I'm just not sure if $15 an hour to run the already-low-performing drive through at McDs is worth the tradeoff for going through the same hassle for what will then be an $12 big mac... just saying. Yeah, $15 an hour is peanuts as it is but you have to motivate people to do more than fast food. I'm not sure we want to make fast food a long-term goal for adults. This should be a high school job. Or a community college job; and if we have 2 years of free community college sooner than later, people won't have as much worry about getting "stuck" in a "low paying" fast food job as part of their survival plan in their 30s while raising 3 kids. Maybe? You pay them more, prices are gonna go up no matter what. And I thought that problem is that people aren't making enough to afford the current prices for anything? EDIT: yes, I am aware of Europe. A lot of things may be better elsewhere, just like a lot of things (though fewer than ever?) are better here. It would be better for all if their restaurant pay system were in place here, but trying to change the way we do it to how they do it would not automatically mean it would be successful here. Our system is what it is, and evolution is (probably for the best) a slow process.
I like a few points that you’ve made here, especially about folks getting “stuck in low-paying fast-food jobs as adults”. That’s absolutely true. A million years ago, when I was young, you used to see mature managers at fast food restaurants, with an all-teenaged staff working the counters, and cooking the food. While $15 an hour may seem like an “outrageous” sum to pay fast food workers, there are a lot of adults working in that industry because they live in areas where other jobs and educational opportunities are not available to them. Also, I’d like to call attention to the fact that during the last 40 years, our economy has switched from primarily a “manufacturing economy”, where all the family-wage jobs once were, to a “high-tech/service industry” economy, where you have highly skilled/high paying jobs on one end, and unskilled/low paying jobs, on the other. There’s just not that much in-between anymore. And while most people get all excited about hearing that a business like “Apple” will be moving into our area, only highly-educated workers will see any real benefit from that, and you better believe that these workers are rewarded handsomely for their knowledge. (average salary for jobs at the new Apple facility is reported to be over 90k per year.) There will be corollary benefits to having more high-tech industries relocate to our area, however, in that more service industries will open to cater to more of these high-tech workers (new restaurants, lawn maintenance workers, housecleaners, home builders, etc., which will be good news for you personally, if you are a small business owner, because you’ll be able to charge more money for your services, and folks making a combined income of 200k, WILL NOT BAT AN EYE in paying you more. So, just raise your prices, treat people well, and you’ll be just fine. The negative part of our new reality, just on the horizon, is that folks at the opposite end of the economic spectrum will get squeezed even more. Everything will get more expensive for them, but their wages will not substantially increase. Unless, they “win the lottery”, “take out expensive loans to educate themselves”, or “go into high-demand trades”, they will be stuck. I’m of the opinion that every working American deserves a living wage, no matter what it is that they do for work. Remember, it wasn’t too long ago that a factory worker making the same widget all day long, could afford a decent home, car, medical insurance etc., and also send their kids to college. And I don’t think that these workers worked any “better”, or “harder”, than most of the fast food workers I see out there. In fact, my husband and I once forced our son to work at McDonalds for a summer when he was in high school, just to make him appreciate the value of minimum wage work, and the people who work there. They had him doing all sorts of things there, and he used to come home covered in grease and smelling like a French fry, but he said that he never worked harder in his life! Lesson learned, I suppose, because after he quit, he soon came up with a “MAJOR LIFE PLAN”, which didn’t include ever working at a fast food restaurant again! Lol. But for a good number of workers, that will be all that is available to them. Not everyone has the ability, or the wherewithal, to work in a high-tech job, but does that mean that our service workers should not be allowed to earn a living wage?
You can make $100k+ in many trade jobs with almost no education. Plumber, electrician, welder, etc. It's just that most people don't want to get their hands dirty to make good money. Even Novo Nordisk and Grifols will hire individuals with nothing more than an NC BioWorks certificate, which only takes 16 weeks to get at a few hundred dollars. No other college needed. Good pay and full benefits, lots of room to prove yourself and grow. But many think that is too much work to get some decent money.
Not to help this thread veer further off course, but therein lies the issue. I am where I am today because I got laid off and had to pay the bills. Adversity forced me out of my comfort zone into a new field, 2 decades later, I am making a good living running my own ship and more than I likely would have otherwise. Before that, I was all about "how does someone with a degree ever get ahead?" "Why can't I get more help so I can pay my bills?" You have seen studies that weekly fasting help all kinds of medical conditions, and the most recent one shows that intermittent fasting helps with memory. If intermittently depriving our bodies of what all people would agree we should never be deprived of and should always have all the food we "need" (want) can actually help us live longer and healthier and improve our memories as we age, does it not stand to reason that any number of people who ended up better off in their 30s, or 40s, or 50s/etc did so because they faced a little economic adversity which primed their "hunger" to try something new, gain a skill, apply for a job they might have thought themselves unqualified for in the past, or otherwise lacked the self-confidence to try earlier? I came up in a time when everyone assumed a 4 year degree was all you needed; many of my peers are still struggling, and in that 2-3 decade period, we realize that everyone needs a college degree or to learn a trade just to even have hope of treading water. So while I don't think lulling people in menial jobs into feeling like they are just fine as they are, and that they deserve-to-be-just-as-successful-as-anyone-else-so-here-is-a-free-raise-for-doing-nothing is the proper way to help our citizens survive and thrive, I do believe we - as a society and country - have a duty to provide the means for our citizens to access the basic tools to survive and thrive. We offer free high school, which was the recipe for success 60 or 70 years ago, so why in the world don't we offer free 2 year community college so someone can learn a trade, or get 2 years of credits to transfer to a 4 year program afterward? I, too know someone like Jesse who recently got the Bioworks cert and moved from pizza to Lowes to working at one of the companies Jesse mentioned. It doesn't take much initiative for someone to take advantage of free education and better themselves above fast food, just like it doesn't take much initiative to take more money for the same or less work and choose to do absolutely nothing to better your situation because you have no real incentive to do so. Also, plenty of people in restaurant and landscaping make a ton of money. Are you good at what you do, and work at a top restaurant making more than the median income, or do you just wake up every day to go flip burgers and complain? Do you get referrals from neighbors or businesses because of your great work, or do you just show up to push a mower everyday, dreading it? Somewhere, there has to be incentive to WANT to do more, and free comm coll can help pave the way. But telling people who are unmotivated t hat it's ok to just sit right where they are and all will be taken care of is not the way, IMHO.
This is very true. In the 1980s, everybody wanted to be a corporate middle manager of some kind, and got a college degree to achieve that goal, only to be laid off when the mergers started and they began firing middle managers in droves. These days it’s a good time to go back to traditional trade jobs, or get a two year degree for some of the entry level tech jobs. You’ll need to get more training to keep up with advances in technology, but that’s where you can make a decent income at least.
I like a lot of what you’ve written concerning personal initiative for workers to improve their financial situation. While it’s true that a person can educate themselves to find better jobs and wages, there will ALWAYS be SOMEBODY who will be “serving you in a restaurant”, “cleaning your house”, “mowing your lawn”, “taking care of your kids, or elderly family member”, or any of the myriad services where wages are abysmally low. We are not just going to magically return to the days of my youth, where the majority of workers at fast food restaurants were teenagers working their first jobs.But not every adult has the education, or the intellectual ability to work in the tech industry. So does that mean that these workers should be forced to survive on low wages that have remained stagnant for decades, especially when you take into consideration just how expensive everything is getting? We (in the Raleigh area) are just starting to experience higher home prices, and rent has skyrocketed across the country, especially in secondary cities like Raleigh, or Durham where people and high tech businesses are relocating. (11% of Americans have moved just during the past year alone reportedly for “economic” reasons.) In the end, the market will dictate what people will earn. Amazon will probably be the best example of that when they build more warehouses in the area and pay their workers $15 hour. Employers will have to pay their workers more, just in order to keep up and compete for workers. You’ll probably see more of that happening, as our area continues to transform into a major tech hub, and a much larger city, stretching out in all directions, which will definitely happen in the near future. So why do we continue to punish working people in service jobs whose wages remain flat, and who cannot compete for better paying tech jobs? If anybody has an answer to that question, instead bringing in their personal grievances and resentments into the discussion, I’d sure like to hear about it.
We hopped over to Celtic Creamery at 257 Hwy 210 in Smithfield today to try some of their handmade, Irish style ice cream. They serve many different flavors of ice cream, which was a delicious cross between a “denser Italian gelato” and the more traditional, ice cream style. Portions were huge! They also serve huge sundaes with other specialty toppings. The place is neat and clean with a few tables inside and outside, and the staff was friendly and efficient. What more can you ask for? We especially liked their fresh-tasting, “Carolina Beach Peach”, and their “Irish Butter Pecan” flavor, which turned out to have a much richer flavor than ordinary butter pecan ice creams. It’s a nice place to take the family, and they should do a booming business this summer, once everyone knows where they are. So, glad that they’re finally open! Note: To the mean, middle-aged, female customer in front of me, who refused to take her ONE PENNY change back from the sweet, teenaged cashier, and then dismissively told the cashier to “put it in the tip jar”, while smirking at her like a modern-day Marie Antoinette, I sincerely hope there’s such a thing as “karma”!
The clayton General Store has a new shop going in downtown called the clayton comet creamery. I think they said it would be on Ellington St.
“The Crazy Comet Creamery’s” opening date, at least according to their FaceBook page, is sometime in June. It looks to be a small, “mom and pop” “ice cream shop” that advertises “adult slushies”…..and maybe other treats?….but their uninspiring “business description”, “marketing”, “advertising”, and “strange pictures” on their Facebook page is a little confusing. I mean, let us know: Is this the kind of place that we can bring the kiddies to, or will “junior” be walking a little bit “funny” after that milkshake? It’s not all that clear, exactly what sort of place this will be, so I suppose we’ll just have to wait and see what they come up with. Also, should we be drinking this stuff BEFORE or AFTER we throw the axes at Epic Axe next door? Just askin’. June 8, 2021 Update: “Crazy Comet Creamery”
According to their FaceBook page, Draft & Vine is described as a “tap room and bottle shop”, but I don’t see any mention of food being served there. Maybe down the road, they might consider serving some appetizers to go along with the beverages, but it doesn’t look as though they’re set up for that, or even plan to do that in the future. Like Deep River Brewery in downtown Clayton, they do have different food trucks that show up, so at least you won’t go hungry. Other than that, the interior looks like a slightly classier establishment than what we usually find in Cleveland. All in all, Draft and Vine would be the perfect place to go for casual drinks, and would be a convenient spot for local parents who may be desperate for a night out together, without having to go into downtown Clayton, or all the way into Raleigh. Note: They have set up some outdoor seating since that picture was taken.
June 8 Update: Draft & Vine I spoke with one of the owners today, who was very personable and easy-going, and also took some pictures for those of you who may have driven by, but who haven’t stopped in yet. There’s a good selection of wines, beer, and non-alcoholic beverages, situated alongside an on-tap bar, with cozy, welcoming spaces featuring upholstered chairs and sofas to sink into. There’s also a private room with tables and large flat screen TVs all around. Outdoor seating is available, and new shade umbrellas arrived today. This is definitely the kind of place that will do well in Cleveland, and I hope that the owners will be very successful in this location!
These new buildings are being constructed on West Main Street and Irondale in downtown Clayton. (They’re just up the road from Deep River Brewery.) I spoke to the construction foreman there who said that they have already leased out one of the spaces to Subway, but are building out a larger restaurant space on the corner with outdoor seating. As of yet, it is undetermined who will be leasing the space, so that’ll be a good spot to keep an eye on.
Dropped in for lunch today at a relatively new Portuguese Restaurant in Fuquay. “Little Portugal” is one of those “mom and pop” gems that opened about a year ago by a Portuguese-American couple from Long Island, and features freshly-made Portuguese favorites. It also has cold cases and a market section, that offer Portuguese meats and sausages, which I was told, are a “favorite” of discerning Southern cooks in the area. And I can see why. We sampled some sausages today, and the flavors and textures were just incredible! As the Portuguese are known for their various fish dishes, we tried their large fried sardines, a spicy Portuguese beef salad, and for dessert, a fat, and very delicious Portuguese donut dusted with sugar (they’re a little more fluffy and cake-like, and definitely less greasy than our American donuts.) And then to top things off we had more dessert, (because you can’t ever have enough dessert!) which included the national pride of Portugal - a pasteis de nata - a small, slightly sweet, egg cus-My Friend tart. (My goodness, has the web administrator gone and changed ALL the words with tar(r)d in them? Sigh.) Anyway, the pasteis de natas were great as a dessert, and tasted a bit like a rich crème brûlée, but could also make a nice snack on its own, with a cup of hot coffee too. The restaurant itself is very clean and inviting, and the service was warm and friendly, and I can’t say enough about the owners who are thrilled to be able to “live their dream” of serving authentic Portuguese dishes to local diners. So, if you haven’t tried Portuguese food before, consider yourself lucky to have “Little Portugal” close by. They’re at 736 N. Main Street in Fuquay, right next to Guardian Angel Thrift Store. Hours are: Sunday 11-3 Monday Closed. Tuesday- Saturday 11-7.
One of the long time conservative posters here loves to use the term T-A-R-D in some form to describe other posters, so they did a global change to "my friend" when the specific four letters were used. Of course the current trend is to call everyone some version of "tardd" to get around the global change.
This thread was going along in fine fashion till ACW popped in and drug it into the gutter for no good reason at all. Not sure of the motive or why but clearly it wasn’t needed. Good job
