General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: About college majors. A lot of people blame students for choosing impractical majors [View all]NNN0LHI
(67,190 posts)There was a time during my lifetime that a high school graduate could get a full time job just about any time they wanted one. It was hard, dirty factory work, but it was often union pay and benefits which was usually enough for a family of four to survive with that one paycheck. Back then the union cashiers at the local grocery stores made about the same pay and benefits as we received.
Only people working part time for minimum wage back then were 15-16 year old kids at Dog N' Suds. I did that.
Working part time/minimum wage was unheard of around this area for an adult.
I was making more money than my father was making back then before I graduated high school. He was making about 15 grand a year as a letter carrier and I hired into a factory soon as I turned 18 making about 25 grand a year. Got hired in when I still had a couple months left before I graduated high school.
Oh, another thing. Our union had negotiated college tuition with our employer. We could go to school for anything we wanted to go for. For free. Want a Liberal Arts education? No problem. Our company would pay for the entire thing if that is what someone wanted to do.
Then my fellow citizens elected a washed up B-movie actor name Ronald Reagan for president ... twice, and it has been all down hill since then.
This is no mystery to me because I watched it happen. It has been very depressing.
Don