Have to Flush yet another Teenage Helper

[Zeke]

Originally Posted by Seahawk

Well done, AG.

For comparisons sake, in real world numbers, I made $1.60 an hour during the summer between my Junior and Senior years in High School as a bottom dwelling laborer at a golf course under construction.

1974. South Carolina. Hot, as humid as a warm shower.

My "job", along with a bunch of other HS kids, was to pick up roots in the fairways under construction, put them in a wicker basket, take them to the truck, dump basket of roots...repeat.

A month in I was promoted to helping level greens with a top dressing machine. $1.75 an hour. Do a little dance.

So, today: https://www.calculator.net/inflation-calculator.html?cstartingamount1=1.60&cinyear1=1974&coutyear1=2021&calctype=1&x=64&y=13

Run the numbers. AG is fair.

BTW, quick Sea Story. My best friend, Brian (headed to UGA in the Fall), lipped off to the 21 year-old supervisor who had just graduated from Clemson with an ag degree. Brian was/is funny: Brian was fired.

The next morning, Brian shows up with his Mom, who I loved and knew for decades. We, the un-fired, are all watching. She gets the supervisor and the head greens man and tells them they will have no more problems with Brian if they give him a chance.

They did, back on the squad. No one gave Brian any crap because every one of our parents would have done the exact same thing.

1964. $1.91/hr working for General Telephone (GTE) climbing old splintery poles with climbing hooks and stripping down lead sheathed cable and putting back up plastic covered (and larger) copper cable. In six months my first union pay raise was scheduled to kick in, a nickel. $1.96 — whoopee! 2 dollars more a week for dangerous and dirty work.

I quit 6 weeks into the new pay period knowing that in 6 more months I'd get a dime raise. As a lineman, part of the job was to go down into manholes and pull underground cable. Funny how you can be in a hole with 200 cockroaches and not one will touch you. Of course when the cable splicers got there, it got cleaned up like a surgery room.

Mike Rowe should have been there.

6 years later I was making $6.05/hr as a painter on the Queen Mary after it arrived as a permanent fixture on the Long each skyline. Rent for a one bedroom was 100 bucks. That's when I started looking at Porsches.

[Evans, Marv]

AG, I suppose your experience shows it's not always the best to expend energy trying to fix a situation as compared to finding new resources. Mayber you finally realized the better avenue was to just try for a quicker route to a better solution to your situation, & it worked out. Kind of a lesson learned. Congrats.

[stevej37]

I have to give the kid a lot of credit.
I would have walked off the job at that time in my life.

[KFC911]

Originally Posted by Evans, Marv

AG, I suppose your experience shows it's not always the best to expend energy trying to fix a situation as compared to finding new resources. Mayber you finally realized the better avenue was to just try for a quicker route to a better solution to your situation, & it worked out. Kind of a lesson learned. Congrats.

He'll eventually buy a big azz Stihl backpack blower or a Cyclone rake. They don't discover girlz after a year or two

[Evans, Marv]

Originally Posted by KC911

He'll eventually buy a big azz Stihl backpack blower or a Cyclone rake. They don't discover girlz after a year or two

Ha! Probably true, but a new lesson learned,

[HobieMarty]

This is an awesome topic, notes taken.

Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk

[Por_sha911]

Originally Posted by asphaltgambler

Part of this as I have posted before, is mentoring youth, prepping for their next real 'job'. Specifically teaching them what 'on time' means, value of work and learning to use tools, good communication skills, etc. Also if they have something on their mind they want to talk about, which they frequently do after some time spent working together.

I'm glad you found a hard worker. It is a big win for you.
I'm sad that the previous kid didn't get the mentoring he needed. The current one doesn't need mentoring-he's already got the right upbringing and attitude. All he's getting is income. I only wish there was some way you could have reached the other kid. He's the one that needs help.
My dad used to take more time teaching me how to do something than it would have taken for him to do it himself. He wasn't getting a free worker as much as he was investing into my life.

[Crowbob]

I worked for my dad for 7 years. Then, once I got my driver’s license, I worked for somebody else and got paid cash money! That lasted 50 years or so on and off.

One time on the job my dad yelled, ‘Go bring me that empty bucket of water!’

‘But it’s empty!

‘Then fill it up!

He also told me he never wanted to see me walking around the job with empty hands.

Why not?

Because you’re on a job, not on a hike!

[KFC911]

Originally Posted by Crowbob

I worked for my dad for 7 years. Then, once I got my driver’s license, I worked for somebody else and got paid cash money! That lasted 50 years or so on and off.

One time on the job my dad yelled, ‘Go bring me that empty bucket of water!’

‘But it’s empty!

‘Then fill it up!

He also told me he never wanted to see me walking around the job with empty hands.

Why not?

Because you’re on a job, not on a hike!

Oh yeah .... get 'em started smoking early .... "Look dad... no empty hands"...

WHACK!

[masraum]

Originally Posted by Por_sha911

I'm glad you found a hard worker. It is a big win for you.
I'm sad that the previous kid didn't get the mentoring he needed. The current one doesn't need mentoring-he's already got the right upbringing and attitude. All he's getting is income. I only wish there was some way you could have reached the other kid. He's the one that needs help.

Yep, but you can't fix everyone, especially as an outsider, if they don't want to be fixed.

My dad used to take more time teaching me how to do something than it would have taken for him to do it himself. He wasn't getting a free worker as much as he was investing into my life.

Same here. At the time, I felt differently. But now I know and am thankful.

[asphaltgambler]

So the previous kid has been with us over a year on / off. It was basically his mother intervening. This last time he looked and acted more mature, and I had a lot of work to do that day, so I looked forward with high hopes it would be 'drama' free. So not quite halfway into the day, I'm in the garage juggling 3 different vehicles, catching up on my whiteboard posted in my mind when all h@ll breaks loose, and pretty much everything runs off the rails.

This had happened before, but this time I was done. I mean D-U-N with him / his mother. I think I was more p*ssed off that his mom ordered him to come home immediately and he literally dropped the tools, came into my garage crying - then rode off into the sunset...…….

I gave him more than enough time and attention, so I have no problem moving on. At the end of the day, the primary goal is help around our property with mentoring a close second.

[Baz]

Originally Posted by Por_sha911

I'm glad you found a hard worker. It is a big win for you.
I'm sad that the previous kid didn't get the mentoring he needed. The current one doesn't need mentoring-he's already got the right upbringing and attitude. All he's getting is income. I only wish there was some way you could have reached the other kid. He's the one that needs help.
My dad used to take more time teaching me how to do something than it would have taken for him to do it himself. He wasn't getting a free worker as much as he was investing into my life.

Perhaps the first kid DID RECEIVE the mentoring - but the timing wasn't right for him to demonstrate it took.

How many times did our parents tell us stuff - and we ignored their sage advice?

And.......maybe the new kid needs this OJT to help bolster what his folks have already started.

Not arguing with you Joe - just offering a different perspective.

None of us truly know what the future will hold. It's all just speculation and theory.

But I like the whole concept of trying to mentor the kids - they could use as much of it as we can provide.

Well done, Gambler.

[asphaltgambler]

Thanks, it IS work - but I feel called to do it.

[KFC911]

Originally Posted by asphaltgambler

Thanks, it IS work - but I feel called to do it.

I bet you made a difference even with the kid that left ... and you tried !