[Leica] OT: working & earning & lifetsyle

[john.nebel at csdco.com (John Nebel)]

Phil,

Develop what resources you have, it's not easy, but it's what one must 
do. The situation is changing all the time, it's not static, 
opportunities arise. What at first appears ugly can turn out well. No 
one can give you specific advice, you have to work that out. I'm 
reminded of the parable of the talents, heard many times as a schoolboy. 
  I thought for the longest time that a talent was a talent as in 
English, which made the parable perhaps more relevant.

Best,

John


On 5/12/12 10:51 PM, Phil Forrest wrote:
> Excuse me but WHO ARE YOU TO TELL ME THAT I HAVE NO INITIATIVE?! Yup
> this is off topic and I've stayed out of much of the ongoing
> conversation even though I know that it does concern me.
> So Jayanand, we're going to have it out right here. Who are you to tell
> me that I have no initiative? You know extremely little about my life
> situation. You have proved several times over in past discussions that
> you are not a part of the solution. You treat people such as myself as
> so far beneath you because we can't break the cycle of poverty. I was
> born into a not so well off family and was the first to graduate
> college. The only reason I could afford to go was because I served in
> the Navy for 8 years. So my family knows how bad I have it right now
> and they wish they could help but they can only offer me a place to
> stay if I find my way out to New Mexico.
> Now lets get to that, traveling. For some reason, you and a few others
> on the list think that traveling around the country or the world is
> something that is afforded to everyone. Or maybe only those that "work
> hard" to earn money to travel to find yet another job. Guess what? I
> can't find a job AT ALL. If I were in the room with you and you spoke
> those words to my face I would be using my outdoor voice, poking you
> with two fingers and waiting until you cried because of your insult. I
> don't get this pissed off for just anything. It takes an insult like
> "you don't have any initiative" to really push my buttons.
> I have worked my ass off for years since I was a teenager. First to get
> a car, then to pay for college, then during 8 years in the military,
> then working retail and service jobs after the military before and
> during college when I finished up my degree. Now I can't even find a
> lot of those old jobs anymore. Two of my old employers don't even exist.
> As for your immigrant comments, I grew up around migrant workers. Many
> illegal. That's what they do. They come here to the US illegally to
> make money to send home. I know how hard that life is and I'd take a
> job working in a field if I could but no one would hire me because I'm
> an American and I can legally ask for a minimum wage. An illegal
> migrant worker can't ask for anything and only gets paid on trust. Some
> of my good friends to this day are currently undocumented and they work
> at the whim of their employers. Maybe you should spend a few months out
> in an onion field and get paid $.50/hr plus weight.
>
> Listen people. I am not a fan of the Occupy movement. I don't think I
> deserve any more than the next guy. I DO deserve a chance but so does
> the next guy. That is what is happening. Apparently I'm the only one on
> this list who is in this situation but there are also a few who are
> very precariously close to being right where I am. I don't have a job
> at all. I don't have the money to pay rent. I can barely feed myself.
> I'm trying to keep my bills paid so I can keep my security clearance
> rating up in case one of my Federal applications returns a positive hit.
>
> For all you who say that we simply need to pull up our boot straps and
> get to work I say "where?" Then you tell us to move and I ask you
> "how?" You have provided ignorant, insensitive solutions to a very
> pressing problem.
>
> As for you Jayanand, I and the others who "have no initiative" deserve
> an apology for your remarks because, like I said, you have no clue as
> to how hard my life has been. I am looking towards the future. It is
> you looking back at your Horatio Alger past that can't see the world
> from where I am so far below you. It doesn't work that way anymore. If
> it's so easy for you to travel, come here to Philadelphia and please,
> have this discussion with me in person. I can guarantee that it will be
> spirited.
>
> My apologies to the rest of the list but he keeps poking and I'm going
> to shove back. Unless he wants to give me a job or provide me with some
> real ways in which I can get out of this situation, then I'm going to
> keep firing back because some things said here are very low blows and
> cowering behind the off topic shield just doesn't fly without a retort.
>
> Thank you all.
> Phil Forrest
>
>
>
> On Sun, 13 May 2012 09:31:44 +0530
> Jayanand Govindaraj<jayanand at gmail.com>  wrote:
>
>
>> None of you have initiative, that is the problem, you are all mentally
>> living in the past, in a world that does not exist any more. What is
>> more, you take no steps to find out the actual situation prevalent
>> abroad, and what it means to live there, and just feed off
>> preconceived notions. As I said, learn from generations of Asians and
>> Latinos who uprooted themselves from their comfort zone and emigrated
>> to your country, because they were willing to slog for a better life.
>> Complaining and screaming online will get you nothing but
>> frustration.
>
> There is no way the past can be reclaimed, you have to be practical
> and look to the future. There is no economic free lunch in this world
> anymore....
>>
>> Cheers
>> Jayanand
>
>