laid-off white-collar professional poster child needed (one of two)

[Brian Kelsay]

Karl Schmidt wrote:
> 
> This is a bizarre thread to me. Why don't we all just work for the 
> government so that non of us has to hustle any more and we will all have 
> great benefits and long vacations*.
> 
> Oh wait isn't that what we fought the cold war to avoid?
> 
> I started out in business with $20 and lots of hard work - and now both 
> Dems and Republicans are going socialist which will take the 
> opportunities I had away from my kids.
> 
> I suggest you travel to countries that embrace socialism and see for 
> yourself how great these ideals are in reality - I've seen for myself.
> 
> Why in the world do so many want to go down a road that has been shown 
> not to work? Why do you want your neighbors to pay your medical bills?
> 
> *(just like they did in the USSR? -- not)

Dude, you are warped.  Why didn't you strip my name out of there if you 
were not quoting me?  Are you trying to make me look psycho?

Actually I work for a contract company that placed me at a government 
office.  When I worked for the City of KCMO I was an employee of the 
City.  They all have computers, so I believe it is legitimate work. 
Governments need tech support, programmers and network support.  Neither 
was my first choice, merely the longest term gig I could get. 
Apparently a bunch of the companies in this town want you to spring from 
the ground fully trained in the specifics of their company with 4 years 
experience in something that has only been around for 3 yrs.  I had 
probably 15-20 interviews before I got a position.  I know people that 
maybe had 3 interviews over the summer.  Their resume or skillset wasn't 
good enough to get them in the door.  I must have come in 2nd or 3rd in 
over half of those interviews.  I feel bad for those that didn't make it 
that far or are still looking.

What I would like to see is some revision in the unemployment benefit 
plan.  I have paid in tons of money I will never get out.  I got it to 
dribble a bit over the summer, but its not near enough to pay the bills 
for a month and when you work a couple of hours here and there it 
trickles.  Hell, let me get half of what I was making before until it 
runs out.  At least I can eat and pay the mortgage.  And if you have a 
second job when you lose your first, you don't see a dime.  That and the 
unemployment office is completely worthless for helping find a job.

The real sad thing is that companies look more to steal employees from 
each other, endlessly back and forth rather than hire from the pool of 
the unemployed.  There are trainable people out there.

Oh, and for your $20 and hard work comment: I don't want to start a 
business, I've started three.  I don't have the capital ($20 bucks will 
barely buy you an ad or business cards) and I am still recovering from 
money spent on the most expensive of those businesses.  Gee, imagine 
that, some businesses fail in this country.  In fact, probably something 
like 50-75% of small businesses fail.  I did learn a lesson.  I don't 
want to work for myself, and the paperwork sucks.  I should have done 
that crap when I was single.

And I'm not a Socialist.  We'd still have Socialist enemies if we didn't 
have a government sponsored military infrastructure.  That was the point 
I was getting across.  Also, by having a government sponsored science 
infrastructure, the science and military can feed off of each other.

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Somewhere there is a village missing an idiot.