Culvers
 

You are extremely naïve or just plain stupid, if you don't understand the implications of extended and increased unemployment benefits. The people can stay on unemployment if they feel unsafe to go back to work, and on top of that, they received a bonus that might come close to doubling their pay! No it is not a local issue, it is a federal government mandate so Florida just can't end it. Yes it is political because we have morons running the system. This is here until 2024 and maybe longer.

That tells me the employers aren’t paying a living wage.

I know of family members one is a 50ish year old with 3 sons. He has held 2 full time jobs for years due to some circumstances ( that I’m not completely sure of ) he cannot collect any unemployment benefits. Meanwhile his 18 year old niece who worked at Showcase Cinemas was collecting $600 per week for months. Here’s a young woman who never earned anywhere close to $600 per week. Yes the system is flawed, whey work when you can collect more not working. Sad, sad condition we are in but you all know that anyway.

I guess you will see the light a little later than some people. Make more staying home, why work?

What you say IS true, but logically instead of the unemployment payments being too HIGH (using the theory of relativity) could not the restaurant pay be too low. Think about that! Why blame the employee for choosing the correct thing to do from their perspective? Why NOT blame the employer for being too greedy to pay their employees a LIVING wage? The reason that the owners do NOT get blamed is that the restaurant customers do NOT want to pay a higher price for their meals. They expect to be served like kings and queens by servers that are caught in a downward cycle of pay that makes them literally "WAGE SLAVES"!

Better to blame the owners that could easily get employees by simply paying higher wages and forcing ALL the other restaurant owners to raise their menu prices. They would then pass the cost (that they can) onto the public. No restaurant owner wants to be the 1st to do this. They would be kicked out of their good-old-boys club! Sure, the public will complain. But, they would then again be able to get the FULL experience of INDOOR DINING. Which the Villages public feels ENTITLED to.

Probably because most of us worked for “slave wages” until our early twenties. The public tit is loaded at this point and you’ll NEVER get people back off of it. Two children family homes have added to this problem in large part with kids who grow up lacking for nothing and the most chores they’ve ever had were walking the dog and making their beds. This problem isn’t limited to TV alone. States are struggling to find competent tradespeople and manufacturing producers. If businesses are able to hire employees, they walk off the job by noon. They state they don’t want to work that hard. Wait until you see what’s coming down the line, try not to end up in assisted living or a nursing home.

Our administration is ruining businesses by giving people money so they all quit. All businesses are having this issue....

This "bonus" was started in the PREVIOUS administration, last year, as the result of the pandemic causing millions of people to be out of work as a result of closures.

While I agree that we're giving too much, I also acknowledge that this is a unique situation that our PLANET has never experienced before, and the attempts to address the situation began over a year ago, when someone else was running the country.

Someone else running the country wanted to lower the unemployment benefit, Dec. 8, 2020.

Yes and back in the day when you had to walk uphill both ways in 6' snow to milk the cows in the back 90, people didn't have to pay over $100,000 per year if they wanted to be a lawyer when they grew up. In fact, MOST people could afford to go to some kind of secondary school beyond 12th grade, and states had funds with super low interest rates to accommodate those who couldn't afford the cash but whose parents could co-sign for the long-term payback.

Back in the day when minimum wage, combined with 3 roommates, COULD support 4 adults living in a 2-bedroom walkup and allow them to pay all the bills and still have a few coins to toss in the bank. Back in the day, people didn't automatically assume that "independent living" had to mean "owning a nice house in a nice neighborhood and 2 cars." It could mean "renting a modest apartment in a neighborhood that had public transportation to work".

Sadly, many parents of today have taught their children differently. Sadly, those parents were taught by THEIR parents to do things differently. But who were those grandparents? Oh yea - that's right. It's US. And by US I mean people who are currently over 60, who have children, who have children. That wouldn't be me personally since I don't have kids.

Actually, I did grow up on an 80 acre dairy farm, not 90, carried more 5 gallon buckets of milk to be lifted and poured into the strainer than the people in the lovely scenario above would ever consider doing. If you want the laundry list of all the work I performed on that farm, let me know. I was babysitting for neighbors from the age of 12, worked as a “mother’s helper” in the summer for two years beginning in seventh grade for $15./wk with a day off every other weekend. Our larger family couldn’t afford college back then but we all grew up hardworking, successful and failure wasn’t an option. I personally believe the high school education back then was almost the equivalent of many college educations now. By the way, our children had jobs starting at age 15.

As a general statement about restaurants and their patrons - US Americans are the world's leading restaurant-goers - France is 2nd. I do NOT know WHY this is true, but I would be interested in comments. There is probably a historical component to it and possibly a psychological component to it? Possibly being the country with the highest GNP seems to give us ENTITLEMENT to the "dining-out" experience? Scandinavian countries do not engage in the sport of "eating-out" nearly as much as US Americans. WE are the outlier among the 1st world countries.

With reference to employee wages - since 1975 the average US employee has received NO (zero) wage increases to this date - if you take inflation ( or expressed in constant dollars) into consideration. It has been quite different for employers who on average have done quite well - even currently creating in the US the highest wealth gap for all of the 1st world countries! Interestingly, Jeff Besos and Elon Musk together have more WEALTH than the bottom 40% of US citizens. Is that FAIR? Is that Christian? Is that even sustainable?

Let's see we are paying unemployed and extra 300 a week till memorial day

I don’t know why you threw Christian in there as I don’t believe that applies to either of their philosophies and if you think they are too rich, don’t employ their handiwork. Just say “no” is an option.

The eating out bit, watch the drive through restaurants in the evening. You can see Dad or Mom or both driving through with their loaded car seats or middle schoolers or teenagers in the back. There isn't much cooking going on anymore, healthy or otherwise.

Thanks for the empathy! It helps deal with the problem. It makes it all crystal clear.