"YA GOTTA DO WHAT YA GOTTA DO!"

I keep hearing about how there are no jobs to be had because of the bad economy.  I’m not so sure there are NO JOBS to be had but here are plenty of jobs that people don’t want to take either because of their pride or that the job doesn’t pay enough.

I look at it from the point of view that if my family is starving I will do just about anything to make a buck.  When I hear someone say “I can’t do such lowly work because I have a college degree” I just laugh.  My wife Barb has a god line for those people:  “Ya gotta do what ya gotta do!”

When I graduated from college in 1969, I was concerned about making the most money I could.  I had been married for two years and the economy was decent so I didn’t care about the prestige of the position; I wanted the dough.  That’s how I got into the grocery business as a salesman.  I always had a gift of gab and going to school and being in the military gave me the nerve to ask for orders from sometimes grumpy buyers.

When I hear about the number of food stamp recipients going from 32 million to 46 million during Obama’s first four years, I shake my head in disgust that so many people who could probably have been doing SOMETHING productive have decided to jump on the government teat instead of doing something beneath what they consider their dignity.   Or, they could be just plain lazy!

It seems un-American to be that way.  But, is this the America many of us grew up in?  Absolutely not!  Many of us remember when a person in need was embarrassed to take any kind of welfare and if they did it was some place like a church.  Now, the government welfare lines proudly extend around the block.

Even as kids, my friends and I in Ohio always seemed to find some way to make our own money.  I had a job in the 4^th grade that paid me $1 to go around the neighborhood and put advertising circulars on porches (remember porches?) for a record store.

Later, at 16 I had a job in a neighborhood deli making deliveries, putting away returnable bottles (remember returnable bottles?) and clerking.  In the Air Force I had a job doing janitorial work for a few hours in the evening.  In the summer of 1957 I had a full time delivery job at 16 and on holidays delivered flowers for a local florist.  During two summers of college I worked on home construction for 60 hours a week.  Did I mention caddying at the Cincinnati Country Club where I would carry two golf bags for 36 holes and $20?  That was decent money in 1958.

Carrying doubles for 36 holes will keep you in shape

Okay, enough about my exploits in the teenage working world.  But, those jobs did teach me the value of a dollar and prepared me for a full time career in sales after college.  With what I see today, I wonder if a lot of applicants are prepared for success and a career.

I guess a lot of it has to do with initiative.  Welfare is so common today; it is an easy crutch for many.  A person can go that route if they wish but I believe in Barb’s assessment:  “Ya gotta do what ya gotta do!”