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TAN, I thought you're daughter had a good career as a loss specialist (or am I confusing her with someone else on this forum)?
the minimum wage, and yet, it is not enough to live on her own and pay her bills. That is why I keep saying to this young person, got to school, get an education (college OR trade school), get JOB SKILLS.
You know, there are young people all over the country, living away from home, many not from any real means. Working their way through school and surviving. Life is an on going experience not to be viewed from under ones bed.
but that was a different day and age. It was doable then, now? I don't think so.
All of what you point out are small obstacles and ones he will have to overcome. It may even be fun. I don't see any big problems at all. He is way ahead of someone with a bunch of kids who can't figure out how to pay next months bills. I think that is a little bit what scares people with a guy like him. Their problems seem insurmountable while his are almost nothing by comparison. People often envy youth with endless possibilities. They have to beat them down and break them to justify their own short comings. The sad part is, these people are often teachers. They envy and hate the youth of their students and their own limited unfulfilled dreams.
I would not recommend to another what I would not do myself, nor advise my own children to do. I do envy the youth of today, in some respects, and I personally would love to relive my early adult years (for no longer than a day). Life is/will be so much more challenging for today's youth..... limited career opportunities with good jobs disappearing by the day , a mega national debt, a mega social security monetary responsibility, and significant long-term consequences for the minor indiscretions of youth....
There is very little difference between a 17 year old (no real job, no education) and the many runaways attempting to survive on the streets. The odds are long and hard for those attempting to establish their lives without a support network. I would think that within the current economy that this young man would have less than 1 chance in a 1000 of attaining the "American dream" that you are proscribing. He will have a much greater chance of being victimized by adults either through molestation or prostitution, becoming involved with drug usage and/or distribution, and/or joining the Florida criminal element. Personally, I do not think that this young man is mature enough to undertake the many choices and responsibilities of survival.
but that was a different day and age. It was doable then, now? I don't think so.
You assume all these people in collage are on scholarship or come from families who are rich? Many students take classes and work, many don't take full schedules but make it through. Maybe takes a little longer but they do it. With your attitude I guess we all should just kill children as soon as they are born, life is too tough, they will never survive. What's this day and age stuff? There is more opportunity now then ever before. My nephew sells cars on ebay. He sells high end cars to people all over the country. He used to rent an apartment from me and worked as a cook. Now he makes six figures. By the way, the bad economy has not hurt him a bit. He now has access to even more cars that move from those with financial problems to those who can still afford them. If anything his business is better.
I am retired but I have a company where I do lite manufacturing. I sell my products all over the world right from my home office. I use to have to go to trade shows and spend thousands of dollars a month just on advertising. There was no such thing as email. There was just hundreds of dollars a month in long distance calls or they would run up my 800 number with waste of time calls. Now I go to the office and I am communicating with someone in Honk Kong, or Denmark. I can hardly turn my head and not see opportunities of how to make money today for a smart person.
The last real job I had was 1970 working construction as a union crane operator. Heck, when I was 16 I had a lawn service business with three employes and I was still in high school. I bought my first house when I was 23. If you can't make money in this country there is something wrong. I used to have a guy who rented from me who made a living at the flea market. He had a van and he would go out near the glades and pick ferns. He bought cheap pots in three different sizes. He would make beautiful hanging ferns priced at back at that time at 4, 8, 12 dollars. He would load up the van with the fern's hanging all over the place and sell out most every day he went there.
There is a reason people risk their lives to come to this country. It's not to live on welfare. Is there any guarantee someone will make fortune? Of course not but there is the opportunity to try. Next we will have to hear from all the people who will tell us how it is the governments fault they are failures. Actually I should not use the word failure, there is no such thing. Just someone who has not yet made it.
I would not recommend to another what I would not do myself, nor advise my own children to do. I do envy the youth of today, in some respects, and I personally would love to relive my early adult years (for no longer than a day). Life is/will be so much more challenging for today's youth..... limited career opportunities with good jobs disappearing by the day , a mega national debt, a mega social security monetary responsibility, and significant long-term consequences for the minor indiscretions of youth....
There is very little difference between a 17 year old (no real job, no education) and the many runaways attempting to survive on the streets. The odds are long and hard for those attempting to establish their lives without a support network. I would think that within the current economy that this young man would have less than 1 chance in a 1000 of attaining the "American dream" that you are proscribing. He will have a much greater chance of being victimized by adults either through molestation or prostitution, becoming involved with drug usage and/or distribution, and/or joining the Florida criminal element. Personally, I do not think that this young man is mature enough to undertake the many choices and responsibilities of survival.
I bet what you are saying was being said 50 years ago 100 years ago, 150 years ago. There are new opportunities not even yet thought of todays youth will benefit from. Where did this loser, give up, no heart, the world is coming to an end mentality come from? Has your life experience really been that bad? Are you truly this unhappy with your life? I don't really know what to say any more other then I don't think I would want to hang out with many of you people in the real world. On the internet is challenge enough.
You assume all these people in collage are on scholarship or come from families who are rich? Many students take classes and work, many don't take full schedules but make it through. Maybe takes a little longer but they do it. With your attitude I guess we all should just kill children as soon as they are born, life is too tough, they will never survive. What's this day and age stuff? There is more opportunity now then ever before. My nephew sells cars on ebay. He sells high end cars to people all over the country. He used to rent an apartment from me and worked as a cook. Now he makes six figures. By the way, the bad economy has not hurt him a bit. He now has access to even more cars that move from those with financial problems to those who can still afford them. If anything his business is better.
I am retired but I have a company where I do lite manufacturing. I sell my products all over the world right from my home office. I use to have to go to trade shows and spend thousands of dollars a month just on advertising. There was no such thing as email. There was just hundreds of dollars a month in long distance calls or they would run up my 800 number with waste of time calls. Now I go to the office and I am communicating with someone in Honk Kong, or Denmark. I can hardly turn my head and not see opportunities of how to make money today for a smart person.
The last real job I had was 1970 working construction as a union crane operator. Heck, when I was 16 I had a lawn service business with three employes and I was still in high school. I bought my first house when I was 23. If you can't make money in this country there is something wrong. I used to have a guy who rented from me who made a living at the flea market. He had a van and he would go out near the glades and pick ferns. He bought cheap pots in three different sizes. He would make beautiful hanging ferns priced at back at that time at 4, 8, 12 dollars. He would load up the van with the fern's hanging all over the place and sell out most every day he went there.
There is a reason people risk their lives to come to this country. It's not to live on welfare. Is there any guarantee someone will make fortune? Of course not but there is the opportunity to try. Next we will have to hear from all the people who will tell us how it is the governments fault they are failures. Actually I should not use the word failure, there is no such thing. Just someone who has not yet made it.
but I took courses in HS which gave me job skills beyond minimum wage, AND still the credits to get into college. I gave up lunches and study periods in HS to do this. I could have graduated in my Junior year without taking those "career courses". First I went to live a friend and her Mom, and then I SUBLET an apartment when I moved out. The rent was very cheap because it was still under rent control. Google it if you don't know. I went to work at a college, which gave me FREE TUITION. I took courses at night, winters, summer, while I worked there during the day. I also lived within walking distance of my job/school so I did not need a car. The job with the university also gave me free medical benefits.
When money started getting tighter, I left the unversity. I went to work in the corporate world, but even though they paid more and still paid 80% of my tuition, I had to take subways from work to school to home. I would leave my apartment at 6 AM for work and not walk into it until 11 PM at night. I was a young WOMAN riding trains, walking around in the dark at all hours of the night. I had NO SOCIAL LIFE. When I wasn't working or at school, I was studying. This was also at a point in time when, well, young women didn't do this.
It did not all happen on the spur of the moment. I planned it for years while still in HS. I had a bad home life too and wanted out by the time I was 14, but even as a teenager I knew it was not going to happen without a LOT of effort, studying, and PLANNING in advance on my part.
In a good economy this might work out but with 10% unemployment in Florida, and a recession, what services is he going to be selling, to whom? As has been pointed out there is already a backlog here of construction and landscape residents here who can't find work.
In a good economy this might work out but with 10% unemployment in Florida, and a recession, what services is he going to be selling, to whom? As has been pointed out there is already a backlog here of construction and landscape residents here who can't find work.
that is precisely what I said before. It is worse today. In a few years time, when the economy turns around, it can get better. But why take chances now?
Most of us have said this over and over again. People with years of experience in good jobs are out of work and taking jobs at WalMart. You don't want to be a young kid all alone starting out competing with these people for MINIMUM WAGE jobs.
I have worked with young people bearly making over minimum wage, living in Section 8 housing, on food stamps, but they all had one other thing in common. They were not all alone in the world. They had their families. They had friends. They had roommates. They had other helping them out not only financially, but offering a should to lean on and a word of encouragment when they needed it; a SUPPORT SYSTEM.
In a good economy this might work out but with 10% unemployment in Florida, and a recession, what services is he going to be selling, to whom? As has been pointed out there is already a backlog here of construction and landscape residents here who can't find work.
Service business in Florida has always been good. I still have to dodge the lawn service trucks that clutter the roads in my neighborhood. I have a good friend who has only one arm who has made a good living cleaning pools for like 30 years. My attorney paid his way through collage detailing cars. His story is worth telling by it's self. He drove a Corvette and dressed like a tennis pro. He looked like he had more money then the people he worked for. I think what they liked about his was he did very good work and had a tremendous amount of class for someone detailing cars. Older people no matter what just have a lot of things they can't do for themselves and have to pay. Most of the lawn service people by the way are not very good. They don't show up and do sloppy work. Many can't speak english.
Any time you are at a dinner party and subject of lawn work comes up the first thing someone will ask is "Do you have anybody who is good, I hate my lawn guy"? A good clean cut hard working guy doing dependable lawn and landscape work will easily build a business. He will have no competition, the rest stink. My wife works with stroke victims. She has a nitch job she has created for herself where she works for the family not an insurance company. These are wealthy people who can pay for the kind of around the clock service she does. She moves in the the patient many times. Right now she has not been home for several days. I am not even going to tell you what that kind of service cost. There are nitch jobs out there that people working don't even see in their own fields.
Either way there is money to be made in Florida in the service industry for people willing to work and do good work. Lord know there are plenty of bad workers out there.
Several people in the General Forum thread on this OP suggested the Military for this young man. I agree that it might just be a good option in his circumstances.
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I did that myself
