I read this before my morning coffee and then again after to see if I could make better sense of it. I read a similar letter to the editor of the LDS a month or two back. I assume you were the author.
I'm struggling with; how does "not tipping" the person who gets up and goes to work (maybe to evolve out of section 8) help the problem? Why are you taking your anger against a politician, out against the "blue collar" who are working?

Summer Help
 

Please let me clarify so you can enjoy your next cup of coffee. The tip jar I was referring to is actually called a Dip Jar from the “no profit” LRCD group. Their charter is to create low cost clean housing for healthy living, however, it is often used as section 8 housing. This organization has made quite a few locals very rich under the heading low cost housing for all. FYI I am a excellent tipper and not the author you read


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Thank you for clarifying. I was not familiar with the Dip Jar.

It is not just part time workers though. Help is very hard to find for everybody. It seems most people who want a job have one.

People that are here are not all bad tippers. Generalizing can get you in trouble. I have been here my entire life and I have always been a good tipper. When I was young I was a server. The tips were always good in the Lakes Region. How do you know that tips are bad? Do you own a food establishment or have you been a server in the area?

Did I say the tips were bad? I asked a question.


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Please list all of the ways school kids can get on the "dole".

Please be specific.

1. Living with parents who have no expectation for their children to work. As mentioned above, my children (26 and 22) were anomalies with respect to their friends, many of whom never worked until after their first year of college, if at all.

Well, suffering from sciatica, I NEED to sit my butt down on some days.

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My dad had a different philosophy. he grew up in Brooklyn, NY IN THE 20’s & 30’s and worked (including the Army during WW2 & putting himself thru college) every day until he passed away. I wanted to get a job burning high school and he didn’t want me to. He told me, “You are going to be working the rest of your life. I want you to enjoy being young.”


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Baygo has added some good perspective to this thread. Thank you.
Some thoughts that might help, but are not universally applicable.
In my day at summer jobs, 2-4 kids would rent a cottage for the summer and share. Sometimes this was at a campground. Some resorts had and still have,. accommodations for staff.
I'd recommend a bonus at the end of the season for staff who stay through an agreed upon date.
The McDonald's example above for tuition assistance is great, but harder for independent restaurants. They could offer signing bonuses to get good workers to come back next year.
For diners: Going to a restaurant cold and expecting a table immediately is probably a thing of the past. Learn to make reservations. If the establishment doesn't offer that service, go someplace that does, or be satisfied waiting in line.
More restaurants should be taking reservations online. Even my barber shop does this. It's a great convenience as well as a good tracking tool for management.
Learn to serve earlier. Learn to eat earlier. You don't have to be over 70 to seat for the early bird special. Same applies for those who might be able to eat at 9:00. Give them a special too.
The Common Man, and others, puts out cheese and crackers for customers to serve themselves as they are seated. Takes a little timing pressure off clients and servers. Remember when salad bars were popular? Same purpose. Why did those go away?
Don't forget that it is not only the servers who are limiting the number of tables that are open. Kitchen staff only has so many burners and ovens on the stove, and food won't cook any faster because the dining room has a waiting line.
Maybe this happens and I don't see it: Schools that offer hospitality industry curricula could be more formal in giving credit for seasonal related jobs that would allow work in May and September. There re schools that offer the month of January for independent study. Could the ski industry benefit.

I repeat my favorite: ONLINE RESERVATIONS benefit client and management.

I'm not going to criticize the approach. Every case is different. You were obviously mature enough to handle it and to appreciate the gift your dad gave you. However, I will mention that there is a certain amount of dignity in work. Also, the pride of doing a job well can give a young person self confidence.

We had a 19 year old work for us for three days and average $250 per day. His parents told him to quit because they would lose section 8 housing because of the increase to household income.

I agree with you. Developing that self confidence transfers to everything you do thru your life. There are a lot of kids that never earn it and, unfortunately it effects their lives negatively. I was lucky that I had other avenues to go down to build it when I was in my formative years.


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Great lesson in life from the parents...….better to be on the dole than work hard and have pride.

Really? They would count the 19-yr-old's income as "household income"? Interesting. Well, I guess if he's living there...

Did the 19 yr old end up quiting or did he stay and maybe get some advice about how to help his parents and still work for you. He must have been a good waiter to make that much in tips.

As a high school teacher, I often see students working too often, especially for what they are using much of the money for--cellphone bills, clothing, etc.--and what they're missing--full involvement in sports, activities, social and family life, etc.

Jobs can provide good learning experiences, but too many hours can be detrimental.

Edit: remembered this was a summer job posting. I'd like ALL my students to work during summer, but then cut back a bit during school.

Peace!

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They don’t count income from family members 18 and UNDER . But do count the income on members 19. Before you are so self righteous about being on the dole keep in mind that they may be on assistance because of disabilities. The loss of assistance could include other family members health insurance and the property could be section 8 only and they could be required to move. The temporary summer income could cause a family with genuine issues to be on the street.

Not everyone on assistance is trying to steal your tax money. You lack all the facts to make comments

True, not all people on public assistance are out to milk the system but there is a portion of the population that do just that and it costs those of us that have worked well in excess of 40 hours a week for years and have made many sacrifices such as missed school concerts, working on a holiday if needed, weekends as needed and generally whatever it takes to get ahead, a lot of $$$. I can’t blame any successful hard working individual for being suspicious when it comes to individuals requesting public assistance. Public assistance is something that defines us as a civilized nation but we need to guard against the abuses of the system so that it retains it’s integrity and original intention, a short term safety net, not a permanent lifestyle.


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Sports, social and family life are all important for sure but how about teaching kids a good work ethic? There is great satisfaction to earning your own money, to be appreciated on the job and the comradery that comes from working with others.
Most small business' rely on summer sales to get through the year and we rely heavily on seasonal staff.
I've noticed over the years that schools give little thought to the needs of local business, often scheduling activities on weekends and busy holidays.
We all happily support the schools when they seek donations for sports activities, after prom parties, school trips and many other requests.....wish they would work a little closer with the business community.

Unfortunately there are individuals from all walks of life, economic and social strata that scam the system. From politicians to public safety to teachers to landscapers. Whether it be skimming tax dollars, cheating on overtime, or not reporting cash income, it is all the same. I guess we really need to guard against scamming in all “systems” and not just focus on what we may feel are just give sways.


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Don't forget corporations and corporate welfare, too!Sent from my Moto G (5S) Plus using Tapatalk

In my school's town, there is a strong connection between businesses and student workers. The issue is that there is just so much time students have and, for most of them, the financial reward for sports, activities, and academic scholarships is greater than the money they can make in part-time jobs. Add to that the increased chances of getting into their chosen college(s) via the diversity offered by those activities, and it becomes a hard sell for students to work a lot.

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The government thinks of us senior citizens as being on the dole also. Even though the working class has paid into it for their whole life we have to fight to keep SS alive. Unlike the people that haven't worked and get everything for free anyway.

In the spirit of inclusiveness, don't forget about civic welfare with all the do nothing government jobs.

I'd like my more educated brethren explain to me how corporate welfare works. Corporations obtain tax breaks and incentives to keep more of their own money. It's their money, not ours or the government's. A small price to pay in consideration that corporations provide jobs and feed our economy. What's the payback for social welfare, except more of it.

I think the label "corporate welfare" emerge about a decade ago when the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) money was used to prop up the financial system. What many people are not aware of or refuse to bring into the conversation is that TARP was distributed as a loan and the US government made out quite well when it was repaid with interest from those who took advantage of it.

The world has change drastically in the passed two decades. Interest in sports is declining and in many cases a college degree is not worth the e-mail it was delivered by. Our youth are coming out of school with graduate degrees but unable to find employment to pay down their significant dept. If they don't enter the workforce and instead return to add to their degree they don't have to make payments.

I ask you as the educator to please just take one student and promote a solid entrepreneurial work ethic. I believe that student will build for four years and then be in position to provide jobs to those who choose to spend four years in accumulating dept in college.

Educators play lesser of a role in molding success today. The answer to every question is in the palm of our hands. We need coaches/counselors that motivate our youth to understand and take initiative.

If you want to study the entrepreneur, study the juvenile delinquent... the delinquent is saying with his actions "this sucks. I'm going to do my own things" Yvon Chouinard

TARP created the label BAILOUT, "corpotate welfare" has been aroound for many many decades.

To your first point, the majority of our students (scheduling sometimes prevents all) take both business and financing classes. We have a strong DECA program, and what is missed in specific classes is often made up across other disciplines. For example, math classes often use finances, taxes, etc. as material to teach concepts.

To your second point, that's absolutely false. Given the reduction of religion in today's youth, along with the increased need for many (most?) parents to work more/longer hours, students have increasingly turned to teachers, coaches, and other sources of mentorship than ever before. In fact, I'm confident one of the major reasons (some of) America's schools struggle is the reduction of positive influence outside of school. I'm a damn good teacher, but even at my best it's difficult to overcome a home-life marked by parental absence, substance abuse, mental illness, financial stress, domestic abuse, etc.

In the end, however, we agree that's there's real value in learning to have a strong work ethic and financial literacy/entrepreneurship.

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Enjoyed reading everyone’s thoughts on the youth of today and welfare fraud, however, the tread was about lack of help for local businesses. The Laconia population is made up of retirees, those needing city assistance and adults with young families. The college age students seem to move away quickly and don’t return. What can we do as a city, business and parents to improve the situation for next season


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The Laconia City Council has already made this decision -- invest in Section 8 housing. Go downtown during the day and you'll see our future. Unfortunately, it's not very bright.

At election time we need to change the council


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For instance...
 

...the adoption of Medicare reduced the % of seniors living in poverty from around 35% down to around 12%.

Who pays for Medicare? Taxpayers and employers (FICA-HI)

I look at it differently. We're creating another safety net, and not empowering individuals to take ownership of their own retirement. I'd rather have the money that I've contributed to Medicare for the past 30+ years, invest it, and manage on my own. I would even be willing to pay a percentage (25%) and opt out to manage my own funds. SSN for that matter too.

That's fine for you but if you left retirement up to most individuals there would be a severe senior citizen poverty population. One worse than what already exists.
Life happens and many people dip into their IRA's and 401K's when set backs in their life and work history arises. Not everyone is always financially stable throughout their life time.
If we didn't have SS we would have a lot more senior citizens on welfare which would be far worse.

Guaranteed...to a point.
 

What many miss about Medicare & Social Security when they claim "I paid for it" is that most will receive greater benefits than their contributions & interest would cover. AND its a lifetime guarantee. Much more like a combination of annuity & insurance.
Like any annuity & insurance policy the 'guaranty' is only as good as the guarantor which in this case is the US govt. The risk that these programs will 'run out of money' due to deficit spending, most recently accelerated greatly due to recent tax cuts, are balanced by the taxation power of a nation. I can't even hallucinate a scenario where US politicians would vote in a majority to reduce seniors benefits ... so the taxes will go up & benefits will be paid.

I can and it's not even a hallucination. Consider several European countries that are now on the brink of bankruptcy because leaders over promised benefits to people. Governments have limits on the amount of money they can pretend to have. They go into debt. Someone needs to pick up that debt. If the debt is excessive, creditors will not buy in because they know the government can go into default and they would lose their investment. Think Greece. They have had to be bailed out repeatedly in recent times.

Besides that, there are sneaky government ways to reduce benefits that never require a vote. They reduce the amount they will pay for the benefit. Less providers can afford to do it for that price. Now there is a waiting list that stretches into years. People suffer because they cannot get timely care. They can also deny benefits for various reasons. After you cut through the baloney, the reason they tightened the rules is to cut costs. It's happening NOW under Medicare.

BTW, how did this thread get hijacked from summer help to government benefits?:eek::eek::eek:

Easy, many summer jobs in the Lakes Region are fairly low paying and require fairly low skill levels but are physically taxing. Part of the population that is suited for those jobs finds it easier to rely on a government help rather than filling those positions.


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