(Part 1 of 2): RE: Excellent "real life" article touching on many economic topics
Posted 02-13-2016 at 03:57 PM by Blondebaerde
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jukesgrrl
I read the linked article on Slate magazine today.
The article is called I Was a Super Bowl Concession Worker and the subtitle is "What it's like making less than $13 an hour to serve $13 beers at one of the biggest games on earth." The author is Gabriel Thompson, a freelance writer who takes part-time jobs to supplement an income not adequate to comfortable living in the very expensive Bay Area.
The article also discusses the larger issues of people who, in spite of an improving economy, are still working as many as three part-time jobs to make ends meet.
The article is called I Was a Super Bowl Concession Worker and the subtitle is "What it's like making less than $13 an hour to serve $13 beers at one of the biggest games on earth." The author is Gabriel Thompson, a freelance writer who takes part-time jobs to supplement an income not adequate to comfortable living in the very expensive Bay Area.
The article also discusses the larger issues of people who, in spite of an improving economy, are still working as many as three part-time jobs to make ends meet.
Too, it is eminently fair those workers receive wages, breaks, and etc. that are due them. Of course! Why they didn't is another matter, I thought that's what Unions were for. I'm missing something here. If that means somebody..not the NFL or MLB...needs to raise every ticket price a few bucks, or ten bucks, or a hundred bucks, so fair working conditions are provided, works for me. That would have zero impact on number of games I attend, personally. Others, probably, and that's the problem with raising "taxes", so to speak, in this case.
Stadiums are pretty obviously fiscal fiascos, Slate's right about that. They played that shell game here in Seattle, too. Nice for me to visit, and I've been to Seahawks and Mariner games in my time, but they didn't "create" a lot of opportunity for anyone but MLB and the NFL. Politics is politics, agreed.
Back to the underlying point: I believe BLS dot gov, for one, has growth projections for dozens, hundreds, of occupations based on megatrends. I'm always impressed by their fact-heavy analysis and clear presentations of data, for those willing to do a little mining. The only advice I had for my friend's kid now at WA State was, "kid, find what you do well and has growth potential to provide a living the next 10-20 years. After that, things will change enough that your skills will be less-than-relevant. You'll adapt, hopefully. The world is unkind to those who chase an unprofitable dream. While unfair, that's just how it is."
Interestingly enough, that was the same advice my old man gave me in 1985. He was right then, too. I listened, worked hard, and succeeded after struggling mightily some years. Different era, but similar theory today though it's a tougher game these days I'm convinced.
I enjoy writing, too, like these little essays here in C-D. But I'm not driven enough, skilled enough, or interested enough to monetize it. Pretty obviously, that's a sucker's game. I manage large software projects and programs all day, and "free lance write" (emphasis on the "free") on my time, because if it can't be monetized adequately it's by-definition a hobby, not a career.
To one of the responses (to the thread I'm blogging) thus far, if there are now "sufficient" jobs for "everyone" to reach that Middle Class dream...home, cars, and comfortable living for a family...we've truly found the burning question. I get that. Perhaps that's the point in the Slate article, or one point anyway.
