Are Online Job Sites A Sham?

Something just isn't right about the job market.  There's something extremely different about it now in comparison to 5+ years ago that's not sitting well with me.

I lost my full-time job of five years back in January 2013.  It was the best job I'd ever had in regards to the pay and the people I worked with daily.  I had a cool, yet effective, boss and some of the greatest co-workers a guy could ask for on any job.  However, a "financial decision" was made and 50 people lost their jobs.  Two months later we all got to read about the CEO of our company getting a $29.9 million dollar compensation (up 37% from the previous year).  He could have paid everyone in my office $100,000 a year for two years and still had roughly $20 million left over.

But, that's not my gripe (although I felt the need to mention it - LOL).  I don't think that anyone should be required to share their money.  But, I do think that it's morally wrong to take food off of people's tables so that you can turn $13 million into $30 million.  But what does this country care about morals anyway?  That's a blog post for another day.

I'm wondering about the job market itself and how employment rates are down yet opportunities are still not there.  When I searched for a new job I found so many openings, for which I was qualified, on multiple websites.  According to the e-mails that I saved with each online application, I applied for over 200 jobs in a three month period and only received five phone interviews and three in-office interviews.  This doesn't even include the times in which I applied for jobs in-person. 

How could there be so many listings yet so few responses?

After the first 50 or so non-responses to my online applications, I got some help from a friend and changed up my resume.  I did get my first phone call after doing that, but it was just that.  A phone call.  I continued to fill out applications on multiple sites and not get any responses aside from generic auto-emails.

I've never had a problem getting jobs in my life until last year.  Since January 2013, I've only had one company contact me about a job doing in what I'm most experienced in.  I didn't even reach out to them.  They contacted me!  Unfortunately for me that job was in South Carolina and I had no desire to move.  Luckily, I finally had someone give me an opportunity to work for them, but wasn't in the field of my previous experience.  

What are these online sites doing?  They're supposed to make it easier for people to get a job.  It's one thing to be turned down after an interview, but to not even get an interview?  I'm not bragging, but my resume isn't all that bad.  I have a wealth of experience in a lot of different fields.  I've been promoted in three of the last four full-time jobs in which I've had.  I've received performance bonuses at every single full-time job I've had since 1995.  Every one.  I've only missed work on my full-time jobs on two occasions since 2002 aside from three bereavement leaves (grandmother, mother, wife): when my late wife found out she had been diagnosed with breast cancer (2002) and when I had tore my patella tendon and required surgery (2011).  So, I'm efficient and reliable.

Are online job sites a scam?  Are they marketing your information to other sites and quick-fix educational institutions?  I don't have an answer and maybe some of you out there can shed some light on the subject.  I'm starting to think that the reason there are so many job sites online is because very few of them are on the up-and-up.

Do you think that online jobsites like Monster, Indeed, or CareerBuilder are scams?

(VIDEO) Hitler Gets Pissed at Jay Z

Well, Jay Z is back in the news again. He's not dissing senior citizens on wax this go around. This time, he's apparently not doing anything. I guess that's par for the course for modern day rappers and athletes...

Okay, here's the scoop: two young black kids were racially profiled in a high-end fashion store. A young man was arrested/questioned for purchasing a $350 belt with what was called "a stolen credit card." After a couple of hours in jail, he was released when it was determined that the card was actually his.

A young lady purchased a $2,500 purse from Barney's and received a similar line of questioning about how she could afford the bag.  Why she used her tax rebate money to buy a purse that expensive is beyond me.  Maybe she and the young man are both rich.  It's moot anyway.  The point is that they were both making legitimate purchases, but were accused of being shady people.

How does Jay Z tie into all of this? Well, he has a contract with Barney's to launch some new holiday clothing next month. Critics are calling upon him to cut ties with Barney's to take a stand against "shopping while black" incidents. However, Jay Z did release a statement on his website that basically denounces discrimination without condemning Barney's.

It appears that Jay Z will choose his pockets over his people and that will be unfortunate for Jay Z if Barney's is guilty of profiling.  Tons of people will be pissed at Jay Z saying he's too cowardly to speak out.  Including Hitler in the video below.  He was really pissed!
 

Now, I lost respect for Jay Z long ago, so this incident doesn't affect how I feel about him.  I lost respect for Jay Z after he dissed a living legend in Harry Belafonte. I can't say that I won't be surprised if he indeed decides to continue his affiliation with Barney's even if it's proven they were at fault. But despite that, this may surprise you: I don't think he should be obligated to cut ties with the store.

I just have a problem with Jay Z saying nothing about it for as long as he did. Nothing. He can at least condemn the incident even if he doesn't condemn the store.  We know for a fact that the incident with the young man happened and we know without a fact that it landed him in jail.

But, nope that's not his style. He's not going to piss off a store selling his over-priced swag.  He's going to play the victim and whine about people attacking his character.  And again, to his credit, Jay Z is being victimized here to a certain extent because he had nothing to do with what happened.  But, he's too self-centered to realize who the real victims are in this ordeal.

As for the store, I just think that Barney's needs to readjust the attitude of its employees. I won't call a franchise "racist" for the actions of a couple of idiots.  I seriously doubt that they tell their employees to "follow all black customers."

Famous people, regardless of color, would do whatever it took to right a wrong.  That trend died a decade or two ago and got replaced with, "I gotta get mine, you gotta get yours."  Just like we do with politicians, we blindly support our favorite celebrities despite the fact that they don't always care about our well-being.

Do celebs/athletes have any kind of responsibility to speak up for the "right thing?"

Ink About It

Join the discussion

I remember in the 80's when the only people you saw with tattoos were gang members and soldiers. They used to represent something, but now, I'm not so sure. Now you see tattoos on kids not even old enough to vote.

Have tattoos lost their meaning? 

Kids are rushing to the tattoo parlor as soon as their old enough to go to get some ink. Why is that? Why is there a need for someone not even capable of making an important decision getting something permanently engraved on their body?

I personally think that the legal age for someone to get a tattoo should at least be 21. Even if you have a parent's consent, 21 should be the age. What makes it so bad is that the people who need jobs the most are the main ones doing it. The governor's son isn't getting tattoos. At least not visible ones. The mayor's daughter doesn't have a rose vine taking up 40% of her back. It's the inner-city and trailer park folks who are yet again separating themselves from success. They're the ones who have to get neck tattoos and ink sleeves.

Look, I'm not saying that tattoos are wrong. I'm just saying that not everyone is making the best decision when it comes to getting them. People need to think about it seriously before they do it.  That includes the people who work for Rapid Realty. Rapid Realty promised a 15% commission increase for those who get the company logo inked on their person. 40 employees did it and got the ink to increase their pay. The tattoos can be any size anywhere on the agent’s body, so it doesn't even have to be visible.

Uh, okay.  15% is a significant raise, but I'm not inking myself for a raise.  What if the company lays you off tomorrow?  I'd have to get some guarantees with my ink!

Have you ever gotten ink on a dare?

Technology Needs to Slow Down

Because you're dying to check Facebook from your TV, right?

I'm a geek.  I love electronics and I can read articles and listen to podcasts on them for hours at a time.  However, sometimes, enough is enough.  These electronic companies like Samsung, LG, etc. are going to run themselves out of business for being so greedy.  Everyone wants to create the next great thing every other month.  It's like crack.

Standard definition television was good enough for over 50 years until high definition came along.  Once HD arrived, the televisions flew off of the shelves.  This made the greedy electronic companies very excited!  Instead of perfecting the HDTV to get through the next 50 years of television, they decided to release a 3D television just a few years later.  Then SmartTVs became the rage.  Although I'm not sure how smart it was to create a TV that can do the exact same thing as my Xbox 360, Blu Ray player, Roku and home theater receiver does.  Sounds dumb to me.  Redundant much?  Do I really need four or five devices that give me Hulu Plus and Netflix access?  Can't TV's just be TV's?

A few months from now, Ultra HDTVs will be the next big thing.  Because HD-3D television isn't enough.  I'm guessing we're not too far from actors coming to our houses to perform the shows we like to watch.  After all, it doesn't get much realer than that.

Cell phones are the same way, if not worse.  Samsung currently has 44 different types of cell phones on display at their website.  44!  And those are just the smartphones, not including the flip phones.  Why would anyone need 44 different types of phones to sell?  Oh, I know why!  Because every month, they have to try to come out with the next iPhone killer.  Instead of worrying about competition for Siri, why not do like Motorola and focus on improving battery life?

Click to enlarge and read the comparisons.

Apple is the same with their iPad.  Every year, there's a new iPad and it's basically the same as the last.  The only difference is a little more memory here, a different color there and an extra feature.  That will be $450, thank you very much.  You know that new iPads compare about the same to old iPads because they're roughly the same price.  If anything major was different about them, then it would seem that the price margin would have more of a gap.  To Apple's credit, they've sold more of the almost exact same product than any company that comes to mind.  Their marketing department is legendary!  How many people reading this just looked up and saw their iPhone, iPod and iPad mini charging next to one another?

I wish these companies would just slow down already!  People are catching on to the fact that every new item you put out is basically the last version with one or two more add-ons.  Try looking at successful models like the Xbox and follow their lead.  It released its first model and 2001 and didn't come out with the Xbox 360 until a presidential term later.  Now, they're rumored to come out with the Xbox 720 (prototype name) at the end of this year, eight years after the 360.  Not only have they taken their time to perfect their product, they've also allowed time for their previous product to actually sell!  Imagine that!

It sucks as a consumer because something you buy today is rendered irrelevant in less than two years.  I bought a Blu Ray player from Samsung three years ago.  It would receive updates to the firmware roughly every other month.  Well, the updates stopped after a little over a year because the model had been discontinued. A new model was out, so they stopped supporting the model that I expected to have for the next five years.

Needless to say, I'll never buy another Blu Ray player from Samsung again.  Not just because they kicked my player to the curb in such a short time, but also because they rejected my (honest) review of their product from their website.  That's right.  Samsung picks and choose which product reviews they'll allow.  I'm guessing the fact that I said the device "requires me to enter time/date during setup yet was too rushed for them to even have a clock display on it" was offensive to them.

People don't need a new HDTV every two or thee years.  And with two year agreements being the norm with cell phone crooks companies, people don't need a new phone every six months.  You companies will have to learn the hard way when you have all of this merchandise sitting in your warehouses with nowhere to go.  Best Buys are already shutting down across the country because they can't live on holiday sales alone.

Now, I'm far from an expert, but I'm just playing a hunch here.  I think companies will start to fold/downsize within a year or two due to lost revenue.  There are just some instances where technology needs to slow down.  We've figured out how you operate.  Take your time and give us a product worthy of the astronomical prices that you're charging.

Family / Dollar

No, I'm not talking about the department store. I'm taking about the choice between what's more important: family or dollars? Is Black Thursday Friday now a reflection of the "American Way?" There's so much greed in this country that it's a wonder that anyone cares about his fellow man these days.

Everything is centered around making profits. Everything. Black Friday (which is not a holiday for black people) has always been the one day that retailers could rejoice in knowing that they would make a profit. People line up in front of stores just waiting for the doors to open at 4 or 5 AM. After the doors open, they'll stampede down the aisles looking for that bargain item of choice.

However, things change. With the internet now being woven into our daily lives, Cyber Monday became a second day for retailers to make a killing on sales.  Consumers could sit in front of their PC's and point/click their way to great deals.  But, even that isn't enough for the retailers.  Hmmmmm....  How can they make even more cash?

Oh, I know!  They'll open up the stores on Thursday evening and start the sales then!  It doesn't matter if employees are pulled away from their family's dinner table because a profit is more important!  Right?  If it doesn't make dollars then it doesn't make cents (sense).

Stores across the country opened their doors early which required employees to cut their Thanksgiving short and I think that it sucks.  Don't get me wrong.  It's essential that certain people work on holidays.  Customer service centers are always needed to provide help for cable, cell phone, insurance companies.  But do you really need someone to sell you an HDTV at 9 PM on Thanksgiving night?

I had a discussion with my homie, M&M, about how Target and Walmart employees were threatening to strike over the fact that they had to work on a holiday.  They were upset that these stores were taking them away from their family time and rest.  M&M agreed. 

He mentioned how when Sam Walton was alive, he stressed his employees being happy at Walmart.  However, when he died in 1992, his family did the exact opposite of what he would have wanted.  They started opening on Sundays and eventually went to a 24/7 superchain store.  The employees became an after-thought because the only focus of Walmart was to make money.  It was no longer an all-American store either as agreements were made with China to make just about everything in the store.

So, the employees have to come to work and we, the consumers, take full advantage of it without giving it a thought.  We roll into these stores with these disgruntled employees and then get upset over poor customer service.  I guess that's the trade-off you get.  You get employees selling you an HDTV on a Thursday night, but you get the attitude along with it because that person can't even enjoy their own TV at home with their family.  When employees become only a warm body to their company, then you can rest assure that the customer service will suffer.  See AT&T.  If you don't believe me, then go to a Chick-Fil-A restaurant if you're ever in the South and see how great their customer service is.  It's the best I've seen ever and I've been to a lot of places.  Not working on Sundays or holidays does something for morale.  I'm just saying.

With each passing year, money becomes even more of a focus.  How can we possibly expect children to learn how to care from one another when adults don't?  Is it so important to add another million to the billion that you already have that you'll cut someone's holiday short?  Why not use the internet for early sales on Thursdays instead of requiring the physical locations to open?

Don't get me wrong.  I love convenience.  It's nice to need something in the middle of the night and know that I can go get it.  However, I understand that employees have lives and I wouldn't want to come in between them any more than someone doing it to me.  I'm pretty sure that not one CEO worked last Thursday.  They sat at home and took naps after eating turkey while Joe Sixpack and Sally Housecoat had to pay for a babysitter on a family holiday so they could work overnight.

I once was naive enough to think that things could change, but I think that we're too far gone in this country.  We don't care about each other and eventually, we will be one step away from cutting each other's throat for a competitive edge.  These big corporations don't care if you spend time with your family or not.  They just want you to make their money.  Yeah, you may get holiday pay, but wouldn't you at least want the option of your family or a dollar?

Am I wrong here?  Do stores put more focus on money than their employees well-being and will it hurt us as a country in the long run?

#Verizon Rage

This is a long post, but I'm telling a story with a lesson, so bear with me. When I was in the Verizon store today, I received some news of a policy of theirs that aggravated me so greatly, that I couldn't wait to get home to blog about it. I was tweeting about my displeasure while in the store and how the only reason I'm still with Verizon is because they're less evil than AT&T. A person shouldn't have to choose any company based on who sucks less, but that's what we have in 2012.

But, by the time I got home, I grabbed my laptop and started this rant. Verizon will only allow one phone to be upgraded on a family plan. Dumbest thing I've ever heard in a long time. Two phones on the plan, but I can only upgrade one of them today. I'll have to wait until August before the other phone is eligible to upgrade (and they can get another 2-yr contract out of me eight months from now). Don't hold your breath, Verizon.

I do want to mention that there was a nice, young lady who assisted me (I said I wouldn't mention her name in the post despite the fact that she was the only pleasant thing about my trip into the store). She answered all of my questions and explained things to me thoroughly before we made the decision to buy the phone anyway. I can't have The Mrs. without a phone she can't rely on, so it was necessary to go ahead and get the phone for her.

So, I'll just hope that my phone can last me until August because if not, I'll have to pay full price for a new phone since I can't upgrade. But, despite my aggravation, there was another guy in the store who was just a tad bit more pissed than I was. Well, let me stop lying, he was way more pissed than me. Here's what happened...

A young, male employee storms back to the counter followed by what looked to be a pre-teen boy. They're having a heated discussion about equipment insurance. The boy is being really rude to the Verizon rep and the rep loses it and says, "Look, I'm grown! You're not going to talk to me like that!"

The boy rushes out of the store and returns seconds later with his father who appears hot under the collar. He slams his hand on the counter which causes everyone to stop talking and turn around. "I want your general manager's name NOW!"

The Verizon employee bites his lip and looks like he's about three seconds from performing an over-hand gorilla slap on the guy when a co-worker escorts him to the back room. The man beats on the table and screams out again, "I want your general manager's name now! I've spent $35,000 for my business in this place and you all are constantly rude to me! This is the 3rd incident I've had happen in this location."

A store rep comes out and tries to calm the man down, but he's not having it. She starts, "Sir, I can get your number and have our general manager call you?"

"I don't want him to call me! I want his name and number now or I'll get you fired, too!"

"Sir," she says calmly, "let me get your name and number..."

He then turns to his son, "Were you rude to that man?"

"No, sir," replied the son which was a blatant lie.

The man pounds the desk one more time and then screams his demands. Everyone in the store is staring at this point and I'm borderline ready to pull out my phone and start filming in case he goes "O.J." on an employee. But, after three-to-five minutes of ranting, he finally gets a name, pounds the counter one last time with the palm of his hand and storms out mumbling about "idiots." His storming out did include him slamming up against the door as if he wanted to take it off the hinges.

Everyone in the store is standing in disbelief in complete silence. The young lady who was helping me did confirm that the man does spend a lot of money in the store. She personally knew of $3,000 worth of equipment he bought once, so he was a valued customer. "Valued customer?" Hmmph. Isn't that an oxymoron? Kind of like "jumbo shrimp?"

But, despite the fact that the man handled everything all wrong, I don't really fault him. I fault the employee who got into it with his son. When you work with the public, you have to know how to control yourself and not let people push your buttons. Yet this dude got riled up by a 12-year old? Seriously, dude? Chris Brown thinks that you have a short temper. You can't let a child cost you your job. Even 15 minutes after the man and his son had left, this guy is still coming out of the back room and cursing under his breath. These young bucks today are way too emotional. Man up.

As for the angry customer, although he was wrong in acting a donkey in public, I get his frustration. Although he pays a ton more money for his business to have cell phones than I do for me and The Mrs., we're still two paying customers not getting the basic service. For him, it was not getting the customer service that he needed and for me, it was being told that I'm not important enough for any perks until my contract runs out.

This economy has kicked this country in the backside, but Congress has bestowed power upon these corporations that allow them to treat their customers any way they want. Where are you going to go? You're going to pay a termination fee to go some where else and be obligated for two more years? Hardly. And they know you're not able to go any where. Termination fees has replaced customer service. So, they're not obligated to even give you basic service yet alone, go the extra mile for you.

Companies used to bend over backwards for customers because we weren't obligated to stay. Current laws handcuff us to companies which allows them to mistreat you until a couple of months before your contract runs out. After that happens, then all of a sudden, "Mr. Q, sir, we will give you this cell phone today for free with a new two year agreement."

But, after I sign that agreement, then it's "screw you" for the next two years. I think the man who lost his cool today was tired of being screwed. What makes the afternoon so crazy is that I was more than likely going to get that Motorola Razr Maxx today. That was $300+ going to Verizon that they may now never get because of their policy. Now, I can't wait to cut ties with this company and let some other company put the screws to me. At least maybe they'll kiss me first before bending me over.




>

Occupy White House

I've been following the #OccupyWallStreet protests on TV. I get a kick out of it! I think that it's great that people are banding together to go up against a common foe to improve this country. However, once again, I think the citizens are barking up the wrong tree.

Disclaimer: I have no problems with OWS or the people involved.

After reading that, you know I'm getting ready to piss some people off, huh? Well, I'll try not to do so because it's not my intention. Here's my question:


Why are we going after Wall Street instead of the people who enable them?

It's like The "War on Drugs." We're chasing the drug users and low-level dealers instead of the "big fish." What does that resolve? Nothing! That's why the "War on Drugs" title carries about as much weight as the "King of R&B" title Bobby Brown once claimed.

The politicians are the reason Wall Street has the power that it has. These people didn't come to power on their own. They bought their way into the White House and had their minions change the laws to bolster their greed. Didn't everyone see the video clip of the Wall Street employees sitting on their balconies, drinking champagne and taking cell phone photos of the protesters? They know the protesters can't touch them. They can march until Armageddon and nothing will ever change.

Yet, come Election Tuesday, when the people of the U.S. have the opportunity to actually remove the people who have been enabling Wall Street with the laws they need for tax loopholes and ridiculous bonuses, we do nothing. NOTHING!

I think you may still be dreaming.

It's time to Vacate Wall Street and Occupy White House. You don't have to spend your time marching up and down the street and dealing with the police when you can go right around the corner a few times a year and cast a ballot. Let those losers in the Democratic and Republicans parties know that their days in office are numbered.

- Replace them with Independents who would rather run on an honest campaign than the career polticians who are loyal only to Corporate America.

- Support those who campaign from money out of their pockets rather than those who have collected $100 million in campaign money and then turn right around and tell you that "we need to cut spending."

- Vote for someone who truly understands how to budget by feeding a family of four on a $70,000 household income rather than someone who has a car worth twice that.

- Elect someone who understands the struggle of people who work two jobs to get by rather than someone whose only boss in life was named "Dad."

We have the power to change what goes on in this country, yet we choose not to use it. We'll spend $10 on multiple votes for our favorite "American Idol," but won't go to the polls to vote for free on who will decide what to do with our salaries.



I applaud the 99%.

Do I think you'll actually get something changed? As much as I'd love to see it, no, I don't think you'll change anything. CEO's weren't always filthy rich. Corporations didn't always lay off Americans only to employ those overseas on the cheap. Banks didn't always come up with some made up transaction fee to milk even more money from your checking accounts.

The bottom line is this: there are only two things in this country that have been consistent throughout the increase of corporate greed we've seen over the past 30+ years: Democrats and Republicans.

Bloggers Do It Better

Yeah, I said it! Bloggers are better than the people you see on FOX News, MSNBC, Headline News, etc. We're even better than radio/TV types like The View, Tom Joyner, Dr. Oz, etc. That's right. All day! Now some of you are saying to yourselves, "how is a blogger smarter than a Bill O'Reilly or an Anderson Cooper or anyone who does that type of work for a living?"

Well, it's not to say that we're smarter (even though some of us may be). It's because bloggers have one thing on their side when it comes to creating a post of our opinion:

Honesty.

You see, bloggers aren't handcuffed by sponsors. We don't have to worry about our opinions causing us to lose our blog. We can say whatever we want and if you don't like it, then you can either comment on what pissed you off or simply choose not to follow. And as far as the blogger is concerned, if you don't like it, then so be it. It was still something he/she felt needed to be said. Some bloggers don't care if they're popular, they only care that their message is being read. Radio and TV types don't have that same agenda. It's not about being right or about giving the listeners/viewers what they want. It's about the money.

Example: One of my favorite shows was on ESPN back in the day. It was called Playmakers. It was a show that was based on the lives of athletes in a pro football league who indulged in infidelity and drug use. This show raised a red flag with the NFL since Playmakers was being compared to it. Since the NFL had a contract with ESPN for weekly games, they threatened to end that relationship with ESPN if the show wasn't canceled. Well, guess what happened? It only aired for one season. Despite the huge ratings for ESPN's show (and DVD sales), it had to 'go the way of the dinosaur' because money trumped freedom to create/express. It wasn't about what the people wanted to see, it was about losing money from the NFL yanking games from them.

Best scripted sports show ever.

Do you think if Tide sponsored The View and had a product recall, that they would tolerate Whoopi running her mouth off about it? Nope. They would threaten to pull their sponsorship which means that ABC would push the mute button on her.

Bloggers don't have that issue. That's why I can say "AT&T and oil companies suck" because none of them are paying my bills. And for the company that does pay my bills, if I don't want to say something that will get me in trouble with my job, then I would just write under a fake name. It's just that simple for a blogger to have an unbiased opinion.

The bottom line is: bloggers are free to express the truth. That's what we all want, right? It doesn't mean that we're always right because we're not all experts in the things we post. But, whatever it is we're discussing, you know that it's not likely to be influenced by any one and that whatever we're typing is something that we actually believe.

So, turn off CNN and turn on BlogTalkRadio and get the real scoop. Put down the USA Today and read a blog and get the real scoop.  The unedited scoop. Get the information that you can actually use that will require you to think instead of having someone on TV do it for you.

We've Failed Our Youth

Where to start? I wish I knew, but I'll do the best I can. Buckle up because this is a long one...

It's hard to say what generation dropped the ball when it comes to our youth. The Generation X group from 1961-1981 would be where I'd start.

We didn't preserve our core values that our parents (from the Baby Boomer era) taught us. We compromised on our beliefs and because of it, we live in a country full of young, lost souls.

So many of us were raised in two-parent households, but ended up as single parents ourselves. Dads raised their sons to be men, but now that job seems to belong to a lot of women. Women have "worn the pants" in their families for so long that their daughters never seem to learn how to be ladies.

What made us change? Why did we, out of all of the people before us, choose to be the group to compromise our values?

Why did we choose to be the generation to make it "okay" to have children without a two-parent household?

Why did we choose to be the generation to make it "okay" to choose buying a material thing over this month's rent?

Why did we choose to be the generation to make it "okay" to have enough visible tattoos to make it hard to tell where your shirt ends and skin begins?

Society played a role in it. Corporations got greedy and inflation out-paced salaries requiring more two income households. That meant no more "June Cleavers" staying home while the "Ward Cleavers" went off to work to bring home the bacon.



With both parents now working in households lucky enough to have two, who's watching the kids?

Well, when I was growing up, I was lucky enough to have responsible adults to look after me while my mom and dad worked. My grandmother lived in my neighborhood and my best friend's grandmother stayed just two houses down. All of them allowed me access to their homes as if I were their kid and they also kept me in line if I acted up.

What are our options now? Daycare? A system that rarely allows for people who truly have love for your child to nourish, educate, and discipline them? That's our resolution? To have strangers raise our kids?

My aunt and uncle, who own a daycare, wouldn't be happy with that statement, but I'm just making a point. :)

So, if kids aren't getting the love, discipline and life lessons at the day care, then it's pretty much up to the parents (or in most cases, the mother) to instill that at home. Is that easy to do when your child is spending 40 hours a week around strangers learning new habits?

Gen X'ers, we've failed our youth. It has led to females who lack lady-like qualities and options in a suitable mate as well as males who are in a perpetual state of boyhood.

Why Can't I See Wanda Sykes?

Garbage! Straight up garbage! It's a doggone shame how our government lets Corporate America rob us blind every single day.

I was trying to be a good husband and surprise The Mrs. with a trip to Biloxi to check out Wanda Sykes next weekend. No reason. Just to relax and enjoy a good show.

Well, guess how much that trip would cost me for one night? Almost $800 freakin' dollars!

A couple of weeks ago I saw Wanda tickets were on sale for the IP Casino on the Gulf Coast. Now, for those who don't know, I'm a huge Wanda Sykes fan. In fact, The Mrs. probably should have felt threatened by her for a few years before Wanda announced she was gay. At that point, I knew my chances of getting with her were, uh, pretty much slim-to-none. But, hey, what can I say? Funny women are attractive to me and Wanda is all-that.



Anyway, the tickets were $45-$65, so I went to Ticketmaster to buy a couple.

"Let's see... Two tickets... Best available... $260 per ticket!!!???"

I couldn't believe my eyes! I kept reading because some where in fine print it has to say that I get to stay in Wanda's room after the show or something for a price this excessive.

After being disappointed with the contents of the fine print, I try Stubhub, Tickets, Razorgator and any other site that comes to mind and the cheapest ticket I found was $70 for "general admission" in the back of the room.

I decided I'd better at least check the price of the hotel of the casino where the comedy show will be. If I can at least get a room, I'm sure I can score some tickets locally at a reasonable price.

"Hmmmmm, one night.... two adults.... September 10th..."

(click)

"$270 per night!!!!!????"

Now, I'm positive that Wanda comes with the room! I just stayed at this hotel less than a year ago for $90 and now you want to triple your price?

Why is it legal for the ticket companies to buy up all of the tickets and then scalp them back to us for triple the face value?

How can hotels run for $65 a night, but jump to $250 a night when a special event rolls into town?

All I wanted to do was take The Mrs. on a nice weekend to see Wanda and Corporate America has foiled me once again.

I know one thing: you all better stop voting for these people on the ballot just because they have a (D) or an (R) in front of their name. Because no matter which group runs the White House, I still can't catch a break. You all keep arguing with one another while the White House officials keep pocketing our hard-earned money.



Oh, well. I guess I'll have to think of something else for date night with The Mrs. Maybe it worked out for her anyway that we couldn't make the show. After all, it was Wanda Sykes we were going to see.