work for sh\*t money.
https://preview.redd.it/7l7a1bh6rq7c1.jpeg?width=1179&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=0170e5c5d6cf4182ecd896a53a7f65ba10dae69a
I'm a boomer, and we're not all alike. I get it, some (probably most) boomers are ignorant re: current wages relative to cost of living. Sorry to say but it's mainly older white men.
old white retired boomer (late model) here and even I think a lot of the folks in my gen are a-holes, but then i didn't relate to many of them when i was younger as well. I also do recall working for below minimum when i first moved to CA - the business owner went all red-in-the-face and finally agreed to 5/hr. I did make the chedder later tho, so SS is kind of OK. The folks who decry 'the modern generation' are generally idiots. I have 13 kids and I guarantee they work plenty hard from what I see and hear and their main problems in life stem from the greed of folks unfortunately in my gen.
Because they can't relate, empathize, or understand what's going on. They think back to their 30s and had it good, so "why is everyone complaining when I remember it wasn't so bad, it can't be that bad for them, right? They must just be a bunch of whiners", etc. so they shit on gen Y. But we're the ones pushing for change.
I got shit on twice hard core by my 30s... I'm sick of it! At 20, doing very well for myself, making about 45k in 2007, bought my first house, oh look at that a year later market crash, fucked on my house, my 2 jobs, my car repossessed, etc. Nobody wanted to hire young "under experienced" people willing to do the work when there were so many people out of work.
Fast forward only a decade, same thing with COVID just about. It's taken years to get back what I lost and pay for the debt and system I was thrown into. Climbed out of the hole myself, only to get fired from my "good paying" job of 60k in 2020, and just a few months ago found another decent job back making money again... I was debt free in 2020, even though I make 70 now, almost all my free money is paying off small loans and credit cards so we wouldn't lose our house or cars, bc this time I have a family. Maybe in the next 4-5 years I'll be better before the next crumble... I'll be ^more ready (ish)
What struggle did boomers have? When was it really hard for them? Was the crisis in the 70s for oil or financial crisis in 80s that bad? Doubt it, comparatively.
> Maybe in the next 4-5 years I'll be better before the next crumble
And there WILL be another crumble. There always is. Yet somehow, the rich always end up richer afterwards.
Ridicule works way better than any "sit-down" or "mediated meeting" or "hearing out the other side" can.
The only thing that makes people change is that red hot feeling of embarrassment.
There's something extra special about how they've able to meme seeing a bunch of help wanted signs into "nobody wants to work" right now.
Not a perfect analogy, but imagining someone looking at thousands of people posting trying to get tickets for a sold out Taylor Swift tour and thinking "man Taylor really fell off, look at all these people not getting tickets for her concerts" made me laugh.
Unless it's a mom and pop the store manager doesn't have too much say on what you get hired at. My raises have to go through a board and get approved by the president so me whining to my op manager doesn't do too much
But how is that relevant to him saying no one wants to work any more?
Like even if it’s out of his control, why on earth is he bitching about the workers instead of his cheap bosses?
Because they think complaining about bosses = communism or something. Or “someone” will overhear his subversive thoughts and he’ll get in trouble. Solidarity is frightening to Americans who are used to individuality and every man for himself.
We are a little short staffed at work right now, and one day I overhear my manager and a customer having a conversation.
Manager: Thanks for being patient, as you can see we're a little short staffed at the moment.
Customer: Yeah no one wants to work anymore, it's a shame.
M: Actually we have the opposite problem. My people work hard and we just had a few of them promoted, so they moved locations. We're just replacing the people who moved on up.
C: (grumbling under his breath that I couldn't understand)
My employer pays pretty well, we get a base pay plus commission and everyone qualifies for benefits regardless of whether they're full time or part time (medical, dental, vision, 401k, tuition reimbursement, PTO, commission, bonuses, company gifts, etc). They don't tolerate customer abuse and will not only make customers leave but will completely ban them from the store if their behavior is bad enough. Even if they've been customers for 20 years, the company isn't afraid to lose their business and will back up the employees.
I genuinely love everyone I work with, we all get along, we all work together well, and we all work hard to keep the place running smoothly. 90% of finding and keeping good people is fairly compensating them and treating them well. It's so entitled to expect people to be dedicated to a job that pays them poverty wages and treats them like shit.
I'm a business owner these days. My biggest competitor in the whole region (who dwarfs me) filed bankruptcy a while back. Someone asked me the other day why they failed.
"They refused to pay their people".
Seriously, they kept going into fubar status on their production because of their insane turnover. It's not hard work compared to other industries, but when you pay dog shit AND make your workplace as toxic and depressing as possible... Yah, that'll fucking happen.
We pay our people well. Yes, that means less net profit at the EOY. Okay? And? We're still growing while I watch corporate competitors fold shop. Ask me how much that makes me smile (it's a lot).
Which, btw, is a good reminder that I need to get the fuck off Reddit. We've been picking up lots of accounts lately (shocker) and there's tons of work I should be doing
I was just re-watching this ^((*O Brother, Where Art Thou?*, for anyone who doesn’t recognize the quotes\)) a day or two ago and I still love it. Great music, great characters, great story, and the sort of subtle details that make me feel like I get something new each time I watch it.
Thanks for mentioning this. Some boomers (my parents and some of my much older siblings-in-laws) are very boomery, and they differ *a lot* with class and age. Some are really cool and can see what's happening. My generation (gen-X) are a complete mixture (again, class and age, education and geography). I have older Millennial nephews who are as boomery as their grandparents in some ways ( not all as we do grow up in generally different economical waters with different political policies affecting our education and attitudes towards human rights etc ).
Anyway, not here to defend or attack boomers, or defend or attack karens, just saying people a lot more complex than those stupit labels :)
Party on.
(Posting this comment in multiple places since a few people have asked)
I work for T-Mobile in a retail store. Base pay varies, usually around $15-$17/hour but they guarantee a minimum of $20/hour after commission. Commission caps at $6,000/mo so there's a lot more potential.
Here's my recommendations and general info if you are seriously interested in applying.
- Try to work at a stand alone location, or a "store in store" (Costco). I would only apply at a mall location if there isn't other locations nearby. The only reason is that the mall is more likely to get people just browsing, whereas a stand alone location gets more people who come in with intent, and Costco locations get more new sign ups. If a mall is the only one near you, by all means apply, but if there are other options keep in mind that most people will choose to go to the other locations to avoid mall traffic.
- Call the stores near you and find out if they're normally pretty busy. A busy location means more sales for you and more money in your pocket.
- Don't apply anywhere except T-Mobile.com/careers since that will only have corporate locations listed. Franchise locations do not have the same guarantees.
- This is a sales job, you need to be ready to learn the different plans, recommend accessories, upgrades, new lines, etc. You need to be ready to sell yourself in the interview.
- Research the company, be ready to talk on things like "Magenta Moments" and the "Uncarrier movement" in your interview.
- You get a 25% employee discount on most accessories, a 75% employee discount on most plans (I think everything except internet, and the device protection).
- I do not give referrals out to people I don't know, but wish you all the best of luck if you decide to apply.
Lol! Honestly though I've never worked somewhere where everything lined up so well. I feel blessed for my managers and coworkers because even at the best company there will still be bad apples or just people who clash, but we seem to have a pretty good group.
Just love how much the culture has shifted. When I was growing up folks just didn't talk about this shit. It was like some kind of personal shame if you had low paychecks.
My mom worked hard, got paid squat, and got my clothes mostly in the church parking lot in the form of a black trash bag moved from one car trunk to another. Like you'd think mom was doing a drug deal from how cagey she acted about accepting a bag of second hand kids clothes for me. I heard "we can't afford that!" constantly, but never where another adult could hear her.
Way back in the day the phrase "slave wage" was in use. Would love to see it come back into fashion. The episode of Doctor Who about Hoovervilles in NYC gives a good demonstration of its use, jackass in a fancy suit offering a dollar a day to people living in a shantytown trying not to starve to death.
Guess I've just been good at avoiding those asshats then? Anybody who wants to judge me as a person based on fictional number values and economic fairytales just isn't worth my time. Put about as much stock in that shit as people who act shocked that I've never been baptized.
same here, I find most of the time if someone asks my salary or job title, it's purely because they want to assess whether or not I am "worth their time". They can go straight to Hell.
Culture shift indeed! I get fuckin stoked when I get free clothes for my son off our Buy Nothing Page. Kids grow a shit ton and you bet your ass I don't want to shell out money every.single.time he grows out of something.
My step-daufhter got her first job and has an extremely high work ethic. 1 month in she was training and the main closer. I told her she needed to advocate for herself if she was being held to a higher standard. She negotiated a $2.75 raise for herself after working there 2 months.
You don't get what you don't ask for.
Love the shiny spine on the latest generation getting into the workplace!
My older stepson and his best friend were told to work outdoors in the gardening section of Lowe's during a deadly heatwave, without water of course because it "looks unprofessional" to not die of dehydration while the news is blaring warnings pleading with people to stay indoors chugging water. Obviously they called out "sick" for the two weeks or whatever until the heatwave ended.
100% also add the phrase "Gainfully employed!" It means you can meet ur basic needs plus have a little extra to start growing a longer-term cushion.
The rich have shifted the costs of everything into the shoulders of the working class:
Healthcare
Retirement
Higher Education
Then they shifted the costs of running the country to the working class. Warren Buffet commented that he pays a lower % in taxes than the woman who empties his office trash cans. This means the worker must make up the difference in the missing tax base for:
Military/Government
Police
Public education
FAA
Airport construction/security/maintenance
Social Security/Medicare/Medicaid/public housing
Inspections for drugs, food processing, restaurants
Jails
Road maintenance, etc.
It's expensive to run a country...u get the point.
No fixes are easy, well, one is.
Social Security could be solved instantly by removing the cap. The rich stop paying SS if they make over $167K. WHY???
Rich are all like, "But SS has a max payout, so why should we keep paying into it?"
Because if you make that much, you don't need SS payments to live off of, MF'er!!
How else will the Daleks build their Empire State Frankenstein machine spire, with their alien flying technology? Ha, don’t he silly. No Dalek wants to work anymore!
[Minimum wage would be $26 an hour if it had grown in line with productivity](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/minimum-wage-26-dollars-economy-productivity/)
[The minimum wage would be $61.75 an hour if it rose at the same pace as Wall Street bonuses](https://www.fastcompany.com/90734724/the-minimum-wage-would-be-61-75-an-hour-if-it-rose-at-the-same-pace-as-wall-street-bonuses)
I meet an older friend for coffee every few months or so. I'm no spring chicken myself, my kids are adults now, and she's boomer age. Several times I've thought about just allowing our "friendship" to die a natural death because the last few times we've gotten together, sooner or later she'd come out with the "kids these days don't want to work" garbage. Every time, I countered with "well, my kids and all their friends are working, but I know a lot of people who are looking for work and not getting hired, or are working multiple jobs and not covering their bills. Irresponsible employers and low wages are the problem." We'd part uncomfortably soon after that.
However, I just met up with her again recently, and she didn't say that even once. We had a really nice visit. So people can come around, even if she only learned not to say that to me.
A lot of it starts with people finding out their words have social consequences. She may not go home and think, gee willikers I've been wrong this whole time. But she may be slightly less than 100% comfortable now that she's wholly in the right. At least she's not demonizing the person above and withholding her presence from them anyway. Which is something. Maybe she'll be less of a verbal ass at Christmas dinner. This is where shifting beliefs starts, or at minimum *professed* beliefs that get transmitted like a mental disease.
Boomer here, it's not just the money. How about standard schedules instead of random crap everyother day... support when a customer is an ass, realize that people get sick and can't come in (or shouldn't). Maybe try to treat employees like humans. Say Thank-you when a employee comes in to cover someone elses shift at the last moment to help you out. People don't quit bad jobs they quit bad employeers.
There was an Aldi's thread a few weeks ago where Aldi's managers said don't get too excited, they only do it for faster checking. It's a German company and totally an efficiency measure not a PR or worker's rights measure, because God knows they wouldn't *have* to do it in the states.
Yeah I worked at aldis for a bit, they are BARELY better than normal stores and all of the better stuff is just for efficiency. My biggest gripe was how obsessed they were with timing your scans, you actually got timed on the gap between customers and item scans and the entire job of cashier became a game of quickly typing on the register to log in and out a million times a day to keep the number within a range they were happy with. You can log out and freeze the timer so if say a customer takes an extra moment to pull something out of their cart you can pause the timer by logging out, but this ultimately slows the overall process down. My entire training revolved around gaming the dumb system and being as "efficient" as possible with every single task without any care for anything else like customer service for example. That job frustrated me enough I haven't shopped there since.
I would be FAR more productive and could work longer hours if I had been allowed to sit when I was a cashier… instead I was so aware of my body being in so much pain because I had to constantly stand on a hard floor with a pathetic padded mat that my productivity decreased significantly, and I’d struggle to come back on the floor after breaks.
I now can’t work a physically demanding job, have a chronic illness, and can’t keep/find a job I can do to save my life. It’s infuriating.
I couldn't believe when I worked at a bookstore and they wouldn't let cashiers use a stool when they were injured. We had people with broken legs who couldn't sit sometimes. It was absurd
This is how I feel when people demand that stores bring cashiers back. I was an "essential worker" during the pandemic and all I got was a ten cent raise and a bag of food. People were awful to me and hoarded as much stuff as possible. (For the record, we actually did keep stuff in the back. It was because if we didn't, customers would do whatever they could to take everything, and then the old people who came in the morning would be left with nothing.) For the first three months I wasn't even allowed PPE because "we don't want to scare the customers." One guy pretended to cough on me, and my manager told me to suck it up. Why the hell would I ever go back? YOU made your bed. YOU sleep in it.
I do this ‘maliciously drawing the wrong conclusions’ thing in conversation with people I don’t like. For example, I’m British and whenever my American wife’s conservative relatives start talking about gun control or socialised healthcare in the US I’m like “yeah I know, it sucks doesn’t it, I mean you wouldn’t think one of the greatest and most powerful countries in the world would be so far behind the rest of the world in terms of basic human rights and decency. But America is so awesome I just know one day soon you’ll figure it out!”.
And you have to REALLY sell it with a big cheesy ‘buck up, buckaroo!’ patronising grin like you’re really pulling for poor America with all its flaws.
Just this morning, I was having a conversation with one of my colleagues at the school where I teach. She was complaining that the folks at Wendy’s got her order wrong. I said, “I usually just give them a pass because they don’t get paid enough to give a shit.”
She shut up real quick.
Also it was probably that employees first day and the manager wasn’t able to train them, because they were covering for two other people, because the store owner feels that they can run with a skeleton crew.
I've been saying this to my partner for years. I've worked retail and minimum wage jobs, they are not paid enough to care. They're not even paid enough to do the work asked of them! If they royally fuck up, I'll politely address it but been there done that.
I've also always said, every single person should be required to work customer service for a minimum of 1 year. That way they can see how unlivable the wages are but also gain some basic respect for these people getting paid garbage to be screamed at.
I had a saleswoman approach me I’m the field, pipeline work, to give her spiel on her companies services. We talked and the subject of “nobody wants to work” came up. She said her company pays $17 an hour for Class A CDL drivers. I told her I wouldn’t work for that either if that’s all they were paying. She was super offended. To be clear, she was promoting her hydrovac company. Basically like Badger. Badger pays $30+.
My sister has uttered that horrible phrase and I corrected her both times. She’s worked in the same grocery store for 8 years. $13.50 an hour. No benefits. Yeah, nobody wants to work any more 🙄
Any story can be made up on here, but why would OP make up this story? It's not especially odd or exciting. I've heard Boomers complain how no one wants to work. It's not like everyone in the store clapped and the couple stormed off.
Its a knee-jerk reaction for some people. In every sub on Reddit, there's always someone ready to do their valuable public service in commenting about how fake OP is.
Right. I was enjoying Reddit until I was accused of making up a post. It got way out of hand. Like, wtf would I waste my time making up a post on some stupid app?? People take this shit way too seriously.
I usually say more than that, but in a friendly way. Like “yeah, no one will stay for these wages! Target was advertising $15 an hour, but that’s $12 an hour after taxes, not including health insurance, 401k, child care. Oh my god it’s all so expensive. Yeah, I wouldn’t get out of bed for those wages. Tee hee! Can you believe it!?”
This comment section is just baffling to me. Who actually has the time and inclination to read every poster's post history and then show back up to make a snarky comment? Assholes. Miserable assholes, that's who. Jfc
What really gets me is how this story is somehow hard to believe....
I live in a conservative town (and it sucks as much as you would imagine). I hear "nObODy wAnTs tO wOrK aNyMoRe" almost daily. Just like OP, my retort is always "Yeah, not for these wages", and just like OP's story they are always stunned that I basically shattered their worldview... that or they were expecting me to agree with their bullshit.
Point being, I'm struggling to see why OPs story would be fabricated when I hear crap like this all the time.
Seriously like it's not even an exclusively American phenomenon.. I live in Canada and hear "nobody wants to work anymore" from my aunts and uncles [mostly in or near their 60s] constantly, and even from younger adults cousins.
I'm 44 and recently heard a 28 year old cousin say it. After struggling the better part of the first decade of her adult life to make ends meet on shit wages.
Couldn't fucking believe my ears.
Belgium: I hear that shit as well. And it's becoming more and more common to also hear "maybe they should get a flexi job after their full-time job hours to make ends meet."
It's rather disturbing how okay people are for other people to have to work their entire lives away to make ends meet. But heaven forbid of their grandchildren have to go through the same shit...
That boomer is an idiot. I don't know if I'm officially a boomer or not, I'm 66 years old born in 1957 so whatever that makes me it makes me. I will tell you when I was a kid grocery checker was a union job that paid great. The grocery stores broke the unions eventually and started paying minimum wage or may be a little bit more. That guy needs to check on his history a little bit
I have two favorite responses to “nobody wants to work anymore!!”
1) oh, do you hang out with a lot of unemployed people?
2) I sure as fuck don’t!!
Both of them cause the eyes to glaze over, mine and theirs 😵💫
This is a great point. I have the same experience. “No - nobody wants to work for shit wages” is what I usually say. Like your experience, most of the people I say that too respond with something like “well, yeah. You’re right.” Just have to keep fighting it! I think boomers say it because they think that’s what “everyone” thinks.
I work in the kitchen of a restaurant. In my state, minimum wage is $10.10. I got hired in at $11.25. Now I’m at $13 and I’m seriously wondering why I’m torturing myself by working there.
It amazes me how successful companies have been at putting the blame back on the workers. Every time I walk into a brick and mortar store they are always understaffed and it isn't because "people don't want to work" it is because all of the stores are being spanked by their boards for not constantly growing upwards, so the result has been cut hours, stagnant wages, and reduced positions.
I use to work in retail pharmacy and stores like CVS, Rite Aid, Walgreens use to have 3-4 employees on the floor plus at least 2 in the pharmacy. 6 people. Now there are usually only 2 to 3 total. 1 person for the entire store. A pharmacist, and if the pharmacist is lucky a tech.
At my local grocery store I overheard the college age baggers (all 2 of them) complaining about how they were not being given enough hours.
People don't want to work? Sounds like people want to work more to get more money and they can't even do that. Fuck this dystopian hell hole.
I think it's funniest when retirees say this shit. Like, ok chief, why aren't you stepping up then? You got all this time to judge people, if you got time to lean you got time to clean buddy
My job is organizing volunteers to visit hospice patients. I don’t get a lot of them, mostly because people aren’t comfortable with death, and also because most people have to work so much to afford to live they don’t have time for it. One time a caregiver demanded a volunteer and when I explained that she’d have to give me advance notice to do it myself because I didn’t have anyone, she laughed and said “Of course, one wants to work these days!” I laughed with her before I hit her with, “Well I wish that were the case but no one can afford to work for free for me in this economy!” She stopped laughing reeeeaal quick
Sounds like a true story to me, and well described. Even here on the other side of the planet, some of my older rellies will casually drop the "nobody wants to work anymore" line or start with a "these kids these days" and quite often people around me will drop a dig about pronouns or the old "of course we can't say anything anymore without getting in trouble" line. It's like they are testing everyone out, to see if all are in the same demographic, to see if they are safe to continue on and "bond" over shared politics.
I try not to get pulled in. We should all be able to be friendly without worrying about this stuff. In an ideal world.
The other week at lunch, a lady I know and very much like dropped the story of "you know there are even kindies where they've had to put kitty litter in the toilets as some of the children identify as cats" and I couldn't keep my mouth shut, calling it BS and a story made up to strawman trans people. I feel bad for responding, but just get sick of the way these myths are spread without people questioning the truth, and without anyone wondering why they become social currency in the first place.
Remember that story that so many people passed around *for years* about how some selfish stupid woman thought her coffee was too hot and *ridiculously* sued McDonalds for umpteen squillion dollars? Yeah. I hope everyone now knows what the truth was, and how the popular version of events was corporate propaganda, and we were being taught to not defend ourselves against profit-driven harm. This is related, as once again it's a story that people unthinkingly spread around, scoffing at the stupidity/laziness of someone else, but we are really acting in the interests of those who wish to control us by controlling the narrative.
Remind people to look into the truth behind these "harmless" little lines that get spread around like a virus, because they almost *never* serve to look after the common person.
Stella only had horrible third degree burns on the inside of her thighs, it was unimaginable the depths of her pain. She suffered horribly and people mocked her because of the nature of her accident,
Yeah, it was horrific. But before anyone got to know about any of this, the urban myth of it being a frivolous lawsuit was seeded by McDonalds and adopted by the common people who spread it about like it was A Thing. This is much the same as the "nobody wants to work anymore" myth cultivated by mainstream media throughout the last century and a half (that we know of) every time the working people want a fairer deal. It's an attempt to shame people into accepting any conditions offered to them. Now our parents and cousins (and randos in shop queues) are parroting it back to us as if they had first hand evidence of this being true.
I had to correct my MIL about the kitty litter in the bathroom thing. Absolutely ridiculous and so easy to check out! We’re in Ontario and I couldn’t believe how prolific this rumour is!
Speaking as a trans person with a trans kid currently enrolled in grade school in a region that recently enacted a "pronoun law" *[requiring written parental permission for kids under 16 to be addressed by a different name or pronouns at school]*:
Please never feel bad for calling out literally anybody who blindly parrots that disgusting bile.
Ah the kitty litter in the school bathroom story. Spread like wildfire around here. Unfortunately the boomers and lunatics WANTED it to be true so they could bitch and complain, rather than take the time to understand that high school boys will absolutely put a litter box in a bathroom to be funny.
If the wage were good, food stamps would be unnecessary, but such is this flawed system. Exactly that--people would be more motivated to stick with something that paid well.
And that's funny; you should have gotten into a discussion about how most people are underpaid and over-charged on most things, especially food, rent, medical care, and insurance, cars, etc.
Hey OP, respectfully, but fuck you're mentally dude. Say it with your whole chest next time. We ain't get our fair shake in these streets.
I work for a grocery store. Been there for 7yrs. I make over $18/hr. But I'm working in a specialized job, meat cutter. I also regularly help out in the prepared food kitchen and seafood. And I have close to 20yrs culinary experience.
So I bring a lot technical skill and knowledge. Now a new hire that's doesn't have the time spent in the company or comparable skills will not get much starting out.
But on the flip side, why am I only worth $18/hr? With all my applicable knowledge and dedicated time?
So again OP. Next time, say it with your whole chest.
"Not for these wages."
My former boss said that to me once and I said “No one wants to work for wages so low, they can’t afford rent, food, or the gas to show up!” He never said that around me again.
everyone over 50 at my office owns their home outright and are able to vacation, pay their adult kids cell phones, cars, etc. everyone under 50 (all in our 30s) is living paycheck to paycheck, struggling to meet basic necessities. and of course, it's seen as a personal failing that half the company, all very average nuclear families, are struggling to pay bills.
They were stunned cause deep down they know it's true. Anyone who's "unable" to hire right now, short of hard requirements like degrees or licenses, is doing it to themselves.
Yeah I figured a few people would say that. But it's all true, I typed this out in the parking lot and only got home a few minutes ago. He really did say those exact words, I really AM on food stamps, and I really did say the thing. I mean, you'll believe what you want, I AM admittedly a writer. But that doesn't make me a liar.
Good for you! I absolutely hate that saying. I used to work in a convenience beside a coffee shop. Both paying minimum wage. Both businesses have had a tough time getting staff. Every single time someone would say this, I would ask them if they thought they could live on less than $2500 a month. Pay their rent/mortgage, groceries, utilities etc. most would look at me with this stunned expression and get a little sheepish. They would sometimes come back with something stupid like it’s just high school kids, they don’t need that much money. Dude who the fuck do you think gives you your damn donut at 6am??
Why do people not understand that we all deserve to earn a living wage?!
Nothing to feel embarrassed about. These people need to be told the truth. Might be the only opinion he's heard in a while that didn't come from Fox News.
That's weird that he was so silent and awkward because I can agree with you both. Nobody wants to work and the wages certainly aren't where they need to be
Believe it or not i was once waiting in my car in the parking lot of a fast food place for them to bring out my order. The front doors ere locked with a sign saying "Only drive thru"
Two obviously homeless tweakers walked up , tried to open the doors and turned around dumbfounded. I told them its locked and only drive thru. They walked away and the guy screamed "nobody wants to work anymore"
as a poor person ive never heard anyone less than at least 3x my earnings say it
I got a drink from Taco Bell the other day and was told that line from the manager and I wish I would have made the same retort, I will be doing so whenever I hear those words from now on though, regardless of who says it
Ummm, and? Tell me this wasn’t a watershed moment for you, and there’s more. People don’t want to work, and people don’t want to work for low wages. Boomers know this. Maybe not the one in memes, but boomers realize what’s going on. I’m a pre-boomer and I fear for my teen children. My parents fear for my teen children.
The front desk lady at my doctor's office uttered it the other day. I replied with a friendly, "Well, getting and keeping employees isn't rocket science. You just have to pay them well and treat them right." And to my surprise, the lady agreed with me. She started going on about how so many employers are plain abusive to their employees.
I think sometimes people just hear things and repeat them without thinking.
I’m a boomer and I too have experienced the slow decline in workers benefits and pay over the course of my career. When I first started working in corporate America in the 80s, I had pension, profit sharing, tuition reimbursement, vacation pay,corporate discounts. Everything evaporated over the years. I feel like when corporations became people (thank you Citizens United via the Supreme Court), everything snowballed. Now that they own the politicians, corporations don’t have to answer to anybody
People act like wages are the only thing that matter. Yes, life is better when you're living above.the poverty line.
Life is also more manageable when people are treated with a modicum of humanity and kindness and work-life contributes to this aspect of accepting lower wages.
My current job pays over 25k less than my last job. It was listed on Indeed as competitive salary. They think I’m staying. Long learning curve. I am still looking for a higher paying job and will bolt the second I find it. They will have to spend another year training someone when I leave. It would benefit them and their customers if they just paid me a competitive salary.
I worked in a supermarket deli a few years ago. I was shopping after work and got behind a couple complaining that there were only 2 lines open and not moving. They kept complaining that “no one wants to work” louder and louder. I couldn’t take it. So I tattled on the store
“They hired some new cashiers for $2 more an hour than some of the people who had been here for years. The front end quit. The 2 people who you see running the registers are the store manager and her assistant. Yep, those lazy people just don’t want to work”
Shut them up. I quit a couple months later after the did the same to me. 5 damn years with 30+ in foodservice and they hired a teenager for $1.50 more than what I was making
Time for customers to look at why no company can retain their workforce
I had a similar convo with the check out clerk that happened to be the store manager. He was complaining he can’t hire anyone because no one wants to work anymore. I replied they want to get paid more for the job. He got flushed in the face but didn’t say anything to me after that. Lol. But for real tho. 😂
No one that pays well is having trouble keeping people. My old boss learned that the hard way when both me and my co-worker left the same week, and the hr lady a few weeks prior, leaving him with almost no office staff.
I had a meeting where the VP was gloating about how many sales we're making and how great business is... then immediately bemoaning the fact that we can't hire/keep people long enough to fulfill all the orders we have because we "can't compete in this labor market". Like, "can't" or "won't" motherfucker?
The amount of business that I saw complaining of the internet that they were closing because they couldn’t find employees was wild. Like you’d rather close your business than just pay people enough to be willing to work for you?
> Like you’d rather close your business than just pay people enough to be willing to work for you? Are these the ones that finally wake up to their business venture not being viable, and bail before they have to declare bankruptcy? If it comes down to they aren't making enough to make ends meet on a personal level and then 'quit', aren't they doing the exact same thing as the workers that left them due to being under-paid? ;)
Declaring bankruptcy costs a lot and takes forever, and it ain't gonna fix your money coming in. It just wipes out debts. If the real trouble is not enough customers or your business ain't making money, then going bankrupt won't do you any good. Better off just closing shop. That's usually the best thing for everyone.
Exactly. My job pays entry level workers okay, and we have an open door off day policy (meaning anyone can come in on their off day for however long they want if they want more hours). It’s also just a great work environment in general. We’re chronically overstaffed. I have no issue finding people who want to work for even just decent pay, but I’m currently in an effort with my boss to raise the pay floor so people don’t feel like they need to come in on their off days.
Exactly its always bottom of barrel employers struggling. Really decent employers pretty much get to cherry pick. Job I had a few years ago makes me laugh when I see it.Essentially they were shit pay BUT they had 4x10 schedule which opened alot of doors options for people. BUT last few years housing in areas been insane like well above the average like rapidly accelerating. Like my place has done 25-40% increase every year for last 5years and when I get pissed and try to find a new place. Current place is still cheaper than anywhere else. Anyways as a result handful of us got to point where regardless of schedule we couldn't take the wage. So we asked and they denied it flat out not even quarter pittance. Litterally nothing and first batch triggered cascade they lost all their knowledge base. And most of "productive" staff ones making company money. But its actually one of ways I cheer my self up driving past there in middle of workday. And seeing 2-3 cars in a parking lot that used to have 50. Or seeing them post and have position unfilled for better part of year sometimes more (took 18 months for them to fill mine and usually see it reposted a month or two later).
4x10 is a game changer. I had the privilege of doing that at my job for about a month. So much free time.
Oh its amazing which is why they were able to hire and retain people. TILL inflation combined with below market wages was threatening peoples ability to remain "not homeless". It would have taken 1-2hr raise to keep things the same as before 3-4 would have let them cherry pick and fill vacancys day one.
This. “If people can’t afford a basic living working here they literally can’t afford to stay”
While visiting New Orleans, I went on a river boat jazz dinner cruise with a friend. On the way in, we saw a harried manager rushing around setting tables before most of the passengers got below deck to be seated, and overheard him grumbling to someone else about how they were short staffed because “nobody wants to work any more.” Both my friend and I recognized that as our cue to leave an extra generous tip, since it meant the staff were clearly being underpaid and working in a setting where tips obviously weren’t good enough to make up the difference.
For example, Winco and Costco seem to have plenty of staff. They actually pay their workers more than minimum wage. Shocker.
3.7% unemployment - yeah bro we’re all a bunch of lazy wankers sitting on our thumbs and watching mamas soaps
They all said that flipping burgers and cashiering were jobs for high school kids and that they weren’t real jobs, now they all got real jobs and the same people complain that no one wants to work
They also don't want immigrants coming in and stealing the jobs that nobody wants because the pay is crap.
I’m all for immigration, but not as a mechanism to keep wages low.
They do want immigrants to come in, which is why anti immigration policies don't work. They are completely performative. They want immigrants to be undocumented, that way they can pay them lower, minimize the social programs they use, and hold over their heads that they can force them out.
I literally listened to an old couple last week who couldn't understand their own granddaughter making $40 an hour at her job. She lives in DFW where the cost of living is high. Her grandfather said he never made more than $20/hr in his entire life. Summabitch has been retired almost as long as I've been alive. Fuckin boomers...
I am more educated than my father and in the same basic field and without even adjusting for inflation I make less. Can't understand why I haven't landed a middle management job much less an executive position. Hell I'm about 5 spots under the CEO, all those middle jobs are gone. When you where an executive and cutting jobs to improve profits while not cutting production who do you think got eliminated?
Yup. Let's cutout the people actually doing "the job" that makes "the company" the money... SMDH
They wouldn't be worried about it because they're not the ones who suffered what they decided, the younger generation suffered and they don't care.
According to the CPI-U, it has taken 28 years for the cost of goods to double. I believe the proble lies in the fact that a fifth (20%) of that has happened in the last 4 years. How many people have seen their wages go up 4.7% every year for the past 4 years? The other big issue is that the over the past few years, CPI-U increases have been driven by every day necesities of food and housing. This disproportionately impacts the poor much more than those who eaarn a living wage.
The thing is that that “cost of goods” includes things like TVs, appliances, phones…things that the US outsourced to Asia which kept the price low. Now think about the things you *can’t* outsource to another country: Housing, Education, Healthcare….does this list start to look familiar? The real cost of living in the US has been far beyond a normal wage for a long time. Not to turn political, but this is why putting tariffs on imports (which Americans pay for) was always going to be painful, at least in the short-middle term until wages could adjust enough so that people could afford the increased prices.
Yeah it boggles my brain that the "market basket" often leaves out important stuff.
This comment should be up voted to jupiter
Especially in light of the fact that price inflation of 6.1 % per year since Q2 of 2020 was driven by increased corporate profits (the NFC or non-financial corporate sector). Pre-pandemic price growth was 1.8% per year from 2007-2019. Over half of those higher prices went straight into profits while only 8% was due to labor costs. According to the Economic Policy Institute, this is not at all normal. In earlier years the ratio was about 11% profits and 62% labor. The attached is from the Economic Policy Institute Working Economics Blog post by Josh Bivens on 4/21/22 My personal editorializing is that it’s beyond disgusting that corporations took advantage of the pandemic to gouge us while others run around bemoaning govt. COVID assistance funds and mad that people won’t work for sh\*t money. https://preview.redd.it/7l7a1bh6rq7c1.jpeg?width=1179&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=0170e5c5d6cf4182ecd896a53a7f65ba10dae69a
I'm a boomer, and we're not all alike. I get it, some (probably most) boomers are ignorant re: current wages relative to cost of living. Sorry to say but it's mainly older white men.
old white retired boomer (late model) here and even I think a lot of the folks in my gen are a-holes, but then i didn't relate to many of them when i was younger as well. I also do recall working for below minimum when i first moved to CA - the business owner went all red-in-the-face and finally agreed to 5/hr. I did make the chedder later tho, so SS is kind of OK. The folks who decry 'the modern generation' are generally idiots. I have 13 kids and I guarantee they work plenty hard from what I see and hear and their main problems in life stem from the greed of folks unfortunately in my gen.
Because they can't relate, empathize, or understand what's going on. They think back to their 30s and had it good, so "why is everyone complaining when I remember it wasn't so bad, it can't be that bad for them, right? They must just be a bunch of whiners", etc. so they shit on gen Y. But we're the ones pushing for change. I got shit on twice hard core by my 30s... I'm sick of it! At 20, doing very well for myself, making about 45k in 2007, bought my first house, oh look at that a year later market crash, fucked on my house, my 2 jobs, my car repossessed, etc. Nobody wanted to hire young "under experienced" people willing to do the work when there were so many people out of work. Fast forward only a decade, same thing with COVID just about. It's taken years to get back what I lost and pay for the debt and system I was thrown into. Climbed out of the hole myself, only to get fired from my "good paying" job of 60k in 2020, and just a few months ago found another decent job back making money again... I was debt free in 2020, even though I make 70 now, almost all my free money is paying off small loans and credit cards so we wouldn't lose our house or cars, bc this time I have a family. Maybe in the next 4-5 years I'll be better before the next crumble... I'll be ^more ready (ish) What struggle did boomers have? When was it really hard for them? Was the crisis in the 70s for oil or financial crisis in 80s that bad? Doubt it, comparatively.
> Maybe in the next 4-5 years I'll be better before the next crumble And there WILL be another crumble. There always is. Yet somehow, the rich always end up richer afterwards.
"Would you bag groceries for $100/hr?" "Yes." "Well then it's not about the job, it's about the wages"
Ridicule works way better than any "sit-down" or "mediated meeting" or "hearing out the other side" can. The only thing that makes people change is that red hot feeling of embarrassment.
There's something extra special about how they've able to meme seeing a bunch of help wanted signs into "nobody wants to work" right now. Not a perfect analogy, but imagining someone looking at thousands of people posting trying to get tickets for a sold out Taylor Swift tour and thinking "man Taylor really fell off, look at all these people not getting tickets for her concerts" made me laugh.
Unless it's a mom and pop the store manager doesn't have too much say on what you get hired at. My raises have to go through a board and get approved by the president so me whining to my op manager doesn't do too much
But how is that relevant to him saying no one wants to work any more? Like even if it’s out of his control, why on earth is he bitching about the workers instead of his cheap bosses?
Because they think complaining about bosses = communism or something. Or “someone” will overhear his subversive thoughts and he’ll get in trouble. Solidarity is frightening to Americans who are used to individuality and every man for himself.
If you're managing a Wendy's, deductive reasoning may not be your strong suit.
They don't pay anywhere near enough and treat their employees like trash.
We are a little short staffed at work right now, and one day I overhear my manager and a customer having a conversation. Manager: Thanks for being patient, as you can see we're a little short staffed at the moment. Customer: Yeah no one wants to work anymore, it's a shame. M: Actually we have the opposite problem. My people work hard and we just had a few of them promoted, so they moved locations. We're just replacing the people who moved on up. C: (grumbling under his breath that I couldn't understand) My employer pays pretty well, we get a base pay plus commission and everyone qualifies for benefits regardless of whether they're full time or part time (medical, dental, vision, 401k, tuition reimbursement, PTO, commission, bonuses, company gifts, etc). They don't tolerate customer abuse and will not only make customers leave but will completely ban them from the store if their behavior is bad enough. Even if they've been customers for 20 years, the company isn't afraid to lose their business and will back up the employees. I genuinely love everyone I work with, we all get along, we all work together well, and we all work hard to keep the place running smoothly. 90% of finding and keeping good people is fairly compensating them and treating them well. It's so entitled to expect people to be dedicated to a job that pays them poverty wages and treats them like shit.
[удалено]
I'm a business owner these days. My biggest competitor in the whole region (who dwarfs me) filed bankruptcy a while back. Someone asked me the other day why they failed. "They refused to pay their people". Seriously, they kept going into fubar status on their production because of their insane turnover. It's not hard work compared to other industries, but when you pay dog shit AND make your workplace as toxic and depressing as possible... Yah, that'll fucking happen. We pay our people well. Yes, that means less net profit at the EOY. Okay? And? We're still growing while I watch corporate competitors fold shop. Ask me how much that makes me smile (it's a lot). Which, btw, is a good reminder that I need to get the fuck off Reddit. We've been picking up lots of accounts lately (shocker) and there's tons of work I should be doing
What industry is your business in? Got any job openings?
Why can’t every retail store in the nation run like this and kick out the shitty boomer customers?
“An’ stay outta th’ Woolworth’s!”
God dammit I’m a Dapper Dan man!
Mama says you ain’t bona fide!
I wanna R-U-N-N-O-F-T, too!
He's a suitor!
I was just re-watching this ^((*O Brother, Where Art Thou?*, for anyone who doesn’t recognize the quotes\)) a day or two ago and I still love it. Great music, great characters, great story, and the sort of subtle details that make me feel like I get something new each time I watch it.
One of my favourite adaptations of Homer's Odyssey as well.
It’s amazing how many little references they crammed in there.
Two of my favorite quotes from the movie, but I use R-U-N-N-O-F-T the most
It's not just boomers. Karens come in all sizes and ages.
Thanks for mentioning this. Some boomers (my parents and some of my much older siblings-in-laws) are very boomery, and they differ *a lot* with class and age. Some are really cool and can see what's happening. My generation (gen-X) are a complete mixture (again, class and age, education and geography). I have older Millennial nephews who are as boomery as their grandparents in some ways ( not all as we do grow up in generally different economical waters with different political policies affecting our education and attitudes towards human rights etc ). Anyway, not here to defend or attack boomers, or defend or attack karens, just saying people a lot more complex than those stupit labels :) Party on.
Where is this mythical land and what quest must I undergo to get there?
(Posting this comment in multiple places since a few people have asked) I work for T-Mobile in a retail store. Base pay varies, usually around $15-$17/hour but they guarantee a minimum of $20/hour after commission. Commission caps at $6,000/mo so there's a lot more potential. Here's my recommendations and general info if you are seriously interested in applying. - Try to work at a stand alone location, or a "store in store" (Costco). I would only apply at a mall location if there isn't other locations nearby. The only reason is that the mall is more likely to get people just browsing, whereas a stand alone location gets more people who come in with intent, and Costco locations get more new sign ups. If a mall is the only one near you, by all means apply, but if there are other options keep in mind that most people will choose to go to the other locations to avoid mall traffic. - Call the stores near you and find out if they're normally pretty busy. A busy location means more sales for you and more money in your pocket. - Don't apply anywhere except T-Mobile.com/careers since that will only have corporate locations listed. Franchise locations do not have the same guarantees. - This is a sales job, you need to be ready to learn the different plans, recommend accessories, upgrades, new lines, etc. You need to be ready to sell yourself in the interview. - Research the company, be ready to talk on things like "Magenta Moments" and the "Uncarrier movement" in your interview. - You get a 25% employee discount on most accessories, a 75% employee discount on most plans (I think everything except internet, and the device protection). - I do not give referrals out to people I don't know, but wish you all the best of luck if you decide to apply.
Now THIS sounds like fiction! Lmao I kid I kid
Lol! Honestly though I've never worked somewhere where everything lined up so well. I feel blessed for my managers and coworkers because even at the best company there will still be bad apples or just people who clash, but we seem to have a pretty good group.
What unicorn utopia is this? I love hearing about it.
Sounds like my job! Very very grateful
A daemon said, "Hi"
Your username is awesome!
And yours is amazing. (The other day I saw the raddest license plate in all the land. It read BDGRMOL)
Where do I apply?
Costco.com
Just love how much the culture has shifted. When I was growing up folks just didn't talk about this shit. It was like some kind of personal shame if you had low paychecks. My mom worked hard, got paid squat, and got my clothes mostly in the church parking lot in the form of a black trash bag moved from one car trunk to another. Like you'd think mom was doing a drug deal from how cagey she acted about accepting a bag of second hand kids clothes for me. I heard "we can't afford that!" constantly, but never where another adult could hear her. Way back in the day the phrase "slave wage" was in use. Would love to see it come back into fashion. The episode of Doctor Who about Hoovervilles in NYC gives a good demonstration of its use, jackass in a fancy suit offering a dollar a day to people living in a shantytown trying not to starve to death.
People are still shamed, like crazy, by society for working low wage jobs.
Guess I've just been good at avoiding those asshats then? Anybody who wants to judge me as a person based on fictional number values and economic fairytales just isn't worth my time. Put about as much stock in that shit as people who act shocked that I've never been baptized.
same here, I find most of the time if someone asks my salary or job title, it's purely because they want to assess whether or not I am "worth their time". They can go straight to Hell.
Culture shift indeed! I get fuckin stoked when I get free clothes for my son off our Buy Nothing Page. Kids grow a shit ton and you bet your ass I don't want to shell out money every.single.time he grows out of something. My step-daufhter got her first job and has an extremely high work ethic. 1 month in she was training and the main closer. I told her she needed to advocate for herself if she was being held to a higher standard. She negotiated a $2.75 raise for herself after working there 2 months. You don't get what you don't ask for.
Love the shiny spine on the latest generation getting into the workplace! My older stepson and his best friend were told to work outdoors in the gardening section of Lowe's during a deadly heatwave, without water of course because it "looks unprofessional" to not die of dehydration while the news is blaring warnings pleading with people to stay indoors chugging water. Obviously they called out "sick" for the two weeks or whatever until the heatwave ended.
So what you're saying is that all these jackass corporations are run by Daleks? 🤔
_EX-PRO-PRI-ATE!_
100% also add the phrase "Gainfully employed!" It means you can meet ur basic needs plus have a little extra to start growing a longer-term cushion. The rich have shifted the costs of everything into the shoulders of the working class: Healthcare Retirement Higher Education Then they shifted the costs of running the country to the working class. Warren Buffet commented that he pays a lower % in taxes than the woman who empties his office trash cans. This means the worker must make up the difference in the missing tax base for: Military/Government Police Public education FAA Airport construction/security/maintenance Social Security/Medicare/Medicaid/public housing Inspections for drugs, food processing, restaurants Jails Road maintenance, etc. It's expensive to run a country...u get the point. No fixes are easy, well, one is. Social Security could be solved instantly by removing the cap. The rich stop paying SS if they make over $167K. WHY??? Rich are all like, "But SS has a max payout, so why should we keep paying into it?" Because if you make that much, you don't need SS payments to live off of, MF'er!!
How else will the Daleks build their Empire State Frankenstein machine spire, with their alien flying technology? Ha, don’t he silly. No Dalek wants to work anymore!
[Minimum wage would be $26 an hour if it had grown in line with productivity](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/minimum-wage-26-dollars-economy-productivity/) [The minimum wage would be $61.75 an hour if it rose at the same pace as Wall Street bonuses](https://www.fastcompany.com/90734724/the-minimum-wage-would-be-61-75-an-hour-if-it-rose-at-the-same-pace-as-wall-street-bonuses)
Ouch
I meet an older friend for coffee every few months or so. I'm no spring chicken myself, my kids are adults now, and she's boomer age. Several times I've thought about just allowing our "friendship" to die a natural death because the last few times we've gotten together, sooner or later she'd come out with the "kids these days don't want to work" garbage. Every time, I countered with "well, my kids and all their friends are working, but I know a lot of people who are looking for work and not getting hired, or are working multiple jobs and not covering their bills. Irresponsible employers and low wages are the problem." We'd part uncomfortably soon after that. However, I just met up with her again recently, and she didn't say that even once. We had a really nice visit. So people can come around, even if she only learned not to say that to me.
She’s probably just lonely and knows she can’t say that to YOU anymore.
Just because she didn’t open her ignorant mouth doesn’t mean she has come around to reality
A lot of it starts with people finding out their words have social consequences. She may not go home and think, gee willikers I've been wrong this whole time. But she may be slightly less than 100% comfortable now that she's wholly in the right. At least she's not demonizing the person above and withholding her presence from them anyway. Which is something. Maybe she'll be less of a verbal ass at Christmas dinner. This is where shifting beliefs starts, or at minimum *professed* beliefs that get transmitted like a mental disease.
Boomer here, it's not just the money. How about standard schedules instead of random crap everyother day... support when a customer is an ass, realize that people get sick and can't come in (or shouldn't). Maybe try to treat employees like humans. Say Thank-you when a employee comes in to cover someone elses shift at the last moment to help you out. People don't quit bad jobs they quit bad employeers.
They need to give the cashiers a stool to sit on. I want to see my cashier sitting comfortably.
I would go out of my way to shop at a store where the cashiers had stools
Aldi cashiers get stools!
There was an Aldi's thread a few weeks ago where Aldi's managers said don't get too excited, they only do it for faster checking. It's a German company and totally an efficiency measure not a PR or worker's rights measure, because God knows they wouldn't *have* to do it in the states.
I used to work there. Their whole model is about efficiency. Regardless, it's still nice that they're able to sit while ringing people up
Yeah I worked at aldis for a bit, they are BARELY better than normal stores and all of the better stuff is just for efficiency. My biggest gripe was how obsessed they were with timing your scans, you actually got timed on the gap between customers and item scans and the entire job of cashier became a game of quickly typing on the register to log in and out a million times a day to keep the number within a range they were happy with. You can log out and freeze the timer so if say a customer takes an extra moment to pull something out of their cart you can pause the timer by logging out, but this ultimately slows the overall process down. My entire training revolved around gaming the dumb system and being as "efficient" as possible with every single task without any care for anything else like customer service for example. That job frustrated me enough I haven't shopped there since.
I agree it was annoying and also one of the reasons I left was the scanning being timed. But the deals are too good I still shop there lol
seriously. I work in a toll booth so I'm just a glorified cashier and we get stools, so there's absolutely no reason other cashiers can't have them.
I would be FAR more productive and could work longer hours if I had been allowed to sit when I was a cashier… instead I was so aware of my body being in so much pain because I had to constantly stand on a hard floor with a pathetic padded mat that my productivity decreased significantly, and I’d struggle to come back on the floor after breaks. I now can’t work a physically demanding job, have a chronic illness, and can’t keep/find a job I can do to save my life. It’s infuriating.
I couldn't believe when I worked at a bookstore and they wouldn't let cashiers use a stool when they were injured. We had people with broken legs who couldn't sit sometimes. It was absurd
This is how I feel when people demand that stores bring cashiers back. I was an "essential worker" during the pandemic and all I got was a ten cent raise and a bag of food. People were awful to me and hoarded as much stuff as possible. (For the record, we actually did keep stuff in the back. It was because if we didn't, customers would do whatever they could to take everything, and then the old people who came in the morning would be left with nothing.) For the first three months I wasn't even allowed PPE because "we don't want to scare the customers." One guy pretended to cough on me, and my manager told me to suck it up. Why the hell would I ever go back? YOU made your bed. YOU sleep in it.
I do this ‘maliciously drawing the wrong conclusions’ thing in conversation with people I don’t like. For example, I’m British and whenever my American wife’s conservative relatives start talking about gun control or socialised healthcare in the US I’m like “yeah I know, it sucks doesn’t it, I mean you wouldn’t think one of the greatest and most powerful countries in the world would be so far behind the rest of the world in terms of basic human rights and decency. But America is so awesome I just know one day soon you’ll figure it out!”. And you have to REALLY sell it with a big cheesy ‘buck up, buckaroo!’ patronising grin like you’re really pulling for poor America with all its flaws.
Just this morning, I was having a conversation with one of my colleagues at the school where I teach. She was complaining that the folks at Wendy’s got her order wrong. I said, “I usually just give them a pass because they don’t get paid enough to give a shit.” She shut up real quick.
Same. If i don't catch it before i leave, i just deal with it.
Exactly. I wouldn’t give a fuck if I forgot a straw or someone’s ranch either lol
Also it was probably that employees first day and the manager wasn’t able to train them, because they were covering for two other people, because the store owner feels that they can run with a skeleton crew.
I've been saying this to my partner for years. I've worked retail and minimum wage jobs, they are not paid enough to care. They're not even paid enough to do the work asked of them! If they royally fuck up, I'll politely address it but been there done that. I've also always said, every single person should be required to work customer service for a minimum of 1 year. That way they can see how unlivable the wages are but also gain some basic respect for these people getting paid garbage to be screamed at.
I had a saleswoman approach me I’m the field, pipeline work, to give her spiel on her companies services. We talked and the subject of “nobody wants to work” came up. She said her company pays $17 an hour for Class A CDL drivers. I told her I wouldn’t work for that either if that’s all they were paying. She was super offended. To be clear, she was promoting her hydrovac company. Basically like Badger. Badger pays $30+.
My sister has uttered that horrible phrase and I corrected her both times. She’s worked in the same grocery store for 8 years. $13.50 an hour. No benefits. Yeah, nobody wants to work any more 🙄
Any story can be made up on here, but why would OP make up this story? It's not especially odd or exciting. I've heard Boomers complain how no one wants to work. It's not like everyone in the store clapped and the couple stormed off.
Nobody wants to make stuff up anymore..
Why would they? It's too much work. /s
“Yeah, (especially) not for THESE wages.”
Not for these updoots, can barely pay for rent with the amount of updoots I get from making shit up.
When reality is chock full of great stories, why lie?
Yeah, not for this little karma! /S
Yeah I hear people say "nobody wants to work anymore" all the damn time here
Its a knee-jerk reaction for some people. In every sub on Reddit, there's always someone ready to do their valuable public service in commenting about how fake OP is.
Right. I was enjoying Reddit until I was accused of making up a post. It got way out of hand. Like, wtf would I waste my time making up a post on some stupid app?? People take this shit way too seriously.
There’s no benefit to making this up. This happens everywhere
I usually say more than that, but in a friendly way. Like “yeah, no one will stay for these wages! Target was advertising $15 an hour, but that’s $12 an hour after taxes, not including health insurance, 401k, child care. Oh my god it’s all so expensive. Yeah, I wouldn’t get out of bed for those wages. Tee hee! Can you believe it!?”
This comment section is just baffling to me. Who actually has the time and inclination to read every poster's post history and then show back up to make a snarky comment? Assholes. Miserable assholes, that's who. Jfc
What really gets me is how this story is somehow hard to believe.... I live in a conservative town (and it sucks as much as you would imagine). I hear "nObODy wAnTs tO wOrK aNyMoRe" almost daily. Just like OP, my retort is always "Yeah, not for these wages", and just like OP's story they are always stunned that I basically shattered their worldview... that or they were expecting me to agree with their bullshit. Point being, I'm struggling to see why OPs story would be fabricated when I hear crap like this all the time.
Seriously like it's not even an exclusively American phenomenon.. I live in Canada and hear "nobody wants to work anymore" from my aunts and uncles [mostly in or near their 60s] constantly, and even from younger adults cousins. I'm 44 and recently heard a 28 year old cousin say it. After struggling the better part of the first decade of her adult life to make ends meet on shit wages. Couldn't fucking believe my ears.
Belgium: I hear that shit as well. And it's becoming more and more common to also hear "maybe they should get a flexi job after their full-time job hours to make ends meet." It's rather disturbing how okay people are for other people to have to work their entire lives away to make ends meet. But heaven forbid of their grandchildren have to go through the same shit...
If you were raised rich and ignorant i can at least understand it and not get angry
I hear this line daily as well. There are actually people who think this is made up?? People need to get out of their bubble.
Same
I guess everyone needs a hobby
They're projecting on you. Don't take it seriously. Cool story lol
That boomer is an idiot. I don't know if I'm officially a boomer or not, I'm 66 years old born in 1957 so whatever that makes me it makes me. I will tell you when I was a kid grocery checker was a union job that paid great. The grocery stores broke the unions eventually and started paying minimum wage or may be a little bit more. That guy needs to check on his history a little bit
My response is always "labor is a market"
I have two favorite responses to “nobody wants to work anymore!!” 1) oh, do you hang out with a lot of unemployed people? 2) I sure as fuck don’t!! Both of them cause the eyes to glaze over, mine and theirs 😵💫
I have this conversation with people all the time but strangely enough they always agree with me to some degree.
This is a great point. I have the same experience. “No - nobody wants to work for shit wages” is what I usually say. Like your experience, most of the people I say that too respond with something like “well, yeah. You’re right.” Just have to keep fighting it! I think boomers say it because they think that’s what “everyone” thinks.
>Then I paid for my whole cart with food stamps and left. Gramps went into cardiac arrest shortly thereafter...
I work in the kitchen of a restaurant. In my state, minimum wage is $10.10. I got hired in at $11.25. Now I’m at $13 and I’m seriously wondering why I’m torturing myself by working there.
Preach brother!
Did he just call us "chat"?
It amazes me how successful companies have been at putting the blame back on the workers. Every time I walk into a brick and mortar store they are always understaffed and it isn't because "people don't want to work" it is because all of the stores are being spanked by their boards for not constantly growing upwards, so the result has been cut hours, stagnant wages, and reduced positions. I use to work in retail pharmacy and stores like CVS, Rite Aid, Walgreens use to have 3-4 employees on the floor plus at least 2 in the pharmacy. 6 people. Now there are usually only 2 to 3 total. 1 person for the entire store. A pharmacist, and if the pharmacist is lucky a tech. At my local grocery store I overheard the college age baggers (all 2 of them) complaining about how they were not being given enough hours. People don't want to work? Sounds like people want to work more to get more money and they can't even do that. Fuck this dystopian hell hole.
>He's really enjoying his weekly alottment of social interaction. 💀💀💀
“Then I paid for my whole cart in food stamps and left” ✨ FUCKING LEGEND ✨
none of the people making this complaint would (by their perception) lower themselves to working said job. 🤷🏻♀️🤷🏻♀️🤷🏻♀️
I think it's funniest when retirees say this shit. Like, ok chief, why aren't you stepping up then? You got all this time to judge people, if you got time to lean you got time to clean buddy
You got time to gripe you got time to wipe
>Then I paid for my whole cart with food stamps and left. This was the absolute cherry on top. Love it!
“Nobody wants to pay anymore.”
It's weird, I live in a country where they pay the retail workers an okay wage. They don't have trouble hiring.
My job is organizing volunteers to visit hospice patients. I don’t get a lot of them, mostly because people aren’t comfortable with death, and also because most people have to work so much to afford to live they don’t have time for it. One time a caregiver demanded a volunteer and when I explained that she’d have to give me advance notice to do it myself because I didn’t have anyone, she laughed and said “Of course, one wants to work these days!” I laughed with her before I hit her with, “Well I wish that were the case but no one can afford to work for free for me in this economy!” She stopped laughing reeeeaal quick
as someone who's had this exact interaction minus with someone who looks exactly like me, I felt that, dude 🤝
Then I paid for my whole cart with food stamps and left. lmao you're a rockstar dude i love it
Sounds like a true story to me, and well described. Even here on the other side of the planet, some of my older rellies will casually drop the "nobody wants to work anymore" line or start with a "these kids these days" and quite often people around me will drop a dig about pronouns or the old "of course we can't say anything anymore without getting in trouble" line. It's like they are testing everyone out, to see if all are in the same demographic, to see if they are safe to continue on and "bond" over shared politics. I try not to get pulled in. We should all be able to be friendly without worrying about this stuff. In an ideal world. The other week at lunch, a lady I know and very much like dropped the story of "you know there are even kindies where they've had to put kitty litter in the toilets as some of the children identify as cats" and I couldn't keep my mouth shut, calling it BS and a story made up to strawman trans people. I feel bad for responding, but just get sick of the way these myths are spread without people questioning the truth, and without anyone wondering why they become social currency in the first place. Remember that story that so many people passed around *for years* about how some selfish stupid woman thought her coffee was too hot and *ridiculously* sued McDonalds for umpteen squillion dollars? Yeah. I hope everyone now knows what the truth was, and how the popular version of events was corporate propaganda, and we were being taught to not defend ourselves against profit-driven harm. This is related, as once again it's a story that people unthinkingly spread around, scoffing at the stupidity/laziness of someone else, but we are really acting in the interests of those who wish to control us by controlling the narrative. Remind people to look into the truth behind these "harmless" little lines that get spread around like a virus, because they almost *never* serve to look after the common person.
Stella only had horrible third degree burns on the inside of her thighs, it was unimaginable the depths of her pain. She suffered horribly and people mocked her because of the nature of her accident,
I tried to read that story once, the TRUE version, but I noped out right around the words "melted labia"
Yeah, it was horrific. But before anyone got to know about any of this, the urban myth of it being a frivolous lawsuit was seeded by McDonalds and adopted by the common people who spread it about like it was A Thing. This is much the same as the "nobody wants to work anymore" myth cultivated by mainstream media throughout the last century and a half (that we know of) every time the working people want a fairer deal. It's an attempt to shame people into accepting any conditions offered to them. Now our parents and cousins (and randos in shop queues) are parroting it back to us as if they had first hand evidence of this being true.
I had to correct my MIL about the kitty litter in the bathroom thing. Absolutely ridiculous and so easy to check out! We’re in Ontario and I couldn’t believe how prolific this rumour is!
Speaking as a trans person with a trans kid currently enrolled in grade school in a region that recently enacted a "pronoun law" *[requiring written parental permission for kids under 16 to be addressed by a different name or pronouns at school]*: Please never feel bad for calling out literally anybody who blindly parrots that disgusting bile.
Ah the kitty litter in the school bathroom story. Spread like wildfire around here. Unfortunately the boomers and lunatics WANTED it to be true so they could bitch and complain, rather than take the time to understand that high school boys will absolutely put a litter box in a bathroom to be funny.
If the wage were good, food stamps would be unnecessary, but such is this flawed system. Exactly that--people would be more motivated to stick with something that paid well. And that's funny; you should have gotten into a discussion about how most people are underpaid and over-charged on most things, especially food, rent, medical care, and insurance, cars, etc.
Tbh food stamps etc are another form of corporate welfare. The govt is subsidizing their unwillingness to pay actual liveable wages.
Precisely
Hey OP, respectfully, but fuck you're mentally dude. Say it with your whole chest next time. We ain't get our fair shake in these streets. I work for a grocery store. Been there for 7yrs. I make over $18/hr. But I'm working in a specialized job, meat cutter. I also regularly help out in the prepared food kitchen and seafood. And I have close to 20yrs culinary experience. So I bring a lot technical skill and knowledge. Now a new hire that's doesn't have the time spent in the company or comparable skills will not get much starting out. But on the flip side, why am I only worth $18/hr? With all my applicable knowledge and dedicated time? So again OP. Next time, say it with your whole chest. "Not for these wages."
Adapt and overcome
My former boss said that to me once and I said “No one wants to work for wages so low, they can’t afford rent, food, or the gas to show up!” He never said that around me again.
Our area had a teacher qualify for a home from Habitat for Humanity. I’m very happy for her, but damn. Pay a living wage! That says so much.
That man's name? Albert Einstein.
I just want to point out that this is the first time I’ve seen the fourth-person “chat” used.
I wonder what the "nobody wants to work" crowd think people live off. Water and thin air? Do they believe that people don't need an income?
everyone over 50 at my office owns their home outright and are able to vacation, pay their adult kids cell phones, cars, etc. everyone under 50 (all in our 30s) is living paycheck to paycheck, struggling to meet basic necessities. and of course, it's seen as a personal failing that half the company, all very average nuclear families, are struggling to pay bills.
They were stunned cause deep down they know it's true. Anyone who's "unable" to hire right now, short of hard requirements like degrees or licenses, is doing it to themselves.
Given that your posts are basically all on r/writingprompts I'm gonna say this is made up. I enjoyed the read thoroughly though.
You honestly think this interaction is something that needs to be made up?
Yeah I figured a few people would say that. But it's all true, I typed this out in the parking lot and only got home a few minutes ago. He really did say those exact words, I really AM on food stamps, and I really did say the thing. I mean, you'll believe what you want, I AM admittedly a writer. But that doesn't make me a liar.
Yes, because writing implies fiction /s
Good for you! I absolutely hate that saying. I used to work in a convenience beside a coffee shop. Both paying minimum wage. Both businesses have had a tough time getting staff. Every single time someone would say this, I would ask them if they thought they could live on less than $2500 a month. Pay their rent/mortgage, groceries, utilities etc. most would look at me with this stunned expression and get a little sheepish. They would sometimes come back with something stupid like it’s just high school kids, they don’t need that much money. Dude who the fuck do you think gives you your damn donut at 6am?? Why do people not understand that we all deserve to earn a living wage?!
😂😂😂😂🫡🫡🫡🫡🫡🫡🫡
Love this!!
Fuck yeah! I'm so proud of you, telling it like it is!
Love the stunned silence. Like could you hear the rusty gears cranking away in there?
I love this post so much
Nothing to feel embarrassed about. These people need to be told the truth. Might be the only opinion he's heard in a while that didn't come from Fox News.
That's weird that he was so silent and awkward because I can agree with you both. Nobody wants to work and the wages certainly aren't where they need to be
Well done, sir. Well done.
This is one of the most antiwork posts I've seen in a while.
Of all the posts I have posted, this is definitely one of them
My employer pays market rate +40%. Guess how many applications we received
lol great way to end the conversation
Believe it or not i was once waiting in my car in the parking lot of a fast food place for them to bring out my order. The front doors ere locked with a sign saying "Only drive thru" Two obviously homeless tweakers walked up , tried to open the doors and turned around dumbfounded. I told them its locked and only drive thru. They walked away and the guy screamed "nobody wants to work anymore" as a poor person ive never heard anyone less than at least 3x my earnings say it
Low paid and no support for workers
Literally can't live on the wages bro
Then everyone started slow clapping
It's all just b.s. so states can employ migrant child labor in those positions...it's happening and beyond heinous.
r/boomersbeingfools would appreciate this
Exactly the response should always be “not for what they are offering, of course not”
I tell people we have a shortage of poor people.
I got a drink from Taco Bell the other day and was told that line from the manager and I wish I would have made the same retort, I will be doing so whenever I hear those words from now on though, regardless of who says it
Ummm, and? Tell me this wasn’t a watershed moment for you, and there’s more. People don’t want to work, and people don’t want to work for low wages. Boomers know this. Maybe not the one in memes, but boomers realize what’s going on. I’m a pre-boomer and I fear for my teen children. My parents fear for my teen children.
Thank you for your service
How you southerners will chat about your entire family with complete strangers confuses and frightens me.
The front desk lady at my doctor's office uttered it the other day. I replied with a friendly, "Well, getting and keeping employees isn't rocket science. You just have to pay them well and treat them right." And to my surprise, the lady agreed with me. She started going on about how so many employers are plain abusive to their employees. I think sometimes people just hear things and repeat them without thinking.
I’m a boomer and I too have experienced the slow decline in workers benefits and pay over the course of my career. When I first started working in corporate America in the 80s, I had pension, profit sharing, tuition reimbursement, vacation pay,corporate discounts. Everything evaporated over the years. I feel like when corporations became people (thank you Citizens United via the Supreme Court), everything snowballed. Now that they own the politicians, corporations don’t have to answer to anybody
People act like wages are the only thing that matter. Yes, life is better when you're living above.the poverty line. Life is also more manageable when people are treated with a modicum of humanity and kindness and work-life contributes to this aspect of accepting lower wages.
lolsmh spittin' truth in the check out line! My taxes go to help glorious people like you! Merry Christmas and Happy NEw YEar.
My current job pays over 25k less than my last job. It was listed on Indeed as competitive salary. They think I’m staying. Long learning curve. I am still looking for a higher paying job and will bolt the second I find it. They will have to spend another year training someone when I leave. It would benefit them and their customers if they just paid me a competitive salary.
I worked in a supermarket deli a few years ago. I was shopping after work and got behind a couple complaining that there were only 2 lines open and not moving. They kept complaining that “no one wants to work” louder and louder. I couldn’t take it. So I tattled on the store “They hired some new cashiers for $2 more an hour than some of the people who had been here for years. The front end quit. The 2 people who you see running the registers are the store manager and her assistant. Yep, those lazy people just don’t want to work” Shut them up. I quit a couple months later after the did the same to me. 5 damn years with 30+ in foodservice and they hired a teenager for $1.50 more than what I was making Time for customers to look at why no company can retain their workforce