Yes, you can count on me to point out the obvious.
And it often is easier to just bitch and moan when you’re unhappy rather than taking action to change things. I can understand that.
In all fairness though, why should I have to find another job because of these losers? And I don’t usually bitch this much, but we’ve had to deal with a run of them lately. Argh.
Why do they even bother seeking employment if they’re not even going to make an attempt at being good employees? Guess I just don’t understand that mindset.
Congratulations. You just described me at 18 perfectly. I’m also clinically depressed or in mourning at the moment – your choice – so I’m not feeling inclined to be gentle.
Depression is a bitch of a disease. I’ve described it as a way of going through hell without having to go the trouble of dying first. Nevertheless, it does not absolve one from personal responsibility and it does not alter the universe so one does not suffer the consequences of one’s actions. The young woman in the OP was told by her boss “If you do this, you will be fired.” She did it. Now, she’s about to be fired. Hopefully this time she’ll learn. If she hadn’t been fired, what would the incentive be for her to change what she does? After all, it’s worked out if not fine, at least well enough to survive.
I could tell you of dozens of people who’ve had hard lives, including my parents. Some of them have done things they wish they hadn’t and that certainly includes me. What appears to be the difference between them and the woman in the OP is they’ve chosen to learn from their mistakes.
CJ
Look, you might as well get used to it, because you’re going to have to deal with these people for the rest of your natural life. If you want to get away from them, then I would recomend abondoning your love of the smell of frying potatoes and finding a job away from the warm glow of the golden arches. It’s not saying alot about your education or skills when WTG and all her littermates are routinely given employment in the same establishment as yourself.
Well, fuck you too, jackass. When the fuck did I ever insult you?
Not that it’s really any of your buisness, but I do work in a restaurant (not a McDonald’s). This is a full-time job with benefits and decent pay, crewed by a mostly good staff, many of whom are like family - we’ve worked together for years. We do, unfortunately, have to put up with people like WTG.
Is it or is it not the purpose of the Pit to air petty gripes and the like? WTG and her ilk, with their cavalier approach to employment (though they’re the first to complain about being destitute), deserve to be pitted.
As I said in my first response to the OP, I live in West-by-God, and see these sorts of people every day. Sorry folks, there is a HUGE difference between poor people, working at minimum wage jobs to feed their families, and receiving food stamps because the minimum wage isn’t enough to live on, and white trash.
Yes Virginia, there is white trash. I am sorry if some of you feel that people who work for a living, and take responsibility for our choices, look down on your welfare cheating, bastard breeding, Jerry Springer appearing heroes, but so be it.
I have known people like White Trash Girl, and I am sorry, there is little here to defend. A good example is a lad of my acquaintance.
He has:
Had about 10 jobs in the last five years, all of them minimum wage, low or no skill positions. He tends to loose jobs by several different methods.
His belief that he is the world’s greatest practical joker, he loves to start hose fights with co-workers or wrap their cars in packing materials on company time. This has lead to fistfights with co-workers, or him not getting along with supervisors who seem to believe that he should perhaps be working.
None of this is his fault of course.
He also has the same tendency that WTG has for not showing up for work. He ALWAYS has some sort of excuse, usually tied to a family crisis of some sort (he also does this on social occasions, his friends for some reasons don't ask him to hang out anymore). The thing that these sort of people never realize is that if you call off once or twice a week, every time with a "good" excuse, eventually the boss stops separating good excuses from bad ones. They just become excuses, and eventually the co-workers get tired of picking up the slack.
Top excuse, He used this on me, when he was attempting to persuade me that I should let him help run fencing practices. He was headed out the door, got a hard-on, and had to use it on his girlfriend. Yes, this is the excuse he gave me, no, I don't consider this a good excuse.
None of this is his fault.
No, he doesn’t drive a Cadillac, he favors beat-up cars that he bought from private owners for $100. These will break down, and give him yet another reason for not showing up at work. Oddly enough, after a week, many employers begin calling him and telling him that if he doesn’t show up today, he isn't going to have to show up ever again.
This isn’t his fault.
He has a wife and two children. Oddly enough his wife is NOT white trash, she went from opinionated 18 year old, to the one who works to support the family and CAN hold a job. However since she got pregnant right out of high school, and has not vocational training, she has a hard time finding jobs that pay very well. She does the best that she can for her family. She is poor, but she is not white trash.
I know that some of you would defend people like this boy (he is over 30, but I would still call him a boy). But the truth is that his problems, like those of WTG are his fault. In the end this behavior is what is being pitted. NOT poverty NOT depression or low self esteem. It is the bad choices that these people make, that makes them white trash. Those of you who make excuses for them are part of the problem. For as long as there are people like you, people like WTG and this boy know that the world really does owe them a living.Thank you, o finest of fencing masters! (I’ll be back after the playoffs, I swear!;))
My father was the British equivalent of white trash. He wasn’t supposed to amount to anything or be worth anything. Instead of buying that, he worked his way through college, became a dead good engineer, married a girl whose father thought she was too good for him, and has raised three successful, responsible adults, one of whom also became an engineer. Like me, he may be too stupid to quit and too stubborn to die, but neither of us believes in being defined by what’s wrong, only in using what’s wrong as something which we may be able to set right.
My ex-fiance’s best friend was a bit like Sweetums’ buddy, only the Hawaiian version, although also a SCAdian as it happens. He, too, would go through a car about once every six months, although in his case, he’d wreck them and his mother would buy him a new one. He was always mooching off friends and often unemployed. About the last I heard of him was when he bought a case of grenades, if I recall, showed them to my ex-fiance and asked what he could get for them (ex-fiance’s reply was “Oh, I’d say 10 to 20 at Leavenworth”), and then left them in the trunk of his car when he got a new stereo installed near the military base at Pearl Harbor. This was after the bombing in Oklahoma City.
My mother used to work with people who’d wonder how she could afford trips to England and who wouldn’t get it when Mum pointed out she spent a lot less on clothes and lunches than they did, thus freeing up money for such things. (I figure Dad’s salary didn’t hurt, though.)
The young woman in the OP has made choices which are going to have negative consequences as they should do. To say they shouldn’t is like saying I shouldn’t get burned if I decide to pull my dinner out of the oven without using a potholder.
Speaking of which, it’s dinner time and I’m hungry!
CJ
Well, there’s immature (someone who has not fully developed mentally, physically, or emotionally), and then there’s immature (someone who is capable of acting like a grown-up, but refuses to do so). Because she’s young, and because I don’t know her, I’m not going to decide which one she is. But it certainly seems to me that it’s one of the two.
Well, I could be wrong of course, and I really don’t know her that well, but I’d be willing to bet on the latter.
Unfortunately I have a cousin who is just like this - he’s in his thirties and has just drifted from job to job, always more than willing to go on the dole. My mother recently visited his family and mentioned that he’d said he couldn’t wait to get laid off from his current job and get on unemployment so he could wallpaper his trailer. WTF? I’ve actually worked with him and he is VERY irresponsible job-wise. You’d think he would have wised up by now, but no. Even sadder is that few family members can stand him - he’s nice enough, and means well in his actions towards us, but lacks any sort of common sense. Once when he visited he got on my computer and downloaded all sorts of programs that I didn’t want or need. He figured he was being nice, installing these programs that I might want, but it’s MY computer. He just doesn’t seem to understand the concept of “don’t fuck with it if it ain’t yours.” And the last time he was here, attending the funeral of an uncle, he really set things off. The funeral home had made a DVD featuring a montage of photos of my uncle - a retrospective sort of thing. He insisted on burning copies of said disc in order to “save everyone money.” I know he was trying to be nice, but it was an awfully tacky thing to do under the circumstances. This eventually led to words between him and my cousin whose father had just died. Of course he wanted everyone to feel sorry for him afterwards, but really, it was all his fault. He just has no concept of where to draw the line. Basically he is irresponsible, lazy, lacks common sense and social graces: traits that define WT types in general.
As Roseanne Barr, Paris Hilton, Chris Rock and others of that ilk prove, one doesn’t have to be poor, nor even white to be considered trashy.
Again, it’s not those who are poor we’re pitting, it’s the ATTITUDES of some that by their mere existance and having not been “asked to have been born” (among other excuses), that they therefore should have life handed to them on a silver platter.
People knew about that stigma before they got pregnant, or got someone else pregnant. It happened anyway. And a lot more often than statistics bear out. Teenage parents-to-be were often forced into marriage, or doctors performed “emergency appendectomies”. I’m not sure what you mean by “showered with attention”, either, or what kind of attention is bad.
Things were not terrific in “the good ol’ days.” When I was ten years old, my mom was looking at Newsweek. Their cover story was one of those “the world’s going to hell in a handbasket” exposes about Teens And Sex. She wanted me to look at it with her, and then have a discussion about it. I clearly remember her pointing out two photos side by side. “Teens socializing in 1959” were sipping cokes at the drugstore. 1979 teens were entwined on a blanket in the grass (fully clothed). “Bull,” my mom said. “There was plenty of this [second photo] in 1959. It just wasn’t out in the open.”
What’s changed for the better is that, in the era you’re talking about, pregnant teen girls had to drop out of school. If they married the father, they often ended up pushing one with another on the way. I don’t think it’s such a bad thing that pregnant teens are given the opportunity to go on with their lives. Now, those who choose not to take those opportunities deserve Pitting, but I don’t see how shunning helps anything. And what’s also changed for the better is that teens are given information about sex and birth control, so they can make informed decisions, not just one-strike-and-you’re-out.
[P.S. Why do you call Chris Rock trashy? I’ve often heard him rail against trashy behavior exhibited by other people. but he himself seems stable and responsible.]
[QUOTE=Rilchiam…What’s changed for the better is that, in the era you’re talking about, pregnant teen girls had to drop out of school. If they married the father, they often ended up pushing one with another on the way. I don’t think it’s such a bad thing that pregnant teens are given the opportunity to go on with their lives. Now, those who choose not to take those opportunities deserve Pitting, but I don’t see how shunning helps anything. And what’s also changed for the better is that teens are given information about sex and birth control, so they can make informed decisions, not just one-strike-and-you’re-out.[/quote]
Ahh, you misunderstood me. Sorry, I wasn’t meaning that I considered what society did back then to be a good thing. I think that the mentality was barbaric. Generally only the girls were “punished” as for the boys it was considered “normal” and boys will be boys and so on.
What I meant was, that without any sorts of consequences, those that are determined to choose a lazy shiftless path, can now do so with impunity. Yes, I agree that it’s a good thing that there are now options for those who choose to take them. And yes, I was pitting those who refuse.
To put it bluntly, though I’m not normally given to profanity:
(the you refers to collective you, not YOU you :D).
If you fuck up, you get called on it, and you need to fix it. You’re going to be told “hey, that was stupid”. But if you fix it and move on, you’re a reasonable thinking person.
If you continue to fuck up, people are going to say “that’s stupid” a lot MORE often, and you’re going to need to fix it a lot more often. But people are going to start getting less willing to help, if you’re not willing to help yourself.
If you purposely, gleefully and with malice aforethought fuck up, and think that fucking up is your god given right, and not only think that fucking up is your God given right, but that it’s COOOL, and in fact probably sexy (ever seen those women take off their tops while screaming at their competition “look at me, I’m hot, you’re just jealous”), and you not only REFUSE to fix it, but that you don’t think there is any need to fix it because you’re entitled, you’re getting into, and possibly passing right on into Springerville, or being “trash”.
In none of those cases is your: upbrining, depression, lack of self-esteem, current circumstances, whatever… a “get out of jail free card” absolving you of any responsibility regarding your fuck-up. Yes, if you truly need help, and are willing to help yourself then you deserve some sympathy and guidance in getting yourself out of your pickle.
Not willing to help yourself? Expect someone else to bail you out because you’re entitled? Not so much.
Let me tell a true story. It happened last night. I finally got paid, I’ve been 1.37 away from an overdrawn checking account for a week and a half. So, I go to the grocery store to get a few much need staples. I also treated myself to a few chicken strips at the deli (the deli is a department in the grocery stores where I’m from) a few homeless guys are wandering around that part of the store asking for money. I literally have none. Well, I had three pennies in my coat pocket, but all I had was my debit card with which to pay.
At any rate, one woman agreed to buy the man some soup. The other one was toward the back of the area, I determined that if he approached me I would offer to buy him some food. I never give money, only food or non-alcoholic drinks. Or even a tangible item like hats or gloves (they seem to migrate to me, so I always have some to give away). So, sure enough the other man approaches me and I offer to buy him what I’m having.
He looks over at the chicken display, where they have the whole cooked chickens and says 'could you get me one of those"??? 
:rolleyes: I can’t even afford one of “those” for myself! I pretend I haven’t heard him and point him toward the deli case “would you like some chicken, or chicken strips, maybe a soda like I’M having?”
The man hems and haws, and i clearly looking at the chicken display trying to guilt me into it “oh no, well then, that’s okay I ate at 'Bean’s ’ (a local free eatery for the homeless)” and so on. Well, exCUSE me, deli chicken strips aren’t exactly the dregs you know, after all I’M happily having two of them. JEEZ.
I swear, the nerve of some people. Not that it’s an example of trashy, but most assuredly is one of rudeness, cluelessness and entitlement of people who FUCK UP" and then expect someone else to fund their FUCK UP. Then, to top it all off they’re out in the parking lot smoking cigarettes. Well, they manage to get money for that.
Have you ever seen the man in concert? He claims to not be racist, but his “humor” suggests otherwise, and that’s not even to mention his subject matter, or the 400 “fucks” per hour he indulges in while doing his “stand up”.
Oh. Okay then!
Well, that is jerkish. (Him, I mean, not you.)
Not live in concert, but I’ve seen his HBO specials and heard his spoken-word albums, and I haven’t found any of it to be objectionable. I’m white, but I haven’t heard him say anything about white people that personally offended me.* He certainly doesn’t pull any punches when skewering blacks, in general or individually. And I don’t think he overuses the word “fuck”, but perhaps I have a higher threshold than you do. At any rate, he talks so fast, it’s hard to keep an accurate tally.
*On Columbine (paraphrased): “They said nobody liked them, they didn’t have any friends. Didn’t have any friends—there was six of 'em! I ain’t had six friends in high school! I ain’t got six friends now!”
Cracked me right up. And while I’m sure he does have more than six friends now, it is true what he said about his high school experience. Black kid in otherwise totally white school = Invisible Man.
I call for the end of welfare. Why not just leave peaceful honest people alone to pursue their own happiness in their own way?
Because everyone isn’t born into the same set of fortunate circumstances and, despite our best efforts and intentions, sometimes things go wrong.
CJ
So, something going wrong for me constitutes an obligation for you to surrender your property? Please give me a list.
Because Christian faith, not to mention common decency and sheer, raw practicality obligates me to help those who are less well off and acknowledge that there’s a possiblity that I might become one of them myself.
Leave it be. There are certain basic issues you and I will never agree on, which is why I can’t be a pure Libertarian any more than I can be a pure Democrat or Republican. I’m also still dealing with Grandmama’s death on Monday.
CJ
I’m sorry for that. However, it is unfair of you to inject yourself into my remarks and then tell me to “leave it be”. If you feel obligated to help those less well off (as I do myself), that’s fine. My only problem is when you project your obligation onto others as though everyone must bear the same burdens as you.
True. I overestimated myself. I have other arguments; I’ll save them for another time and debate.
CJ
Well, it’s over. WTG called off again yesterday (“sick as a dog” she said) and that pointed her out (for the second time). The supervisor told her she’d have to call the manager later on to talk the situation over, but she never did. She did come in today for her shift, but apparently she was expecting to be fired as she had her ride wait outside for her. She was told once again to call back and talk to the manager (as if she was actually going to get a third chance), but again, she didn’t. Just didn’t give a shit I guess.
For those of you who surmised that she might have problems, it’s only natural to be sympathetic and that’s fine. However, when an employee can’t be counted on to show up, what are you supposed to do? For the record, she’s called off four times in the last two weeks (keep in mind she only works four days a week), plus went home early New Year’s Day because she was “throwin’ up from too much drinkin’ the night before.” That’s over HALF her shifts. And according to my manager, she was caught stealing food by our owner (not a good thing) and then later had the nerve to ask for a free meal because she was broke! (Hmmm, I wonder why she doesn’t have any money?)
So, WTG, so long and say hello to Jerry for me.