interesting article.

[Searc]

Seriously, you don't believe? My child support is based on the $35,000 I made in the first quarter of 2015. I made $25/hour then. I made that much that quarter because I was not divorced, but was trying to stay away to stop the fighting on the brink of divorce working 12-16 hours a day 7 days a week. How is it not stacked against someone who makes $40k but pays based on I guess it is $140k?

Point being is I bring home what someone making $9.75/hour is and I can make it. I house and feed my kids. I just finished birthday shopping for my youngest on Saturday and was able to buy her presents. I am able to save the $100/month for my heat for the winter. I am able to pay my car insurance. On top of my rent, I have a car payment. One hiccup was the furnace going out. That was $5k I didn't have since I had just dropped every penny on a $9000 house 6 months prior. So, I am stuck with that 0% loan, but it was necessary. Then again, no matter what, this board thinks you should have no debt, so I suppose I should have just sucked it up and spent Christmas with my kids in a 4° house.

I gave a brief lookup on zillow in places for sale under $50k. It gave me I think 16 places between $18 and 50,000.

Don't complain about child support (though you do, frequently). You and your children's mother got divorced. That was your choice, not your children's. And nope, the system is not stacked against you.

 

[cabanafrau]

In Michigan it's possible to request a review of child support based on a change of circumstances, such as a serious decline (or increase) in income. It's not possible to be granted a review every month or two, but it's definitely possible to do so after a year or more -- and it can be done without representation of an attorney.

 

[NotUrsula]

It doesn't cost more to eat a normal healthy meal as opposed to stuffing yourself silly with fast food and junk food to get to that size. And no one denies anyone basic necessities. I have never heard of anyone turned down to taking care of themselves. You just have to be smart with your money.

I live on the equivalent of $9.75/hour after I pay for another household. I have a place to live, my kids have another place to live, my oldest has a place to go to between classes and to get something to eat as I have food. It is heated in the winter and air conditioned in the summer. It's all expensive and I do it. I have $0 left after basic bills and everything extra I get from working overtime (don't tell the ex, child support is already based on them extrapolating my 3 months of overtime because I wanted out of the house at the end of the marriage to $160,000/year. I don't want them to look at my overtime from last winter and think I make $190,000 as I don't make anywhere close to what child support is based on.)

I'm not sure at $11 or $13 or whatever wage it was, why one couldn't afford any of the between $18,000 and $50,000 homes I looked at in the area around Orlando. Or is it no one should have to do what I have to do and live in a trailer?

That kind of depends on where your trailer is; would you agree that a location that cannot qualify for homeowner's insurance is a no-go? I've lived in mobile homes; I'm by no means too good for them, but the vast majority of rented mobile homes in Florida that qualify as insurable are in over-55 communities.

I really don't know where you are finding rents that low in Orlando for someone under age 55; even in Pine Hills the lowest available 2bd rental is $900. (I say rent because most minimum-wage part-time workers who do not have steady schedules will not be approved to carry a mortgage in Florida, and I don't think it is unreasonable for a family of four to have 2 bedrooms, although the cheapest 1 bdrm was a savings of $50/mo.)

No way I'd live in Pine Hills if I had a minor child and I routinely came back home alone at 1 am. Talk about irresponsible. (Of course, I'm female, so the odds of being a crime victim by being in the wrong place at the wrong time are quite high.)

As to that woman's weight, we don't know what she eats, but at a guess I'd suppose a lot of pasta. Noodles are the go-to food of the working poor in almost every place in the world, because they are cheap, filling, do not go bad if you cannot refrigerate them, and can be cooked with very minimal time and tools.

 

[NYCgrrl]

That kind of depends on where your trailer is; would you agree that a location that cannot qualify for homeowner's insurance is a no-go? I've lived in mobile homes; I'm by no means too good for them, but the vast majority of rented mobile homes in Florida that qualify as insurable are in over-55 communities.

I really don't know where you are finding rents that low in Orlando for someone under age 55; even in Pine Hills the lowest available 2bd rental is $900. (I say rent because most minimum-wage part-time workers who do not have steady schedules will not be approved to carry a mortgage in Florida, and I don't think it is unreasonable for a family of four to have 2 bedrooms, although the cheapest 1 bdrm was a savings of $50/mo.)

No way I'd live in Pine Hills if I had a minor child and I routinely came back home alone at 1 am. Talk about irresponsible.

As to that woman's weight, we don't know what she eats, but at a guess I'd suppose a lot of pasta. Noodles are the go-to food of the working poor in almost every place in the world, because they are cheap, filling, do not go bad if you cannot refrigerate them, and can be cooked with very minimal time and tools.

Maybe you meant to quote someone else?
I said nothing about trailer living or eating habits.

I will say that many Americans like their space. I spent most of my childhood sharing a bedroom w/ my older sister, as well as one bathroom for 4 people (all female); we survived quite nicely and I didn't know we weren't living the "norm" for some time. I do recall hearing stories about my maternal grandmother selling her house to move into another so one of her daughters had a staircase to walk down when she was married but just thought that was one of Grandmother's movie inspired idiosyncrasies, LOL.

 

[NotUrsula]

Maybe you meant to quote someone else?
I said nothing about trailer living or eating habits.

Absolutely right, and I apologize; my browser hung onto the previous quote and I didn't catch it. I'm removing that.

FWIW, my parents were both from families of 9, and both of them grew up in homes that had 2 rooms -- not bedrooms; rooms, and not large ones, either. (Also, no indoor plumbing.) I live pretty high on the hog by my parents' standards, with my 4 people in 1100 sq.ft. -- and TWO toilets!

 

[Hikergirl]

Wow! You do know it costs more $$ to eat healthier, right? And, I didn’t literally mean starving. I was referring to the general idea that it’s ok to deny ppl basic necessities b/c they are low skilled/low wage workers.

Who is denying them basic necessities? They get paid for the job they do, the job they accepted the terms of.
The woman in the story left a good paying job (not just a job, but the "field") and chose to take a low paying job somewhere she enjoys but can't pay for the gas to get back home from that job, or sometimes feed her child.
Let's not pretend that she isn't the one responsible for what she is being "denied"

 

[Jimmy Mouse]

Who is denying them basic necessities? They get paid for the job they do, the job they accepted the terms of.
The woman in the story left a good paying job (not just a job, but the "field") and chose to take a low paying job somewhere she enjoys but can't pay for the gas to get back home from that job, or sometimes feed her child.
Let's not pretend that she isn't the one responsible for what she is being "denied"

I guess you didn't understand or actually read what the article said. According to the article, she was forced to leave her job due to poor working conditions. I didn't see the part where it said she chose to leave.

 

[brockash]

I was scrolling the article and got to a picture. If that is the woman in question, she is FAR from starving. Could probably cut out $1000/month by not eating double Big Macs every night.

And then there's people like this in the world...unreal.

 

[RedAngie]

I guess you didn't understand or actually read what the article said. According to the article, she was forced to leave her job due to poor working conditions. I didn't see the part where it said she chose to leave.

What a load of crap. Unless she was fired or laid off, she willingly chose to quit her higher paying job.

 

[OKW8297]

And then there's people like this in the world...unreal.

Speaks volumes of why we are in the mess we are in in this country. Hateful, judge mental people. How about compassion? Nope. It’s all assumptions that this is her fault. You know, at the end of the day, I hope I’m known for caring too much and not thinking that people “deserve” what they get.

 

[Hikergirl]

I guess you didn't understand or actually read what the article said. According to the article, she was forced to leave her job due to poor working conditions. I didn't see the part where it said she chose to leave.

She chose to leave the field of radiology tech because of a single job with "poor working conditions". She chose to take an unskilled low paying job when she had skills and previous experience in a higher paying field.
Do you actually think where she worked previously was the one and only job for radiology tech available within a 63 mile radius of her home (you know the distance she chooses to commute for her theme park job)?

People all over make adjustments in their lives when one job doesn't work out, especially when they have kids to take care of. This woman has worked for Disney for almost 7 years and at times can't put gas in her car. She was willing to leave her radiology tech job because of poor working conditions, yet here she is still at Disney not being able to feed her child. It's all about choices here.

 

[mrodgers]

Speaks volumes of why we are in the mess we are in in this country. Hateful, judge mental people. How about compassion? Nope. It’s all assumptions that this is her fault. You know, at the end of the day, I hope I’m known for caring too much and not thinking that people “deserve” what they get.

Oh come on, I'm overweight, but you don't get to be 500 lb. without continuously stuffing your pie hole with garbage. Have you never seen the shows on cable? I have no compassion for anyone who cries about their weight, but then puts down 2 full pizzas down for lunch then looks for 5 orders of french fries for dessert...

 

[LSUmiss]

Speaks volumes of why we are in the mess we are in in this country. Hateful, judge mental people. How about compassion? Nope. It’s all assumptions that this is her fault. You know, at the end of the day, I hope I’m known for caring too much and not thinking that people “deserve” what they get.

And no accountability for the billionaires or the corporate world that has created these conditions. It’s really brilliant b/c so much propaganda is put out by ppl like this & they have so many ppl believing in ideologies that actually go against their own self-interest.

 

[LSUmiss]

She chose to leave the field of radiology tech because of a single job with "poor working conditions". She chose to take an unskilled low paying job when she had skills and previous experience in a higher paying field.
Do you actually think where she worked previously was the one and only job for radiology tech available within a 63 mile radius of her home (you know the distance she chooses to commute for her theme park job)?

People all over make adjustments in their lives when one job doesn't work out, especially when they have kids to take care of. This woman has worked for Disney for almost 7 years and at times can't put gas in her car. She was willing to leave her radiology tech job because of poor working conditions, yet here she is still at Disney not being able to feed her child. It's all about choices here.

Maybe she made a mistake, but it’s also about how one or 2 bad choices can ruin your life & that shouldn’t be in a country with this much wealth. It’s also about the dichotomy of the billions raked in by companies like wdw on the backs of low wage workers who are barely scraping by like her. So the next time you get a less than chipper CM, think of this article.

 

[cabanafrau]

I'm sure the only WDW employee who isn't living in fantasy conditions worthy of a Disney movie princess is one who deserves to scrape by because of their own poor choices. All the rest clock out after a shift and head home, twirling, dancing and singing happy tunes. Heigh ho, heigh hooooo!

 

[RangerPooh]

I don't disagree with this, either, but there is one other scenario, which is the same one that FedEx faced in Memphis: they just could not get enough reliable workers to keep their enterprise in peak operating order. Generational cohorts are shrinking; as boomers die off, there will not be as many folks with reliable outside income to choose from in the worker population. If the majority of their labor pool is priced out of the local housing market, the employer who supplements wages with commuting help will find the pickings easier.

Not too get too far off topic, but having lived in the Memphis area for the last few years, the lack of qualified applicants is on the local news a few times a year. Sure, the local population is large, but when you take into account the number that 1) Don't meet the minimum education level (even a high school diploma/GED) 2) Can't pass a drug test, and 3) Can't pass a criminal background check, then you have to look outside the local market for employees.

 

[RangerPooh]

I wish the article would have included information on how hourly pay at WDW compares to that of Universal and Sea World; as well as benefits and the like.

It is no surprise that the cost of living is expensive. It continues to climb in desirable locations, cities, etc. We also already know that wages haven;t increased as much as the cost of living, so really this should not have a been a shocker. For most of my adult life I've had to commute for work or school. Anywhere from 30 minutes to 1.5 hours each way, all because of the cost of living and employer/school location. You do what you need to do.

There was a suggestion that Disney consider running an employee bus route to outlying communities. I think that's a great idea. Realizing that nothing comes free, even at a reduced weekly/monthly rate to take it woudl be cheaper than gas/tolls. That's time that you can reclaim to read, sleep, do something else.

 

[Pink Partridge]

I think they could have chosen a better person to be the lead in this story. I was suspicious reading it. A ton of personal responsibility is lacking.

Her Facebook is open. Big complainer. She knows she can make more, but feels that everyone should be paid the same.

She said recently on her public page: “I have an X-Ray certification. I don't want to be an X-ray technician….Why should I have to be a nurse, or an x-ray technician, or a plumber to receive adequate compensation for a hard days work? Why is hospitality not considered a career, but receptionist is?”

So she has made a choice to get paid less. It is a matter of principle for her. In her opinion, unskilled labor should make the same amount of money as skilled labor.

But my biggest issue is that she is married to a man that was not working, yet took it upon himself to clean out her savings while she was in the hospital for bronchitis. But he only drained the savings to pay bills. Like that was the time he chose to sat down and be responsible.

Gotta get this bills paid. But we have no food. Doesn’t matter. We are all of a sudden behind on bills. It is dire that I clean out this savings for bills. No food for us, step daughter!

And then there was no food in the house upon her return. Well, there was vinegar and a can of beans. What was there to eat six days prior? When she was there? Again, a house that only had vinegar and a can of beans.

Her weight is only an issue to me because you can’t have someone that weighs 400+ pounds try to convince me that she was scared she couldn’t feed her child. That is pure neglect.

I wish they would have chosen someone else to focus on. This woman should not be the face of people struggling.

 

[LSUmiss]

I think they could have chosen a better person to be the lead in this story. I was suspicious reading it. A ton of personal responsibility is lacking.

Her Facebook is open. Big complainer. She knows she can make more, but feels that everyone should be paid the same.

She said recently on her public page: “I have an X-Ray certification. I don't want to be an X-ray technician….Why should I have to be a nurse, or an x-ray technician, or a plumber to receive adequate compensation for a hard days work? Why is hospitality not considered a career, but receptionist is?”

So she has made a choice to get paid less. It is a matter of principle for her. In her opinion, unskilled labor should make the same amount of money as skilled labor.

But my biggest issue is that she is married to a man that was not working, yet took it upon himself to clean out her savings while she was in the hospital for bronchitis. But he only drained the savings to pay bills. Like that was the time he chose to sat down and be responsible.

Gotta get this bills paid. But we have no food. Doesn’t matter. We are all of a sudden behind on bills. It is dire that I clean out this savings for bills. No food for us, step daughter!

And then there was no food in the house upon her return. Well, there was vinegar and a can of beans. What was there to eat six days prior? When she was there? Again, a house that only had vinegar and a can of beans.

Her weight is only an issue to me because you can’t have someone that weighs 400+ pounds try to convince me that she was scared she couldn’t feed her child. That is pure neglect.

I wish they would have chosen someone else to focus on. This woman should not be the face of people struggling.

I can agree with that part that she is not the best representative, but it doesn’t mean it’s not a problem. As far as skilled & non skilled workers getting paid the same, I think what she means (or what it should be) is that both are paid at least a living wage. I don’t think they need to be paid the same, of course.

 

[mrodgers]

I can agree with that part that she is not the best representative, but it doesn’t mean it’s not a problem. As far as skilled & non skilled workers getting paid the same, I think what she means (or what it should be) is that both are paid at least a living wage. I don’t think they need to be paid the same, of course.

No such thing as a living wage. You get paid what you are worth. You may feel that you are worth more than what they are paying, but you are paid on your worth none the less. If you do feel you have more worth, then go somewhere that pays for it.

At work, management was up in arms all summer trying to get help. I was in the office with one of the engineers and asked what the heck is that, and pointed to a scroll display. Looked on the other side and it is all our benefits being touted. I pointed at $13/hr and said, "right there, that is why you can't get anyone here."

We use to have a large turnover and a line at the door. There's no longer a line. That means no one wants the job for $13, therefore if more people are needed, the worth has increased. It goes the same for the people. If you're standing in line for an $11 job, then that is what the job is worth. If you arrive to an empty doorway for a job, then you are more than likely a lot more desirable and as such, worth more.