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I think it's ridiculous that I have to pay taxes to support anyone's kids, since I don't have any myself. And while we're at it, let's make it mandatory that parents alone pay for the schools their kids go to instead of all of us having to pay taxes for free public schools. Maybe if parents - ALL parents - had to pay for the education their kids get instead of letting the government take care of that, people would be more responsible in having kids. See what I did there?
And MY parents were responsible for my education. When I was young, every weekend had a trip to a museum, zoo or nature walks in the park. My mother read to us at night the classics like Stuart Little and Charlotte's Webb. And in third grade, she was reading to us chapters out of The Hobbit. And that greatly expanded our vocabulary. Visits to the museums sparked my interests in the sciences and also antiques. Later on in middle and high schools, once a week we were taken to the public library for several hours. We would browse the stacks and check out a pile of books for the week. We listened to a lot of classical music at home too. And tv was watching NOVA and Masterpiece Theatre... yes, so parents can do so much more for their children than they are doing today. And most of that can be free. Instead of parents trying to be their children's best friends, then need to be exposing their children to good influences. And like my parents, they should tell their kids that their job is to go to school, respect their teachers, and do their schoolwork well.
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No, the poor don't have terrible eating habits. Let's see you eat healthy on $194/month of food stamps. Let's see you shop at different stores to take advantage of the sales if you live in the city where there are few stores and didn't have a car and there was little to no public transportation. Let's see how often you eat in when you live in a place where rats, mice and cockroaches crawl around in your cupboards and the landlord doesn't do anything to get rid of them. Let's see you cook healthy meals after you've finished working 60 to 80 hours a week. Let's see how well you even cook if you're living on the street or in a motel room where there isn't a stove or any refrigeration.
Let me put this in a way you can understand.
Boxed macaroni and cheese: $1/box. You can get 2 to 3 servings from that one box
Frozen blueberries: $12/bag. You can get about 7 to 8 servings from that. The difference is about $1.50/serving for the blueberries vs 50¢/serving for the macaroni and cheese. Do you get it now?
Besides that, you have to fight all those wonderful people out there who think those on food stamps should only be allowed to buy Ramen and rice. Like that's a healthy meal.
And when was the last time someone gave you an earful about buying beer and hot dogs for Fourth of July?
First of all, if I only have $194 a month to spend on food, I'm certainly NOT going to get pregnant and have babies until I make more money than that. As to the food budget, getting a job at a restaurant or other industry that has food service would provide me with one or two free meals a day. So that means only buying groceries for my days off from work. However, I would also pick up temp work as a banquet server or other food industry worker (cook, bartender) and once again I would be able to eat for free AND use most of that $194 to use in some other way.
And I would keep working that hard until I was able to make better wages. If I liked cooking, I would study the techniques on the cooking show contests and whatever else I find on YouTube for free to watch. Then approach a restaurant and earn my way to an apprenticeship in the cooking staff, even if I had to start as a dishwasher. Great servers and bartenders can also do very well at upscale restaurants... it's really all about putting in some real effort and hustle ones @ss off. Not sitting back, making babies and waiting for handouts.
And in regards to a $194 a month food budget, I'd eat more like a traditional Asian. Buy a giant bag of rice, get a rice steamer. Then buy mostly veggies to steam on top of the cooking rice. Finally a very small portion of protein. Chicken thighs go on sale frequently. Or buy whole chickens. Whole pork shoulder roasts are also cheap. And then there is the tofu option. Americans eat way too much meat. Veggies are way cheaper than meat. And veggies can be home grown in window boxes in the warmer months. And for variety, one can experiment with different spices and herbs. There is no need to resort to unhealthy mac and cheese dinners.
And I would drink tap water instead of buying milk, soda and juices. If one is leery of tap water, then buy a Brita water filtering pitcher.
BTW those immigrants coming in from the Dominican Republic and South America, such as Chile, do have a problem with choosing to drink soda over water, and also feel uncomfortable drinking tap water because of the water systems in their home country. Drinking soda is also showing affluence. And many actually don't like the taste of water. (Read an article last year in the NYT on Colorada giving classes to immigrants trying to persuade them to drink water instead of soda.)
If you're asking what to do with the poor, what about cutting all welfare and food stamps out and giving every adult in the country over 18 who makes under $100,000 annually a yearly wage of $25,000? Period. No strings. No work requirements.
Seems to me that would be a win/win. People will have to use that money to feed and shelter themselves and while doing it, will be circulating that money in society. We are, after all, a capitalistic society and we depend on keeping the money moving to keep the economy moving. Even if everyone is rich, our economy tanks if all that money is stuffed under mattresses and not being spent.
Meantime, if people want more money coming in, they could work for it while the ones who didn't want to work don't have to. I'm sure some people would still have their Arbeit macht frei attitude going so they had someone to look down on, but on the whole, it sounds like a good idea to me.
I will vote for you. I think it sounds like a great idea.
Of course I say that as a single mom that wants to and tries to work full time, but find myself being laid off or experiencing a 60% reduction in salary, on average every 2-4 years.
First of all, if I only have $194 a month to spend on food, I'm certainly NOT going to get pregnant and have babies until I make more money than that. As to the food budget, getting a job at a restaurant or other industry that has food service would provide me with one or two free meals a day. So that means only buying groceries for my days off from work. However, I would also pick up temp work as a banquet server or other food industry worker (cook, bartender) and once again I would be able to eat for free AND use most of that $194 to use in some other way.
And I would keep working that hard until I was able to make better wages. If I liked cooking, I would study the techniques on the cooking show contests and whatever else I find on YouTube for free to watch. Then approach a restaurant and earn my way to an apprenticeship in the cooking staff, even if I had to start as a dishwasher. Great servers and bartenders can also do very well at upscale restaurants... it's really all about putting in some real effort and hustle ones @ss off. Not sitting back, making babies and waiting for handouts.
And in regards to a $194 a month food budget, I'd eat more like a traditional Asian. Buy a giant bag of rice, get a rice steamer. Then buy mostly veggies to steam on top of the cooking rice. Finally a very small portion of protein. Chicken thighs go on sale frequently. Or buy whole chickens. Whole pork shoulder roasts are also cheap. And then there is the tofu option. Americans eat way too much meat. Veggies are way cheaper than meat. And veggies can be home grown in window boxes in the warmer months. And for variety, one can experiment with different spices and herbs. There is no need to resort to unhealthy mac and cheese dinners.
And I would drink tap water instead of buying milk, soda and juices. If one is leery of tap water, then buy a Brita water filtering pitcher.
Restaurants do not give their employees free meals. At most they can eat at half price right before their shirt or right after. Not both.
Also from what I have found, even restaurants are either looking for a certain image or age group, or skills set for their servers. They are not jumping to hire me to wait tables or sling drinks at my age. I have zero experience except that I eat out often and order drinks when I do.
Restaurants do not give their employees free meals. At most they can eat at half price right before their shirt or right after. Not both.
Also from what I have found, even restaurants are either looking for a certain image or age group, or skills set for their servers. They are not jumping to hire me to wait tables or sling drinks at my age. I have zero experience except that I eat out often and order drinks when I do.
You reminded me of one of the experiences I had during my "poor days." I tried waiting tables. I think that's a job where either you've got it, or you don't. I don't. I struggled, and the restaurant that hired me was in a bad location and didn't get a ton of business anyways. I was an 18 year old girl, the manager was a middle aged man with (I vaguely recall) the whole chest hair spilling out of the top of his shirt, gold necklace and big belt buckle, balding with a big mustache thing going on, and he loved to put his hands on "us girls" whenever he could. I was so poor and hungry that I would sneak after I bussed a table and scarf down any scraps the diners left behind. I'm a very picky eater but I couldn't afford to be picky then.
Thing is, I wasn't getting good tips because I wasn't a great server and it wasn't a busy restaurant...so I was basically making about $2/hour. "Tipped minimum wage."
Restaurants do not give their employees free meals. At most they can eat at half price right before their shirt or right after. Not both.
Also from what I have found, even restaurants are either looking for a certain image or age group, or skills set for their servers. They are not jumping to hire me to wait tables or sling drinks at my age. I have zero experience except that I eat out often and order drinks when I do.
And where are you getting your information? And where do you work and live?
The two Japanese restaurants I worked out in 1980's offered their employees two free meals. One after we closed after lunch, the second at night after the final close. Even Anthony's Pier 4 Restaurant in Boston, where the sons taking over the business were cheap @ssholes, they fed their employees a staff meal for free.
All the hotels offer their employees a free meal, at least that's how it is in Boston.
Now I do a lot of catering work. And I see a good number of temp workers passing through. We all get a free meal after the event is over. It's all food leftover from the event and going to be thrown out anyway.
And the bonus for the employers in feeding their staff, is that they work better when they aren't starving. And they are less likely to steal bites to eat from the guests' food.
Restaurants do not give their employees free meals. At most they can eat at half price right before their shirt or right after. Not both.
Also from what I have found, even restaurants are either looking for a certain image or age group, or skills set for their servers. They are not jumping to hire me to wait tables or sling drinks at my age. I have zero experience except that I eat out often and order drinks when I do.
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Originally Posted by miu
And where are you getting your information? And where do you work and live?
The two Japanese restaurants I worked out in 1980's offered their employees two free meals. One after we closed after lunch, the second at night after the final close. Even Anthony's Pier 4 Restaurant in Boston, where the sons taking over the business were cheap @ssholes, they fed their employees a staff meal for free.
All the hotels offer their employees a free meal, at least that's how it is in Boston.
Now I do a lot of catering work. And I see a good number of temp workers passing through. We all get a free meal after the event is over. It's all food leftover from the event and going to be thrown out anyway.
And the bonus for the employers in feeding their staff, is that they work better when they aren't starving. And they are less likely to steal bites to eat from the guests' food.
Oh good grief you two! There is absolutely no set law or rules in any state that it is required that they feed their people for free, or for a discount, or at all for that matter. So it all depends on what the owner allows or is willing to offer their employees. It is totally up to them. So there is absolutely no right or wrong answer here.
Oh good grief you two! There is absolutely no set law or rules in any state that it is required that they feed their people for free, or for a discount, or at all for that matter. So it all depends on what the owner allows or is willing to offer their employees. It is totally up to them. So there is absolutely no right or wrong answer here.
I don't like misinformation being spread about. Regardless, I could do fine with a budget of $194 a month for groceries, even without working in catering. And people who living at the poverty level should not be having children until they have the education level and job skills needed for a decent paying career. Or have one child, but definitely not 2 or more kids. Society doesn't owe them the support to raise a large family on. And having children too early makes it all the more difficult to find ways to make more money.
I don't like misinformation being spread about. Regardless, I could do fine with a budget of $194 a month for groceries, even without working in catering. And people who living at the poverty level should not be having children until they have the education level and job skills needed for a decent paying career. Or have one child, but definitely not 2 or more kids. Society doesn't owe them the support to raise a large family on. And having children too early makes it all the more difficult to find ways to make more money.
I kind of agree, but I also think that if I hadn't gotten (unplanned) pregnant with my first when I did, I would not have worked so hard to grow up and find my way out of poverty. When you care about your children, it can be a powerful incentive to better yourself and your life if you can find a way. I'm not really sure what would have become of me, had I not become a Mom. I was doing drugs (pot, acid) and being pretty irresponsible prior to that. I shaped up instantly. Like I knew the next morning that I had conceived (I could actually feel certain bodily effects, believe it or not!) and I immediately quit drugs, quit smoking, started trying to be healthier and more careful about my life. Things suddenly MATTERED.
And where are you getting your information? And where do you work and live?
The two Japanese restaurants I worked out in 1980's offered their employees two free meals. One after we closed after lunch, the second at night after the final close. Even Anthony's Pier 4 Restaurant in Boston, where the sons taking over the business were cheap @ssholes, they fed their employees a staff meal for free.
All the hotels offer their employees a free meal, at least that's how it is in Boston.
Now I do a lot of catering work. And I see a good number of temp workers passing through. We all get a free meal after the event is over. It's all food leftover from the event and going to be thrown out anyway.
And the bonus for the employers in feeding their staff, is that they work better when they aren't starving. And they are less likely to steal bites to eat from the guests' food.
I live in the north east and of the dozen or so restaurants/bars we frequent enough that we are super friendly with the servers, the most they get is half price meals right before or after their shift. Most are not chains, but this is normal for the chains like Texas Roadhouse and Chili's also.
I don't like misinformation being spread about. Regardless, I could do fine with a budget of $194 a month for groceries, even without working in catering. And people who living at the poverty level should not be having children until they have the education level and job skills needed for a decent paying career. Or have one child, but definitely not 2 or more kids. Society doesn't owe them the support to raise a large family on. And having children too early makes it all the more difficult to find ways to make more money.
Then you should stop spreading it...
When I had my first child, I was married to a guy with a fairly large salary. I did not experience being poor until after I left him. I divorced him a week before my second child was born.
So I could afford to have kids when I had them, but the situation changed and with that my finances changed. I try to work, but starting tomorrow, my salary was reduced 60%. I will apply to every possible program I qualify for until my salary is increased to 100% again.
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