# I pit Poverty and the current economic crisis **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [January 1, 2009, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-poverty-and-the-current-economic-crisis/479487 "2009-01-01T18:38:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 11
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2009, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-poverty-and-the-current-economic-crisis/479487/201 "2009-01-02T04:36:11Z")
> [@Carol\_Stream](#): > > It MAY be unethical? Yes, it may be unethical. Do you wish to argue? ---
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2009, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-poverty-and-the-current-economic-crisis/479487/202 "2009-01-02T04:39:59Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > As opposed to being bitten in the ass upfront? Can’t say as I see the downside to lying on an application if you aren’t going to get the job otherwise. It may be unethical, but the argument that it will make things worse for you is clearly false. That’s why people lie so often; they frequently get away with it, and it improves their circumstances. I knew a guy once who, after years of living the party lifestyle, got a great job with the phone company. He was working as an information operator and was getting paid $18 hr. plus tons of benefits and time off. He was doing a good job, his supervisors and co-workers loved him, and he felt the job was permanent. So he got a better apartment, a better car, some cool clothes and a permanent girlfriend. After six months came the time for the company to decide whether to make his employment permanent so a background check was run, which revealed a DUI that he had not put on his application. So he went from young man on the way up to instantly unemployed, and with virtually no chance of maintaining the lifestyle he’d graded himself up to. He lost his car, his apartment and his girlfriend, and wound up working in a convenience store. I doubt that he’d advise lying on your job app. You just never know when the truth will come back to bite you on the ass (and when it does, you can almost bet it will be at the worst possible time). ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2009, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-poverty-and-the-current-economic-crisis/479487/203 "2009-01-02T04:41:20Z")
> [@FoieGrasIsEvil](#): > > Well, you DO have internet access. If I was barely scraping by for food and mortgage payments, cable TV, internet access and any extras would be the first to go. These things cost a LOT of money and are NOT necessary to live. > > No offense meant. As it happens, I don’t have a mortgage, I rent. I am getting a break on the rent by working for the landlord. I’m not sure what “extras” you think I have. Right now, internet access is the ONLY nonessential I have, and given that most job apps are on-line these days AND my state requires reporting job seeking information for unemployment benefits on-line it’s not _entirely_ a luxury. We don’t eat out anymore, I haven’t bought clothes anywhere but Goodwill for a year and a half, my most recent pair of new shoes were given to me as a gift, we’ve given up the cellphones, satellite TV, really everything BUT the internet. Hell, I even grew some of my own food this summer and cook everything from scratch so I don’t even buy processed foods anymore, just scratch ingredients. I can have internet access from home, or spend the money on gas to get to the library. Kind of a toss up these days, except that from home I’ve been known to fill out job apps at 2 am, which I can’t do at the library. That means when I do get work on a day I can still come home and look for work without worrying about library hours. And, oh yeah, I’ve been using the internet to sell some of my possession on eBay, too - so like I said, it’s not _entirely_ a luxury. ---
**Author:** ![Carol\_Stream](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c2a13f/32.png) [@Carol\_Stream](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carol_Stream)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2009, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-poverty-and-the-current-economic-crisis/479487/204 "2009-01-02T04:42:37Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > Yes, it may be unethical. Do you wish to argue? What’s the arguement? It is unethical. ---
**Author:** ![Rand\_Rover](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/db5fbb/32.png) [@Rand\_Rover](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rand_Rover)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2009, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-poverty-and-the-current-economic-crisis/479487/205 "2009-01-02T04:42:44Z")
\*\*Thread Jerk note: \*\* I just want to make sure everyone understands that I would not have posted to this thread were it not for Blalron’s post wherein he lamented having to “pound the pavement.” And his later posts do show that he understands that he is responsible for himself and he will do the work necessary to get his ass in shape. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2009, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-poverty-and-the-current-economic-crisis/479487/206 "2009-01-02T04:45:21Z")
> [@Starving\_Artist](#): > > I knew a guy once who, after years of living the party lifestyle, got a great job with the phone company. He was working as an information operator and was getting paid $18 hr. plus tons of benefits and time off. He was doing a good job, his supervisors and co-workers loved him, and he felt the job was permanent. So he got a better apartment, a better car, some cool clothes and a permanent girlfriend. > > After six months came the time for the company to decide whether to make his employment permanent so a background check was run, which revealed a DUI that he had not put on his application. So he went from young man on the way up to instantly unemployed, and with virtually no chance of maintaining the lifestyle he’d graded himself up to. He lost his car, his apartment and his girlfriend, and wound up working in a convenience store. > > I doubt that he’d advise lying on your job app. You just never know when the truth will come back to bite you on the ass (and when it does, you can almost bet it will be at the worst possible time). So you believe it was likely he would have gotten the job if he had listed the DUI? At least he had six months of good employment. Yes, it is unethical, but please, don’t tell me you are always better off telling the truth, 'cuz it just ain’t necessarily so. ---
**Author:** ![even\_sven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dfb087/32.png) [@even\_sven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/even_sven)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2009, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-poverty-and-the-current-economic-crisis/479487/207 "2009-01-02T04:46:23Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > **even sven** , I remember your early threads in the early years, and frankly I can’t think of anyone who has matured and grown as well as you have. Your transformation in real life is something I can only guess at; here on the boards it’s nothing short of dramatic and well deserving of admiration and respect… which this post attempts in some poor measure to render. Thank you. I mean it. I hit the bottom a lifelong spell of depression. It reached the point where I knew I had to get better or else I was going to die one way or the other. Your guy’s tough love was certainly a part of me realizing I had a choice and I had to make it. I chose to live and I had to change _everything_ in my life, from my apartment to my friends to my basic sense of who I am. It was the most terrifying and painful things imaginable. It felt like jumping off a cliff. It felt like breaking bones. I’m not sure what alchemy made my choice to become un-depressed actually work, but _knock on wood_ it’s held so far. I’ve been better for about four years. I am thankful every day that I wake up with the ability to see clearly. Once I got over the first terrifying steps, it seems like my life has fallen into place and I find myself doing the things I used to dream of. Next summer I am going to take the Trans-Siberian railway to Europe, something I’d dreamed about in high school. I just feel so fortunate that I got better, so in awe of what life has to offer, and so excited to see what happens next. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2009, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-poverty-and-the-current-economic-crisis/479487/208 "2009-01-02T04:46:37Z")
> [@Carol\_Stream](#): > > What’s the arguement? It is unethical. It sounded like you had a bone to pick. My mistake. ---
**Author:** ![Shayna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shayna/32/17976_2.png) [@Shayna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shayna)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2009, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-poverty-and-the-current-economic-crisis/479487/209 "2009-01-02T04:50:49Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > The nice young men and women going to Iraq who get blown up or shot in the head leaving poorly functioning are irresponsible for not having a lifetime’s worth of money in the bank to care for them and their families? Yeah, they’d better be all set up because unless they’re actually engaged in armed combat (as opposed to, say, being blown up by a roadside bomb or diving for cover from a mortar attack), their[disability claims are going to be severely curtailed by the very fucking government that sent their asses over there](http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/nation/bal-te.combat14dec14,0,1772974.story) to get blown up in the first place. The same government that fuckwads like **Rand Rover** thinks licks the ass of G-d. Arrogant know-it-alls-I’m-better-than-yous like him make me sick to my stomach. And **Carol Stream** , you really are dumber than a bag of wet hair, aren’t you? You wanted to know the meaning of “trying” to go to college and alleged that if the definition can’t be found on Google, there must not be an answer. I answered your question of precisely **how** one “tries” to go to college by pointing right to the OP without even having to rely on Google, and you come back with, “[yeah, but] what makes the OP so special?” What? The? Fuck? He’s not special. He’s “trying” to go go college using the steps I outlined in my response to your request for a definition of same. You’re just too much of a cuntlick to acknowledge that you’re just trying to make yourself feel superior, just like **Rand Rover**. Well guess what babe? Epic Fail! ---
**Author:** ![joyfool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/df788c/32.png) [@joyfool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joyfool)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2009, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-poverty-and-the-current-economic-crisis/479487/210 "2009-01-02T04:52:46Z")
> [@Carol\_Stream](#): > > And if he opened this thread in MPSIMS, he would have all the {{hugs}} he was looking for. In the Pit, not so much. In case I’ve missed it, can you show me where the OP intimated that he was looking for hugs? Or perhaps complained about the treatment he has gotten here in the pit? Because I’m seeing none of those things. Thank you. ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2009, 4:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-poverty-and-the-current-economic-crisis/479487/211 "2009-01-02T04:58:07Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > I really think **Bricker** ’s only beef with **Broomstick** is that he perceives that she made a factual assertion, and that when its factuality is disputed, she will neither own up to the possibility that her assertion was not factual, nor rebut the evidence that suggested that it wasn’t. > > I don’t think he disputes at all her assertions that she’s been working exceptionally hard at improving her employment situation. **Broomstick** is poor. Anyone who has been paying attention to the boards knows her life sucks right now. Why pick a fight with her over a trivial comment? Even if it’s not true, why can’t **Bricker** just assume it was a hyperbolic statement or something said out of frustration and hopelessness, and just let it slide. Why can’t compassion and understanding ever supercede the juvenile urge to argue and be “right” all the time? ---
**Author:** ![Blalron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/35a633/32.png) [@Blalron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blalron)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2009, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-poverty-and-the-current-economic-crisis/479487/212 "2009-01-02T05:00:42Z")
> [@faithfool](#): > > In case I’ve missed it, can you show me where the OP intimated that he was looking for hugs? Or perhaps complained about the treatment he has gotten here in the pit? Because I’m seeing none of those things. > > Thank you. I’m not afraid of _constructive_ criticism. I’ve found some of the comments made here to be excessively harsh and unfair, but I was bracing for that. ---
**Author:** ![Rand\_Rover](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/db5fbb/32.png) [@Rand\_Rover](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rand_Rover)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2009, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-poverty-and-the-current-economic-crisis/479487/213 "2009-01-02T05:05:20Z")
> [@Shayna](#): > > You’re just too much of a cuntlick to acknowledge that you’re just trying to make yourself feel superior, just like **Rand Rover**. Nuh-uh! ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2009, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-poverty-and-the-current-economic-crisis/479487/214 "2009-01-02T05:26:04Z")
> [@monstro](#): > > Why pick a fight with her over a trivial comment? Even if it’s not true, why can’t **Bricker** just assume it was a hyperbolic statement or something said out of frustration and hopelessness, and just let it slide. Search me. Could be something to do with him being a lawyer. Not that there’s anything _wrong_ with that. 😉 > [@monstro](#): > > Why can’t compassion and understanding ever supercede the juvenile urge to argue and be “right” all the time? I honestly don’t think that’s the case with **Bricker**. **Rand Rover** appears to be another story. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2009, 5:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-poverty-and-the-current-economic-crisis/479487/215 "2009-01-02T05:30:50Z")
> [@Shayna](#): > > And **Carol Stream** , you really are dumber than a bag of wet hair, aren’t you? You wanted to know the meaning of “trying” to go to college and alleged that if the definition can’t be found on Google, there must not be an answer. I answered your question of precisely **how** one “tries” to go to college by pointing right to the OP without even having to rely on Google, and you come back with, “[yeah, but] what makes the OP so special?” That was actually **Carol Stream** ’s attempt to co-opt someone else’s schtick about hassling **QED** about his use of Google to inform a lot of the answers he gives in GQ. She wasn’t really directing the Google-related snark at you. ---
**Author:** ![Shayna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shayna/32/17976_2.png) [@Shayna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shayna)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2009, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-poverty-and-the-current-economic-crisis/479487/216 "2009-01-02T05:37:35Z")
The Google part was secondary to the fact that she snarkily asked how one “tries” to go to college, stating that either one goes or one doesn’t – there is no “try”. I disabused her of that absurd notion, and her response was, well, unresponsive. IMNSHO that makes her dumber than a bag of wet hair. YMMV. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2009, 7:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-poverty-and-the-current-economic-crisis/479487/217 "2009-01-02T07:09:10Z")
> [@Blalron](#): > > I’m not afraid of _constructive_ criticism. I’ve found some of the comments made here to be excessively harsh and unfair, but I was bracing for that. Some people are being real pricks here, and I’m not sure why, except that they can. Maybe an IMHO thread asking for advice on how to get out of your situation would be a better idea than this mess of a Pit thread, if you’re done venting. ---
**Author:** ![spinky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@spinky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spinky)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2009, 7:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-poverty-and-the-current-economic-crisis/479487/218 "2009-01-02T07:41:34Z")
> [@Carol\_Stream](#): > > She said to use someone’s address/phone that was closer to new city, but there is no indication that the OP receives mail/calls there. > > In other words, a lie. Are you an idiot? It’s just contact information, not a claim as to where you live. You can use a friggin PO box in Kalamazoo if you want. If that’s a valid address at which you can be contacted, then it’s perfectly legit and not a “lie”. ---
**Author:** ![jeredc1983](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ed8c4c/32.png) [@jeredc1983](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jeredc1983)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2009, 8:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-poverty-and-the-current-economic-crisis/479487/219 "2009-01-02T08:09:12Z")
I read the first two pages and I must say that you sound like a real fuckin prick “Rand Rover.” Not that my handle is all that great but you have one that is really fucking aggravating. I’m so happy for you; you made all the excellent decisions in life and can shit on other people who have not. I have a college degree and guess what? I am really happy to be employed in this ECONOMY. Fuck the economy, how about happy to just be employed? You sound like a real dickhead, but you have done everything right so I guess you are just really smart. I’ve had too much to drink because I can afford to after a hard nights work; that I am grateful for and have nothing else to say to you. Still, you sound like a class A asshole. I hope you lose your job you condescending fucking prick. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2009, 9:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-poverty-and-the-current-economic-crisis/479487/220 "2009-01-02T09:43:38Z")
> [@Shayna](#): > > The Google part was secondary to the fact that she snarkily asked how one “tries” to go to college, stating that either one goes or one doesn’t – there is no “try”. I disabused her of that absurd notion, and her response was, well, unresponsive. IMNSHO that makes her dumber than a bag of wet hair. YMMV. Nah, my mileage doesn’t vary to any noticeable extent on that question. Unless it’s a variation to note that she’s also as mean as a. . . as a. . . well, as mean as a very mean thing that’s made the finals of a single-elimination very mean thing tournament. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-poverty-and-the-current-economic-crisis/479487.md?page=10) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-poverty-and-the-current-economic-crisis/479487.md?page=12)