Is this true, and if so, what do you think?!

Findekano

Lucky you. I managed to get through three semesters of college before I ran out of money to pay for it and had to enter the workforce in order to put food on the table and pay the rent. Unfortunately, that left me without the time to go to school. Suddenly, the loans were due, and paying them back rendered putting food on the table and paying the rent the ONLY things I could do. Forget getting a better education to get a better job. I need a better job just to GET the education. And I'm talking community college here, not private school. The US financial assistance programs for post-secondary education assume that, unless you were abused as a child, joined the military, or got married, your parents are footing the bill until age 24. Now hopefully, when I DO hit 24, I will have access to more financial aid to make school a possibility, but until then, it's just not working out for me. And in the meantime, I just have to make sure I don't fall behind and go into default on these loans, because then I'd be REALLY screwed.

They have forbearances. They have payment plans. I myself am on a forbearance right now. Student loans are NOT going to put you in the street. It may be uncomfortable to carry that much debt, but they aren't going to haul you off to debtors jail.

IDK about your lender, but mine does not like forbearance, and is very reluctant to give it unless you are unemployed.

ninerbuff

I shop at Safeway for my food and gas. So if it's true, then it doesn't affect anything that I'm currently doing. Unions are good and bad.

A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 28+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

quirkytizzy

Nobody's arm is being twisted to work there, get another job if you are unhappy with the pay or benefits

Absolutely right!

Hmmm.....yes, because 1) jobs are plentiful right now and 2) it's completely possible to support yourself and your family on minimum wage these days. 3) It's also absolutely doable to work 3 jobs to cover bills, the babysitters to afford those jobs, AND have time to go to school to qualify for better work.

Oh wait, those conditions aren't actually true.....

LuckyLeprechaun

IDK about your lender, but mine does not like forbearance, and is very reluctant to give it unless you are unemployed.

As a result of Obamacare, you and me and everyone else.....we all have the same lender now. The federal government has taken ALL of the existing student loans away from the lenders who were previously holding them. I used to be a customer of Wachovia. Against my will, my business was transferred to Uncle Sam.

So the rules regarding forbearance and extensions and payment plans are uniform for all borrowers.

IronPlayground

It is his company, if they don't want to work for him for the wages and benefits he is offering, find another job. I'll be shopping there tonight.

^This!

ETA: Actually the part about shopping there isn't true for me. We don't have one locally. However, it is his company. He can make those decisions if he chooses.

DrMAvDPhD

Nobody's arm is being twisted to work there, get another job if you are unhappy with the pay or benefits

Absolutely right!

Hmmm.....yes, because 1) jobs are plentiful right now and 2) it's completely possible to support yourself and your family on minimum wage these days. 3) It's also absolutely doable to work 3 jobs to cover bills, the babysitters to afford those jobs, AND have time to go to school to qualify for better work.

Oh wait, those conditions aren't actually true.....

All of these things suck but I don't get why you think an employer such as a grocery store owner is responsible for everything. There is a lot more to this story, such as supply and demand (of employees), and cost and profit (how much a retailer can charge for items and still earn back the cost of the item, the cost of storing and selling it, and the cost of employees). It's not like taking a paycut from $760k (which is pretty low for a CEO of a large company IMO) and selling a few stocks will suddenly support thousands of people's healthcare costs and higher salaries.

RobfromLakewood

It's easy for me to boycott this place, in large part because there is no locations nearby. But if given a better opportunity, I would boycott the place based on our different views on how to engage a workforce and the place of healthcare.

In terms of workforce, it is easy to come up with anecdotal evidence for where unions have abused power or been ineffective, but the same can be found from the side of corporate America as well. For that reason, I have a tendency to ignore anecdotal evidence and look at facts that are less stories and more numbers. The disproportionate rise in upper management salaries to workforce is troubling to me. The lower taxes on capital gains versus taxes on income also troubles me. They each send a message that labor is not respected. To have people say things along the lines of "to bad, suffer, I do and don't whine" is a message that doesn't make sense to me. I am not saying that we should all be 100% happy, 100% of the time, that we are entitled to this, but instead, there is a growing unfairness to the workforce and rather than the solution being simple acceptance, I say look at companies with a fairer sense of treatment to its workforce and spend money there. Let's build profits on volume and ethical behavior, not on greatest margins.

Before I get off my soapbox, I'd also like to address the idea of universal health care being the taboo descriptions of fascist or socialist. If it is, then so be it. But it meant you most likely got on your socialized roads, possibly drove your kids to socialized schools and maybe felt a little more secure knowing there was a socialized police force and fire department protecting your homes and bodies. Why is it okay to have a military budget that is more than the next 10 country's military budget combined, this socialized force, but not something that protects our health? Some have said nothing in the US Constitution, but I invite you to read the Preamble, that while offers "provide for the common defense" just before "promote the general welfare". I can't see anything more closely following our general welfare than our health.

Thank you Schoolhouse Rock for letting me know our Preamble.

pitbulllover

I live in the US. Where we (well, I should qualify.... taxpayers) will pay for an enire college education for ya. In my own case, I never outlaid penny ONE from the time my parents entered me in Kindergarten, until I graduated from a university with a bachelor's degree. I DO have student loans to pay for, but I also have a bachelors degree. Which sure helped me avoid those kinds of jobs where part-time is the best I could hope for.

In other countries, all this education would have had a hefty price tag, right from the start, and would have been reserved for those whose families could afford it. Here, all children are educated at the very least from K-12. Even when they aren't grateful. Even when they have special education challenges. Even when they don't speak English. Even when they hate us for it.

And you are resentful of all this.....because???

Or should only the "deserved" be given a decent life?

Resentful!? I don't know how you got that idea.

I'm a teacher. I value and respect education more than anything. It bugs me when people don't use the opportunities we provide to them. I was pointing out how, in my opinion, in the US, we are all on a level playing field when it comes to educational opportunities, and that's why I don't feel sorry for those who refuse to take advantage of them.

You've got bootstraps, the government pays for them. They're called education. Use 'em.

That's what I meant. I'm the opposite of resentful.

You really think that? I do have a college degree, but I realize how freaking lucky I am because I almost had to drop out due to costs. Now I'm doing just fine and I could claim that it's from all my hard work and perseverance, but that would be complete BS. We all have to realize that there are plenty of people out there just as intelligent, just as hard working, that want it just as bad as us, and their circumstances don't allow it to happen. So stop trying to make yourself sound special, you're really not. I'm sure you work hard but there's so much more that factors into it.

Same thing with all these CEO's that all of you admire so much. Mainly, because it sounds like you think you're going to be just like them. Good luck... you'll need it. Hard work alone won't get you there.

quirkytizzy

All of these things suck but I don't get why you think an employer such as a grocery store owner is responsible for everything. There is a lot more to this story, such as supply and demand (of employees), and cost and profit (how much a retailer can charge for items and still earn back the cost of the item, the cost of storing and selling it, and the cost of employees). It's not like taking a paycut from $760k (which is pretty low for a CEO of a large company IMO) and selling a few stocks will suddenly support thousands of people's healthcare costs and higher salaries.

It won't. I think I said this earlier. (Not a dig on you, actually - the thread is getting long and it's easy to miss a post or two.) I think I'm running out of anything but sarcasm to offer this thread. Which, normally does me worlds of good in terms of motivation, but I'm just not feeling it today.

Anyhow, thank you for the reasonable post. Come to think of it, everyone's been reasonable so far. That's totes awesome.

Findekano

IDK about your lender, but mine does not like forbearance, and is very reluctant to give it unless you are unemployed.

As a result of Obamacare, you and me and everyone else.....we all have the same lender now. The federal government has taken ALL of the existing student loans away from the lenders who were previously holding them. I used to be a customer of Wachovia. Against my will, my business was transferred to Uncle Sam.

So the rules regarding forbearance and extensions and payment plans are uniform for all borrowers.

All I know is that, about a year ago, when I tried to get forbearance, they were not very helpful and I backed down. Maybe I should try again.

LuckyLeprechaun

IDK about your lender, but mine does not like forbearance, and is very reluctant to give it unless you are unemployed.

As a result of Obamacare, you and me and everyone else.....we all have the same lender now. The federal government has taken ALL of the existing student loans away from the lenders who were previously holding them. I used to be a customer of Wachovia. Against my will, my business was transferred to Uncle Sam.

So the rules regarding forbearance and extensions and payment plans are uniform for all borrowers.

All I know is that, about a year ago, when I tried to get forbearance, they were not very helpful and I backed down. Maybe I should try again.

You totally should!

I'm sorry for hijacking the thread.....on the topic of Whole Foods, I never shop there because the prices are too high. I'm lucky to live in California where the produce is nice no matter which store I choose. My budget is tight and even when it isn't, I still shop frugally. I can't justify overspending on groceries if I don't have to.

JUDDDing

Nobody's arm is being twisted to work there, get another job if you are unhappy with the pay or benefits

This. If you want more pay and benefits - bring more skills.

Not every job is a career.

smantha32

support local small grocers!

There are soooo many of them in my town, it's hard to see why anyone would ever go one of the big chains!

There are none of those around me.

smantha32

Because $76,000 a year isn't even going to scratch the surface.

It wouldn't. But I'm amazed at how people just....don't seem to mind. The inequality is off the scales - and if they're not actively DEFENDING the inequality, they are very much "meh."

It baffles me.

I have to agree here. People are either defending the guy who makes mind-blowing amounts of money and doesn't care for the well-being of his workers, without whom he would have NOTHING, or they're saying, "Not my problem."

This guy built the company from the ground up. It's nice how everyone can say he shouldn't be making a decent profit off HIS OWN business. People don't have to work for him if they don't like what they're being paid.

For inequality, if you go build a business you can do the same thing. The guy at the bottom stocking produce shouldn't be making as much as the owner who poured everything he had into it.

Edited to be less rant-y. I'm tired.