Rant: Over indulgent parents strike again

"Rob Kleinschmidt" wrote in message
om...

Isn't there a Federal agency that could give him a hand and help him
export the job overseas ?

What the heck are you talking about?

M

In article , Calgary says...

On Thu, 08 Jan 2004 20:08:04 -0500, Nan wrote:

On Fri, 09 Jan 2004 00:53:52 GMT, Calgary
wrote:

On Thu, 08 Jan 2004 13:50:58 -0500, Nan wrote:


Yeah, or they consider it "mindless" and "menial" and not worth paying
someone to take the burden from themselves.

Nan

Here in Calgary there are several companies clearing in excess of a
million per season each pushing that white stuff. And it doesn't snow
a hell of a lot here.

I know several people that do it privately with a snowplow on their
truck and rake in the bucks every winter.

Yup, if you can stay awake, keep the rig out of the ditch and nothin
breaks you can do very well.

Yep. I hire the contractor who has done a lot of work on my house (the guy's a
perfectionist!) to plow my driveway. He rakes in the cash when it snows as the
weather forbids outside work anyway. Consistent, reliable, meticulous (I swear
if it's still snowing he'll chase the flakes off my driveway), cheerful, funny.

Even if he were so-so about the task, it's worth it saving my back.

Although, once in awhile I don't mind doing the shovelling. It's quiet,
comtemplative, vigorous work. But here in upstate New York, I don't want to
commit to do it all the time. Seems if it ain't 18 inches anymore, it hardly
counts as a snowstorm.

Cheers,
Banty

In article m, Brandon
Sommerville says...

On 8 Jan 2004 16:51:23 -0800, Banty wrote:

No, not really. First of all, it's the *Dad* who had approached me with the
idea as a way to introduce his sons to some responsibility. That isn't
necessarily the most important point (except to establish that I wasn't casting
for bargains), but at that time I told him 10 was too young unless my son can go
to his house but an adult is always around. I gave a price; Dad agreed. So, no,
I don't view this as a babysitting job on the order of someone whose experience
and householding abilities (dinner, off to school) I was buying in the case of
the 22 year old. And Dad didn't bring up any concern that he be paid.

In one case a kid is setting time aside to basically play with another younger
kid; in the other someone is holding down a household for many more hours. This
isn't like a 13 year old clearing a sidewalk vs. a 35 year old clearing a
sidewalk.

In a way. In pure business terms the parents are subsidizing the
child's experience to help them gain job experience. You pay a
reduced rate for training time.


Yep, basically. And I'm supposedly doing this to be neighborly. Then suddenly
I'm supposed to up the price according to some perceived market rate. Erg.

Essentially the parents are responsible for your child and simply
delegating the actual watching to their children.

Except that particular arrangement wasnt' the one offered. I didn't contract
with the dad for services for him to delegate.

If for some reason I thought the boy was an amazingly capable and mature 10 year
old, and I had him come to my house and his services were avaiable for long
hours including overnights - then, yes, the fact that he's 10 and not 22 should
not have affected how I pay him. But that's simply (and impossibly) not the
case. What he could offer was limited, though useful, and I paid him
accordingly, and it was agreed. Until Dad learned through the grapevine what I
paid the 22 year old, whose services, knowledge, experience, and availability
was on a significantly different category in my view. (BTW, one lesson: - don't
talk money with your neighbors - really, sometimes I think I shouldn't even
mention the current price of carrots in the supermarket.)

I just can't believe that they actually had the gall to demand the
same rate after the original rate was fairly negotiated.

How it came to mind is something his Dad said in the phone call that I was
reminded of by this snow shovel discussion - his perception was that I paid his
son less for the *same* work just because he was young. But, no - it's *not*
the same work.

Banty

In article , Marijke says...


"Rob Kleinschmidt" wrote in message
. com...

Isn't there a Federal agency that could give him a hand and help him
export the job overseas ?

What the heck are you talking about?

Well, the man wanted cheap - right? And jobs are being outsourced overseas for
cheap labor - right?

Hard to see how that would be arranged to get a walk shovelled, though ;-)

Banty

On Thu, 08 Jan 2004 01:05:03 -0500, Jon Walters
wrote:

Up in the pilothouse, the skipper checks his position on the GPS
display, picks up his new heading, throttling the big twin diesels
back to idle, and reaches into the refrigerator for a beer. Down aft,
the crew bait the hooks as the longlines trail over the side...

First of all -- the kids of this generation are spoiled
and "do no wrong" in the eyes of their parents. They are
right and you are wrong .... especially when a 13 year old
wanted $40 to shovel the snow from my sidewalk recently.

snip

Hey, I wouldn't shovel snow for that. Hell it'd cost me almost $40 to
get to enough snow to be worth shovelling.

Al Moore
DoD 734

On Thu, 08 Jan 2004 08:32:26 -0800, Scott in Aztlán
wrote:

OBTW, I feel that I should be paid $50 for each of your USENET messages that I
read. I feel that anything less than that is not worth my time. What's your
address so I can send you my bill?

The question is why bitch about the kid refusing his offer? Will you
bitch about her if she doesn't give you what you want?


--
Dorothy

There is no sound, no cry in all the world
that can be heard unless someone listens ..

The Outer Limits

"Scott in Aztlán" wrote in message
...
On 8 Jan 2004 17:22:36 -0800, Banty wrote:

By the way, *I* might shovel someone's snow for free (if they were
friends, and were unable to do it) but I wouldn't take on a shoveling
*job* for $10 (unless it were quick and easy).


Yeah, but you're probably not a teenager without a regular job either,
are you?

She's not an aerospace engineer laid off after a contract is lost either,
but
what's the point?

The point is adults with marketable skills rightly value their time more
highly
than a 13-year-old kid with no marketable skills.

Though perhaps some 13 year old kids value their time more
highly than $10. Nothing wrong with that.


P. Tierney

On Thu, 8 Jan 2004 19:42:00 -0600, "C R Krieger"
wrote:

You know what? Although your views are diametrically opposed, you're both
morons and for the same reason. If Jon wants his snow shoveled for less
than $40, he has a perfect right to find someone who will do it. He need
not simply capitulate to the demands of a 13-year-old who *may or may not*
be overpricing his services.

No, but neither does he have any particular right to bitch because the
kid didn't want to accept his price.

If he could find someone else to do it for his price fine. I'm
betting that he couldn't because of the bitch about *kids today.*
The fact is that $10 was probably too little. $40 might have been
too much, but given that he offered a price the kid didn't want to
take, what's his problem with the kid?


--
Dorothy

There is no sound, no cry in all the world
that can be heard unless someone listens ..

The Outer Limits

On Fri, 09 Jan 2004 01:14:58 GMT, (Brent P)
wrote:

In article , Rob Kleinschmidt wrote:

Attitudes that seemed completely unremarkable a couple of decades ago
now look like they came from the 19th century or perhaps the dark ages.
I suggest that from one generation to the next we're becoming more
and more a nation of safety nazis.

I would hate to be a kid now. Dumbed down, locked away from anything
that might hurt them etc. My parents didn't let me do half the stuff
I wanted, but I still got to play with model rockets, electricity,
etc etc. And generally did it without supervision. Although I never
did anything particularly dangerous, most of it is probably disallowed
today.

Only the particularly dumb kids hurt themselves... Like the ones that
found a july 4th dud and decided to hack it open with a hatchet.....

You don't have to be particularly dumb to get badly hurt, but I agree
that we are trying to take the risk out of life which not only cannot
be done, but which harms kids because they never get to experience
situations where they must make good decisions about safety on their
own.


--
Dorothy

There is no sound, no cry in all the world
that can be heard unless someone listens ..

The Outer Limits

In article , Scott in Aztlán wrote:

Oh, really? I suppose your gardener has a Ph.D., and your housekeeper has a law
degree, and all those guys picking strawberries out in the Imperial Valley are
Rhodes Scholars...

I think you've just described the new USA service economy.