Comments that are uncivil, racist, misogynistic, misandrist, or contain political name calling will be removed and the poster subject to ban at moderators discretion.
Help us make this a better community by becoming familiar with the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/facepalm/about/rules/).
Report any suspicious users to the mods of this subreddit using Modmail [here](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose/?to=/r/facepalm) or Reddit site admins [here](https://www.reddit.com/report). **All reports to Modmail should include evidence such as screenshots or any other relevant information.**
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/facepalm) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Imagine the suicide rate at Walmart Village Apts. I swear, it'd be like 2-3 a week found hanging in their Wal*partment^tm.
Hell, imagine telling a date to come back to your place... Walmart. Their reaction aside, it would physically hurt me to say that.
One of the communities near Safeway’s corporate headquarters made a shopping center developer build apartments above the shopping center, so they did. They then left them empty (at least they were 13 years ago) as an FU to the planners.
Ive heard half baked arguments about how slaves were wealthier than people are now and better off. Now i know a bunch of holes can be poked in that claim, but you can see what they are trying to say
Also Full time work for a peasant was something like less than 20 hours a week. Mind you so much of life was more inconvenient that things like gathering enough materials for heat and cooking, gathering water, and traveling for food was more time consuming, peasants actually got more free time then the average McDonald’s worker today
Comfortably is a stretch with these requests lol. Comfortable living would be having enough for hobbies, all maintainence costs for vehicles, HVAC systems, and having a job that isn't going to get their higher ups executed for mistreatment of employees
I know my parents did it, stepdad worked as a journeyman for HVAC and mom worked at a target store for a bit, then took like 2 years off to go to college for nursing while my stepdad paid for everything. The house was less than 200k when they got it, and is now valied at over 600k, they bought the house in 2005
2005. Jfc, 19 years and that outcome is basically impossible these days.
I had to move back in with my parents because rent in my apartment became unaffordable and haven't been able to move back out yet. It's horrific out there
Yup, had to move back in with my parents after a break up because I had nowhere else to go(even though I hate being around them) and I'm upset I did because they made me homeless with no notice/unprovoked. I'm now living at my aunts, but sleep on a couch, been trying to get my shit straightened out, and finally have a med appointment which has been first on my list for months(I went cold turkey when my parents kicked me out because I didn't have any money and had to spend what I had on gas and food) if I end up in a situation like that again, I'll probably cause some very real problems. I'll be the first IRL supervillain in a long while
It's still possible. An hvac tech does very well like other trades. What you always forget is they moved to where this is possible. Kids complaining about not having money while having an unskilled job don't understand people moved across the country to make things work.
I remember my mom buying a house for like 80k that's worth 700k+ today around 2004-5 some time. Average salary back then was still about the same as it is today.
Yes, it is. I can think of Teo single earners with families of 4 in a place they owned. One family lived in a 20 year old mobile home, the other was a doctor with the benefit of a military pension, and who had been in the profession for 40 years.
Everyone else had a mother that worked as well. Hell, the family in the mobile home, she worked occasionally, too.
This illusion that the streets used to be paved with gold until the "Boomers" stole all of the gold is stupid.
You're the one claiming it was "better back then", not him.
It wasn't, you're just being entitled.
>Americans are richer today than decades ago. Adjusted for purchasing power, Mississippians — who live in our poorest state — have higher incomes than the French. We live longer, have more free time, and travel more affordably. Infant mortality has been cut in half; our air and water quality is vastly improved. Our cars are much better and much safer. Our homes are bigger and more comfortable. The number of people injured or killed on the jobs has plummeted. We’ve made real progress against racism in the last several decades.
https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2023-06-20/americans-nostalgia-1970s-public-opinion
>"This sounds like communism to me! Today's youth have no work ethic!"
-guy who worked a paper route for 3 whole months to save up enough cash to buy his first house
Yup.
My first studio apartment was $125 a month in 1996.
30 years later the same apartment is $1250
That's a 900% increase.
Even if rent had been increased by $25 a year it would still be just $875
My second studio was the same price but the landlords only raised the rent $100 every 5 years.
I lived there for 15 years.
After that my 1st 1 bedroom was $500. Then rent was raised to $650
That apartment is now $1500 which was the rent for the 4 bedroom house my landlord was renting next to my apartment when I moved in initially.
The house is now $3500
In Tacoma
$125!??? That’s fucking mind blowing. I pay $1,000 a month and live with a roommate.
Thankfully my roommate is a good friend of mine so that doesn’t matter, but still, god damn.
A studio apartment anywhere within an hour of where I work is about $1300 and that’s before utilities, internet, etc.
I have a pretty decent job and make enough money to afford that but then I wouldn’t be saving anything.
How long have you been a machinist? Any schooling?
I've stumbled into a cnc position with zero experience and I'm at 17.50 in my first year. I have no idea what my earning potential should be moving forward but I already know I'm going to have to fight for my raises, as the shop I'm in is owned by a distributor so I have to convince them, on top of my foreman, that I should be paid more (when it's time to advocate for that).
The one in my state (and ironically around the corner from my shop) happens to be free... for full-time students (15 credit semesters) fresh out of high school or just got their GED, and for an associates degree program.
I turn 30 in August, graduated high school in 2012, and only need the cert classes. Free community college is not available to me.
Edit to add: I also have existing student debt from a previously attempted bachelor's degree in music education. My current financial position does not afford me to take on *addition* student loans, even for a single class, really.
Have you visited your local CC to find out what they offer? There’s PELL grants and several other forms of financial assistance based on financial need. Besides that, tuition is very low.
No one gets successful and makes decent money unless they get out there and make it happen. No one is going to hand you a nice salary. You have to go get it.
Source - I graduated from a CC, got a job, went to a 4-yr that my employer paid for (it was a benefit available to all employees at company), then went on to grad school. All that education was done at night, while working full time.
My kids also went to CCs and transferred to a 4 year.
It can be done, if you’re ambitious and hardworking.
>No business which depends for existence on paying less than living wages to its workers has any right to continue in this country. By "business" I mean the whole of commerce as well as the whole of industry; by workers I mean all workers, the white collar class as well as the men in overalls; and by living wages, I mean more than a bare subsistence level-I mean the wages of decent living.
-FDR, 1933
It is not exactly a new idea...
That’s been my go-to quote whenever folks circle jerk over “it’s a starter job, it’s not meant to be a career” or all the other one liners that they think are gotchas.
It’s 1:30am I just got off work I am starving and know there’s nothing but $1 ramen at home for me rn. This isn’t a hypothetical I’m just really sad this meme reminded me of it.
What’s controversial is that she starts with saying what she is about to say is controversial. That’s not controversial at all, or at least: shouldn’t be controversial at all!
Tbf it's pretty controversial on twitter. Her post was probably swarmed with blue checks telling her move out of the city or to get a higher paying job
But if you were able to support yourself, it wouldn't motivate to pull yourself by the bootstraps. Also, you wouldn't be desperate to be manipulated into hating everyone else who is worse off than you.
Sounds like the “if we let Trump win it will be better for democracy because liberals will be motivated to fight or get sent to concentration camps” reasoning from the “genocide Joe” activists…
I’m a late Boomer who had roommates until I was well into my 30s, my father lived in a boarding house until he was 30 and my mother lived with her parents while working full time until she got married.
Not wrong. But it’s also been this way for three generations. Most all gen X, millennial, and gen Z have needed roommates when starting off. It would be great to change it, don’t get me wrong. But let’s not act like it’s a brand new thing.
Not just three generations. Pretty much always and everywhere, with rare exceptions. I'm sorry, but I would not say that the fact that low-skill workers need to live with roommates or family is evidence of a major societal problem.
Is it a USA problem only or Europe struggles with it too? Cause here in Russia you can afford a one bedroom apartament and don't need to starve yourself to make ends meet.
Europe too, where I live I would have to spend 80% of my salary just to have a flat 50km away from the main center of the area. That is, you can manage it if you fancy cows, trees and driving.
Worst part about it is that right-wingers are the one who parrot that line, then go vote for the parties trying hardest to implement that future.
EDIT: wait, the guy I replie to is one of those morons. Believes Ivermectin cures Covid an everything!
Depends on what kind of full time job you have. In the late 80’s I had a full time at a big company and had benefits, etc etc, but I couldn’t have afforded to live alone in my own apartment. I lived with my parents and saved until I got married. Even then we could only afford a small row home, interest rates were damn near 10%.
It wasn’t until I had more education, training, and experience that better money started rolling in. It takes time.
As another redditor stated here "Peasants were given shelter by their landlords in exchange for full time work"
Sadly, the last millionaire I know of who planned to do this was Walt Disney. EPCOT was not meant to be an amusement park, but employee housing. Spaceship Earth (the giant golf ball ) was a prototype for housing. It is a buckeyball, one of the most structurally stable shapes in nature. It was designed because it's shape could easily withstand hurricane force winds. He hoped that once it was demonstrated how effective it could be, that other cities would follow the design.
To conservatives it is more like “TRY HARDER, YOU ARE JUST LAZY, IF YOU CARED YOU WOULD WORK MORE”, not understanding that logic is a way to make people slaves that waste their free time on becoming a slave for someone else. Brainwashed.
Employers shouldn't be allowed to pay you that little, but unfortunately they are. You can't take any full-time job, and just hope it will cover your expenses. Unfortunately, it's on you to know what you need to earn to afford a one bedroom apartment and not starve, then get a job/jobs that pay you that much. And if everyone does that, all the employers who don't want to pay people enough to live will have to pay more or go out of business.
Can’t you move to a cheaper city? Serious question, I’m not from the US.
The difference between living in the popular cities and the less popular cities are as big as 3 times the price of rent over here.
Maybe I’m on the minority, but I don’t think she is right here. Maybe I’m stupid but the US is going through high inflation and everyone is struggling. Unfortunately the only way to control inflation is for some people to have it worse and some to have it better.
A country cannot stay prosperous for ever just like one can’t keep improving forever. It’s not cool and I’m also on the struggle side, have a roomie and can’t afford a one bedroom for myself. But we accept to suffer maybe the future generations will have it better.
So much money got introduced to the economy during Covid and now we are paying the price of over injection of money to our economy. If we inject more money or raise minimum wages we are just gonna dig deeper to a bigger financial problem. There really isn’t a better solution other than control the amount people are spending by increasing prices. Almost no one dies of hunger in the USA so we aren’t gonna die if we skip some meals and force ourselves to learn more about nutrition to complete our macros and not have nutrient deficits.
I think you should be able to live somewhere where you can keep your things, feel safe, have some privacy, have access to a (shared) bathroom and (shared) food making facilities and food, healthcare and internet.
Beyond that, sorry, gotta work for it.
I think it comes down to the fact that if you are a single person shopping for a 1br apartment, you’re going to be competing with couples who have 2 incomes. I always lived with roommates until I met my wife and we moved in together, I can’t remember any of my friends or people I work with having their own apartment as a single person.
I don’t think just “full time job” has ever made living in a one bedroom apartment possible. Maybe some full time jobs, but not just any full time job.
Depending on the city and year. I worked full time in an IT job pulling line and setting up hardware, in 2001, in Capital Hill, Seattle, and my rent for a one bedroom apartment was an 1/8th of my income.
However by September 2002 the rent doubled.
Was that an entry level job? My first 4 “career” jobs did not pay enough to afford a one bedroom apartment, but they were all in cities much smaller than Seattle.
The simple fact of wanting that is not enough effort to obtain that. I want to retire on a private island in my beach house. However simply wanting that is not going to make it happen.
A person can have a full time job mowing lawns (I did when I was younger) and there is no way that pay would provide an apartment and means to support yourself on its own. Nor should it. It doesn’t take much more than a monkey to do that work.
Now, take the time and make the effort to better yourself and therefore your worth, and you will be able to obtain a job that will support your single bedroom apartment.
Perhaps, if I put enough effort into it,I will get my private beach house…
When did it get decided that low paying jobs don't take effort? Fast food jobs can be stressful as hell.
When you talk about effort, you should also mention disposable income. You have nay idea how many people don't go to college simply because they cant afford to?
lol, I didn’t go to college because I couldn’t afford to. I worked to pay my rent with 5 roommates. Tried to do both, but failed because I was to busy supporting myself with a full time job. I took another route.
College is not the only form of education. There are several other avenues to gain education, experience, knowledge, training, skills, and set yourself up for success.
The ignorant thought that college is the only path to success is why so many people find themselves deep in dept without a viable option.
If a low paying job takes that much effort, then why would you work there?
Several of my friends, when I was younger, worked the service industry and made great money with flexible schedules. Not to mention, also had a lot more time to party than I did…
So by your own admission, you tried college, but couldn't afford and it had to live with five people just to avoid being homeless even with a full-time job. Now tell me, are you saying that someone working a full time job, taking up 8 hrs of their days should have to room with almost half a dozen strangers just so they don't starve?
Again, what jobs are you looking at that are low effort? What service industry jobs are you talking about? Modern service industry jobs have notoriously substandard pay and strict hours (you're considered replaceable, so they don't care about your schedule).
Yes, by my own admission, in my early 20s I had to live with roommates. Do you feel that for some reason a typical person at that age has accomplished enough within their short lifetime that they somehow inherently deserve the privilege of supporting their lifestyle on a single income? Most are just getting out of their parents house from which they were pretty much taken care of.
If so, that is what is meant by the sense of entitlement. You need to put in the effort to earn the privilege of self support.
Most people have not done anything of significance by that time in their life, and are trying to figure out what it is they will be doing. Setting goals and planning how they are going to get to the position they’ve themselves in the upcoming years.
The fact that you consider a fast food cashier position stressful, leads me to believe you fall within the early to mid 20s age group and have not yet had the experience of an actual stressful job.
No, people do not just inherently deserve the luxury of living in your own apartment.
Luxuries are earned, and you need to put forth the effort if that is what you want in life.
Or don’t. Your financial status will reflect your choices.
Depends where you want to live - that's highly possible in a lot of places in North America.
It's not going to get you a 1BR in the cool part of NYC or LA though
Idk about that one lol. Working full time, 40 hours a week, at the federal minimum wage is $1,256.66 per month gross. After taxes thats more like $1,138. The cheapest cost of living state is Arkansas. The average 1 bedroom apartment in Little Rock, Arkansas is $909 a month. That leaves $229 a month for the entirety of the rest of that persons life expenses.
Arkansas has a state minimum wage of $11/hr.
That works out to roughly $1,760/month or $1,528 after taxes (used [this](https://www.adp.com/resources/tools/calculators/states/arkansas-salary-paycheck-calculator.aspx)).
Which leaves $619 left over after rent.
Still not much, but that's also pretty survivable. My electric bill in Missouri (just north of Arkansas, actually) is $150/month with 5 people, so it would be less if I had fewer humans in my house.
Other utilities are under $100 for all of them.
So, you'd have $369 left for groceries.
More than enough to survive...you could probably even save some money.
My mistake, I made the assumption that Arkansas was using the federal minimum wage. But I am going to still object to the idea that you’d have “more than enough to survive” or enough to save money. That 369 wouldn’t all be for groceries. Theres still clothing, hygiene, travel, other miscellaneous costs just for day to day necessities that come up, and money for any emergencies that come up. And thats assuming you’re living a spartan lifestyle with zero indulgences at any point in your life, you still might not even have enough to make ends meet
Clothing is not a day-to-day purchase and neither is travel or hygiene.
Those certainly cost money, but you're not starting with 0.
Further, you can buy 5 shirts, 2 pairs of pants, socks and underwear at Walmart for under $50.
A 3-in-1 shampoo conditioner bodywash for under $10.
You were born with free travel, called legs, having a car is a luxury, and plenty of (especially, minimum wage) jobs are fine with you using legs as 'transportation'.
Money for emergencies is a luxury many well-off people can't even afford.
You're just inventing stuff to fit your narrative.
Bro said legs are transportation ☠️☠️lmao if you’re so lucky to live within walking distance of your job, which the vast majority of people do not. America, the notoriously walkable country, let alone fucking Arkansas. Like did you even think about what you said for a second before typing it out?
And I was just giving examples, which is why I also said miscellaneous things. In a given month, rent, utilities and food are not the only things people have to pay for. But way to let the point fly over your head.
And well off people don’t have money for emergencies? You’re just yapping at this point
Weird how I work a full time job and definitely could be paying for the *two-*bedroom apartment I live in while also eating plenty. HM!
Most of it isn't that people just want to "live" and "eat" but they want to live "somewhere nice" and have their Starbucks, eat out when they're lazy, and be able to afford fancy things like iPhones (these days a lot of people aren't getting the latest, so there's that) or buying laptops instead of using libraries, etc.
This particular post is probably more the latter (living where I want, eating what I want, having what I want) than what they are saying at face value.
I've worked at McDonald's and could still afford a 1 bedroom apartment 30 years ago.
Rent prices have increased by 900% to over 1200% since then depending upon where you live.
Right now I live in Portland, make just under $40k a year and can't afford a 1 bedroom apartment across the street from my job because they want $1300 for it. The manager said I needed an income of three times that amount just to be considered. The apartment is in an industrial zone.
Haha that wasn’t the case 20-30 years ago. Everyone had roommates, only had shitty used cars and didn’t have $1300 phones in their pockets. Yes, things are fucked right now but, it’s no excuse to start building wealth and not being entitled.
Roommates, better job, better spending habits. It's not rocket surgery. We all start somewhere and that somewhere isn't a mansion, luxury cars and opulence.
Brain surgeons get paid a lot because not all t of people have their skill set. Ditch digging is doesn't require a specific skill set, but in terms of the amount of physical work needed, it is much high, and most brain surgeons probably wouldn't be equipped to handle it.
Yes. And what's your point? That ditch diggers should be paid as well as brain sergeons because they work hard?
If anybody can do your job, you're not as valuable as someone who can do something that only a handful of other people can do.
It's not as complicated as some people try to make it.
Job value is based around skill set, not actually difficulty/effort. That being said, a difficult job, even if it doesn't require a specific skill set, should pay enough for a person to live.
No; you should be compensated in accordance with the value you provide the company. Minimal value yields minimal compensation. You’re not entitled to anything.
Comments that are uncivil, racist, misogynistic, misandrist, or contain political name calling will be removed and the poster subject to ban at moderators discretion. Help us make this a better community by becoming familiar with the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/facepalm/about/rules/). Report any suspicious users to the mods of this subreddit using Modmail [here](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose/?to=/r/facepalm) or Reddit site admins [here](https://www.reddit.com/report). **All reports to Modmail should include evidence such as screenshots or any other relevant information.** *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/facepalm) if you have any questions or concerns.*
In this economy, you can barely get a one bedroom apartment.
Ah, but, two hours of pushin' broom Buys an eight by twelve four-bit room
Every time that bass opening drops, life gets better.
The king is dead.
Rooms to let, 50 cents <--Not a bad deal!
A man of means, by no means?
How Dare you think you should live comfortably, PEASANT!
How dare you think you should live\*
How dare you think?
How dare you?
How? You?
?
Give this man a cookie
Give man cookie
Give cookie
Cookie
" "
Why you
Peasants were given shelter by their landlords in exchange for full time work
McDonald should provide the McHousing then.
Imagine how many apartments you could stick on top of a walmart. I used to think hotel casinos should have a floor of apartments for their staff
Imagine the suicide rate at Walmart Village Apts. I swear, it'd be like 2-3 a week found hanging in their Wal*partment^tm. Hell, imagine telling a date to come back to your place... Walmart. Their reaction aside, it would physically hurt me to say that.
all of the furniture, decore, and appliances are from the store
Do you think that’s not a thing now?
So essentially the original idea behind malls then?
One of the communities near Safeway’s corporate headquarters made a shopping center developer build apartments above the shopping center, so they did. They then left them empty (at least they were 13 years ago) as an FU to the planners.
The McDouble is gonna cost $30
Some companies are actually trying to bring this back
So were slaves.
Ive heard half baked arguments about how slaves were wealthier than people are now and better off. Now i know a bunch of holes can be poked in that claim, but you can see what they are trying to say
Depends from the slave, the society and the century.
Also Full time work for a peasant was something like less than 20 hours a week. Mind you so much of life was more inconvenient that things like gathering enough materials for heat and cooking, gathering water, and traveling for food was more time consuming, peasants actually got more free time then the average McDonald’s worker today
Indeed, needing less time to get your food and everything else means our life is much more frenetic.
They would not understand privacy and would sleep all together, a group of friend living together under a roof is what I'm actually doing.
Wish I was a peasant
Comfortably is a stretch with these requests lol. Comfortable living would be having enough for hobbies, all maintainence costs for vehicles, HVAC systems, and having a job that isn't going to get their higher ups executed for mistreatment of employees
A single earner could afford to buy a three bedroom house outright and feed a family of four not that long ago.
I know my parents did it, stepdad worked as a journeyman for HVAC and mom worked at a target store for a bit, then took like 2 years off to go to college for nursing while my stepdad paid for everything. The house was less than 200k when they got it, and is now valied at over 600k, they bought the house in 2005
2005. Jfc, 19 years and that outcome is basically impossible these days. I had to move back in with my parents because rent in my apartment became unaffordable and haven't been able to move back out yet. It's horrific out there
Yup, had to move back in with my parents after a break up because I had nowhere else to go(even though I hate being around them) and I'm upset I did because they made me homeless with no notice/unprovoked. I'm now living at my aunts, but sleep on a couch, been trying to get my shit straightened out, and finally have a med appointment which has been first on my list for months(I went cold turkey when my parents kicked me out because I didn't have any money and had to spend what I had on gas and food) if I end up in a situation like that again, I'll probably cause some very real problems. I'll be the first IRL supervillain in a long while
It's still possible. An hvac tech does very well like other trades. What you always forget is they moved to where this is possible. Kids complaining about not having money while having an unskilled job don't understand people moved across the country to make things work.
I remember my mom buying a house for like 80k that's worth 700k+ today around 2004-5 some time. Average salary back then was still about the same as it is today.
YOU are fucking high, 25 years ago, we were a family of four, and had trouble with two earners. Stop making shit up.
I'm not. Just vexause your family had trouble doesn't mean your experience is the average.
Yes, it is. I can think of Teo single earners with families of 4 in a place they owned. One family lived in a 20 year old mobile home, the other was a doctor with the benefit of a military pension, and who had been in the profession for 40 years. Everyone else had a mother that worked as well. Hell, the family in the mobile home, she worked occasionally, too. This illusion that the streets used to be paved with gold until the "Boomers" stole all of the gold is stupid.
Anecdotal evidence.
At least I have some.
Yeah but you don't, just "I know someone." Come back when you have actual stats, champ. You're the one disputing something, burden of proof is on you.
You're the one claiming it was "better back then", not him. It wasn't, you're just being entitled. >Americans are richer today than decades ago. Adjusted for purchasing power, Mississippians — who live in our poorest state — have higher incomes than the French. We live longer, have more free time, and travel more affordably. Infant mortality has been cut in half; our air and water quality is vastly improved. Our cars are much better and much safer. Our homes are bigger and more comfortable. The number of people injured or killed on the jobs has plummeted. We’ve made real progress against racism in the last several decades. https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2023-06-20/americans-nostalgia-1970s-public-opinion
what's an HVAC I rent and apparently can't use Google
>"This sounds like communism to me! Today's youth have no work ethic!" -guy who worked a paper route for 3 whole months to save up enough cash to buy his first house
Yup. My first studio apartment was $125 a month in 1996. 30 years later the same apartment is $1250 That's a 900% increase. Even if rent had been increased by $25 a year it would still be just $875 My second studio was the same price but the landlords only raised the rent $100 every 5 years. I lived there for 15 years. After that my 1st 1 bedroom was $500. Then rent was raised to $650 That apartment is now $1500 which was the rent for the 4 bedroom house my landlord was renting next to my apartment when I moved in initially. The house is now $3500 In Tacoma
$125!??? That’s fucking mind blowing. I pay $1,000 a month and live with a roommate. Thankfully my roommate is a good friend of mine so that doesn’t matter, but still, god damn.
That $125 was in 1990 I don't pay any rent now. I managed a sober house. The highest rent I've ever paid was $750
A studio apartment anywhere within an hour of where I work is about $1300 and that’s before utilities, internet, etc. I have a pretty decent job and make enough money to afford that but then I wouldn’t be saving anything.
What was the wage for you job then vs now?
$12 as an IT grunt. $25 as a cnc machinist.
How long have you been a machinist? Any schooling? I've stumbled into a cnc position with zero experience and I'm at 17.50 in my first year. I have no idea what my earning potential should be moving forward but I already know I'm going to have to fight for my raises, as the shop I'm in is owned by a distributor so I have to convince them, on top of my foreman, that I should be paid more (when it's time to advocate for that).
Pretty sure you can get training in CNC at a community college. The one near me has both an associates and a certificate.
Well, unfortunately, at 17.50/hr, between bills, debts and essentials, I can't exactly afford that just yet. Kind of a Catch-22.
Right? I keep seeing this "just go to the community college" like it's free or something.
The one in my state (and ironically around the corner from my shop) happens to be free... for full-time students (15 credit semesters) fresh out of high school or just got their GED, and for an associates degree program. I turn 30 in August, graduated high school in 2012, and only need the cert classes. Free community college is not available to me. Edit to add: I also have existing student debt from a previously attempted bachelor's degree in music education. My current financial position does not afford me to take on *addition* student loans, even for a single class, really.
Have you visited your local CC to find out what they offer? There’s PELL grants and several other forms of financial assistance based on financial need. Besides that, tuition is very low. No one gets successful and makes decent money unless they get out there and make it happen. No one is going to hand you a nice salary. You have to go get it. Source - I graduated from a CC, got a job, went to a 4-yr that my employer paid for (it was a benefit available to all employees at company), then went on to grad school. All that education was done at night, while working full time. My kids also went to CCs and transferred to a 4 year. It can be done, if you’re ambitious and hardworking.
$1250?… *cries in southern Californian*
Wait you can afford an apartment?
She's not wrong to be honest, sadly price augments but salary dont.
It isn’t what she said that is the facepalm, it is that it is true.
Yea my dead brain didn't understand it yesterday, my bad
Selfish freeloader. Just think of the struggling billionaires for once. Geez.
>No business which depends for existence on paying less than living wages to its workers has any right to continue in this country. By "business" I mean the whole of commerce as well as the whole of industry; by workers I mean all workers, the white collar class as well as the men in overalls; and by living wages, I mean more than a bare subsistence level-I mean the wages of decent living. -FDR, 1933 It is not exactly a new idea...
That’s been my go-to quote whenever folks circle jerk over “it’s a starter job, it’s not meant to be a career” or all the other one liners that they think are gotchas.
Same. Truman's quote on "they call everything they dislike socialism" from the 1950s is also still very usable.
Anti-patriotic communist!! /s
FDR was such a king
Despicable, typical entitled youth who think that working a job should be enough to live. They should take 3 jobs. Even more. Typical lazy behavior.
Why don’t they just go to college?!!? Oh that’s right, LAZINESS.
It’s 1:30am I just got off work I am starving and know there’s nothing but $1 ramen at home for me rn. This isn’t a hypothetical I’m just really sad this meme reminded me of it.
What’s controversial is that she starts with saying what she is about to say is controversial. That’s not controversial at all, or at least: shouldn’t be controversial at all!
Tbf it's pretty controversial on twitter. Her post was probably swarmed with blue checks telling her move out of the city or to get a higher paying job
But if you were able to support yourself, it wouldn't motivate to pull yourself by the bootstraps. Also, you wouldn't be desperate to be manipulated into hating everyone else who is worse off than you.
Sounds like the “if we let Trump win it will be better for democracy because liberals will be motivated to fight or get sent to concentration camps” reasoning from the “genocide Joe” activists…
r/WorkReform
shit.....at their age i was working full time and sharing a 2 bedroom with 3 friends and i was still starving...in the late 90s.
Right? There was never a time when every full time employee could afford to live alone
Far more than now.
How's this a facepalm?
I think the facepalm is probably the reality being highlighted by this post
I’m a late Boomer who had roommates until I was well into my 30s, my father lived in a boarding house until he was 30 and my mother lived with her parents while working full time until she got married.
Bootstrap Spaghetti
FOUND THE COMUNAST!!!!!
Very controversial indeed! Find a man wealthy enough to support you and make him some babies! /s
A single full time job should provide a home for a family of four.
I wish. That hasn’t happened since right after WWII and started fading in the late 70’s. Likely won’t happen again in our lifetime.
It’s impossible to make a living on flipping burgers, even if its a full time job, I’m afraid. Unless your name is SpongeBob SquarePants.
I can’t be the only one that thinks this is correct
Sounds like you just need to go on down to the job store and find a better job or something.
Not wrong. But it’s also been this way for three generations. Most all gen X, millennial, and gen Z have needed roommates when starting off. It would be great to change it, don’t get me wrong. But let’s not act like it’s a brand new thing.
Maybe for a few years in your 20s. Not into your 30s and 40s like now.
So you are trying to say that GenZ weren’t the first generation ever to experience everything that always existed? 😂
Not just three generations. Pretty much always and everywhere, with rare exceptions. I'm sorry, but I would not say that the fact that low-skill workers need to live with roommates or family is evidence of a major societal problem.
Is it a USA problem only or Europe struggles with it too? Cause here in Russia you can afford a one bedroom apartament and don't need to starve yourself to make ends meet.
I personally can't, I live with my parents
Europe struggles with it from place to place. And even within countries it’s vastly different.
Europe too, where I live I would have to spend 80% of my salary just to have a flat 50km away from the main center of the area. That is, you can manage it if you fancy cows, trees and driving.
 Youll own nothing, and be happy about it
Worst part about it is that right-wingers are the one who parrot that line, then go vote for the parties trying hardest to implement that future. EDIT: wait, the guy I replie to is one of those morons. Believes Ivermectin cures Covid an everything!
The saddest thing about these right-wingers is that they don't understand that they are poor and not embarassed billionaires.
Nice response. You have a real argument or are you just going to be a child?
Shook to my core.
Depends on what kind of full time job you have. In the late 80’s I had a full time at a big company and had benefits, etc etc, but I couldn’t have afforded to live alone in my own apartment. I lived with my parents and saved until I got married. Even then we could only afford a small row home, interest rates were damn near 10%. It wasn’t until I had more education, training, and experience that better money started rolling in. It takes time.
If only...
That's right
So just like how suger beet factory's built housing in Nebraska to house their workers hmm if only not for money
Not in ‘Merica. Find some boot straps to pick up! /s
Not true. I live by myself in a one bedroom apt in La and I have to do this.
As another redditor stated here "Peasants were given shelter by their landlords in exchange for full time work" Sadly, the last millionaire I know of who planned to do this was Walt Disney. EPCOT was not meant to be an amusement park, but employee housing. Spaceship Earth (the giant golf ball ) was a prototype for housing. It is a buckeyball, one of the most structurally stable shapes in nature. It was designed because it's shape could easily withstand hurricane force winds. He hoped that once it was demonstrated how effective it could be, that other cities would follow the design.
Waiting for when we go full circle to 5 people living in a one-room apartment, like in the olden days of laissez-faire capitalism :3
I think we’re definitely heading back to the days of the multigenerational household.
not gonna happen as long as we dont rise up once more
That's how it was 25 years ago.
To conservatives it is more like “TRY HARDER, YOU ARE JUST LAZY, IF YOU CARED YOU WOULD WORK MORE”, not understanding that logic is a way to make people slaves that waste their free time on becoming a slave for someone else. Brainwashed.
What's the facepalm here? Is it because of who she is? I don't know who she is, but what she said is true.
Well, maybe if she eased up on avodado toast and a new iPhone every year.../s
Employers shouldn't be allowed to pay you that little, but unfortunately they are. You can't take any full-time job, and just hope it will cover your expenses. Unfortunately, it's on you to know what you need to earn to afford a one bedroom apartment and not starve, then get a job/jobs that pay you that much. And if everyone does that, all the employers who don't want to pay people enough to live will have to pay more or go out of business.
Controversial?
When did the concept of a flatmate leave the room? It’s ok to do that…
And yet...
Can’t you move to a cheaper city? Serious question, I’m not from the US. The difference between living in the popular cities and the less popular cities are as big as 3 times the price of rent over here.
Only socialists offer that
I would buyer a one bed condo to live in
Maybe I’m on the minority, but I don’t think she is right here. Maybe I’m stupid but the US is going through high inflation and everyone is struggling. Unfortunately the only way to control inflation is for some people to have it worse and some to have it better. A country cannot stay prosperous for ever just like one can’t keep improving forever. It’s not cool and I’m also on the struggle side, have a roomie and can’t afford a one bedroom for myself. But we accept to suffer maybe the future generations will have it better. So much money got introduced to the economy during Covid and now we are paying the price of over injection of money to our economy. If we inject more money or raise minimum wages we are just gonna dig deeper to a bigger financial problem. There really isn’t a better solution other than control the amount people are spending by increasing prices. Almost no one dies of hunger in the USA so we aren’t gonna die if we skip some meals and force ourselves to learn more about nutrition to complete our macros and not have nutrient deficits.
She’s right
Still true, as it was the first 50 times I saw it.
I think you should be able to live somewhere where you can keep your things, feel safe, have some privacy, have access to a (shared) bathroom and (shared) food making facilities and food, healthcare and internet. Beyond that, sorry, gotta work for it.
You’re right OP, this idiocy will never change.
The argument dissolves pretty quickly when you crack open the details
I think it comes down to the fact that if you are a single person shopping for a 1br apartment, you’re going to be competing with couples who have 2 incomes. I always lived with roommates until I met my wife and we moved in together, I can’t remember any of my friends or people I work with having their own apartment as a single person.
I don’t think just “full time job” has ever made living in a one bedroom apartment possible. Maybe some full time jobs, but not just any full time job.
Depending on the city and year. I worked full time in an IT job pulling line and setting up hardware, in 2001, in Capital Hill, Seattle, and my rent for a one bedroom apartment was an 1/8th of my income. However by September 2002 the rent doubled.
Was that an entry level job? My first 4 “career” jobs did not pay enough to afford a one bedroom apartment, but they were all in cities much smaller than Seattle.
But that's communism!
And that’s the entitlement of people. Why should you?
How is wanting to earn enough to afford basic needs entitlement?
The simple fact of wanting that is not enough effort to obtain that. I want to retire on a private island in my beach house. However simply wanting that is not going to make it happen. A person can have a full time job mowing lawns (I did when I was younger) and there is no way that pay would provide an apartment and means to support yourself on its own. Nor should it. It doesn’t take much more than a monkey to do that work. Now, take the time and make the effort to better yourself and therefore your worth, and you will be able to obtain a job that will support your single bedroom apartment. Perhaps, if I put enough effort into it,I will get my private beach house…
When did it get decided that low paying jobs don't take effort? Fast food jobs can be stressful as hell. When you talk about effort, you should also mention disposable income. You have nay idea how many people don't go to college simply because they cant afford to?
lol, I didn’t go to college because I couldn’t afford to. I worked to pay my rent with 5 roommates. Tried to do both, but failed because I was to busy supporting myself with a full time job. I took another route. College is not the only form of education. There are several other avenues to gain education, experience, knowledge, training, skills, and set yourself up for success. The ignorant thought that college is the only path to success is why so many people find themselves deep in dept without a viable option. If a low paying job takes that much effort, then why would you work there? Several of my friends, when I was younger, worked the service industry and made great money with flexible schedules. Not to mention, also had a lot more time to party than I did…
So by your own admission, you tried college, but couldn't afford and it had to live with five people just to avoid being homeless even with a full-time job. Now tell me, are you saying that someone working a full time job, taking up 8 hrs of their days should have to room with almost half a dozen strangers just so they don't starve? Again, what jobs are you looking at that are low effort? What service industry jobs are you talking about? Modern service industry jobs have notoriously substandard pay and strict hours (you're considered replaceable, so they don't care about your schedule).
Yes, by my own admission, in my early 20s I had to live with roommates. Do you feel that for some reason a typical person at that age has accomplished enough within their short lifetime that they somehow inherently deserve the privilege of supporting their lifestyle on a single income? Most are just getting out of their parents house from which they were pretty much taken care of. If so, that is what is meant by the sense of entitlement. You need to put in the effort to earn the privilege of self support. Most people have not done anything of significance by that time in their life, and are trying to figure out what it is they will be doing. Setting goals and planning how they are going to get to the position they’ve themselves in the upcoming years. The fact that you consider a fast food cashier position stressful, leads me to believe you fall within the early to mid 20s age group and have not yet had the experience of an actual stressful job. No, people do not just inherently deserve the luxury of living in your own apartment. Luxuries are earned, and you need to put forth the effort if that is what you want in life. Or don’t. Your financial status will reflect your choices.
Depends where you want to live - that's highly possible in a lot of places in North America. It's not going to get you a 1BR in the cool part of NYC or LA though
Idk about that one lol. Working full time, 40 hours a week, at the federal minimum wage is $1,256.66 per month gross. After taxes thats more like $1,138. The cheapest cost of living state is Arkansas. The average 1 bedroom apartment in Little Rock, Arkansas is $909 a month. That leaves $229 a month for the entirety of the rest of that persons life expenses.
Arkansas has a state minimum wage of $11/hr. That works out to roughly $1,760/month or $1,528 after taxes (used [this](https://www.adp.com/resources/tools/calculators/states/arkansas-salary-paycheck-calculator.aspx)). Which leaves $619 left over after rent. Still not much, but that's also pretty survivable. My electric bill in Missouri (just north of Arkansas, actually) is $150/month with 5 people, so it would be less if I had fewer humans in my house. Other utilities are under $100 for all of them. So, you'd have $369 left for groceries. More than enough to survive...you could probably even save some money.
My mistake, I made the assumption that Arkansas was using the federal minimum wage. But I am going to still object to the idea that you’d have “more than enough to survive” or enough to save money. That 369 wouldn’t all be for groceries. Theres still clothing, hygiene, travel, other miscellaneous costs just for day to day necessities that come up, and money for any emergencies that come up. And thats assuming you’re living a spartan lifestyle with zero indulgences at any point in your life, you still might not even have enough to make ends meet
Clothing is not a day-to-day purchase and neither is travel or hygiene. Those certainly cost money, but you're not starting with 0. Further, you can buy 5 shirts, 2 pairs of pants, socks and underwear at Walmart for under $50. A 3-in-1 shampoo conditioner bodywash for under $10. You were born with free travel, called legs, having a car is a luxury, and plenty of (especially, minimum wage) jobs are fine with you using legs as 'transportation'. Money for emergencies is a luxury many well-off people can't even afford. You're just inventing stuff to fit your narrative.
Bro said legs are transportation ☠️☠️lmao if you’re so lucky to live within walking distance of your job, which the vast majority of people do not. America, the notoriously walkable country, let alone fucking Arkansas. Like did you even think about what you said for a second before typing it out? And I was just giving examples, which is why I also said miscellaneous things. In a given month, rent, utilities and food are not the only things people have to pay for. But way to let the point fly over your head. And well off people don’t have money for emergencies? You’re just yapping at this point
Wasn’t It in the US where you say “Don’t ask what your country can do to you, ask what you can do to your country “.
Weird how I work a full time job and definitely could be paying for the *two-*bedroom apartment I live in while also eating plenty. HM! Most of it isn't that people just want to "live" and "eat" but they want to live "somewhere nice" and have their Starbucks, eat out when they're lazy, and be able to afford fancy things like iPhones (these days a lot of people aren't getting the latest, so there's that) or buying laptops instead of using libraries, etc. This particular post is probably more the latter (living where I want, eating what I want, having what I want) than what they are saying at face value.
I've worked at McDonald's and could still afford a 1 bedroom apartment 30 years ago. Rent prices have increased by 900% to over 1200% since then depending upon where you live. Right now I live in Portland, make just under $40k a year and can't afford a 1 bedroom apartment across the street from my job because they want $1300 for it. The manager said I needed an income of three times that amount just to be considered. The apartment is in an industrial zone.
Haha that wasn’t the case 20-30 years ago. Everyone had roommates, only had shitty used cars and didn’t have $1300 phones in their pockets. Yes, things are fucked right now but, it’s no excuse to start building wealth and not being entitled.
lol most entitled shit from someone who obviously hasn’t seen how 90% of the world lives
Roommates, better job, better spending habits. It's not rocket surgery. We all start somewhere and that somewhere isn't a mansion, luxury cars and opulence.
And she didn’t ask for luxury? She asked for the bare minimum
Not if your full time job is basket weaving.
I imagine basket weaving for 8 hours a day would be pretty exhausting. Just imagining it makes my hand feel sore.
That doesn't mean it should be high paying. Brain sergeons get paid a lot of money for a reason. Ditch diggers don't, for the same reason.
Brain surgeons get paid a lot because not all t of people have their skill set. Ditch digging is doesn't require a specific skill set, but in terms of the amount of physical work needed, it is much high, and most brain surgeons probably wouldn't be equipped to handle it.
Yes. And what's your point? That ditch diggers should be paid as well as brain sergeons because they work hard? If anybody can do your job, you're not as valuable as someone who can do something that only a handful of other people can do. It's not as complicated as some people try to make it.
Job value is based around skill set, not actually difficulty/effort. That being said, a difficult job, even if it doesn't require a specific skill set, should pay enough for a person to live.
No; you should be compensated in accordance with the value you provide the company. Minimal value yields minimal compensation. You’re not entitled to anything.
L take