The local daily has been running articles on labor problems in Asheville. In the restaurant business, people don’t want to work. The new work ethic is to talk on the cell phone, flirt, and grunt when customers interrupt. Then, wages are not enough at forty hours a week, let alone thirty. Any benefits must include health care first, rather than something employees value.
The latest article reminded me of when I landed a temporary job in a factory a few years ago. I was surprised to learn it was typical for laborers to take payday off to go partying. For me, the work was a second job. It was the only job for folks who could afford a couple days off a month plus party expenses. Surely they had assistance, from family or government, with rent and food.
Musing, I see a class structure developing. The government is striving to get people dependent on it for food. That enables grocers to raise average prices as demand for cheap food is reduced. So as wages cease to rise, there’s nothing the middle-income people can afford, so they have to apply for government food.
The only industry that seems to be going on anymore is with the techies. Super eggheads who can invent stuff every day can command a salary. The rest of us can remain fat on our government food and dumb and happy because the money we save on food can pay for stupid cable TV and smartphone programming.
