What happened to the days when...

Yeah. I would love to get some help in the yard, and I could pay a kid at least $15 an hour and still come out way ahead, and the kid would do pretty well too. Not happening.
 

mrstime said:
Surely you wouldn't expect a kid to do those jobs for a quarter in these days.
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I'd prefer for free. Before my eye problems, I worked delivering meals-on-wheels and was not compensated, even for gas. People I tell that to find it difficult to believe anyone would work at something at their own expense, especially with the gas prices the way they are.
 
When I was a kid prior to being old enough to do summer work in the factories, I mowed lawns and washed cars to earn a few bucks. I mowed some lawns for as little as $2 back then. In the winter, I’d hustle to find walks and driveways to shovel following a snow. Groups of kids would actually walk the streets looking for snow shoveling jobs after snow in those days. Have fun trying to find a young person wanting to mow lawns or shovel snow these days! They’re too busy on their phones or playing video games. Their parents apparently give them all the money they want to keep them out of trouble.

I also had quite a side hustle as a kid doing animal care when their owners went away. I’ve cared for dogs, cats, parakeets, and even pet mice.

Kids just don’t want to do work for pay these days, at least in my area. With professional lawn mowing services starting at $40 a mow in my area, I guess I’ll continue to do my own until I can’t… 😩
 
debodun said:
You could get a kid from the neighborhood to mow your lawn or shovel your driveway for 25¢? No kids want to work anymore forcing people that can't do it into hiring a business that won't do it for less than $100.
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The minimum wage... say around the early 60s, was a little over a dollar if I'm not mistaken... maybe $1.25. Giving that kid a quarter back then just may be comparable to what someone with today's wages gives a neighborhood kid to mow or shovel? Granted some kids get greedy (I heard of a local kid wanting fifty bucks to shovel an extremely small walkway) but for the most part, we can't compare now to when a wage earner was bringing home around $60 a week.
 
debodun said:
I'd prefer for free. Before my eye problems, I worked delivering meals-on-wheels and was not compensated, even for gas. People I tell that to find it difficult to believe anyone would work at something at their own expense, especially with the gas prices the way they are.
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And you did the work so you expect others to do free work for you? I thought that work was done out of the goodness of your heart, not the expectation of Instant Karma. Deb, you have bragged you are a millionaire. Stop being so cheap; a pennypincher. You can't take it with you and who are you going to leave it to? For God's sake, spend your money without complaining!
 
Pepper said:
And you did the work so you expect others to do free work for you? I thought that work was done out of the goodness of your heart, not the expectation of Instant Karma. Deb, you have bragged you are a millionaire. Stop being so cheap; a pennypincher. You can't take it with you and who are you going to leave it to? For God's sake, spend your money without complaining!
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PS
Why am I thinking of Ebenezer Scrooge? Or Scrooge McDuck?
 
Pepper said:
And you did the work so you expect others to do free work for you? I thought that work was done out of the goodness of your heart, not the expectation of Instant Karma. Deb, you have bragged you are a millionaire. Stop being so cheap; a pennypincher. You can't take it with you and who are you going to leave it to? For God's sake, spend your money without complaining!
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I'd never pay to have snow removed - nature will eventually take it away - and I can still do that for myself when necessary. People sometimes say to me, "If I had your money, I'd be living it up." Well, Donald Trump is a multi-millionaire, but I bet he doesn't want to pay any more than he has to for things.
 
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There's kids out there willing to work, not for a quarter though! Finding the kid may take some effort though.

Are you on a community forum? If so ask about yard help, or look for pist by kids looking for work.

Ask a neighbor? Or look for kids mowing in your neighborhood and stop to ask if they want another mowing job.

Call a local scout troop? Call the local highschool office, maybe the guidance counselor could recommend a kid.
 
same here.. I can't remember the last time I saw a kid/kids washing a car or mowing a lawn. It's so rare no that occasionally there will be a mother asking on the neighbourhood App.. if someone can give their 15 year old some work.. charging £15 ph... and rarely anyone take it up.. because if the kid gets hurt on their property we've entered the twilight zone of the suing culture.. not to mention the wrath of the parents..
 
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I've never seen a kid mowing or doing any kind of outdoor work in our neighborhood. Scout troops are gone --- to many pedophiles and most troops were disbanded years ago. Also, can't get volunteers to run a troop even if there is interest. Ask neighbor? Johnny is too busy playing video games and eventually getting to his homework. They don't want to upset Johnny because he's too 'delicate'. Call the school? Guidance counselor can't give out names.
Like many of us, I started working at 12 years old with a paper route and by age 14, being a busboy in a local restaurant (had to get some kind of work permit that my parents had to sign). Don't know if that is done any longer. I filed tax returns from the age of 14 until retirement.
Anyone remember Maynard G Krebs from TV show, Dobie Gillis, where he would exclaim 'work!'? That's the world at least in the burbs. Different story out on the farms.
 
hollydolly said:
if the kid gets hurt on their property we've entered the twilight zone of the suing culture.. not to mention the wrath of the parents..
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Hiring an clumsy, uninsured kid is asking for trouble. Thirty years ago, my dad hired 3 neighbor boys to rake leaves in the fall. They said $20 to do it, but when they finished they said $50. My dad asked why and they said it took more work than they thought. My dad refused to pay the extra amount and the boys emptied the trash bags out on the lawn.
 
debodun said:
I'd never pay to have snow removed - nature will eventually take it away - and I can still do that for myself when necessary. People sometimes say to me, "If I had your money, I'd be living it up." Well, Donald Trump is a multi-millionaire, but I bet he doesn't want to pay any more than he has to for things.
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I'm a penny pincher myself, deb. My son calls me cheap. I give to others, but find it hard to spend on myself. No, of course you don't want to pay more, but I responded to you saying you don't want to pay anything. Not in this dimension!
 
Things are different in different countries and different states within the US. I'm not saying that Deb should or should not hire someone. :)

Just for comparison purposes there are always students here advertising on the neighborhood app for work cutting lawns or shoveling snow. The price is roughly the same for either and it's less than a lawn company by far. I used to pay $50 to have a lawn company cut my grass or shovel my walks in the winter. It would be more than $50 now.

I decided to xeriscape the front and dropped the lawn company. I still need to have the back mowed and walks shoveled. I paid $20 every other week for lawn mowing for 3 years and $20-$30 for shoveling depending on how deep it was. Then that very reliable boy graduated and moved on.

So last year I had a $20 kid until he didn't show up. Then I had a $30 adult until he didn't show up. Not everyone is reliable but there's always been someone wanting to replace those who are not. I'm about to hire another teen who is advertising for customers. It's well worth $20-$30 to me, especially for snow removal in the winter. We have a lot of foot traffic with people walking dogs or walking for exercise and a 24 hr. removal law.
 
debodun said:
Well, Donald Trump is a multi-millionaire, but I bet he doesn't want to pay any more than he has to for things.
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.... True. Extremely rich people are prudent with their money I've been told (I just mentioned a Warren Buffett story in the forum a week or so ago) ... but that said, I can't really picture "The Donald" puttering around the yard with a mower or shoveling his own snow when he's in NY or DC. Not wanting to pay $25 for a burger is different from hiring people to do work for you.
 
debodun said:
You could get a kid from the neighborhood to mow your lawn or shovel your driveway for 25¢? No kids want to work anymore forcing people that can't do it into hiring a business that won't do it for less than $100.
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I think those days were about 63 years ago.
What was the minimum wage in 1960?
A 1955 amendment increased the minimum wage to $1.00 an hour with no changes in coverage. The 1961 amendments greatly expanded the FLSA's scope in the retail trade sector and increased the minimum for previously covered workers to $1.15 an hour effective September 1961 and to $1.25 an hour in September 1963.

https://www.google.com/search?q=ave...143i362.2080906j0j15&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8
 
My neighbor uses kids through the LDS church since she is a retired nurse claiming she "can't afford" to pay someone. :rolleyes: There are a lot of people on our neighborhood platform looking for under the table work - those who use them often regret it.
There is no such thing as a free lunch.
 
Sounds like even if a kid wanted to mow lawn and earn cash no one would hire them. I get it though, no one wants to be held liable for a kid getting hurt on their property, and these days the parents would most likely sue. That's the kind of world that makes me sad.

So that leaves Debodun to do it herself or hire professionals, or get some goats. Better yet let it grow wild and put a sign out front claiming your yard as a green space preserve.
 
At least goats could fertilize the law at the same time they ate it.

When I put out a request on NextDoor, I did get a couple of kids wanting the job, but the catch was I had to have the mower. If I had one, I could do it myself on a day that wasn't too hot.
 
debodun said:
I'd never pay to have snow removed - nature will eventually take it away - and I can still do that for myself when necessary. People sometimes say to me, "If I had your money, I'd be living it up." Well, Donald Trump is a multi-millionaire, but I bet he doesn't want to pay any more than he has to for things.
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I can't believe what I'm reading here.
debodun said:
I'd prefer for free. Before my eye problems, I worked delivering meals-on-wheels and was not compensated, even for gas. People I tell that to find it difficult to believe anyone would work at something at their own expense, especially with the gas prices the way they are.
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Called volunteering.
 
debodun said:
I'd prefer for free. Before my eye problems, I worked delivering meals-on-wheels and was not compensated, even for gas. People I tell that to find it difficult to believe anyone would work at something at their own expense, especially with the gas prices the way they are.
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There are a lot of people who do something at their own expense. I fly for Angel Flight West, and pay for aircraft rental out of my own pocket. I have flown over 100 missions at a cost of about $400 per mission, and I have nowhere near the $$$ you do.
 
CallMeKate said:
I had even wondered if some of what I read around the forum is actually sardonic wit that goes over my head, but I'm thinking maybe not? ⁉️⁉️
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I thought it was just me.


As to this thread I just found a flyer on my front door from a boy offering to mow my lawn, $10 for the front or $10 for the back, using his own mower and bagging too! That is really too cheap since I only need the back mowed and he will be paying for gas to bring his mower and paying for gas to run it. If I call this boy and he does a good job he will be getting a nice tip.
 


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