Before I go and try to nod off, let me toss in my two cents.
Lots of people here compare NY to other states, conditions in other countries, etc. Call me a navel-gazer or whatever the cool word of the day is, but I don’t give a lousy f*ck about the jobs in Texas, the housing stock in Alabama, and so on. I care about finding a job in NYC. That’s where I live (for now). Touting the job market in some place that, for all intents and purposes, may as well be East of Jesus and West of Bumblef*ck, doesn’t do any good for me or any other NY’er who is unemployed/underemployed. A lot of you would say, “So move someplace cheaper.” It’s not that simple. You feel like giving me $$$ to move my shit, first, last and security for a new apartment, $$$ to get by until I find a job in the new location? No? Didn’t think so. And how exactly does one save up the money making minimum wage, barely above minimum wage, or on unemployment funds?
And as for Wal-Mart, I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. I don’t care how they treat their workers. No one, NO ONE forces people to work there. No one forces people to shop there. Don’t like their labor practices? Good for you. What I, as a broke-ass, care about is cheap goods. Which is why, in the absence of a NYC Wal-Mart, I shop at Target. Target employees, in my experience, are rude and not very knowledgeable about the things they sell. Usually for me, that is my cue to shop elsewhere. But, in my financial situation, (and hell, even when employed) I see no point in paying more for the exact same products in some hoity-toity local “mom&pop” shop. I spoke with a Target employee today while picking up a new scrip ($4…say whaaa!) and she let me know that as a pharmacy cashier, she makes $9.42 per hour. Now, I’m willing to wager that the pharmacy cashier at Neergaard or other small pharmacies don’t make that much. But somehow they are better because you call the pharmacist by his/her name and you’ve had them over for dinner? It’s somehow better to pay $7 for baby wipes at whatever local store to keep mom and pop in business instead of paying $4 at Target? Guess what: The folks working in Targets and Wal-Marts need jobs and need to be supported to. If anything, buying at the likes of Target and Wal-Mart sustains the local economy more as it keeps up the jobs for tons more people. Mom and pop maybe employ what, two, three people at most? T & W employ hundreds.
Ok…done ranting…for now.
You mis-read my e-mail. I was not talking about your whining about your personal situation. The “whining” to which I was referring was that of the New York liberal’s lament about the working class (which in my opinion, is patronizing). The poor dears shouldn’t work in Wal-Mart. The poor dears have no opportunities in this country – we’ve “shipped jobs to China”, right?. And that mean-spirited Congress is cutting off their unemployment after two years. You gonna tell me that these laments aren’t posted on the OT day after day?
Yet, when presented with a a place and government that is providing JOBS for these folks, you are quick to scoff that it is just an “industrial wasteland”.
Patronizing: New York liberal style. I’m calling it as I see it. I know if will ruffle a few feathers, but so what? It was getting dull here ;-).
I go to Houston regularly and have been to Beaumont / Pt Arthur etc. The sky is not brown. In downtown Houston you’re a similar distance from refineries as you are in downtown Manhattan or SF. Refining / petrochemicals is not a great business anyway and is certainly not the main source of Texas’ relative economic strength.
benson, Of course you have no comment. Because you have no back up. You bitch that I whine, but I dare you to find any comments complaining about any of the things you say I do. Go ahead. How far back will you have to search? Pretty far, I’ll guess.
Time and again, you must make ad hominem attacks such as “whining” to make your point. Your striking inability to hold a civilized conversation with others is rather telling.
Back from a customer meeting. Usual “dry” Silicon Valley affair.
I have no response to Cobble’s comments above.
RF;
As Lech said above, lots of things in life can suck, and we all do what we can to make the best for our children. Would I want my children raised in a polluted environment? Of course not, if I could help it. Given the choice between putting food in their mouth and a bit of pollution, however, there is no question as to what I would do.
Another thing I know: the best environmental policy I know of is prosperity. When a society is prosperous, it can afford to think of such niceties as pristine water and air.
quote:
Benson, would you like to raise children under a brown sky?
my answer would be yes, cuz without that brown sky, there will be no brown poop, cuz there will be nothing to eat on the dinner table because no one will have jobs to be able to eat. except the transplant moonfaces, who lately, i am convinced are actually alien spies that the aliens dropped into all our major cities as a grand intergalactic social experiment.
I miss Brooklyn, now I live in Minnesota….
At least the people are really nice here and I run my own business.
http://garagedoormn.com
Definitely a lot more garage doors out here than in Brooklyn so I stay busy 🙂
Anyone still at work??
I managed not to get kicked out of my negotiation session for a second time.
Before I go and try to nod off, let me toss in my two cents.
Lots of people here compare NY to other states, conditions in other countries, etc. Call me a navel-gazer or whatever the cool word of the day is, but I don’t give a lousy f*ck about the jobs in Texas, the housing stock in Alabama, and so on. I care about finding a job in NYC. That’s where I live (for now). Touting the job market in some place that, for all intents and purposes, may as well be East of Jesus and West of Bumblef*ck, doesn’t do any good for me or any other NY’er who is unemployed/underemployed. A lot of you would say, “So move someplace cheaper.” It’s not that simple. You feel like giving me $$$ to move my shit, first, last and security for a new apartment, $$$ to get by until I find a job in the new location? No? Didn’t think so. And how exactly does one save up the money making minimum wage, barely above minimum wage, or on unemployment funds?
And as for Wal-Mart, I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. I don’t care how they treat their workers. No one, NO ONE forces people to work there. No one forces people to shop there. Don’t like their labor practices? Good for you. What I, as a broke-ass, care about is cheap goods. Which is why, in the absence of a NYC Wal-Mart, I shop at Target. Target employees, in my experience, are rude and not very knowledgeable about the things they sell. Usually for me, that is my cue to shop elsewhere. But, in my financial situation, (and hell, even when employed) I see no point in paying more for the exact same products in some hoity-toity local “mom&pop” shop. I spoke with a Target employee today while picking up a new scrip ($4…say whaaa!) and she let me know that as a pharmacy cashier, she makes $9.42 per hour. Now, I’m willing to wager that the pharmacy cashier at Neergaard or other small pharmacies don’t make that much. But somehow they are better because you call the pharmacist by his/her name and you’ve had them over for dinner? It’s somehow better to pay $7 for baby wipes at whatever local store to keep mom and pop in business instead of paying $4 at Target? Guess what: The folks working in Targets and Wal-Marts need jobs and need to be supported to. If anything, buying at the likes of Target and Wal-Mart sustains the local economy more as it keeps up the jobs for tons more people. Mom and pop maybe employ what, two, three people at most? T & W employ hundreds.
Ok…done ranting…for now.
Cobble;
Hi!
You mis-read my e-mail. I was not talking about your whining about your personal situation. The “whining” to which I was referring was that of the New York liberal’s lament about the working class (which in my opinion, is patronizing). The poor dears shouldn’t work in Wal-Mart. The poor dears have no opportunities in this country – we’ve “shipped jobs to China”, right?. And that mean-spirited Congress is cutting off their unemployment after two years. You gonna tell me that these laments aren’t posted on the OT day after day?
Yet, when presented with a a place and government that is providing JOBS for these folks, you are quick to scoff that it is just an “industrial wasteland”.
Patronizing: New York liberal style. I’m calling it as I see it. I know if will ruffle a few feathers, but so what? It was getting dull here ;-).
Good night!
I go to Houston regularly and have been to Beaumont / Pt Arthur etc. The sky is not brown. In downtown Houston you’re a similar distance from refineries as you are in downtown Manhattan or SF. Refining / petrochemicals is not a great business anyway and is certainly not the main source of Texas’ relative economic strength.
benson, Of course you have no comment. Because you have no back up. You bitch that I whine, but I dare you to find any comments complaining about any of the things you say I do. Go ahead. How far back will you have to search? Pretty far, I’ll guess.
Time and again, you must make ad hominem attacks such as “whining” to make your point. Your striking inability to hold a civilized conversation with others is rather telling.
Back from a customer meeting. Usual “dry” Silicon Valley affair.
I have no response to Cobble’s comments above.
RF;
As Lech said above, lots of things in life can suck, and we all do what we can to make the best for our children. Would I want my children raised in a polluted environment? Of course not, if I could help it. Given the choice between putting food in their mouth and a bit of pollution, however, there is no question as to what I would do.
Another thing I know: the best environmental policy I know of is prosperity. When a society is prosperous, it can afford to think of such niceties as pristine water and air.
quote:
Benson, would you like to raise children under a brown sky?
my answer would be yes, cuz without that brown sky, there will be no brown poop, cuz there will be nothing to eat on the dinner table because no one will have jobs to be able to eat. except the transplant moonfaces, who lately, i am convinced are actually alien spies that the aliens dropped into all our major cities as a grand intergalactic social experiment.
*rob*
cobble, there is nothing cool about a “gay ghetto”
*rob*