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Bobbi-Bob Bobbitt graduated from the local Vo-Tech High School three years ago. Since then she's worked mostly as a packer in a local food-processing plant, and as one more "smiling face" in a call-center that offers little more than fancy hand-holding. After two years, she's earning $12.50/hr and the jobs are tedious and subject to constant micro-manageent.
Her specialty back in school was cosmetology, but she's learned that the field is crowded and she doesn't have the capital to open her own shop. She also knows that she doesn't have the physical beauty and/or personality to attract a spouse with a higher income.
But Bobbi has discovered that she has enough skill to become a dental hygienist, with a starting rate of pay at $25hr, if she invests more of her time, and finances it via a Sallie Mae loan.
So after two more years, and now thousands of dollars in debt, Bobbi makes perhaps twice as much. But she's still tied to a rigid schedule, and while at least, under the old regimen, she only had to deal with an impersonal machine, she now has to relate, every hour on the hour, with a new set of hang-ups and foibles, embodied in a customer who expects too much, and is paying several times the amount, on an hourly basis, as what actually finds its way to Bobbi's checkbook. (Savings? Forget it! Bobbi now has a loan to pay off that bankruptcy can't discharge. And on top of it all, she's paying a higher percentage of her income in taxes.)
And there is absolutely no way she can multiply her productivity by being able to serve more people in less time. The only path upward involves becoming more enmeshed in the snake-pit of job politics.
Congratulations??
Last edited by 2nd trick op; 07-04-2014 at 02:12 PM..
Bobbi-Bob Bobbitt graduated from the local Vo-Tech High School three years ago. Since then she's worked mostly as a packer in a local food-processing plant. After two years, she's earning $12.50/hr and the job is tedious and subject to constant micro-manageent.
Her specialty back in school was cosmetology, but she's learned that the field is crowded and she doesn't have the capital to open her own shop. She also knows that she doesn't have the physical beauty and/or personality to attract a spouse with a higher income.
But Bobbi has discovered that she has enough skill to become a dental hygienist, with a starting rate of pay at $25hr, if she invests more of her time, and finances it via a Sallie Mae loan.
So after two more years, and now thousands of dollars in debt, Bobbi makes perhaps twice as much. But she's still tied to a rigid schedule, and while at least, under the old regimen, she only had to deal with an impersonal machine, she now has to relate, every hour on the hour, with a new set of hang-ups and foibles, embodied in a customer who expects too much, and is paying several times the amount, on an hourly basis, as what actually finds its way to Bobbi's checkbook. (Savings? Forget it! Bobbi now has a loan to pay off that bankruptcy can't discharge. And on top of it all, she's paying a higher percentage of her income in taxes.)
And there is absolutely no way she can multiply her productivity by being able to serve more people in less time. The only path upward involves becoming more enmeshed in the snake-pit of job politics.
Congratulations??
The story sounds about right.
What is the debt though?
Going from $12.50/hour to $25/hr is a huge difference my friend. It's like going from lower class to a middle class lifestyle.
And remember that though debt is non-dischargeable, you can generally forbear it forever. So, you might be die with debt, but as long as you pay your payments on time, it will raise your standard of living.
In general, the jump from lower class to middle class is the easiest to make. Education can generally do that for you. Making the jump from middle class to upper class with education? That's where the fables come in.
I've never expected much from my dental hygienist except to swish my mouth out with plenty of water and not poke me with those metal tools. How demanding and difficult can the patients really be? And being tied to a "rigid" 9-5 schedule is not that bad at all. Many people are happy to have regular daytime, weekday hours.
The only problem I see is that pre-recession, that dental hygienist job probably made $25/hr, and now it's probably more like $15/hr, if you can get it at all. Now THAT'S a serious problem.
What's your point? No one forced Bobbi to take out loans.
Perhaps if Bobbi had more confidence, she could have rented a booth in an already established hair salon, built up a good clientele, saved some money and then opened her own shop. Or she could have become a beauty consultant or did Youtube videos, etc.
As I see it, Bobbi has the life she chose and created. No need to weep for Bobbi.
The point I sought to make here was that too many people invest a lot of time and money into what they expect will better their lives -- only to discover, when it's too late, that the extra stress, or certain characteristics of the "better" job cancel out many of the supposed benefits -- especially when "quality time", or the loss of it, is figured into the equation.
Alexander Pope expressed it as "All our knowledge is ourselves to know", but my Pennsylvania Dutch cousins put it more simply: "We get too soon oldt, und too late schmart".
Going from $12.50/hour to $25/hr is a huge difference my friend. It's like going from lower class to a middle class lifestyle.
.
Amen. You are talking about a 18-20k net pay differential, and at her new job, she'll get benefits. Let's suppose for argument's sake, she took out 30k in loans. In 1.5 years, the net pay increase covers it, so for another 30 years, she'll have that net pay gap (540-600k) with no debt to pay off.
But let's suppose that Bobbi is somewhat more of an introvert; that one of her goals is to earn more per hour so that she can spend fewer hours in a heavily structured, regimented, and monotonous work environment.
I reiterate:
There is absolutely no way she can multiply her individual productivity; thus being able to serve more people, and generate more value in less time. And that is the most significant disappointment of the post-industrial economy.
But let's suppose that Bobbi is somewhat more of an introvert; that one of her goals is to earn more per hour so that she can spend fewer hours in a heavily structured, regimented, and monotonous work environment.
I reiterate:
There is absolutely no way she can multiply her individual productivity; thus being able to serve more people, and generate more value in less time. And that is the most significant disappointment of the post-industrial economy.
That's not the case at all. Many people are able to work less for more money - heck, I know I do. Just because your example person can't cope, that doesn't create a truth.
Bobbi should have invested that money into fake boobs and start stripping
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