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I have to agree with xGrendelx here, Im the first one to bash this area, but 1/3 unemployed? Come on now. Even though a large number of people are employed in low wage jobs or underemployed, Hampton Roads does a tremendous job with keeping people actually in some form of job, and is consistantly ahead of the national numbers in unemployment.
The majority of those people you feel are "living off the system" are actually the working poor, and those bad areas in Norfolk are the only places the working poor in this area can afford to live any longer.
They arent working poor...........They arent working at all. I work with the public day in and day out. I go to their houses all in HR and of all the cities Norfolk is the worst to work in. You see so many able bodied people that are young and there is nothing wrong with them other then they are to lazy to work. To Lazy to excel and find a job more less educate themselves to become productive citizens in this country.
I see it everyday. Go down any street in Norfolk and you will see young people just hanging out collecting a check. There is no reason for this and there are jobs out there you just have to go and get them and if all you are able to do is get a low paying job then guess what ??? Its time to make a change in yourself cause an education or trade or money isnt going to fall from the sky. You have to work for it and if your unwilling to work at something for your own future and for the future of your family then your doomed.
You cant help anyone that is unwilling to help themselves. I talk to these people Black/White/Hispanic or Purple it doesnt matter. I get the same story time after time after time.......EXCUSES EXCUSES EXCUSES. You know I tell them dont tell me why you cant tell me HOW YOU CAN......
And you dont think there are jobs out there ??? Open your paper there are many many many Jobs but if all you are qualified to do is be a hey you person then you will never get any of those good jobs advertised and you will continue to be just a statistic cause your to Lazy to work for what you want in life but yet you will talk crap about those who have worked for it cause they have what you want.
That 1/3 I threw out there was just a number I put out there cause there are so many that do nothing in Norfolk but live off the system waiting to hit the lottery or for that BIG MONEY to fall from the sky into their laps.
Most of the so called working poor will always be working poor cause they wont do anything to better themselves but complain about being working poor.
They arent working poor...........They arent working at all. I work with the public day in and day out. I go to their houses all in HR and of all the cities Norfolk is the worst to work in. You see so many able bodied people that are young and there is nothing wrong with them other then they are to lazy to work. To Lazy to excel and find a job more less educate themselves to become productive citizens in this country.
I see it everyday. Go down any street in Norfolk and you will see young people just hanging out collecting a check. There is no reason for this and there are jobs out there you just have to go and get them and if all you are able to do is get a low paying job then guess what ??? Its time to make a change in yourself cause an education or trade or money isnt going to fall from the sky. You have to work for it and if your unwilling to work at something for your own future and for the future of your family then your doomed.
You cant help anyone that is unwilling to help themselves. I talk to these people Black/White/Hispanic or Purple it doesnt matter. I get the same story time after time after time.......EXCUSES EXCUSES EXCUSES. You know I tell them dont tell me why you cant tell me HOW YOU CAN......
And you dont think there are jobs out there ??? Open your paper there are many many many Jobs but if all you are qualified to do is be a hey you person then you will never get any of those good jobs advertised and you will continue to be just a statistic cause your to Lazy to work for what you want in life but yet you will talk crap about those who have worked for it cause they have what you want.
That 1/3 I threw out there was just a number I put out there cause there are so many that do nothing in Norfolk but live off the system waiting to hit the lottery or for that BIG MONEY to fall from the sky into their laps.
Most of the so called working poor will always be working poor cause they wont do anything to better themselves but complain about being working poor.
1. It is not nearly as easy to "live off the public" as you think. Checks are not just issued randomly. The only thing all people qualify for is Section 8 assistance, which has massive waiting lists, and Food Stamps. Welfare in general is largely reserved for families with children.
Almost ALL forms of goverment assistance require working or going to school. For instance, food stamp benefits are limited to 3 months out of 36 for individuals who do not work 20 hours a week. TANF requires single parents to work at least 30 hours and dual parents 35-55 hours under most circumstances. In fact, about 70% of all TANF recipients engage in work activity.
In reality, about 65-70% of people who benefit from government transfer payments are elderly or children under 17, and most of the remainder are poor WORKING single mothers. That is fact.
2. Those people you see "hanging around", may just have odd hours working such as 3rd shifts, may be homeless, may be teenagers or students, or may be just flat out unemployed, or conventionally unemployed. There is a very low chance, especially amongst single males, that they are on the public dime, and not employed at all.
3. Training and education at ones own expense is NOT the answer to anything. There are plenty of engineers, lawyers, carpenters, computer programmers etc, who are unemployed or underemployed. A person should not be expected to SACRIFICE their future to huge student debt, in order to take a crapshoot at STILL ending up in a job they could have got out of high school. Look around, there are thousands of kids living back at home with mommy and daddy after college because there WAS no good job for them when they graduated, and on top of that, they have rediculous student loan payments taking over half of their monthly McDonalds income up. I know dozens of college grads working for under $10 an hour, and not even in the field they went to school for.
4. Good jobs advertised? What paper are you looking in? The majority of jobs available here are low paying restaurant and hospitality jobs or construction helpers. Wow, those are so great. I wonder how many of those a person would have to work to afford a one bedroom apartment in the gutter in Hampton Roads. Oh by the way, lack of affordable housing is one of the key factors leading to dependence on public assistance.
1. It is not nearly as easy to "live off the public" as you think. Checks are not just issued randomly. The only thing all people qualify for is Section 8 assistance, which has massive waiting lists, and Food Stamps. Welfare in general is largely reserved for families with children.
Almost ALL forms of goverment assistance require working or going to school. For instance, food stamp benefits are limited to 3 months out of 36 for individuals who do not work 20 hours a week. TANF requires single parents to work at least 30 hours and dual parents 35-55 hours under most circumstances. In fact, about 70% of all TANF recipients engage in work activity.
In reality, about 65-70% of people who benefit from government transfer payments are elderly or children under 17, and most of the remainder are poor WORKING single mothers. That is fact.
2. Those people you see "hanging around", may just have odd hours working such as 3rd shifts, may be homeless, may be teenagers or students, or may be just flat out unemployed, or conventionally unemployed. There is a very low chance, especially amongst single males, that they are on the public dime, and not employed at all.
3. Training and education at ones own expense is NOT the answer to anything. There are plenty of engineers, lawyers, carpenters, computer programmers etc, who are unemployed or underemployed. A person should not be expected to SACRIFICE their future to huge student debt, in order to take a crapshoot at STILL ending up in a job they could have got out of high school. Look around, there are thousands of kids living back at home with mommy and daddy after college because there WAS no good job for them when they graduated, and on top of that, they have rediculous student loan payments taking over half of their monthly McDonalds income up. I know dozens of college grads working for under $10 an hour, and not even in the field they went to school for.
4. Good jobs advertised? What paper are you looking in? The majority of jobs available here are low paying restaurant and hospitality jobs or construction helpers. Wow, those are so great. I wonder how many of those a person would have to work to afford a one bedroom apartment in the gutter in Hampton Roads. Oh by the way, lack of affordable housing is one of the key factors leading to dependence on public assistance.
OMG your just full of excuses as to why you cant succeed in life without Uncle Sam making it happen for you. Excuses Excuses Excuses.....I will tell you the same as I tell the others...............Dont tell me why you cant tell me how you can................
The paper is full of good paying jobs and online are even more of them. I will post more info on this tonight.
OMG your just full of excuses as to why you cant succeed in life without Uncle Sam making it happen for you. Excuses Excuses Excuses.....I will tell you the same as I tell the others...............Dont tell me why you cant tell me how you can................
The paper is full of good paying jobs and online are even more of them. I will post more info on this tonight.
1. When did this become about me? This isnt an issue of me looking out for a hand out, this is an issue of me setting the truth straight, and not allowing your propaganda to continue to perpetuate more people who think just like you. Its not right. People have the right to correct information, not mistruths and inciteful hatred that is fueling class division.
2. Success is relative. You and your ilk define it as wealthy, but many do not agree with that. Many selfless people have died without a dime, and would consider their life times very successful. Many people simply would like enough to live on, and they are ok with that. Only the truely greedy and shallow believe that wealth is a linear equation equal to success.
3. I pick up the Sunday paper every week, because I like to keep up to date on the job market, and if you arent looking for work as a nurse (underpaid in the Hampton Roads market), or as a burger flipper or construction laborer, there isnt much for you. If you consider commissioned sales a job, which it really isnt, then there are a decent number of those as well. Over the past 4 weeks, there has been on average, less then 3 jobs a Sunday posted in the Accounting/Finance section of the Virginian Pilot, that are not part time tax preparation positions paying $8 an hour and requiring a high school diploma.
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Home Depot has jobs all over Hampton roads 10 pages of them.
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There are 9,673 Jobs in Norfolk alone.....and this is just from 1 yes I said 1 website.
Also there is no hatred at all by me Im just stating what I see daily 1st hand. This isnt about Greed or anything like that at all what I state is the truth and though you dont like it doesnt make it untrue by no means. The jobs are there but you have to want them and educate yourself to get said jobs.
When cars came around the blacksmith that made horse shoes slowly began to lose money and as time progressed his skill wasnt much needed for horseshoes so he had to retrain himself for another trade or use his existing trade to produce other things that would make up that difference.
ALL people have choices with what they do with their lives. Its your choice just as it is mine and everyone elses. Anyone has the ability to be a do whatever they want and be whatever they want but you have to be willing to work for it. If you arent willing to do that then it wont fall into your lap.
At no point in time does someone start off at the top making decent money. You start at the bottom and work your way up. Its the way its always been but if you hop from job to job to job then you are hurting no one by yourself. Now Im not saying YOU in general its just a figure of speech.
I can find so many jobs out there its unreal but the problem is people arent qualified for said jobs and they arent willing to make themselves qualified either.
Dont get me wrong there are alot out there that do need some sort of help cause of mishaps etc...but I would say the majority of people not just in Norfolk are just unwilling to do what they need to do to better themselves.
The jobs are there.................
Norfolk has an unemployment rate of 7.8%
Virginia Beach has an unemployment rate of 4.9%
Hampton has an unemployment rate of 6.9%
Suffolk has an unemployment rate of 6.7%
Newport News has an unemployment rate of 5.9%
Chesapeake has an unemployment rate of 7.6%
while Virginia's overall unemployment rate is 4.6%
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Home Depot has jobs all over Hampton roads 10 pages of them.
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There are 9,673 Jobs in Norfolk alone.....and this is just from 1 yes I said 1 website.
The common thread amongst most of these jobs is that they require EXTENSIVE training, experience, or high levels of education to make DIRT or PART TIME. Seriously, for instance, that Hertz management trainee requires a bachelors degree to make 30k. Are you kidding me? Do you know how much a bachelors degree costs even at in state public schools? Nobody is going to pay 50k to get a job making 30k, its a rediculous proposition. The student loan alone is going to take about 30% of your take home pay up before you even start, and then what housing are you going to afford? Youd seriously be better off working at McDonalds WITHOUT the student loan burden.
As for Home Depot, what do they start at, $9 an hour? That hardly qualifies as "good job", thats not even living wage in the area. Actually, its likely a number of those "hoodlums" you see walking around in Norfolk work in such jobs as Walmart or Home Depot.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Freefreq
Also there is no hatred at all by me Im just stating what I see daily 1st hand. This isnt about Greed or anything like that at all what I state is the truth and though you dont like it doesnt make it untrue by no means. The jobs are there but you have to want them and educate yourself to get said jobs.
Its not the truth at all. It is your made up statistics.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Freefreq
When cars came around the blacksmith that made horse shoes slowly began to lose money and as time progressed his skill wasnt much needed for horseshoes so he had to retrain himself for another trade or use his existing trade to produce other things that would make up that difference.
Wrong, the blacksmiths generally filtered in to factory jobs, which provided a solid middle class income with out the need for countless years of training or expensive education. Now, the factory jobs are filtering in to........McJobs, which provide nothing. No benefits, a fraction of a living wage, and little to no job security. The wealth is filtering to the top, and its being filtered off the backs of the poor. This is the inevitable symptom of capitalism.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Freefreq
ALL people have choices with what they do with their lives. Its your choice just as it is mine and everyone elses. Anyone has the ability to be a do whatever they want and be whatever they want but you have to be willing to work for it. If you arent willing to do that then it wont fall into your lap.
Have you ever actually lived in a ghetto? Have you ever actually went to a public school, that possesses no text books or computers? Have you ever actually had to do your homework without electricity, nothing in your stomach, and with the fear of bullets coming through your window? You do those things, and you then you tell me how everyone has an equal shot at "being whatever they want". There is a reason why kids born to poverty are about 500 times more likely to stay in poverty as adults then move in to the middle class, and that number increases every year the US Gini index rises. Capitalism is constructed to gradually extract wealth from the lower classes and filter it to the top. This means that every generations poor, will have a harder time trying to move out of poverty. You can easily track this through the GINI index. The US went from an index of the mid 30's in the 1960's to the high 40's today. Today, the US has a greater wealth inequality then many developing countries (which is pretty much a joke, since many of them are ruled by royal dictators in almost feudal style). Comparitively, the second largest economy on the globe, Japan, has a 24.9, which is one of the best on the planet.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Freefreq
At no point in time does someone start off at the top making decent money. You start at the bottom and work your way up. Its the way its always been but if you hop from job to job to job then you are hurting no one by yourself. Now Im not saying YOU in general its just a figure of speech.
Actually, people start off at the top all the time. They possess the secret hand shake. It enables complete fools to get in to Ivy League schools, head companies, and generally live wealthy lives without putting in hardly any real effort. Its actually quite common for people to start at the top these days. Its just infinatley harder for people starting at the bottom to crack the top.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Freefreq
I can find so many jobs out there its unreal but the problem is people arent qualified for said jobs and they arent willing to make themselves qualified either.
Have you ever taken a basic finance class, or its also touched on in economics. Its called a cost-benefit ratio. The average person, can look around, and observe, that many of their peers who paid extensively for training or college, are frequently doing no better, or worse then someone who had the same number of years of work experience right out of high school. While in college, I worked at a warehouse making $9.50 an hour. A person with an IQ of 75 could have done it and it had no other requirements then the willingness to break your back. I also made $9 an hour doing inventories. My first job after college? $10.25 an hour, and not even in the field I went to school for. If I would have stayed with the warehouse job for the 2 more years, I would have been making $13 an hour, and I would have been making $11 at the inventory place. Can you explain to me what is wrong in that picture? Why did I shell out 30k dollars for my education, to make less then a warehouse worker? It took me 2 years to even find a job in my field, and 3 to even get in to what can be deemed lower middle class. I still cant afford a house here, and likely never will. Granted, most of this is because of the area, but most of the coastal or warm climate regions of this country have a similiar problem. Only in small pockets of the midwest can one still find value for their college buck in the employment sectors.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Freefreq
Dont get me wrong there are alot out there that do need some sort of help cause of mishaps etc...but I would say the majority of people not just in Norfolk are just unwilling to do what they need to do to better themselves.
Because "bettering themselves" is only serving one purpose, to drive down the costs of increasing skills for the employer. In the 50's, an accountant graduating college had prestige. They automatically got their own office, an upper middle class salary, etc. They actually got some return for their college dollar.
Now, the cost of college is endlessly rising, and millions of accoutants get turned out a year. Now that accountant, who is probably far more skilled then his 50's counterpart, and further in debt for student loans, is going to make half of what his counterpart did in time adjusted dollars right out of college.
Who benefits? The employer of course. Now he can pay .50 on the dollar for the same skills, because there are so many people "bettering themselves", and pocket the rest. Now, one must put in many years on the job, or have even more advanced degrees to get to the same exact spot people 50 years ago would start at.
This is great for an employer, because he gets so much more bang for his buck, and at the complete expense of the employee. What could be better!
Now he can have people with bachelors degrees working part time as $8 an hour payroll clerks, instead of the GED holders he had 20 years ago working for the equivalent of $12 an hour today.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Freefreq
The jobs are there.................
Norfolk has an unemployment rate of 7.8%
Virginia Beach has an unemployment rate of 4.9%
Hampton has an unemployment rate of 6.9%
Suffolk has an unemployment rate of 6.7%
Newport News has an unemployment rate of 5.9%
Chesapeake has an unemployment rate of 7.6%
while Virginia's overall unemployment rate is 4.6%
So, Norfolk has an unemployment rate of 7.8% and not 33%, amazing.
It is no surprise to see that Norfolk has the highest unemployment rate. They also have the LOWEST household income in the area as well as some of the cheapest housing. You think maybe the reason Norfolk has a higher unemployment rate is because the unemployed, and low skilled, FLOCK to Norfolk because its the ONLY PLACE THEY CAN AFFORD TO LIVE?
This doesnt defy logic here. If I made nothing, or very little, and I had to pick a city to live in, it certainly would be Norfolk or Portsmouth. Per capita, these cities have the largest amount of goverment assisted and low income housing.
Ok Randomdude let me tell you alittle story................In 1985 when I graduated High School I have no clue what I wanted to do and saying that my parents werent well off at all there was no money for college so that was out of the question at that moment in time.
After searching and searching I still didnt have any clue of what I wanted so I joined the Army in Nov of 1985. I did ok on the ASVAB and had quite a few jobs to pick from but me being a know it all punk 18 year old kid I picked the job that looked the easiest.
31K Combat Signaler and was shipped off to Ft Jackson SC for Basic Training. I wanted to leave home cause it wasnt the best place to be. My parents were poor and made bad decisions in life and my High School life was non existent cause there was no money in the house. I never went to a Prom or got a yearbook and I wore whatever my parents gave me which I was talked down to in my public school cause we didnt have anything. For these reasons I wanted to leave and start a new life for myself I just knew I had to get away from there to do it. I planned on staying in 4 years and getting out and going to college to better myself and land a good job when I graduated.
After Basic and AIT I was shipped off to Germany where the country was still split and the Wall stood between the 2. At that time in 1986 Russia and the US were in the Cold War and things were very tense there and I learned alot and became VERY proficient in my job and actually was a top soldier cause for the first time in my life I was appreciated for what I was doing so I excelled even more. I felt I had purpose and I was doing a good thing for my country which I love dearly.
In 1988 I came back to the states and got married and was stationed at Ft Lewis Wa. I was there till 1990 when I was transferred to Ft Bliss Tx cause of the pending War. I will say in 1991 I was injured severly. I lost 100% of my hearing and was unable to drive and could barely walk without help.
Because of said injuries the Army Medically retired me and told me I would never hear/walk or be able to drive again and that I needed to go straight to SS and file with them cause I would be disabled and unable to work for the rest of my life. Having 2 children and a wife this info didnt sit to well with me.
I learned to read lips and actually walk with no help. Though on the outside I looked 100% normal there were alot of things that were wrong. Once we got got back to NC I sat in the house I was staying in and became determined not to let this take me out and I had my wife and kids that depended on me to make things happen and I would NOT let what happened to me as a kid happen to them. I got my drivers license back and began looking for work but once I told them what was wrong with me no one would hire me.
I went to the VA and told them no one will hire me cause of whats wrong cause I cant hear and I have balance issues from time to time. They informed me I didnt have to tell them what was wrong with me. So thats what I did and I got hired by a local Cable company called Charter Communications as a Tech making 6 bucks and hr. I worked 80-90 hrs a week to provide for my family. I was getting my military retirement but it wasnt enough to cover everything so I worked and worked and worked. Though all my electronic experience I started at the bottom and worked my way up to Chief Tech but if I went higher I would go on salary and I would get any OT pay so I would lose money. No one at work knew I was deaf and just thought I was hard of hearing so I had pulled it off. As long as they were looking at me when they talked I was good.
At that time I knew I was at a dead end job unless I went into management and I didnt want that cause I didnt want to be a glorified babysitter again as I was in the Army after I made E-5.
I got a subscription to the Pilot and had Sat and Sun papers sent to me through the mail and they always showed up like 4-5 days after they were published cause I was living outside Ft Bragg NC.
One issue I got had an ad in it for 4 multi-media tech positions for Bell Atlantic. They wanted people with Video and Phone experience which was right up my ally but I told my wife thousands would apply and my chances were slim. I was living in a doublewide trailer at the time but I made sure my kids and wife had everything they needed and then some. My wife went to the local library to Fax my resume off and then she Fed Ex it also. 2 weeks later I came home and my wife told me Bell at lantic had called and I had an interview in MD on Monday. I ended up going through a series of 4 interviews and then they hired me and had no clue I couldnt hear.
For the next 2 years from 96-98 I worked for $11.40 and hr and then moved to the actual parent Company Bell Atlantic what we call the Core Company which I got a $7 hr pay raise so now I was at $18 and some change in 1998. Over the years I continued to excel taking on tougher and more complex jobs within the company and was asked numerous times to apply to be management but I never did cause its not what I wanted to do. sitting behind a desk doing paperwork just isnt my thing I need to be active and moving not sitting around babysitting.
In 2003 my doctors told me modern technology had cause up with me and they could restore my hearing but it would take a series of 6 surgeries to do so. saying I hadnt heard my children or wife in 12 years I was all for it. In 2004 after all surgeries were done I heard my daughters voice almost for the 1st time. I was able to hear my son and my wife and the birds and cars and everything. What an amazing feeling that was then and still is today.
Now lets Fast Forward to today........................I can hear now but my balance is still messed up. I can walk fine as my body has adapted and knows Im not falling cause I can see my feet hit the ground. When its pitch black in a room I cant do it though cause I cant see I can only feel.
I have still excelled in my job as I always have and am now at $30 an hr in 2009. They still want me to be a manager cause its brought to my attention once ever couple years but I still decline cause I enjoy what I do now.
With the story you read above there is no reason why anyone cant do something for themselves. Get a job.....Start at the bottom.....work their way up.....overcome obstacles by going above them over them around them or through them. It can be done. I am walking proof it can be.
Regardless of what you say Randomdude it doesnt matter cause if I can do it then so can anyone else. You gotta want it bud.................Also if a man that was a Community Organizer can become President of the United States that in itself proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that ANYONE here in the United States can be and can do WHATEVER they want it life. YOU JUST GOTTA WANT IT MORE THEN THE NEXT GUY/GAL
Ok Randomdude let me tell you alittle story................In 1985 when I graduated High School I have no clue what I wanted to do and saying that my parents werent well off at all there was no money for college so that was out of the question at that moment in time.
After searching and searching I still didnt have any clue of what I wanted so I joined the Army in Nov of 1985. I did ok on the ASVAB and had quite a few jobs to pick from but me being a know it all punk 18 year old kid I picked the job that looked the easiest.
31K Combat Signaler and was shipped off to Ft Jackson SC for Basic Training. I wanted to leave home cause it wasnt the best place to be. My parents were poor and made bad decisions in life and my High School life was non existent cause there was no money in the house. I never went to a Prom or got a yearbook and I wore whatever my parents gave me which I was talked down to in my public school cause we didnt have anything. For these reasons I wanted to leave and start a new life for myself I just knew I had to get away from there to do it. I planned on staying in 4 years and getting out and going to college to better myself and land a good job when I graduated.
After Basic and AIT I was shipped off to Germany where the country was still split and the Wall stood between the 2. At that time in 1986 Russia and the US were in the Cold War and things were very tense there and I learned alot and became VERY proficient in my job and actually was a top soldier cause for the first time in my life I was appreciated for what I was doing so I excelled even more. I felt I had purpose and I was doing a good thing for my country which I love dearly.
In 1988 I came back to the states and got married and was stationed at Ft Lewis Wa. I was there till 1990 when I was transferred to Ft Bliss Tx cause of the pending War. I will say in 1991 I was injured severly. I lost 100% of my hearing and was unable to drive and could barely walk without help.
Because of said injuries the Army Medically retired me and told me I would never hear/walk or be able to drive again and that I needed to go straight to SS and file with them cause I would be disabled and unable to work for the rest of my life. Having 2 children and a wife this info didnt sit to well with me.
I learned to read lips and actually walk with no help. Though on the outside I looked 100% normal there were alot of things that were wrong. Once we got got back to NC I sat in the house I was staying in and became determined not to let this take me out and I had my wife and kids that depended on me to make things happen and I would NOT let what happened to me as a kid happen to them. I got my drivers license back and began looking for work but once I told them what was wrong with me no one would hire me.
I went to the VA and told them no one will hire me cause of whats wrong cause I cant hear and I have balance issues from time to time. They informed me I didnt have to tell them what was wrong with me. So thats what I did and I got hired by a local Cable company called Charter Communications as a Tech making 6 bucks and hr. I worked 80-90 hrs a week to provide for my family. I was getting my military retirement but it wasnt enough to cover everything so I worked and worked and worked. Though all my electronic experience I started at the bottom and worked my way up to Chief Tech but if I went higher I would go on salary and I would get any OT pay so I would lose money. No one at work knew I was deaf and just thought I was hard of hearing so I had pulled it off. As long as they were looking at me when they talked I was good.
At that time I knew I was at a dead end job unless I went into management and I didnt want that cause I didnt want to be a glorified babysitter again as I was in the Army after I made E-5.
I got a subscription to the Pilot and had Sat and Sun papers sent to me through the mail and they always showed up like 4-5 days after they were published cause I was living outside Ft Bragg NC.
One issue I got had an ad in it for 4 multi-media tech positions for Bell Atlantic. They wanted people with Video and Phone experience which was right up my ally but I told my wife thousands would apply and my chances were slim. I was living in a doublewide trailer at the time but I made sure my kids and wife had everything they needed and then some. My wife went to the local library to Fax my resume off and then she Fed Ex it also. 2 weeks later I came home and my wife told me Bell at lantic had called and I had an interview in MD on Monday. I ended up going through a series of 4 interviews and then they hired me and had no clue I couldnt hear.
For the next 2 years from 96-98 I worked for $11.40 and hr and then moved to the actual parent Company Bell Atlantic what we call the Core Company which I got a $7 hr pay raise so now I was at $18 and some change in 1998. Over the years I continued to excel taking on tougher and more complex jobs within the company and was asked numerous times to apply to be management but I never did cause its not what I wanted to do. sitting behind a desk doing paperwork just isnt my thing I need to be active and moving not sitting around babysitting.
In 2003 my doctors told me modern technology had cause up with me and they could restore my hearing but it would take a series of 6 surgeries to do so. saying I hadnt heard my children or wife in 12 years I was all for it. In 2004 after all surgeries were done I heard my daughters voice almost for the 1st time. I was able to hear my son and my wife and the birds and cars and everything. What an amazing feeling that was then and still is today.
Now lets Fast Forward to today........................I can hear now but my balance is still messed up. I can walk fine as my body has adapted and knows Im not falling cause I can see my feet hit the ground. When its pitch black in a room I cant do it though cause I cant see I can only feel.
I have still excelled in my job as I always have and am now at $30 an hr in 2009. They still want me to be a manager cause its brought to my attention once ever couple years but I still decline cause I enjoy what I do now.
With the story you read above there is no reason why anyone cant do something for themselves. Get a job.....Start at the bottom.....work their way up.....overcome obstacles by going above them over them around them or through them. It can be done. I am walking proof it can be.
Regardless of what you say Randomdude it doesnt matter cause if I can do it then so can anyone else. You gotta want it bud.................Also if a man that was a Community Organizer can become President of the United States that in itself proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that ANYONE here in the United States can be and can do WHATEVER they want it life. YOU JUST GOTTA WANT IT MORE THEN THE NEXT GUY/GAL
1. Not every one can be in the service. Yeah, right now, anyone who wants to join pretty much can because there is a war. However, could every graduating senior in the USA, join the service? No.
2. Every job in the service is not created equal, and generally, the ones that translate best in the civilian world, primarily things dealing with electronics, computers and aviation maintenance and repair, have lists around the block trying to get in. My brother once tried to join the Navy, had one of the highest scores in his MEPS class, and was pointed towards a wonderful career as Boatswains mate. The Navy likes to say this is a "jack of all trades", but in reality, they spend a whole lot of time doing useless janitorial and maintenance jobs. This is where a whole lot of sailors sit waiting to move in to grades that are worth anything, and many sit there for years. In reality, the average military member, when leaving the service, is no more qualified to do anything worth while then when they went in.
3. Not every body has such a security blanket as military retirement. Even though it probably wasnt enough to live on, it allowed you to live on a low wage.
4. You are comparing your plight of $6 an hour over 15 years ago, to modern times. Things arent the same at all. My parents sold the house I grew up in, in Virginia Beach, for $60,000 in 1993, today, houses in the neighborhood are $200,000 or better, and my old child hood house is STILL the biggest one in the neighborhood. Do inexperienced techs now make $20 an hour? Because thats about how much theyd have to make to have kept pace with housing cost inflation. My guess is, they probably make LESS adjusted for inflation, now, then they did in the early 90's, and they are probably FAR more skilled. Dont even get me started on gas prices, clothing prices, food prices, most of which have tripled or more since the early 90's, yet wages haven't even doubled, and minimum wage was frozen about a decade, which helped to keep wages flat.
5. 80-90 hours a week......Im not too sure there are a whole lot of employers around today that would shift you that kind of work. I know people working 2 or 3 part time jobs because of how strict their places of employment are about keeping down hours.
6. Barrack Obama was not just "any" community organizer. He is an Ivy League graduate, an attorney, and a professor of law.
Your story is admirable, I agree, but I think youd have a hard time duplicating it, in this area, in 2009. Could some one duplicate it somewhere else, maybe in the midwest these days, yeah. But here, no. The cost of living is just too incredibly high.
6. Barrack Obama was not just "any" community organizer. He is an Ivy League graduate, an attorney, and a professor of law.
He was a Community Organizer.......His Ivy League School was paid for by who ???? Not him ?? Grants and loans and scholarships ?? You will never know that cause he has locked all that info up so you and I cant see it.
He came from NOTHING to where he is today. So that proves ANYONE can do anything they want. I dont know why you are so DOOM and GLOOM and the World is coming to an end like attitude.
Life is what you make of it. If you are going to sit and say poor poor me 24/7 then yeah you will go nowhere in life. If ya get out there and make it happen then it will happen. Plain and simple. Life isnt freaking easy and no one said it would be. Also the Navy is TOTALLY different then any other service cause you actually dont get your job till after you get to your ship and until they say what they need you are just a hey you guy. I think it has changed though Im not sure.
Every parent should TRY to prepare their kids for todays world early and stress good grades etc......Some kids just wont listen though and by the time they barely get by in HS its to late but thats beside the point.
So let me ask you what do you think should be done ? What do you think this Government OWES YOU ?? The Constitution doesnt say its the Governments responsibility to make sure you have a good job. Its not the Governments responsibility to take your hand and walk you through life cause you are UNABLE to do it on your own. What do you think your OWED Randomdude ??? What ??
Below is Obama's resume
Education
Undergraduate
Occidental College, Los Angeles, CA
Undergraduate, 1981-1983 Columbia University
B.A. Political Science with specialization in international relations
Thesis topic: Soviet nuclear disarmament
Graduate
Harvard Law School
J.D. magna *** laude 1988-1991
President, Harvard Law Review
Organizing and other work experience
1983-1984 Writer/Researcher for Business International Corporation. Helped companies understand overseas markets in the “Financing Foreign Operations” service and wrote for the “Business International Money Report”
1984-1985 Community Organizer for New York Public Interest Research Group (PIRG), promoting personal, community, and government reform at City College in Harlem.
1985-1988 Director of the Developing Communities Project (DCP), a church-based community organization originally comprising eight Catholic parishes in Greater Roseland on Chicago's South Side. While director grew the DCP staff from 1 to 13 and their budget from $70,000 to $400,000.
1992 Led Chicago's Project Vote! push. This effort resulted in a record number of voter registrations, over 600,000 in Chicago. 1)
2008 Elected President of the United States of America.
Teaching
1993-2004 Visiting Law and Government Fellow, then Senior Lecturer, in Constitutional Law at the University of Chicago Law School. Taught courses on the due process and equal protection areas of constitutional law, on voting rights, and on racism and law. Helped develop a casebook on voting rights.
Law Practice
1993-2002 Worked as an associate attorney with Davis, Miner, Barnhill & Galland. Represented non-profits and private individuals in urban development projects, voting rights cases, and wrongful firings. Filed major suit that forced the state of Illinois to enforce the Motor Voter Law and successfully argued a wrongful firing case before the U.S. 7th Circuit Court of Appeals.
Illinois Senate 1996-2004
Chairman, Health and Human Services Committee.
Worked on bipartisan effort in Illinois to pass the broadest ethics-reform legislation in 25 years, and gained support for his successful bills reforming death penalty interrogations and ending racial profiling by police. Worked with the Republican-led effort to reform welfare.
United States Senate 2004-present Sworn in 1/4/2005
Member, Senate Foreign Relations Committee
Chairman, Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on European Affairs
Member, Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions
Member, Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs
Member, Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs
Shares responsibility for the bipartisan Coburn-Obama Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006, requiring full online disclosure of all entities receiving federal funds, and the bipartisan Lugar-Obama Cooperative Proliferation Detection, Interdiction Assistance, and Conventional Threat Reduction Act of 2006, deepening non-proliferation work with WMD and including surface-to-air missiles, land mines, and other weapons that may be used by terrorists. Also worked with Coburn to end the abuse of no-bid contracts in the wake of disasters.
He was a Community Organizer.......His Ivy League School was paid for by who ???? Not him ?? Grants and loans and scholarships ?? You will never know that cause he has locked all that info up so you and I cant see it.
He came from NOTHING to where he is today. So that proves ANYONE can do anything they want. I dont know why you are so DOOM and GLOOM and the World is coming to an end like attitude.
Obama didnt exactly come from nothing. He generally enjoyed an upper middle class life style from what I understand.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Freefreq
Life is what you make of it. If you are going to sit and say poor poor me 24/7 then yeah you will go nowhere in life. If ya get out there and make it happen then it will happen. Plain and simple. Life isnt freaking easy and no one said it would be. Also the Navy is TOTALLY different then any other service cause you actually dont get your job till after you get to your ship and until they say what they need you are just a hey you guy. I think it has changed though Im not sure.
Thats not true at all. They have "A-Schools" like every other branch, where you learn your trade. You arent just a joe, and then you get on a ship and you are working on radars. They train you for exactly what you are going to do.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Freefreq
Every parent should TRY to prepare their kids for todays world early and stress good grades etc......Some kids just wont listen though and by the time they barely get by in HS its to late but thats beside the point.
Why is it always on the kids? What about those parents, who place their children in unfavorable situations by poor decisions. Why should the kid be held responsible for that at birth. Not all kids fail on their own, many are set up to fail at birth and have to work up hill to do anything but that.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Freefreq
So let me ask you what do you think should be done ? What do you think this Government OWES YOU ?? The Constitution doesnt say its the Governments responsibility to make sure you have a good job. Its not the Governments responsibility to take your hand and walk you through life cause you are UNABLE to do it on your own. What do you think your OWED Randomdude ??? What ??
I think the government should provide equal opportunity for all people. Education should be free and equal, and all public universities should be free for students who are able to meet certain standards. For those who do not qualify, or do not choose to go to a university and pursue an academic field, free training in skilled trades should be provided. The government should closely monitor the public demand and restrict entrance based on this factor so as to not overly flood any certain field with qualified applicants.
That right there would largely fix the inequality at birth problem.
Education and training should not largely be a priveledge of the rich, or those willing to sacrifice the overbearing debt load.
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