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Some poor people are poor because they make poor decisions.


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We use temp workers on some of our projects for low tech jobs (fire watches, hole watches, etc. )

Two came in this AM to complain about their paychecks that were short some hours. We don’t pay them, the temp company does, but the hours we submitted to the company were correct. 
 

They couldn’t get a hold of the temp company (@7:15 AM). So they quit. Today is an overtime day, they’d be making $22.50/hr x 12 hours. 
 

Poor decision. 

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1 minute ago, smudge said:

Shit! I could keep an eye on a hole or a fire for $22.50/ hour!!!

Sure beats all the stressful crap I put up with for $17.68/hour! 

I would watch a hole full of fire for $22.50 per hour.  Heck, I would even through stuff into a hole and set it on fire! 

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2 minutes ago, smudge said:

Shit! I could keep an eye on a hole or a fire for $22.50/ hour!!!

Sure beats all the stressful crap I put up with for $17.68/hour! 

Well, the $22.50 is their OT rate, normally $15/hour.

And they're not watching a fire, they're watching out for a fire, but not any more or less strenuous.

Hole watch is a miserable job. They can't go anywhere other than at the hole and they can't read, surf, listen to music, etc. At least the fire watches can walk the perimeter of their areas.

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We see that out here during times of low unemployment. People in entry level jobs quit at the drop of a hat as they can find another similarly paying job easily.

I contract out staff and keep them engaged, give them a real purpose and treat them well as pay is really not that valuable anymore as everyone is hiring at comparable pay I pay them. 

The folks I have lost the past few years all moved on to bigger things which is fine with me as I knew this was a stepping stone for them.

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A lot of people I grew up with made poor decisions - one after another.

Many of them never "woke up" and we're poor throughout like.  One was ok through life, but rented instead of buy a home despite owning a 2-4 man electrical service business that provided a good income and used to brag at parties, "Did you know you don't have to pay Social Security?"  Now he's pushing 70 and has NOT set aside any money for retirement.  He'll work till he drops.

It's like the TV Series "Rich Man, Poor Man" where the bad brother did things that screwed himself time after time.

 

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21 minutes ago, late said:

The deck is stacked against poor people. You can see that in the catastrophic rise in homelessness.

I often hear the homeless issue is a mental health issue which I tend to agree with.  But I do wonder how much the wage gap contributes to homeless.

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14 minutes ago, ChrisL said:

I often hear the homeless issue is a mental health issue which I tend to agree with.  But I do wonder how much the wage gap contributes to homeless.

There are level of homelessness.  Most of the people you see on the steam vents are mental health issues.  The ones that are homeless simply due to poverty (whether by poor decision or not) tend to seek help.  Those are the ones most hurt by recent changes.  Low wages don't let them get ahead.  Cuts in social aid programs force them to use money that might have gone to rent on food and healthcare and such

Poor decision makers certainly make costly decisions.  They are poor decision makers for myriad reasons - lack of intelligence, poor schools, poor upbringing.....

There's a reason that people who have a hard time learning end up in lower paying jobs.  It's really not their fault that they lack the mental capacity to be a CEO.  Which makes the growing wage gap quite inhumane.

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I did IT work for a homeless shelter. The director and I became good friends. Their clients were a mix of families who had lost homes and a halfway house for some young women released from jail with no job or family to turn to. The shelter offers classes on financial responsibility and some job training. 
We were talking and she said most make poor decisions because they don’t know any other way. Their parents made poor decisions, too. When they were having troubles they would turn to their parents for advice or example because it was what they knew. She found it very rewarding when a client would break the cycle. 

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15 minutes ago, groupw said:

I did IT work for a homeless shelter. The director and I became good friends. Their clients were a mix of families who had lost homes and a halfway house for some young women released from jail with no job or family to turn to. The shelter offers classes on financial responsibility and some job training. 
We were talking and she said most make poor decisions because they don’t know any other way. Their parents made poor decisions, too. When they were having troubles they would turn to their parents for advice or example because it was what they knew. She found it very rewarding when a client would break the cycle. 

generational poverty is tough to overcome

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