I have a new job!!! (Yes, Attention Whoring)

[opebo]

No, no, no.  If you are a poor, and you have a job at the Electric Company, you stay there, and say 'yes sir' and 'no sir, and just batten down the hatches and wait.  It will all be over soon enough.  No need to rush it by getting conned up the a**s by some Kiwi b******s and ending up living under a bridge.

Seriously, I know poors who work at the Power Company (true they're from the previous unionized generations so they made $70,000/year, but still), and they survived.  Every one of them - and they will get to die in hospitals with medical treatments.  Yes, Public Utilities are not government jobs, but they're the next best thing.

[opebo]

Just IMO, but this new job seems too good to be true.

Actually to my way of thinking I find his Gas Company job better than I would have thought possible for a poor in the Middle West.

[opebo]

No, no, no.  If you are a poor, and you have a job at the Electric Company, you stay there, and say 'yes sir' and 'no sir, and just batten down the hatches and wait.  It will all be over soon enough.  No need to rush it by getting conned up the a**s by some Kiwi b******s and ending up living under a bridge.

Seriously, I know poors who work at the Power Company (true they're from the previous unionized generations so they made $70,000/year, but still), and they survived.  Every one of them - and they will get to die in hospitals with medical treatments.  Yes, Public Utilities are not government jobs, but they're the next best thing.

Class envy anyone?

What now?  What class are you talking about?  Are you suggesting I am in a class envying another class?  I thought I was pitying the working class.  Pity is different from envy, Denver.

[opebo]

She actually receives SSI and is unable to be gainfully employed.  I think she would love to work, but with her condition, she'd be more of a liability than an asset.

Might want to keep that in mind before you plunge into matrimony, big boy.

...she does vote Republican, because she's afraid of the Democrats doing exactly what you mention the Republicans would want to do.  She is afraid Obama wants to get rid of Social Security assistance for retirees and the disabled. 

Why on earth does she believe that nonsense?  When you say 'disabled' do you mean mentally?

[opebo]

Kidding, but that is very rare for States and Opie to agree with each other.

Yeah so please take it seriously.

Seriously, man, I live in a constant state of fear of poverty (and by that I mean including death by poverty), and I've got money in the family. 

So I just want to stress, please be cautious and take things seriously.  The world is a very terrible and awful place, and you are incredibly lucky to have a subsistence job at the Gas Company.  You're not just playing around with a little mishap, you're playing around with a painful, miserable death, as is any american who becomes unemployed.

[opebo]

He has to be kidding us.

How can it be that a poor person exists who does not fear the pains of death by starvation?

[opebo]

Moral of the story: Listen to opebo.

How is that the moral of the story? I'd say it is rather "listen to anyone who posted in this thread".

I don't think anyone posted anything other than warnings.

True but I was the most vociferous and extreme, because I am the most pessimistic person on the forum.  The moral is:  he who is most pessimistic is oracle.

[opebo]

You just wanted another opportunity to engage in your usual ravings on how horrible it is to be poor, living in America today and how good it is to have a public sector job.

Yes of course!  And all of those things are absolutely true, Gustaf.

You took a pretty limited interest in the actual case, unlike the people who actually put in research or valid points on the specifics of this situation.

Only an imbecile would need to research this to know it was what it was, Gustaf.   (not dissimilar from the economics thread).

[opebo]

That's not the point...the point was that this actually convinced BushOK to not go through with it. That is, those people actually did some good for him instead of using this as an excuse to recycle their tired tirades about politics.

But my tirades, however tired, are always correct, Gustaf.  I'm not going to jump through hoops to get some worker to recognize himself, when I've already trotted out the truth for him once.  Good lord man, if we set ourselves up to actually reform the idiocy of the masses, rather than just poke fun at them for it, we'd live a life of even great frustration.

[opebo]

Can you move to your parents' basement?  (does he have parents?  Is Oklahoma one of those states without basements?  maybe they live in a trailer?)

[opebo]

Is Oklahoma one of those states without basements? 

Tornadoes & whatnot

That's good - so maybe they have a basement.

BUSHOK, do you have parents?  Do they have a basement?  Can you move to that basement?

(don't worry too much about the Brown Recluse, its better than under the Bridge).

By the way if you keep asking us to 'Pray for you' we might take offense..

[opebo]

Dam. Spare room?  Some of those Mo-Biles are pretty big.  Is it a sixteen by eighty?

Ok, seriously, why is it no one doubts the authenticity of BushOK?

[opebo]

There is a lesson here about not quitting your job without two weeks notice. Even if you get a new obviously legitimate one it's quite possible it just won't work out. In BushOK's case if he had bothered to do so he could've just rescinded his resignation now and the whole thing would've just have been a rather embarrassing experience instead of the crisis it is now.

Very true, though in general it is highly inadvisable for any poor to quit a job, and most particularly a job at a public utility.

Really BushOK was incredibly lucky to have as good a position as he had - the majority of poors work for $7-8/hour and have to do backbreaking labour.

[opebo]

Working at a big box store or fast food outlet is backbreaking labour?

Yes, obviously.  If you think otherwise you have no idea what it is like.

I once worked at a supermarket for a day, and I was required to stand up the entire time!  I was shocked.

[opebo]

I have a hard labor job where I make $9 an hour interning at a law firm too. I understand opebo's plight! I haven't had a thing to do productive all day! Just standing and sitting at a computer with occasional request to go to the courthouse which is an unreasonable 2 blocks away!

Spoiled boy, imagine being required to stand on a concrete floor for 4 hours, then 4 hours again after a brief eating-break.  Do you not understand that this will cause severe pain in legs and feet, and in many cases permanent damage?

[opebo]

Man up dude.  I'm glad you have a soft job and stipend to ease the pain. 

So says another privileged.  How many fat assed office workers sitting in ergonomic chair will we hear from?

The term 'back-breaking labor' implies labour which causes physical pain, exhaustion, and even physical changes.  I for one certainly believe that the toils forced upon poors at the Fast Food restaurant and the 'Big Box' store fit that definition perfectly.

I wouldn't mind your offensive disregard for their condition if they were getting a $35/hour union wage, full benefits, and retirement, but they get less than subsistence.  (I grew up around construction guys who suffered abominably due to toils, but at least they got a living out of it).

[opebo]

I guess you can't call me out opie. I've put in my fair share of 16 hour days.

Well you haven't made the assertion from a well-padded desk chair that people toiling in Fast Food or Retail shops aren't doing hard labours.

[opebo]

I guess you can't call me out opie. I've put in my fair share of 16 hour days.

Well you haven't made the assertion from a well-padded desk chair that people toiling in Fast Food or Retail shops aren't doing hard labours.

They are doing hard labours.......but they don't whine like you're doing.

They bloody well aught to whine, GG.  Accepting miseries imposed on you by force by your betters is not a sign of strength of character - its a sign of weakness.

Do you know that in Europe cashiers sit on little seats, GG?

[opebo]

They bloody well aught to whine, GG.  Accepting miseries imposed on you by force by your betters is not a sign of strength of character - its a sign of weakness.

Like Thai hookers?

Well, its not a good example as they actually recline in their work, much less have to stand up all day.

[opebo]

What job could BushOK possibly get other than a minimum wage one?

Heck if I went back to the Bad Place that's all I could get.

[opebo]

Opie, you could bring some ladies back with you and be a pimp. Lol

Ugh.  Little life lesson for you fellows - don't ever turn what you love into a job.  You'll just ruin the fun in it.

[opebo]

I think you'd probably be able to do better than minimum wage, although you'd have to keep your attitude hidden. As an employer, I don't like it when my employees try to tell me what they believe themselves to be worth. But they're all making far beyond minimum wage, too.

Well thanks for the encouraging words (however little I believe them), but obviously I never reveal anything in real life exept the most obsequious a*s-kissing.  What sort of employer are you, J-Mann?

[opebo]

Don't they have Real Companies in Oklahoma?  I mean, I know Real Ones only pay $7-8/hour, but anyway they're real.

[opebo]

Yes, but I can't make $1,300 a month worth of bills on $8.00 an hour.

Well how does the rest of the country do it?

(seriously I don't know how about 60% of the population even survives)

[opebo]

seriously I don't know how about 60% of the population even survives)

A variety of means. Help from family. Crime. Government assistance. Not paying bills. Charity. A combination of many of these.

Well, I know that the poor live very short lives - usually dying off somewhere between 30s and late 50s - but, still that's still a lot of months to months, and hand-to-mouths.  It really is astounding they live even as long as they do.