President Biden: The NEW one and only politics thread

People settle into a niche over time. My mom emptied bedpans for geriatrics as a nurse's aide during the last 10 years of her working life. It could be messy and stinky, but meaningful. She seemed happy with what she did, never complained about it. In fact, she often laughed about it. But she never told me, "Son, you should get in on the ground floor of this nurse's aide business!" In fact, she steered me toward journalism.

I'm glad she did, even with newspapers in their death throes today. In the 30-plus years I spent there, I met the brightest, wittiest, most entertaining people I've ever known. The experience was far greater than the product we turned out every day.

As a young man I worked in factories. Gray-iron foundry, punch-press shops, machine shops. The best moment of every day was the moment I walked out of the place at the end of my shift. YMMV.

 

I got off the Titanic (newspaper) almost a decade ago. As a teacher, I make more than double what I did my last full year as assistant sports editor.
I'd like to think if I had stuck around a little longer, I would have by now left for an entry-level position at Lowe's which would have paid me more for 40 hours than I was getting for working 60.
Yes, the market sets the price, but there is something wrong in an industry where people who are required to have a college degree make less than someone who walks in off the street and sweeps the floor.

 

I had a cat named Snarf

 

But we all know if any of them turn on him, it's back under the bus. Trump gonna Trump ...

 

There was some speculation about who in the Obama Family would feel the most about the loss of Bo. I figured it was Barack and I was right.

President Obama's Twitter

Have to admit I'm pretty emotional. Steve Marmel's response was spot on.

 

And eats way less shit.

 

Not shocked. I think many of us get more emotionally vulnerable as we age. It wasn't until I'd lost a parent and had a child that wedding speeches or TV finales got me right in the feels. All these little landmarks are reminders that time is marching on.

 

Making Auckland Grotesque Again

Man who spray-painted 100 penises on road threatened with legal action

 

These are all good, legitimate thoughts/opinions. I don't agree with all of it is all, and try to lend the benefit of my experience/knowledge as I've gained it.

I'm not sure what to say about the full-time stuff because I've been full-time since about six months after I started there, and there have always been a lot more full-timers than part-timers in my store. And, just so you know, there's more to the company "offering" more full-time positions than meets the eye. It is requiring more full-time positions, or rather, a greater percentage of full-time positions -- so if you don't want to be full-time, you may end up being very part-time under a recently installed work structure/schedule, so there is loss going on there, too, that is not being known, explained or accounted for. For example, nine of the 10 associates in my department are full-time; the one who works part-time does so by choice -- she wants 24 to 28 hours a week, and has been just fine with that for years. Lately, she has been getting in the neighborhood of 12 hours a week, and let's just say she has not been pleased. I suspect none of the part-timers are, and the full-timers aren't happy, or won't be, either, because now, there are fewer fellow workers around, what with part-timers not in as much because of less hours, or quitting because of not enough hours, and not more full-timers around (sheer numbers-wise) because corporate is still trying to actually do more with less, while just looking better because the percentage of full-timers is better than it was.

The schedules are indeed becoming more consistent; but another way to say that is that they becoming rigid -- way less flexible/changeable, which actually used to be another of the perks of Walmart -- it was willing to work with you, and work around your needs. Now, not so much, and none of the available shifts -- except maybe the 9 a.m.-6 p.m. one -- is that appealing on a long-term, constant, unchangeable basis. And you, most likely are not the one who chose/got to choose your schedule, so now, there are a lot of disgruntled people because of that.

When I started there, 37.5 hours a week was full-time. As your link above states, now 34 hours a week is considered full-time. For most people at Walmart, that has not been a bad thing. It meant you could be a part-timer and get almost full-time hours most of the time, and more, sometimes, but not be necessarily obligated/committed to that. And for full-timers, well, I have never worked less than 38 hours a week (and that, only occasionally) since I became a full-timer, and that is true of most of them. So, we end up not minding a couple less hours in a week once in a while anyway. I guess all this is a matter of perspective and approach.

And that goes for the rest of the job, and Sam Walton's pay philosophy, too. He had a lot of philosophies, many of which were positive, employee-empowering, and loyalty-inducing, and he is openly missed even to this day -- especially in these days of more corporate concerns.

But I find enough positives that, for me, have so far offset any negatives. I also do think people coming in to work at Walmart often don't realize just how much work it is, and they get shocked by it. They come in thinking they've got just this nice little job at Walmart, until they start doing it. Then, the sheer size/scope/volume of the operation can be overwhelming, and certainly, off-putting. So, maybe they're not lazy, exactly, but they end up, essentially, giving up and not engaging, and, eventually, not caring, or yes, working neither hard or well if the work ethic isn't there. I would say there is a certain amount of stamina that's needed to succeed, and a lot of people just don't have it.

I'm not a big fan of unions, not because of Walmart, but as with my store, more because of my own experiences with them. I've worked in two jobs that had unions. Never got anything out of them that I ever noticed. I wasn't paid particularly more than the typical going rates for the jobs, and there wasn't any other contact besides that that I had with them. But that didn't stop fees from being subtracted from each of my paychecks for them. And my uncle actually paid thousands (well, I don't actually know how much, but, a lot) in legal fees just to actually get the union out of his print shop, and he did it with the blessing/vote of his 50 or 60 employees. So, again, I guess a lot of this is a matter of perspective.

You are absolutely right in your idea about trade schools/skills. And I admire them, and tout them and suggest/encourage them with anyone at Walmart who I run into who doesn't seem happy in the job. I recently suggested it to one of the other associates in my department, but I doubt he'll ever take up the idea. He really doesn't want to work. He has to work, but he doesn't want to, and it shows.

I'm not sure it's Walmart's job to take care of the country's debt issues, though. And perhaps, someday, it'll end up going the way of Kmart, but I don't think so, and certainly, I hope not. Frankly, everybody else should hope not, too.

 

Who is this supposed to be directed at?

 

Your mom sounds like someone I'd like.

One of my favorite sayings (on a wooden sign I have in my TV room) goes like this: "Being satisfied with what we have, turns what we have into enough." I think of it often, and, generally speaking, it is my approach to life.