Fishin Fool
Well-known member
Let me share this story with you too. My youngest sister was married when she was just out of high school, has four kids which she raised. Her husband, who was 12 years older than her, died when she was 50, at which point she had no income other than a small life insurance policy he had left. She had been a housewife all her life and had no training in anything. Nothing. So she applied at Walmart in the town she lives in, and was hired on full time as a stocker. She has worked there for going on 13 years, and has made it to the huge amount of $13.75 per hour. She works like a dog, often doing over time to make a little more to pay the bills. Her health has gotten bad in the last few years and we all pressured her into going to see a doctor about it. She often went in sick because she was afraid of being replaced with a younger worker. The doctor has found several serious issues, which with respect for her, I won't go into. Regardless, she has been in and out of the hospital for the past 6 months. Walmart's response? They have cut her hours, tried to screw her out of sick leave, and encouraged her to retire early so she can get on Medicare (which means off Walmart's group plan and on the Gubmint Plan). The pressure mounts each day. Wonder why? This is what I mean by morality or lack there of. Sure, she needed a job, and sure Walmart hired her. But I can damn sure tell you, she works for every penny. You know the weird thing is, when she was hired, she loved the place. Not so much now. But I suppose she should have taken the advice of many on this forum and just went back to school at age 50 to be..........what? After 13 years of hard work they are ready to cut her loose, and let her deal with Medicare.</p>
We can't all be lucky in life. We can't all know the right people. We can't all have access to higher education. We can't all have parents with money that pave our way. We can't all be born rich or well off. We can't all make the right choices. Sometimes, people like my sister just have to work.......even at the crappy wage that the only game in town is paying at the time. I often see people that are engineers, chemists, doctors, accountants, Gubmint workers........taking it easy and kicking back while raking in the big bucks. Maybe they worked for it, who knows, but I know they didn't work harder than my sister unloading trucks at 3 am.</p>
The lady next door to me is a licensed practical nurse. She works for one of most abusive, money hungry, long term care companies around. She is worn down to a nub. She works when sick, works a load that a younger person would buckle under. Can she quit? Nope, too many bills. Can she find another job? Maybe, but they she'd give up what little advancement she has at age 63. Oh, and by the way, not many profit minded companies are hiring 63 year old women these days.</p>
Let's take the guy I knew that worked for Sears in a Georgia town as the store manager. New "hot shot", "get it done", district manager takes over. The store manager has worked there for 29 years, 11 months. At 30 years he would draw a full, enhanced retirement from the company. Hot shot walked in and fired him, with 1 month to go to retirement. Sad huh? But in today's make a profit or die business model, profit trumps morality every time. These are but three examples of people I personally know. I am sure there are millions. So while we talk about the poor folks that own Walmart, let's remember they didn't get there alone. They had help. If the Waltons, not the stock holders, paid a decent wage, I doubt it'd cost more than a billion of the estimated 6 billion they pocket each year. Just to think, all they had to do in life was have a rich Daddy and the rest just falls into place.</p>
So if you have a good, or even a great job, thank God for it. Lots of variables went into it, but God did it for you, not you. Don't look down and be critical of others not as fortunate. You haven't walked in that person's shoes and you have no idea why they are working at the job they are working at.
</p>
We can't all be lucky in life. We can't all know the right people. We can't all have access to higher education. We can't all have parents with money that pave our way. We can't all be born rich or well off. We can't all make the right choices. Sometimes, people like my sister just have to work.......even at the crappy wage that the only game in town is paying at the time. I often see people that are engineers, chemists, doctors, accountants, Gubmint workers........taking it easy and kicking back while raking in the big bucks. Maybe they worked for it, who knows, but I know they didn't work harder than my sister unloading trucks at 3 am.</p>
The lady next door to me is a licensed practical nurse. She works for one of most abusive, money hungry, long term care companies around. She is worn down to a nub. She works when sick, works a load that a younger person would buckle under. Can she quit? Nope, too many bills. Can she find another job? Maybe, but they she'd give up what little advancement she has at age 63. Oh, and by the way, not many profit minded companies are hiring 63 year old women these days.</p>
Let's take the guy I knew that worked for Sears in a Georgia town as the store manager. New "hot shot", "get it done", district manager takes over. The store manager has worked there for 29 years, 11 months. At 30 years he would draw a full, enhanced retirement from the company. Hot shot walked in and fired him, with 1 month to go to retirement. Sad huh? But in today's make a profit or die business model, profit trumps morality every time. These are but three examples of people I personally know. I am sure there are millions. So while we talk about the poor folks that own Walmart, let's remember they didn't get there alone. They had help. If the Waltons, not the stock holders, paid a decent wage, I doubt it'd cost more than a billion of the estimated 6 billion they pocket each year. Just to think, all they had to do in life was have a rich Daddy and the rest just falls into place.</p>
So if you have a good, or even a great job, thank God for it. Lots of variables went into it, but God did it for you, not you. Don't look down and be critical of others not as fortunate. You haven't walked in that person's shoes and you have no idea why they are working at the job they are working at.
</p>
