How many of you out there have ever been given a full time job by a poor man?

Anyone out there ever been hired, given a paycheck, medical insurance and a 401k by a person that was was collecting government assistance or living in a shack somewhere on the wrong side of the tracks?

I didn't think so.

Yet everyone seems to hate the rich.

"They don't need all that money" is a common gripe. Need has nothing to do with it. They earned it.

"They make all that money and pay us peanuts," is another common gripe generally heard from the lowest echelon. These are generally the guys that bring nothing into the endeavor but a set of arms and legs, have no credentials and nothing invested in the endeavor.

The skilled guys generally do OK, depending on their skills.

The whiner I heard the other day hadn't even finished high school, was making about $45,000 a year plus benefits and thought he was worth more. Frankly I would pay him about half of that for what he does but that's none of my business. Guys like that ought to simply keep their mouths shut and count their blessings.

There are a few realists and honest guys out there. I was yakking about this with a guy at a refinery once and instead of being pushy and greedy he made two comments I respected.

"The guy packin' a lunch pail deserves a halfway decent place to live in a safe neighborhood a new pickup every six or eight years and to be able to put away a few bucks toward his kids education," he said.

He also admitted responsibility for being where he is. "We grew up dirt poor and when I got out of high school there were a whole slew of programs to send me to college but I didn't take advantage of them so here I am."

Interesting man.

Union greed is blamed for a lot and rightly so. In the 70s and 80s the steel industry in Pittsburgh collapsed because of it.

When you think that some guy that never finished high school was working in a steel mill making enough to own a house on the hill, a deer camp, a new pickup every year and all the toys along with six weeks or more of paid vacation it's pretty hard to feel sorry for him.

It's even harder to listen to him complain about how he is under compensated. It's harder yet to feel sorry for him when he goes on strike because he isn't getting enough for no investment in education or other vocational training.

Truth is, they didn't get much sympathy when the steel companies decided they'd had enough and moved overseas. I can't say as I blame them much. If I were in management I likely would have done it a lot sooner.

I get sick and tired of all of those that complain about the rich because I have not seen one single one of them give anybody a full time job of ANY sort.




To find out why the blog is pink just cut and paste this: http://piccoloshash.blogspot.com/2009/12/my-feminine-side-blog-stays-pink.html