Mom Bragging, Ford, and St. Louis

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
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[shameless Mom bragging] When my oldest son was 15 years old he became involved in gangs, booze, drugs, was sent to juvie a couple of times (one for 6 months including Christmas), was flunking out of school, taking off for a few days at a time, and being involved in God knows what else. He is really a good kid, but no matter what me, ex-husband tried, other family members, counselors, and his juvenile parole officer tried, we could not get him to straighten up his life. We all saw his potential.

Sometime around the end of 10th grade, something clicked and he took it upon himself to pull his shit together. He made up his mind to not just get caught up in school but to go even further and graduate a year early. He school counselor told him that it was an impossible task considering the amount of class credits he needed just to get caught up with his current class. The kid busted his ass and not only graduated a year early, but also did it with honors. The school counselor claims that he is his greatest sucess story and uses his example for other problem teens.

He also stopped drinking and taking drugs. Thank God he was able to do so without treatment. He still has some of his good friends, but he has gotten away from the gangs.

After high school, he enrolled in college and also began additional courses to become certified with UAW. He also works full time as a mechanic for a large company. Both his employment and college records are flawless. He also helps kids who were in the same situation as he was. In spite of his problems from a few years ago, he is very mature and responsible.

I have no one to credit but him. He did this all on his own and I am very proud. [/shameless Mom bragging]

Now my problem.

My son just got a job offer from Ford in which he will receive a starting pay of $19.00 per hour plus receive full benefits. They are even getting him set up with housing, etc. Pretty damn good for a kid who just turned 19 years old less than a month ago. He really wants to take the job.

However (here’s where it gets hard for Mom), the job is halfway across the country in St. Louis!!!

Someone please tell me something that will make me feel better about him leaving. Does anyone have any knowledge of what it is like working for Ford? Any information about living and working in St. Louis?

HELP! I’m freaking!

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Diane, I don’t know about working for Ford, but I can tell you about living in St Louis. Do you know what part of St Louis he’s supposed to be living and working in? Will it be the city or the county? For the most part, he will want to live in the county, and stay the hell out of East St Louis. (Which isn’t actually part of St Louis, but a city just over the river in Illinois). Let me know some of the details I’ll I’ll let you know if he’s getting a raw deal or not.

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I also have a job offer in St Louis and will be leaving Louisiana (for the first time in my life) in 2-3 weeks.
So SDers cough up some info.

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He doesn’t know what part of St Louis he will be living in and I think Ford is just going to assist him in finding a place instead of telling him where he is going to live. They are going to give finacial assistance but I don’t know how much.

I want to make sure he doesn’t get stuck in a rough part of town, but I am also concerned about his commute. I don’t know what part of St. Louis Ford is located in or what the traffic is like. Also, is $18 - $19 good starting wages for that area?

I am hoping St. Louis is just a big, happy valley with birds and flowers and nice people who look out for 19 year old kids out there on their own. But I guess I have to face reality. :::sigh:::

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Also, how have you parents who have had kids leave home out of state dealt with it? He’s 19, but he is still my baby!

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My mom’s son, who is 30, moved across the country 7 years ago. It’s still killing her. Sorry I can’t offer any comfort there.

Congratulations to your son, though! I’m glad things are working out for him. I was checking out a couple of web sites before this work stuff got in my way. I did find out that Ford is ranked #4 in the Fortune 500, FWIW. You may want to check out http://www.fortune.com for info on Ford and http://www.money.com for info on St. Louis. Although, I did that stupid “Find Your Best Place” quiz at the Money site, and it keeps spitting out San Francisco, LA, etc. “Aaauuggh! What part of ‘Low cost of living is important’ do you not understand?”

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$18 - $19/hr are great starting wages. Plenty to get himself set up in a decent apartment in a nice neighborhood. My starting wages at AT&T were less than that, and I was able to dig my way out of debt and set myself up in a 2-bedroom apartment in a safe part of the county. One of the good things about St Louis, is that while it may not be as widely recognized as Chicago or New York or LA, it is a good place to live and the cost of living is nowhere near as high as those towns.

I would have to repeat that he does not want to live in the city, or in IL, if only for tax reasons. He’ll save money on taxes if he lives in the county, plus the county is generally safer than the city. I don’t think he’ll want to set himself up in West County yet, not until he gets a couple raises. South County and North County are pretty much the same economically, so that would depend where his job is to find a place closer to where he needs to work.

If he decides to take the job and come out here, feel free to email me or give me a call, and I’ll be happy to help him get situated in town and find a place to stay that’s close to where he works and is still in a nice neighborhood. And you don’t have to worry about me being a bad influence since I gave up drinking and drugs a while ago.:wink:

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St. Louis is a great town and he can find a nice apartment for a very reasonable amount. I’m fond of west county myself and depending on what he’s looking for, an apartment will run anywhere from $500 to $750 for a 2 bedroom. The best thing about St. Louis is the people (we are all very friendly in a mid-west sort of way) and the sports. You can’t get any better than the Rams or the Cardinals!!!

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Can, too! :slight_smile: (Go Vikes!)

Other than that little jibe, my $.02 is that I’ve been in and around St. Louis a number of times, and I like it. Good food, good blues, good folks.

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OH NO! Did I forget the Blues?! The greatest hockey team of all time… OK, I know I’m pushing it on that one but** I **like them!

St. Louis also has Crunchy Frog, and that my friends, speaks for itself!

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You got a great kid there, Diane, and you’re a great mom. Nobody “does it all alone”; he had some solid strengths to draw on to himself out of the mess.

I only know St. Louis as an infrequent visitor. It’s a great city, but :::pats Diane’s hand; pours her a drink::: it’s pretty much like any city where your boy is and you aren’t. It isn’t paradise on earth–but where is?

This might be pushy and insensitive and totally out of line, but maybe the “where” doesn’t matter so much right now as your pride and confidence in him. He knows he messed up, but he pulled himself back and is ready to move on. If not St. Louis, it’ll be somewhere else.

Bet he’s eager and scared in equal measure, but you’ve reared a fine boy and he’s ready to try his wings. Honest though “cyber-superficial” opinion? the best protection you can give him is your unswerving support and confidence. He’s battled a lot of doubts about himself already.

We’ll be around to help you through the worry.

Veb

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Hi Diane,

Empty nest mom, checking in with my 2 pennies. I always liked to go to Borders and buy the newspaper of the places I was considering visiting or moving to. Get your hands on a St. Louis paper - you can get a lot of info that way - fwiw.

As for missing the kid - well, make sure he takes/has a computer & email and buy stock in the phone company of your choice now, then sign up for their long distance plan :smiley: .

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For the St. Louis paper you can also go to http://www.postnet.com.

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My dad retired from the Hazelwood Plant. He was a night security guard. There’s good and bad as with anything. Technically he had a different contract than the UAW workers, but I think the benefits were pretty similar.

I’ll start with the bad. When the union goes on strike, there’s nothing you can do about it. You better have some money saved up. I believe they told my dad 3 months pay in the bank was a good idea. The first strike that happened was pretty so they didn’t have money saved up. My mom had to get a paying job even though she was usually a stay-at-home-mom and she had just found out she was pregnant and was in that pukey, everything-makes-you-sick stage. Another thing is if the company is not doing well, they will lay-off and not hire new people and expect the ones who stay to work GOBS of overtime. I can remember my mother telling us not to answer the phone sometimes because my dad was not getting enough sleep.

Benefits are paid vacations, medical AND prescription AND dental AND eye glass coverage. (Oh, I used to have great teeth. Now I’m in agony because I have a cracked molar and I can’t do anything about it.) My dad retired early at age 62 and Ford paid the difference that he didn’t get from Social Security until 65. My parents got to use Ford medical insurance as a secondary insuror. They were able to continue to use the prescription insurance. Now that my dad is passed my mother still gets to use it. Here’s a GREAT benefit too. You get to buy vehicles on the “Z” plan. You get them for dealer cost. So do all of your immediate family. That means that if your son worked there, you could buy a new Ford, Lincon, Mercury, or Jaguar for dealer cost. What’s as cool as the price is that since the dealers have no price haggling with you, they throw in stuff to make you want to come back and get your next vehicle from them. My husband kept asking how much additional things would be for his truck and the salesman just kept throwing them in for free. (I asked him why he stopped and he said he couldn’t think of anything else he wanted.)

As for where to live, St. Charles County is a pretty nice place. It started booming about the time I left and is a little crowded for my tastes but it really isn’t a bad place to live. I still know many people living there. I have a friend who is a firefighter in O’Fallon. I get to hear about all of the safety stuff in that city. I don’t think there are any issues right now like neighborhoods who can’t be gotten to quickly and all of that.

GO BLUES! :smiley:

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I’d recommend him to go to a Metropolitan St. Louis meeting. It’s a good way to meet people, and they know a lot of about the different places to live. Their web site is http://www.mstl.org, a good place to go for info about the city too.

I wouldn’t recomment St. Charles, many people including me consider them a bunch of suburban racists.

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[heavy sarcasm] Gee, thanks, Avumede.

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Thank you everyone! I am printing out this thread and hanging it on my fridge. :slight_smile:

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Hi Diane,

Count me in with Avumede as someone who strongly suggests your son look at Metropolis St. Louis. (http://www.mstl.org) Lots of good people there who are dedicated to getting more young people to move to the city.

There’s a number of car plants in the metropolitan area, and I can’t remember where Ford is, but many parts of the city are a good option. I rent a HOUSE for $395 a month in a wonderful crime-free city neighborhood. It’s nice not to have to get in a car for 10 minutes to go to the store like you have to in the county. It’s nice not to have to fight an hour and a half of traffic to get to the county in the evenings. It’s nice to live in a diverse neighborhood with trees (yeah, probably not on the top ten list of a 19-year-old-guy, but because of the sprawl to the county, it’s ironic that the old city neighborhoods have a lot more trees and nature than the county). Sure, the city has its bad spots, but in many many areas it’s really coming back, and it’s the place to be.

Anyway, Metropolis will tell your son all about the cool things the city has to offer. And at 18-19 an hour, he’ll be able to make a nice life for himself.

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I don’t know what parts of the county Palandine’s been to, but I’ve never had to do that to get to the store. Or the malls, or the theaters, or the restaraunt . . .

Assuming he’s working in the city, yes, it’s a crappy drive from the county, but if he’s working in the county, why drive a half hour in from the city?

Again, I don’t know what part of the county Palandine’s been to, but I don’t see a whole lot of this, like anyplace, it depends on what neighborhood you’re in.

Yes, I agree here. The city is getting cleaned up and straightened out to try to lure people back. I recommend the county for tax reasons and if you work in the county, you do not want to live in the city.

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Since my daughter is a high school senior I’m feeling your pain.

St. Louis is “wholesome” as big metropolitan areas go – that doesn’t mean you can’t get into trouble if you try, but it does mean you can do a decent job of staying away from it.

Since the Ford plant is in Hazlewood, just north of the airport, your son will likely be looking in the north or northwest part of the county, or just across the (Missouri) River in St. Charles County. That’s fine. Lots of affordable places to live and neighbors who probably work at the plant and could carpool (public transit is bad, however.)

While Ford and the unions work pretty well together on plant shutdowns and layoffs, as noted above, there is the occasional strike so a good cash reserve is a must. Right now the plant is working ful-blast (it makes Explorers and trucks IIRC) and while nothing is forever, things look pretty good for them.

If your son is half as industrious as you describe, encourage him to go to night school and get some college training. The St. Louis Community College and University of Missouri-St. Louis campuses aren’t too far away, and I believe Ford is pretty generous in encouraging higher education. If nothing else, the combination of a job and college keeps people out of trouble.

Congratulations and good luck. I’m sure he’ll do fine.