Living in Nirvana

[VYBerlinaV8]

It's funny how the hard times build character. My first job was cleaning the butchery at Woolworths. I was living at home at the time, and so wasn't doing it to eat, but doing that job was one of the things that motivated me to try bigger and better things.

Well done to you guys!

 

[Cherry Pro]

Thank you Skater and Toni for sharing your stories. Certainly inspired
and enthused me and ones that I must share with the kids in these pre-
Christmas days where they're expecting everything they can dream
of to be under the tree.

You have worked hard to make your dreams come true - I admire you.

 

[ice]

Hi skater

Using your example it works out to $ 810.18 per week
.

Maybe I should name our property where these tenant live NIRVANA.

Gerd

I think I have a couple of those NIRVANA properties. And to cap it off the scumbag tenants have stopped paying rent & damaged one of them & the tribunal has said "Give them another chance" WTF!!! Already 6 weeks behind, because of a tribunal stuff up, & then that. No payment orders "It's Christmas, you know"

They already live better than we do. Have a newer car, plasma TV. Heaps of crap for the kids. We can't afford that! Welfare should be something you get when you can't provide for yourself. It should keep you fed, clothed & housed. It SHOULD NOT GIVE ENOUGH SO THEY HAVE A BETTER STANDARD OF LIVING THAN THE EMPLOYED.

Thinking of selling the lot & claiming benefits. I'd certainly be better off.

 

[oasis1frog]

I know I open a can of worm here, in my quarter of century of working life, I have never met an aborigine at work. Would be interested to find out what's the percentage of the adult aborigine population are in gainful employment/business.
(doesn't count if they are in the land grab councils or the symbolic govt feel guilt commissions)

 

[BayView]

I know I open a can of worm here, in my quarter of century of working life, I have never met an aborigine at work. Would be interested to find out what's the percentage of the adult aborigine population are in gainful employment/business.
(doesn't count if they are in the land grab councils or the symbolic govt feel guilt commissions)

Where do you live?

For a start, there are not a lot of them around, and most prefer to live in the country and/or regional towns.

But let's not go there; the last time we tried to talk about the precious Indigenous population, the whole damned thread got wiped.

 

[skater]

And for the record, you are classified as Aboriginal if you are a 1/4 Aboriginal (maybe even less), so there are many white aboriginals & many of them work. My ex-neighbour was part Aboriginal, so is one of the current ones, plus her sister living in the house at the rear. That is 3 that I know of, all gainfully employed.

.

But let's not go there; the last time we tried to talk about the precious Indigenous population, the whole damned thread got wiped.

I certainly don't want the thread wiped, just showing oasis, that there are plenty of our Aboriginal population contributing to society in a healthy manner.

 

[GIDDO]

I met a young indigenous person the other day who is a disability support worker. And a very good one too I hear.
I agree though, not many in easily visible jobs.

Would many of us like to work as a shop assistant if we were aboriginal.
Imagine the patronising cr.p you would have to put up with each day; not to mention abuse from some customers.

 

[skater]

Would many of us like to work as a shop assistant if we were aboriginal.
Imagine the patronising cr.p you would have to put up with each day; not to mention abuse from some customers.

According to my daughter who works part-time as a shop assistant, you sure don't have to be indigenous to have to put up with patronising cr.p from some of the customers.

 

[lizzie]

It's funny how the hard times build character. My first job was cleaning the butchery at Woolworths. I was living at home at the time, and so wasn't doing it to eat, but doing that job was one of the things that motivated me to try bigger and better things.

my first major job was strawberry picking - crawling along on your hands and knees all day in the blazing sun, snipping off one strawberry at a time with your fingernail, your opposing thumb callousing over.

was very character building - and great inspriation to get ahead ...

p.s. i don't understand the huge current queue for public housing in today's papers - unless they are such bad tenants, landlords won't rent to them. a sole parent friend with four kids, who is having difficulty due to just getting out of an absive relationship, is renting a house for $140/wk that would normally cost over $300 ... so it can't be a financial problem.

 

[LynnH]

i don't understand the huge current queue for public housing in today's papers - unless they are such bad tenants, landlords won't rent to them. a sole parent friend with four kids, who is having difficulty due to just getting out of an absive relationship, is renting a house for $140/wk that would normally cost over $300 ... so it can't be a financial problem.

lizzie

It is hard to understand, isn't it? Apparently part of the problem is that once a person gets into public housing, they can't be 'forced out' if their situation/financial position improves - so there are people occupying public housing who could easily afford to pay market rents, but who are still occupying government housing at lower rents.

Also I understand that people can't be 'downsized' in public housing accommodation - if you are allocated a house when you have several dependant children, when the kids leave home, Mum (and/or Dad) is still entitled to occupy the premises, and can't be 'forced' to downsize to a unit.

Apparently there are also a number of houses/units vacant and "awaiting redevelopment". Why those in decent condition cannot be used for temporary or emergency accommodation remains unanswered.

But then again, before governments will do something about the problem, I guess they'll have to hold yet another enquiry!

Cheers
LynnH

 

[Sheryn]

I furthered my education in the big smoke and moved back home for the wedding, couldn't find a job so I went macadamia nut picking.

This was 30 years ago.

Crawling under trees in the early morning dew, through cobwebs, dirt & cracks in hands and under fingernails (gloves slowed you down).

Paid by the weight, so I aimed to gather more nuts each day, start early finish late.

Never ever want to do that job again.

Had a elderly male friend around for tea one night and he gave me some tips for making my marriage work. He told me to always make my husband a hot breakfast & pack him a good lunch.

My response was if my husband wanted a hot breakfast than he would have to get up an hour earlier and no way was I making him a packed lunch because hubby could come home for lunch.

Still haven't forgotten the friend's face.. he thought woman didn't work after they got married!

Also I have spent many years working shift work to get to where we are today as has my husband ( we worked a second job on and off for years ) .


Sheryn

 

[aussierogue]

I think its dangerous to generalise and to judge people for their positions in life. The world is made up of strong people and weak people, talented people and not so talented people, People that critise the poor and weak, people that help the poor and the weak. Depends on how you use your energies.

Which camp do you fit into?

 

[skater]

lizzie

Apparently part of the problem is that once a person gets into public housing, they can't be 'forced out' if their situation/financial position improves - so there are people occupying public housing who could easily afford to pay market rents, but who are still occupying government housing at lower rents.

I had heard (not sure where from, or the reliability of the information) that they were looking to address that & bring housing dept rents into line with the market rents.

Also I understand that people can't be 'downsized' in public housing accommodation - if you are allocated a house when you have several dependant children, when the kids leave home, Mum (and/or Dad) is still entitled to occupy the premises, and can't be 'forced' to downsize to a unit.

This is a disgrace. I know of one family, single mum, the kids had all left home, occupying a 4 bedroom house. Daughter came back home to live with her own 2 kids. Mother died & they wanted to move the daugher out as she was now an adult & didn't have her name down on the waiting list for accommodation. She kicks up a fuss, they let her stay on in a 4 bedroom house. If she had received public housing the normal way, she would have only been allocated a 2 bedder due to the age difference in the kids.

You can call me heartless if you like, but I believe that public housing should only be there to meet the basic needs. If a single or couple, then either a studio or 1 bedder. If you have one child - 2 bedder, 2 children, same sex - 2 bedder etc. They are after all, tenants & don't have the right to be given the use of a property until they leave this earth. Once their home situation changes, they should move to make way for those that need the extra bedrooms.

Same with wellfare. It should be there to provide basic needs to those that can't provide for themselves. If they want more than that they can damn well go out & work for it. I do, however think that the elderly should get more than the dole, as they have done their time & may not be capable of doing additional work to provide for some little luxuries.

 

[oasis1frog]

But let's not go there; the last time we tried to talk about the precious Indigenous population, the whole damned thread got wiped.

I agree let's not go there.

 

[imonmyway]

Its easy to beat down on those less fortunate.

My parents both retired do a lot of charity work for vinnies in a large regional town when people come to the centre for help they interview them and visit them in there home before handing over money and vouchers for food electricity etc etc.

They tell me that in this time of high employment levels they have never been busier the people comeing to them arent generally people purposely bludging on the system but most of them have conditions that make them incapable of functioning normally in our society. The world is a tough place for those not well equiped to cope.

 

[Dazz]

Its easy to beat down on those less fortunate.

I disagree.

It's easy to personally choose to be less fortunate.

It's very hard work and takes years of sacrifice to be fortunate. (Trust fund kids and Daddy's spoilt little angels excepted).

 

[Dazz]

I think its dangerous to generalise and to judge people for their positions in life.

I don't. I think it's what intelligent humans do all day every day. They classify and categorize to prioritise. I've never met a person who doesn't.

Which camp do you fit into?

I fit into all of the "moral low ground camps" that you've described.

Which ones do you fit into ??

 

[BayView]

lizzie

It is hard to understand, isn't it? Apparently part of the problem is that once a person gets into public housing, they can't be 'forced out' if their situation/financial position improves - so there are people occupying public housing who could easily afford to pay market rents, but who are still occupying government housing at lower rents.

Cheers
LynnH

I can't understand that line of thinking,

Living in public housing would be less than ideal, so why continue to stay there when you've got the opportunity to better yourself and your lot just to save a few dollars.

That's the same mentality as people who don't want to make any money because they might lose part/all of their pension.

 

[BayView]

Its easy to beat down on those less fortunate.

I think when people beat down the less fortunate it is often because the person doing the critising has scratched and clawed their way up from nothing to a position of something, and can't understand why others don't simply do the same; work hard, save hard, spend less and get ahead etc.

The mindset is made more accute when the successful person hears the less fortunate person bleating and complaining about their "lot".

I know I tend to be this way at times and have to work hard to be tolerant of poorer folk who, to me, can improve their position. Maybe they can't.

I saw a docco recently on the increasing homelessness in the US (I know you are all sick of hearing about the US - sorry). It is easy to look at these peole wandering around and think: "get a job".

But many of the homeless people are normal people like you and I who had an unfortunate event happen to them.

So, one of these homeless pople was a 55 year old lady. A manager in a large Company, married, big house (too big of course). She gets sick and had to take time off from work. The healthcare she has is a Company funded plan and won't cover the entire medical bill, and won't cover her if she is out of work.

Next thing, the Company fires her for being away too long (this is the USA way, folks) and there are medical bills to pay in the tens of thousands. She is too old to get a similar position elsewhere. She gets a job as a waitress for $5per hour plus tips.

Now they are struggling to meet the house and medical bill payments, fall behind, life is getting tough, then the husband leaves, the house is sold in foreclosure, she has to sell her nice car and buy a VW combi van to live in, and parks it in the carpark at the Diner where she is a waitress, and showers in the restrooms where the truckies go.

At least she is still positive; she thinks she can crawl her way back, and she is lucky; she has a (crappy) job.

Very sad, and changed my perception of the homeless. Yes, there are lots of druggies and losers who made their own bed, but not all.

 

[kathryn d]

L.AAussie the first thing that popped into my mind when that lady had too big of house...rent out rooms?

When Rob and his son moved back to Canada with me and my 2 sons who still lived at home in 2002 I was laid off from work quite often.Even though I qualified for unemployment insurance, there is a 2 week non paid waiting period..adds up to 5 weeks later you receive your first cheque. This is based on 55 % of your paycheque.This is not Social Assisstance. As workers we all pay into this Insurance.
For a while Rob and I did courier runs and answered an ad to deliver flyers to 360 customers each Saturday.(I went back to work before we got this job, so the 3 boys and Rob did this for 2 years)
For 12 months straight I worked a 40 hour week Mon-Fri and on Sat and Sun I would work 2 -16 hour shifts.We decide with 3 teenage boys we needed someone to be home, as I worked shift work at the time. I nominated Rob, as I already had the job, and for the first 18 months he wasn't allowed to have a paid job(Immigration)

Yes, I'm guilty of critisizing people on Assisstance. We have worked damn hard to get where we are now.

We never buy presents other than Xmas or birthdays. If it is an expensive present, we buy secondhand.

We started buying properties with $50K Rob had from the sale of his house and we used the equity I had built up in my house.
I make $14.10 an hour.Our boys make $8 min wage.

I'm sure our tenants think we are rich, but i would bet they have as much or more disposable income than us.

I take a thermos of coffee, and brown bag it everyday at work.Our Rav 4 is 1997.Rob wins a contest every month on the radio (usually food coupon, but he recently got a $50 GC for a clothing store. We laughed....new clothes?)
We do occassionally go to fast food restaurants, but always get the deals etc.

We went to Calgary 2 summers ago and the only meal I remember is the $3 doz corn we bought and cooked on the motel Bar B Q.( yummy).We set a budget of how much we wanted to spend on average for meals.

So yes, I find hard to sympathize with people who smoke, drink, buy steaks , go to movies, have internet and mobile phones while on Social Assisstance and complain they have no money and can't pay their rent.