Uniforms in NEPA Public Schools? (Pittston, McDonald: high school, live, restaurant)

[ScranBarre]

Originally Posted by LusOnlyVoice

You are right on this one CHS ... for each position in life you should dress the part ... one would have more confidence in someone who dresses the part ... if I am looking for a contractor to build my house ... I don't want to talk to a guy in a fancy suit with a manicure ... I want the contractor to look as though he knows what he is talking about ... I don't want a guy who looks like a CEO ... I want one who looks like he swings a hammer and works hard.

You two are missing my point. I'm not a contractor, and neither are 95% of those who work at Lowe's or Home Depot, contrary to popular belief. Most of us are just folks right off the street, many of whom actually have college degrees (some at my store even with Master's Degrees) and other jobs and work part-time at these places for additional income (as I plan to continue to do even when I'm an accountant). Sure, we're given training, and most of us are quick-learners in the industry, but in the two locations of our store I have worked at I can count the number of trades people or former trades people on one (maybe two) hands. Why would professional trades people want to work for Lowe's or Home Depot and make, perhaps, $11/hr.---not even enough to support a family---when they could work in their field and make two or three times that? It just doesn't make any sense, does it? If you want these stores to be teeming with electricians, plumbers, roofers, etc., then you're going to have to be prepared to shell out a heck of a lot more at the cash register as the store jacks up prices to compensate these skilled tradespeople competitively. You can't have your cake and eat it too, as consumers. If you want reasonable prices, then stores will have to keep their costs in-line. In order to do so these stores will look to pay as little as possible (repelling the most skilled job applicants) while still keeping employee morale high enough to avoid a coup d'etat.

This is why I cringe when I have people asking me all sorts of technical questions about wood stove flue installations, reconstruction of tractor engines, zoning permits, etc. because while I can point you to our products and tell you their features/benefits, I haven't worked with or used MOST of them---why would a suburban guy on a small 3/4-acre lot have a need to use a log splitter or heavy-duty chain saw, for example? If I'm selling you patio furniture or a fireplace, why would it be preferable if I looked burly? Hell, we have a massive driveway, and yet I still shovel it even though I tell people daily the benefits of using a snow thrower as opposed to shoveling. Up until a couple of years ago I was mowing our very hilly property with a manual push mower until I FINALLY practiced what I preached and upgraded to a self-propelled model.

It never ceases to amaze me the amount of people who will walk into the electrical department and go "there's the electrician" when they seen an employee nearby. I knew an electrician who made $40/hr. in the field. Why would HE work for $11/hr. at a big-box store? You people have to realize that most in these stores are NOT skilled trade workers. I don't know what ever gave so many of you that idea.

[rockky]

Scran, I didn't read this whole thread, but I'm going to interject a quick point.

You will likely see more 'trades' people seeking jobs at Lowe's and other DIY big box stores. My son, who is 6 credits short of a degree (long story...sigh) chose start his own tile business about four years ago. It seemed to be a decent plan at the time. Most of his college buddies were trying to find jobs in their fields with no success. My son does excellent work and is able to do high-end jobs that required an artistic touch. Plus, he was living at the DE beaches where construction was booming.

This is no longer a source of living wage income. He always did low ball his quotes....he needs more self confidence. Now, there are no jobs. Also, living in what is basically a resort area makes trade jobs even more difficult to find.

He's hurting. Thus, Mom is trying to help. I feel for him.

There's a new Lowe's opening this month down there. I keep telling him to go and check it out. He did inquire at another Lowe's store about doing sub work. They have so many people on their sub lists that it looks as if they aren't interested in adding any.

My son is able to do electrical, some plumbing, contracting..........all kinds of stuff. Hopefully his talents will pay off for me personally. We are doing major renovations at the house in DE. He's so down, things aren't moving along too fast.

I wonder if Lowe's would be willing to hire people who know the department in which they are working....and pay them for their experience?

Anyway, that turned into much more than a quick interjection. Sorry.

[CHS89]

Originally Posted by ScranBarre

You two are missing my point. I'm not a contractor, and neither are 95% of those who work at Lowe's or Home Depot, contrary to popular belief. Most of us are just folks right off the street, many of whom actually have college degrees (some at my store even with Master's Degrees) and other jobs and work part-time at these places for additional income (as I plan to continue to do even when I'm an accountant).

And you're missing your own point.

First of all, this thread is supposedly about school uniforms, not really about how you look on the job, but congratulations for turning yet another thread into yet another attention grabbing hijack. Well done.

But back to your weak analogy. If I'm looking around a Home Depot or a Lowe's, I don't give a rats ass if you have on Gap jeans and a sharp button down shirt. Like you said, to me, that looks like you took the job just for the paycheck, not because you have any expertise or actual practical experience in the field of home repair or improvement. I'd trust the older guy in the flannel shirt and paint splattered work boots for just about any aspect of home improvement long before I'd take the advice of a college age kid who's clearly there just for the paycheck. How YOU chose to dress for YOUR part time job really has nothing at all to do with the topic of the thread, but thanks for once again telling us all how it should be. Can you let the parents of school-age children discuss the pros and cons of school uniforms now, please? Not every topic here needs your two cents to be constructive.

[rockky]

CHS89 - I'm not making this post as a need to 'protect' or 'intervene' for anyone who posts on this board. Each of us can choose to respond or ignore any wording as we see fit.

I would like to point out there are several different types of intelligences; and, as such, many different types of thinking and processing.

Some people are direct and see things very simply. Other people use comparative thinking and take a path that involves what I call 'video' or visual thinking. They make a picture in order to make a point. I tend to do that.

The visual thinker may feel that are totally on subject in a discussion. Their divergence is only to make a point associated to the topic.

I would rather each of us be allowed to use personal thinking skills to communicate and not be chastised personally by the assumptions of some readers.

I may agree or disagree with a comment and may choose to address such disagreement directly, but I like to think we can respect and tolerate all types of thinking and communication.

JMHO

[rockky]

btw, if someone really took this thread off subject, it was me.

Uniforms? I worked in public schools for years. There were no uniforms there. The students were required to wear uniforms in a charter school were I worked in another state.

Uniforms would keep down the bizarre dress of some students. They are gonna buck the system anyway they can. It might take back some control for staff and administration and makes their jobs easier. No a bad thing. They can focus on education. LOL! Sure they can.....as soon as they solve all the other problems of society.

Still, if a kid wants to make a "statement" they will find a way to do it. Hair style, jewelry, behavior.....it just means they will be more outrageous in other areas.

[sheena12]

You are right Rocky. kids can telegraph their interests even with a uniform or a very restrictive dress code.

[LusOnlyVoice]

Originally Posted by ScranBarre

It never ceases to amaze me the amount of people who will walk into the electrical department and go "there's the electrician" when they seen an employee nearby. I knew an electrician who made $40/hr. in the field. Why would HE work for $11/hr. at a big-box store? You people have to realize that most in these stores are NOT skilled trade workers. I don't know what ever gave so many of you that idea.

I totally understand what it is you are saying ... when Lowes first came into the area the claim to fame that should make us want to shop there was that we should shop at Lowes because they have experts in every department ... so I guess that is why when we go there we expect to be able to ask and have answers to our questions. But like every thing else I guess over the years Lowes forgot that they made these statements ... but people are still coming in expecting to find that guy who is an electrician ... who is a plumber ... who is a carpentar ... and that is what gave so many of us that idea ... and don't take this wrong ... I am not slamming on your age here ... but you were just too young to remember when Lowes first came into the area.

[weluvpa]

Originally Posted by LusOnlyVoice

... I am not slamming on your age here ... but you were just too young to remember when Lowes first came into the area.

That never seems to slow him down....Paul remembers what downtown was like when he was 6, like it was yesterday. Lowes and Home Depot are what they are and if you don't know what your looking for, or need then you should find out before you go.

[ScranBarre]

Originally Posted by weluvpa

That never seems to slow him down....Paul remembers what downtown was like when he was 6, like it was yesterday. Lowes and Home Depot are what they are and if you don't know what your looking for, or need then you should find out before you go.

To be fair not enough of you consumers do your homework before coming into our store. We carry a wide selection of spark plugs, for example, and not a day goes by where people come in whom I can't assist because they don't know either the make (let alone the model) of their power equipment unit or have any idea the number of the spark plug they need. They simply think "I know what it looks like" until they see an entire bay of them in the aisle! Our cross-referencing resources are useless if you don't know if your lawn mower is a Craftsman, Toro, Troy-Bilt, or anything else. So many of our spark plugs are so very similar that I wouldn't dare openly hand someone the wrong one for fear that it would damage their engine if they just wedged it in there.

The same goes for women especially (sorry to stereotype) when it comes to helping them select what type of oil they need because "my husband is at home watching football and sent me here!" Granted I'm not surprised if they don't know if they need two-cycle (two-stroke) or four-cycle (four-stroke) oil, but if they don't even know if they need to mix their gas and oil (two-stroke) or just use straight oil (four-stroke), then I really can't help them there either. More often than not I end up with a cell phone shoved in my ear to talk to spouses, complete with the game roaring in the background, while I just feel like asking "Why aren't you off your lazy rear-end to be here to help?"

Same goes with air conditioners when people say "Will this cool a NORMAL room?" What exactly is a "normal" room? I live amidst hundreds of McMansions in the Pittston area and a "normal" room here might be thirty square feet LARGER than a "normal" room on a miner home in Wilkes-Barre. I actually had a lady on the phone once STEPPING in her high heels on her hardwood flooring (I heard the audible clop-clop) and going "one, two, three" to try to give me the square footage of her room because she honestly had no idea what area she had to cool! LOL! The best was also the guy who gave me a sheet of the measurements of the four rooms on his first floor (i.e. 10' x 12'), and then couldn't figure out how to get the square footage from there! I had to multiply the four measurements out and add them up for him. That doesn't say much for the public school system here in America.

You also have to love the question I often get (after telling folks that BOTH models of an electric heater run at a maximum of 1500 Watts let me add) of "At the high temperature which one is more efficient?" If they BOTH use 1500 Watts at their maximum, then obviously they're EQUALLY efficient, right? I also had a woman angry with me the other day because after specifically telling her that all of the electric fireplace systems we carried were in the 4,600-4,800 BTU range and heated a maximum of 400 square feet (perhaps being able to be stretched by running ceiling fans with the blades reversed), she proceeded to ask me "Which one is better" about fifty times while I TRIED in vain to let her know that at that point it was merely about aesthetics (matching her room decor, for example) or about features of the fire box surroundings (i.e. did she need cabinet space on the side to hold DVDs to complement a flat-screen television atop the mantle?) She didn't believe me that they all heated the same because "they're all different sizes."

I'm just lucky I have the patience of a neurosurgeon at times, especially when it comes to dealing with the finest folks that Edwardsville has to offer.

[EnyaGirl]

Originally Posted by ScranBarre

The same goes for women especially (sorry to stereotype) when it comes to helping them select what type of oil they need because "my husband is at home watching football and sent me here!"

Heh...or women who come in and say "The rearview mirror in my car fell off. Help!" (Paul helped me over the weekend in the adhesives aisle.....it worked beautifully by the way, thanks! )