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#21
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Rant: Over indulgent parents strike again
Demetrius XXIV and the Gladiatores wrote in message . ..
On Thu, 08 Jan 2004 01:05:03 -0500, Jon Walters wrote: About 7-8 teens (12-15) received these motor cycles/scooters this Christmas and they ride (speed) up and down the street and don't even use helmets! The law here requires helmets for bicycles so you'd think the parents would demand they wear them .... but they (kids) always get "their way" but this will change when one of them is seriously hurt! They even ride through this neighborhood at night with no lights attached to their motor cycles. Where are the parents? I'll tell you where... they've been stupidified by our nanny government (both liberal and Konservative) and are incapable of using common sense. They need someone to pass a law and regulate their lives otherwise it doesn't occur to them. I think that's mostly a crock. As a kid, I remember school sponsered races for home made go-karts. Typically they'd go maybe 25-30 mph, but most kids could never figure out how to get the brakes or steering to really work right. Helmets were of course optional. Since we were still in the middle of a space race with the Rooshins, chemistry experiments were also encouraged, do it yourself rocketry and pyrotechnics. One unfortunate non-sanctioned experiment blew out a portion of the chem lab and sent a kid to the hospital with shrapnel wounds when somebody tried to grind dry explosive in a meatgrinder. I recall a friend and I used to amuse ourselves by shooting off homemade rockets made from empty CO2 cartidges. It wasn't until many years later that it occurred to me to wonder where the things had been landing. Attitudes that seemed completely unremarkable a couple of decades ago now look like they came from the 19th century or perhaps the dark ages. I suggest that from one generation to the next we're becoming more and more a nation of safety nazis. |
#22
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Rant: Over indulgent parents strike again
"Marijke" wrote in message . ..
"Jon Walters" wrote in message ... especially when a 13 year old wanted $40 to shovel the snow from my sidewalk recently. I told the kid I'll give him $10 and he walked away. Good. I'll wait until it melts before I pay that much. And that's a problem? He offered you a price. You didn't like it. What's that got to do with spoiled? You both had the option of agreeing to the deal. You didn't like his price, he didn't like yours. Doesn't business work like that? Isn't there a Federal agency that could give him a hand and help him export the job overseas ? |
#23
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Rant: Over indulgent parents strike again
On 8 Jan 2004 07:57:32 -0800, Banty wrote:
Finally, he may not *want* to do this job, except if it's very lucrative for him, and is coming in with the high bid - which is something real contractors do all the time. It's called the Ding Dong factor. You figure out what the job will cost you add some for overhead recovery, factor in anticipated profit, then look at who you will be working for. The bigger the Ding Dong the higher your price. 84 - Virago 1000 http://www3.telus.net/public/dbinns/ Stressed is just Desserts spelled backwards |
#24
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Rant: Over indulgent parents strike again
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#25
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Rant: Over indulgent parents strike again
In article m, Brandon
Sommerville says... On 8 Jan 2004 10:37:49 -0800, Banty wrote: On the other hand, I used to hire a couple of young babysitters (10 year old kids who live on my block) to watch my son for an hour or two, provided that their parents were in the house too, in case of emergencies (this being understood with the parents). When the father of one found that I paid a 22 year old babysitter, who sometimes does overnights, more than his 10 year old, he got mad and sent his son for 'the difference'. I sent him back. Dad called. I told his Dad that, by design of the babysitting job, his boy takes on considerably less responsibility than the 22 year old - I'm not relying on the 10 year old for responsible action in emergencies; he's not on tap to feed my son; he doesn't have to get him ready for school. So, that was the end of his son babysitting. IOW, "no deal". It sounds like you are relying on the 10 yr old to get their parents in an emergency, which would be pretty responsible. The dad didn't have any right to request more money for past work as it was paid at the negotiated rate, but he did have the right (and probably the obligation) to ask that the future rate be the rate of the 22 yr old since that was what you were willing to pay for hourly services of equivalent responsibility (safety of your child and all). No, not really. First of all, it's the *Dad* who had approached me with the idea as a way to introduce his sons to some responsibility. That isn't necessarily the most important point (except to establish that I wasn't casting for bargains), but at that time I told him 10 was too young unless my son can go to his house but an adult is always around. I gave a price; Dad agreed. So, no, I don't view this as a babysitting job on the order of someone whose experience and householding abilities (dinner, off to school) I was buying in the case of the 22 year old. And Dad didn't bring up any concern that he be paid. In one case a kid is setting time aside to basically play with another younger kid; in the other someone is holding down a household for many more hours. This isn't like a 13 year old clearing a sidewalk vs. a 35 year old clearing a sidewalk. Essentially the parents are responsible for your child and simply delegating the actual watching to their children. Except that particular arrangement wasnt' the one offered. I didn't contract with the dad for services for him to delegate. If for some reason I thought the boy was an amazingly capable and mature 10 year old, and I had him come to my house and his services were avaiable for long hours including overnights - then, yes, the fact that he's 10 and not 22 should not have affected how I pay him. But that's simply (and impossibly) not the case. What he could offer was limited, though useful, and I paid him accordingly, and it was agreed. Until Dad learned through the grapevine what I paid the 22 year old, whose services, knowledge, experience, and availability was on a significantly different category in my view. (BTW, one lesson: - don't talk money with your neighbors - really, sometimes I think I shouldn't even mention the current price of carrots in the supermarket.) Cheers, Banty |
#26
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Rant: Over indulgent parents strike again
On Thu, 08 Jan 2004 13:50:58 -0500, Nan wrote:
Yeah, or they consider it "mindless" and "menial" and not worth paying someone to take the burden from themselves. Nan Here in Calgary there are several companies clearing in excess of a million per season each pushing that white stuff. And it doesn't snow a hell of a lot here. 84 - Virago 1000 http://www3.telus.net/public/dbinns/ Stressed is just Desserts spelled backwards |
#27
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Rant: Over indulgent parents strike again
In article , Scott in Aztlán says...
On 8 Jan 2004 07:21:05 -0800, (Cathy Weeks) wrote: Jon Walters wrote in message ... especially when a 13 year old wanted $40 to shovel the snow from my sidewalk recently. I told the kid I'll give him $10 and he walked away. Good. I'll wait until it melts before I pay that much. Ah, so you think just because he's 13, he ought to do it for less than an amount that he considers worth his time? It has nothing to do with his age. It has everything to do with his own overinflated opinion of the value of his unskilled labor. $40 for half an hour's work? How many years of education and experience does the typical professional have to accumulate before he can earn $80/hour? Auto mechanics school? :-) Shoveling snow is hard work, and it's no fun. And if you contract with an agency that does stuff like that, they charge $75. Or you can hire Jose down in front of Home Depot to do it for $10/hour. OK, then Jose wins out. And 13 year old misses out. Or 13 year old wins - he *does* have customers lined up (mebbe Jose doesn't get there until the next morning, and/or just shovels a choppy path down the middle). Or 13 year old wins - he didn't want to do the job, unless he could make $$$ at it, and doesn't care either way. I've heard this so many time before...old codgers who think the neighbor kids owe them labor for cheap. Wow, talk about your biases coloring your perceptions! Where did you get the idea that Jon believes the neighbor kid OWES him ANYTHING? All I saw was someone who refused to be overcharged for a mindless, menial task requiring no skills to perform. OK. But - but what we over here at misc.kids are wondering - what's the problem?? Actually, I think Jon bringing this up in the post as an example pretty much implies that he thought the kid owed him the price he wanted to hear. Nah - uh. OBTW, I feel that I should be paid $50 for each of your USENET messages that I read. I feel that anything less than that is not worth my time. What's your address so I can send you my bill? Whoopsie - looks like you already read it before you agreed on a price. Oh, well. Banty |
#28
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Rant: Over indulgent parents strike again
In article , Thumper says...
"Jon Walters" wrote in message ... Paul wrote: http://archive.thebrunswicknews.com/...ws%0A%09%09%09 snip You sound like my Mom. She REFUSED to let me have a mini bike when I was 12. Thumper Have you gotten over it in the two or three years since then? Banty |
#29
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Rant: Over indulgent parents strike again
In article , Calgary says...
On 8 Jan 2004 07:57:32 -0800, Banty wrote: Finally, he may not *want* to do this job, except if it's very lucrative for him, and is coming in with the high bid - which is something real contractors do all the time. It's called the Ding Dong factor. You figure out what the job will cost you add some for overhead recovery, factor in anticipated profit, then look at who you will be working for. The bigger the Ding Dong the higher your price. Yep. Ya makes it so, if they say "no", it's just as good news as when they say "yes". If they say "yes", ya can consider the differential combat pay. :-) It's not always "Ding Dong", though - sometimes the job is harder to to do or to get to, but you don't want to totally walk away and **** off a possible future customer for lean times. Banty |
#30
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Rant: Over indulgent parents strike again
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