Our teenage son often makes smoothies,in the morning to "fill in the gaps" at breakfast. I encourage him to pour the extra (because there is always extra) into the popsicle molds we used when he was little...and he does it! I think it brings back fond memories. They don't always look great, but they get eaten!! And he knows exactly what is in them.
Rich and poor are all relative terms. Stop badmouthing someone because you don't understand the conditions.
I spend a few months a year in Haiti, and I know very well what the standards of living are in third world countries. But there are some people who have no homes, jobs, or money that are wonderfully rich. They have each other and an incredible faith in God. Believe it or not, they thank him for what they have.
Now a response to the article...
Working very hard to provide for your family is how some people show their family they love them. My grandfather regularly worked 50 hour weeks to provide for his 6 children. So did many people of that era. I don't think he ever told his sons "I love you", but he showed it by providing a nice place for them to grow up in.
It may kill some, and certainly working too much will depress anyone, but some people may just be trying to express their love for their families by providing the best they possibly can.
"Greed, for lack of a better word, is good. Greed is right. Greed works. Greed clarifies, cuts through, and captures the essence of the evolutionary spirit. Greed, in all of its forms, greed for life, for money, for love, knowledge has marked the upward surge of mankind." - Gordon Gekko
---
Or, some my perceive this as a spiraling of mankind.
You always...ALWAYS...have choices. You could take out a student loan to go back to school while you're home with your kids. That way, when they do go to grade school, you'll have a better chance at having a job that pays half decently. I know a woman who has 2 children, 2 full time jobs, and still manages to get great grades on her schooling, which requires a LOT of time and equipment.
You could sell things online, complete online surveys, do dog walking or pet sitting on the side, find a skill and sell a service.
You could work nights after your husband comes home from his job, and relieve the burden on him to have that weekend job, since you're SO concerned for his mental and physical wellbeing.
There are always ways for you to make extra money, and to cut back on your spending. Every cent counts when things are that tight (trust, me I know what it's like to barely make it every month) so TRACK every cent that you make, get rid of anything other than bare necessities (a cell phone is not a necessity, either is cable tv), and start saving more instead of dipping into your savings so that one day you just might have the money to move out of your "roach infested" home or do whatever else you may be looking forward to. Don't sit there whining about it, do something about it.
And in the mean time, remember your life isn't that bad. You have a husband whose giving all his time selflessly to provide for his family, to make sure that you don't have to go to work, to put food on your table and pay your cell phone bill.
There are millions of people out there who would sell their souls to have what you have.
I bet my BMW cost less than your Pacifica, and is a nice, unique, practical car. Buying a new car is foolish. Let somebody else take the depreciation. On mine, that saved me $30K, and my repair/maintenance costs in a year have been about $50.
I got that ad, too! And I was equally annoyed by the packaging. I did find a use for the bubble wrap, though. I considered giving it to the cats as a toy, but they scare easily. Instead, I stuffed it in with a paperback book I sold on Half.com. It didn't cover the whole thing, but the non-spine side was protected at least.
We passed a monorail system in Kansas City. We were supposed to get money from the gov. Unfortunately we now don't have the money because they are putting it elsewhere and taxes are going to have to be raised in order to put the rail system in. The whole thing is a big mess, but it should help with transportation costs in the long run.
Rural electrification and the NIH are two examples of government programs that address private market failures. They were both created because private enterprise wasn't doing the job and companies freely admitted that they never would. And even neoclassic economists now admit that utilities and other natural monopolies should be at most semi-private. Every time I hear someone tell me that private enterprise always does a better job than government I remember back a few years to when California decided to deregulate its energy markets, because that was so fabulous that it led to widespread national demand to deregulate and denationalize hundreds of other services... oh wait, no it didn't.
And then there are public research universities, most of which manage to provide graduate education of equal or better quality than that of private research universities at a fraction of the cost. For undergraduates, public teaching colleges look pretty good next to private teaching colleges as well, although there aren't many public ones. I could think of examples if I wanted to spend time on the question but I've had these discussions before with ideologues, and evidence is never really what's being debated.
Work is such an important part of people's identity and they choose it over life because they think they are making a difference. I recently wrote about this here and feel that work and finding meaning from it is too overrated.
In fact, whoever coined the phrase "making a difference" has made a difference, though not a positive one. The phrase gestures towards grandiose achievement that is out of reach for almost everybody. Most of us make very little difference at all – which stands to reason if you think there are 150 million workers in the US alone, making it almost impossible that any of us will make a difference, except to the people we work directly with.
But what is the matter with that? Why isn't that enough? Indeed, according to a survey published last week by YouGov, having nice colleagues is as important as money in persuading employees to stay in their jobs. This means that simply by being liked by your colleagues you are making a difference, even if only a modest one.
I opted out of all the pre-approved offers several months ago and it really cut down on my mail. Of course, Capital One seems to think they are special and send me offers anyway.
Wow. Bubble wrap, that's a new one. You would think with the green movement and the down economy companies would not waste money on putting bubble wrap into their envelopes. I see someone gave the phone number to opt out, but you can also go to optoutprescreen.com to stop any pre-approved credit offers from coming to your mailbox.
The majority of these companies always include a "Business Reply Mail" envelope in their mailings (the postage on those is paid by the advertising company). I like to fill mine with the rest of their unsolicited mail (the papers w/o my name etc.) and stick it back into the mailbox to be sent to them on their dime.
If everyone did this they'd see their costs increase (postage and man power to open the envelopes and trash the contents), and perhaps slowdown on their mailings. The USPS would love the increase in monies as well.
You work around the clock for peanuts, live in a roach infested house (they are not REAL roaches...another species of cockroach, not like the NYC ones you think of!) and barely scrape by when the food and gas prices go up, and gradually dip into your tiny savings account that you worked SOOOO hard to build up (the highest has only ever been about $3000.) just to put food on the table and feed the dog, and stay in your little, crappy, no closets, row home, where you can't even see the light at the end of the tunnel.
That's the American Dream.
That's how MOST of America lives.
And we can't figure out how to have better lives and help ourselves as a nation. (for a start, let's NOT help EVERYONE ELSE!!!! Eh???? Ehhhh?????? Light Bulb moment here?? Ehhh?!!?)
I'm not impressed.
Frankly, neither am I. Your idea of poverty is barely being able to have a car and a cell phone? Only having $3000 dollars in your savings account? Give me a break.
You don't have to sell your children into slavery or brothels to keep them from starving to death. You have indoor plumbing. You don't have to beg on the street.
You are not poor. You don't have dirt floors, you have medical care, you can afford a pet, you can afford to stay home with your children (you can afford to HAVE children) and you have a government which cares whether you live or die. That's so much more than the majority of people in the world have it's ridiculous.
Attitudes like this are why people despise Americans. You have so much prosperity and freedom you aren't even willing to defend it. You have no idea what those words even really mean. You have no context to judge the quality of your life against. You are ridiculously lucky.
Stop feeling sorry for yourself and appreciate what you have. You obviously have NO idea what kind of a hellhole you could be living in right now. Show some gratitude.
As a former freelancer and now full-time employee (although working remotely from home office) was interested to read your article. Much of what you discuss also applies to my past and present situations.
I'm unfamiliar with "contracting" through agencies, though. Are these companies specific to engineering, etc., or do they exist for other fields, too?
I love the suggestions, both in the article and the comments! I'm going to try the pudding pops and yogurt pops too :)
My mom used to freeze juice boxes and we'd eat them like popsicles. We'd also take them along on picnics and use them like icepacks. The juice would thaw a bit, but it was cool and slushy and could be eaten with a spoon for dessert.
(Although, I only recommend this idea if tetra packs can be recycled in your area.)
Ever since I signed up for Continental OnePass (frequent flyer) I regularly receive mail from a credit card company offering me a bunch of bonus miles for signing up with them. I actually think it's Capital One as well. They are mailed to my parents' house so whenever I go home I have at least 2 or 3 to just toss in the trash. They must send one at least once a month. You'd think they would get the hint after over a year of not signing up for the offer.
That's an awesome idea! I've also heard of people placing this kind of bubble wrap in regular envelopes to keep them from being able to go through the automated mail meter service. (Anything of a certain thickness gets special manual handling.) Maybe this would apply in the case of mailing seeds?
As far as using it to mail anything bigger than a stick of gum (this bubble wrap is tiny, only a few inches across, very thin, and not sturdy at all), I don't think it would help much, but you've found a unique use for it! Thanks so much for sharing!
This takes a bit more work, and I don't know how any of you feel about plastic bags, but it seems like a simple solution for when the ice cream maker is broken. (And the kids can help!)
Our teenage son often makes smoothies,in the morning to "fill in the gaps" at breakfast. I encourage him to pour the extra (because there is always extra) into the popsicle molds we used when he was little...and he does it! I think it brings back fond memories. They don't always look great, but they get eaten!! And he knows exactly what is in them.
@kellye
Rich and poor are all relative terms. Stop badmouthing someone because you don't understand the conditions.
I spend a few months a year in Haiti, and I know very well what the standards of living are in third world countries. But there are some people who have no homes, jobs, or money that are wonderfully rich. They have each other and an incredible faith in God. Believe it or not, they thank him for what they have.
Now a response to the article...
Working very hard to provide for your family is how some people show their family they love them. My grandfather regularly worked 50 hour weeks to provide for his 6 children. So did many people of that era. I don't think he ever told his sons "I love you", but he showed it by providing a nice place for them to grow up in.
It may kill some, and certainly working too much will depress anyone, but some people may just be trying to express their love for their families by providing the best they possibly can.
So, harden the F*** up but enjoy a nice meal?
"Greed, for lack of a better word, is good. Greed is right. Greed works. Greed clarifies, cuts through, and captures the essence of the evolutionary spirit. Greed, in all of its forms, greed for life, for money, for love, knowledge has marked the upward surge of mankind." - Gordon Gekko
---
Or, some my perceive this as a spiraling of mankind.
Jen,
You always...ALWAYS...have choices. You could take out a student loan to go back to school while you're home with your kids. That way, when they do go to grade school, you'll have a better chance at having a job that pays half decently. I know a woman who has 2 children, 2 full time jobs, and still manages to get great grades on her schooling, which requires a LOT of time and equipment.
You could sell things online, complete online surveys, do dog walking or pet sitting on the side, find a skill and sell a service.
You could work nights after your husband comes home from his job, and relieve the burden on him to have that weekend job, since you're SO concerned for his mental and physical wellbeing.
There are always ways for you to make extra money, and to cut back on your spending. Every cent counts when things are that tight (trust, me I know what it's like to barely make it every month) so TRACK every cent that you make, get rid of anything other than bare necessities (a cell phone is not a necessity, either is cable tv), and start saving more instead of dipping into your savings so that one day you just might have the money to move out of your "roach infested" home or do whatever else you may be looking forward to. Don't sit there whining about it, do something about it.
And in the mean time, remember your life isn't that bad. You have a husband whose giving all his time selflessly to provide for his family, to make sure that you don't have to go to work, to put food on your table and pay your cell phone bill.
There are millions of people out there who would sell their souls to have what you have.
I bet my BMW cost less than your Pacifica, and is a nice, unique, practical car. Buying a new car is foolish. Let somebody else take the depreciation. On mine, that saved me $30K, and my repair/maintenance costs in a year have been about $50.
I got that ad, too! And I was equally annoyed by the packaging. I did find a use for the bubble wrap, though. I considered giving it to the cats as a toy, but they scare easily. Instead, I stuffed it in with a paperback book I sold on Half.com. It didn't cover the whole thing, but the non-spine side was protected at least.
We passed a monorail system in Kansas City. We were supposed to get money from the gov. Unfortunately we now don't have the money because they are putting it elsewhere and taxes are going to have to be raised in order to put the rail system in. The whole thing is a big mess, but it should help with transportation costs in the long run.
Rural electrification and the NIH are two examples of government programs that address private market failures. They were both created because private enterprise wasn't doing the job and companies freely admitted that they never would. And even neoclassic economists now admit that utilities and other natural monopolies should be at most semi-private. Every time I hear someone tell me that private enterprise always does a better job than government I remember back a few years to when California decided to deregulate its energy markets, because that was so fabulous that it led to widespread national demand to deregulate and denationalize hundreds of other services... oh wait, no it didn't.
And then there are public research universities, most of which manage to provide graduate education of equal or better quality than that of private research universities at a fraction of the cost. For undergraduates, public teaching colleges look pretty good next to private teaching colleges as well, although there aren't many public ones. I could think of examples if I wanted to spend time on the question but I've had these discussions before with ideologues, and evidence is never really what's being debated.
Work is such an important part of people's identity and they choose it over life because they think they are making a difference. I recently wrote about this here and feel that work and finding meaning from it is too overrated.
In fact, whoever coined the phrase "making a difference" has made a difference, though not a positive one. The phrase gestures towards grandiose achievement that is out of reach for almost everybody. Most of us make very little difference at all – which stands to reason if you think there are 150 million workers in the US alone, making it almost impossible that any of us will make a difference, except to the people we work directly with.
But what is the matter with that? Why isn't that enough? Indeed, according to a survey published last week by YouGov, having nice colleagues is as important as money in persuading employees to stay in their jobs. This means that simply by being liked by your colleagues you are making a difference, even if only a modest one.
I opted out of all the pre-approved offers several months ago and it really cut down on my mail. Of course, Capital One seems to think they are special and send me offers anyway.
Wow. Bubble wrap, that's a new one. You would think with the green movement and the down economy companies would not waste money on putting bubble wrap into their envelopes. I see someone gave the phone number to opt out, but you can also go to optoutprescreen.com to stop any pre-approved credit offers from coming to your mailbox.
I like to cut the application and all other materials I got into small, confetti pieces. I then send it all back to the company in their SASE.
The majority of these companies always include a "Business Reply Mail" envelope in their mailings (the postage on those is paid by the advertising company). I like to fill mine with the rest of their unsolicited mail (the papers w/o my name etc.) and stick it back into the mailbox to be sent to them on their dime.
If everyone did this they'd see their costs increase (postage and man power to open the envelopes and trash the contents), and perhaps slowdown on their mailings. The USPS would love the increase in monies as well.
You work around the clock for peanuts, live in a roach infested house (they are not REAL roaches...another species of cockroach, not like the NYC ones you think of!) and barely scrape by when the food and gas prices go up, and gradually dip into your tiny savings account that you worked SOOOO hard to build up (the highest has only ever been about $3000.) just to put food on the table and feed the dog, and stay in your little, crappy, no closets, row home, where you can't even see the light at the end of the tunnel.
That's the American Dream.
That's how MOST of America lives.
And we can't figure out how to have better lives and help ourselves as a nation. (for a start, let's NOT help EVERYONE ELSE!!!! Eh???? Ehhhh?????? Light Bulb moment here?? Ehhh?!!?)
I'm not impressed.
Frankly, neither am I. Your idea of poverty is barely being able to have a car and a cell phone? Only having $3000 dollars in your savings account? Give me a break.
You don't have to sell your children into slavery or brothels to keep them from starving to death. You have indoor plumbing. You don't have to beg on the street.
You are not poor. You don't have dirt floors, you have medical care, you can afford a pet, you can afford to stay home with your children (you can afford to HAVE children) and you have a government which cares whether you live or die. That's so much more than the majority of people in the world have it's ridiculous.
Attitudes like this are why people despise Americans. You have so much prosperity and freedom you aren't even willing to defend it. You have no idea what those words even really mean. You have no context to judge the quality of your life against. You are ridiculously lucky.
Stop feeling sorry for yourself and appreciate what you have. You obviously have NO idea what kind of a hellhole you could be living in right now. Show some gratitude.
Fold it all back up and stick it in their SASE. I write STOP KILLING TREES all over the application. They have to pay for the return postage.
Shred them. Better safe than sorry...
If you are bothered by all the credit card offers you receive there is a number you can call to opt out of all credit card offers: 888-567-8688
Thanks, everyone, for this great discussion. I'm pleased to have played a part in kicking it off.
As a former freelancer and now full-time employee (although working remotely from home office) was interested to read your article. Much of what you discuss also applies to my past and present situations.
I'm unfamiliar with "contracting" through agencies, though. Are these companies specific to engineering, etc., or do they exist for other fields, too?
Thanks for the good read!
D.
I love the suggestions, both in the article and the comments! I'm going to try the pudding pops and yogurt pops too :)
My mom used to freeze juice boxes and we'd eat them like popsicles. We'd also take them along on picnics and use them like icepacks. The juice would thaw a bit, but it was cool and slushy and could be eaten with a spoon for dessert.
(Although, I only recommend this idea if tetra packs can be recycled in your area.)
I once received an advertisement that was disguised as a jury duty summons. I got another that was printed on the inside of an empty box.
They will do anything to get you to open the envelope.
Ever since I signed up for Continental OnePass (frequent flyer) I regularly receive mail from a credit card company offering me a bunch of bonus miles for signing up with them. I actually think it's Capital One as well. They are mailed to my parents' house so whenever I go home I have at least 2 or 3 to just toss in the trash. They must send one at least once a month. You'd think they would get the hint after over a year of not signing up for the offer.
That's an awesome idea! I've also heard of people placing this kind of bubble wrap in regular envelopes to keep them from being able to go through the automated mail meter service. (Anything of a certain thickness gets special manual handling.) Maybe this would apply in the case of mailing seeds?
As far as using it to mail anything bigger than a stick of gum (this bubble wrap is tiny, only a few inches across, very thin, and not sturdy at all), I don't think it would help much, but you've found a unique use for it! Thanks so much for sharing!
Linsey
This takes a bit more work, and I don't know how any of you feel about plastic bags, but it seems like a simple solution for when the ice cream maker is broken. (And the kids can help!)
http://www.parenthood.com/article-topics/article-topics.php?Article_ID=4257