Attitude about working in teens. Common or not?

[turbo]

In the recent heat-wave, my respiratory problems have acted up, limiting some strenuous outdoor activities. There is a teenager living really close to here, and I asked him if he would like to stack firewood for me. I offered to pay him minimum wage, cash, so there would be no deductions. He seemingly jumped at the chance, saying he needed to earn $400 for his driver-ed training. That was 2 weeks ago, and I have gotten exactly 7 hours of not-so-speedy work out of him, despite giving him work in a well-ventilated shed on the hotter days. If I call him and ask him when he's going to come put in a few hours, he seems to always have an excuse or something else he "has to do".

It's bugging the hell out of me. If someone offered me minimum wage (in cash) for doing odd jobs for them when I was his age, I would have been on them like a tick. We live miles from town, and he has no transportation (except his mountain bike) and no way to transport tools to do odd jobs for others. Seems like my offer of work would be a perfect fit for him, since he lives a couple of minutes' walk from here.

Is anybody else having problems finding a responsible teen who wants to make some money doing chores or yard-work?

 

[cronxeh]

I think people that do manual labour should get paid 10 times minimum wage, but that is just my opinion. Frankly I wouldn't chop wood for less than 50 bucks an hour, take it or leave.

 

[Jimmy Snyder]

Yeah, my son and daughter.

 

[Jimmy Snyder]

I think people that do manual labour should get paid 10 times minimum wage, but that is just my opinion. Frankly I wouldn't chop wood for less than 50 bucks an hour, take it or leave.

That's just a fancy way of saying that you wouldn't do manual labor. No one is paying $100K/year for this kind of work.

 

[cronxeh]

That's just a fancy way of saying that you wouldn't do manual labor. No one is paying $100K/year for this kind of work.

Really? Thats funny, I am sure this society can sustain paying college grads to sit in an air conditioned office and pull in 100K for doing mediocre paper-pushing, while the lumber jack is going to do it for minimum wage.

 

[turbo]

The kid isn't a lumberjack, and has no such skills. I'm just asking him to stack some firewood that is already cut and split. What's wrong with minimum wage for unskilled labor - especially when he gets paid in cash every day? If my father had found out that I was turning down such work when I was a kid, he'd have tanned my hide. As it was, I was working full-time from about the age of 14 all summer and part-time in spring and fall, as caretaker of the town cemetery, so most of my handy-man jobs were for shoveling driveways and raking snow off roofs in the winter.

 

[leroyjenkens]

One hour of stacking wood in hot weather can be a lot of work. He probably did one entire hour of constantly stacking wood, becoming soaked in sweat, then realized he only made 7 dollars. That can be discouraging.
I do manual labor, but there's quite a bit of down time. I'm not constantly working. I don't know how it is stacking your wood, but I wood imagine you woodn't pay him for much downtime.

 

[Astronuc]

In the recent heat-wave, my respiratory problems have acted up, limiting some strenuous outdoor activities. There is a teenager living really close to here, and I asked him if he would like to stack firewood for me. I offered to pay him minimum wage, cash, so there would be no deductions. He seemingly jumped at the chance, saying he needed to earn $400 for his driver-ed training. That was 2 weeks ago, and I have gotten exactly 7 hours of not-so-speedy work out of him, despite giving him work in a well-ventilated shed on the hotter days. If I call him and ask him when he's going to come put in a few hours, he seems to always have an excuse or something else he "has to do".

I used to that kind of work for my grandfather when I was 7-8 years old.

I had my first paying job at 13 working in a bike repair shop that did not have air conditioning. I then went on to work at a gardening center unloading trucks, stacking 70 lb bags of fertilizer, filling bags of dirt, sand and manure, and then loading them into customers vehicles. I was 15-16 at the time, and I thought $1/hr was great! All this in Houston where summer temperatures were in the 90's - 100's.

 

[Tobias Funke]

$7.50/hr is pretty low no matter what the work is. Especially considering the heat, maybe $10/hr is a little more fair. I made that 9 years ago for sitting at a computer and doing mindless work. But still, he's probably lazy judging by your description.

 

[turbo]

One hour of stacking wood in hot weather can be a lot of work. He probably did one entire hour of constantly stacking wood, becoming soaked in sweat, then realized he only made 7 dollars. That can be discouraging.
I do manual labor, but there's quite a bit of down time. I'm not constantly working. I don't know how it is stacking your wood, but I wood imagine you woodn't pay him for much downtime.

I don't oversee him. I take note of when he shows up and when he quits and pay him for the hours he was here. It's not like I'm expecting a lot out of him - still it's too much work, apparently. I don't think $7.50 for unskilled labor is too bad, especially since if he was working for a business, he'd be knocked with withholding for SS, state and federal income tax, etc. What would that leave him? Six bucks and change? Plus I let him set his own hours, so if he wanted to stack wood in the early morning or in the evening when it's cooler, he can. I would have killed for a job like that when I was a kid.

 

[turbo]

$7.50/hr is pretty low no matter what the work is. Especially considering the heat, maybe $10/hr is a little more fair. I made that 9 years ago for sitting at a computer and doing mindless work. But still, he's probably lazy judging by your description.

Jobs are so scarce here in central Maine, that you won't find any minimum-wage jobs vacant for too long. It's very tough for kids to find summer jobs, because adults are taking them just to make ends meet - often more than one.

 

[BobG]

The kid is lazy and worthless and half of his brain has probably atrophied from playing Grand Theft Auto too many times.

When I was in junior high, I had two morning paper routes. In high school I got a job washing dishes for less than minimum wage in an ice cream parlor, then rapidly worked my way up to soda jerk, and then to the exalted position of creator of the ice cream - a very heady, almost godlike position for a teenager willing to work alternately in a room at 120 degrees Fahrenheit and a freezer at 20 below. I took pride in my work when I was a teenager and my ice cream was named best in the county the year I was the ice cream maker.

Heck, according the owner, a retired Army colonel, we were paid too much even at $1.60 an hour. He always told us he would have taken a job like the ones he gave us for free just to get a good recommendation letter for future employers (Employers who would give us an even better recommendation, perhaps, for future jobs? I have to admit, we never quite figured out how working for free might benefit us.)

But the contrast between the retired Army colonel, my generation, and today's generation clearly illustrates how each generation seems to develop more of a pansy-like sense of entitlement. First teenagers start to want to be paid for their work and then, next thing you know, they'd rather be paid for doing nothing.

 

[Norman.Galois]

I agree that he's just lazy.

My guess is that he's on Facebook or some other type of entertainment.

People are living passive lifestyles nowadays. Everything must be passive from entertainment, learning, work and more.

 

[Evo]

Heck, I'd stack wood for $7.50 an hour, but you have to include room and board.

Maybe it was the bugs. Always a ton of spiders in wood. Snakes too. I learned to approach log piles carefully and give the wood a good whacking before picking any up. <shudder>

 

[turbo]

I don't think the kid is allowed to spend any time on violent video games. His parents are strict fundamentalist Christians. Still it seems he has no work-ethic, nor any urge to honor a verbal agreement, and that's disturbing. What's even more jarring is that he wants to follow his brother's lead and join the Army. If he does that, he is in for one RUDE awakening. They are going to have to break him severely before they can make anything out of him.

 

[CRGreathouse]

What's even more jarring is that he wants to follow his brother's lead and join the Army. If he does that, he is in for one RUDE awakening. They are going to have to break him severely before they can make anything out of him.

That seems to be one of the main functions of the armed forces.

 

[turbo]

Heck, I'd stack wood for $7.50 an hour, but you have to include room and board.

I couldn't afford to feed you, too, on top of the $7.50. You could forage for berries down back, and trap rabbits. That's my final offer.

 

[cronxeh]

I couldn't afford to feed you, too, on top of the $7.50. You could forage for berries down back, and trap rabbits. That's my final offer.

:rofl:

So on top of that 50 an hour you going to pay me, there is going to be dental and health insurance, workman's comp, restroom facilities, and an hour lunch break, right?

 

[turbo]

Regarding the comments about the heat, there was no AC or shade in the cemetery, and I was the only kid the sexton hired, after getting shafted by some worthless older kids prior to my hiring. I welcomed that job because it excused me from being free labor on my uncle's farm during haying season. I was very sad when his old baler quit because he bought a newer one. The old one made up 50# bales and the newer one made 75# bales. It would generally take two of us little kids to get the 75# bales onto the wagon, and you can bet we didn't stack them too high.

 

[murray92]

Mhm still beeing in my teens (they go till 20 right?). I am not sure whether I would do it.
I am not from the states so could anyone comment on the purchasing power of 7.50$?

... I worked for 6 Euro an hour in a vineyard last year, and it was hot and at the end of the day I had a terrible headache from the exposure to the sun, so I couldn't learn any useful stuff in the evening...

I could have done the same work this year again, ... it is f******* boring..., but still one has to concentrate (ok at least I have to). But I most likely won't because It wouldn't make much sense, learning something math/physics related instead is much more usefull... probably he prefers living with lower money but doing a lot of Human Capital investment while he is young, sounds like a reasonable approach to me. (But it's very stupid if he is just slacking off).

In a nutshell it is maybe a smart and sensible approach

Evo's point also seems important about snakes and bugs and other disgusting insects...
But being able to decide his own working hours seems fair...
So If I would live near you I would probably do it . but I don't know how much 7,5$ are...

 

[Office_Shredder]

6 euros is $7.80 approximately

 

[KalamMekhar]

Heck, I worked 40+ hours a week every summer starting when I was 14 years old. Kids these days. I say fire his arse Turbo.

 

[murray92]

6 euros is $7.80 approximately

Cool good to know... where did you find the Purchasing power comaprison
(or did you just give the exchange rate?)

 

[turbo]

Cool good to know... where did you find the Purchasing power comaprison
(or did you just give the exchange rate?)

Purchasing power is tough to compute fairly. For instance, $7.50 will buy you about 2.6 gallons of gasoline here, but I'll bet you'd only get a few liters in Europe.

 

[DanP]

In the recent heat-wave, my respiratory problems have acted up, limiting some strenuous outdoor activities. There is a teenager living really close to here, and I asked him if he would like to stack firewood for me. I offered to pay him minimum wage, cash, so there would be no deductions. He seemingly jumped at the chance, saying he needed to earn $400 for his driver-ed training. That was 2 weeks ago, and I have gotten exactly 7 hours of not-so-speedy work out of him, despite giving him work in a well-ventilated shed on the hotter days. If I call him and ask him when he's going to come put in a few hours, he seems to always have an excuse or something else he "has to do".

It's bugging the hell out of me. If someone offered me minimum wage (in cash) for doing odd jobs for them when I was his age, I would have been on them like a tick. We live miles from town, and he has no transportation (except his mountain bike) and no way to transport tools to do odd jobs for others. Seems like my offer of work would be a perfect fit for him, since he lives a couple of minutes' walk from here.

Is anybody else having problems finding a responsible teen who wants to make some money doing chores or yard-work?

Ill do your stack free of charge if you take me kayaking in Maine's rivers :P

 

[turbo]

Ill do your stack free of charge if you take me kayaking in Maine's rivers :P

We've got some nice class IV-V white-water. One of my neighbors is a rafting guide, and he has given up kayaking, and instead runs rivers using swim fins and a boogie-board. He says it's a lot more fun.

 

[Jimmy Snyder]

Purchasing power is tough to compute fairly. For instance, $7.50 will buy you about 2.6 gallons of gasoline here, but I'll bet you'd only get a few liters in Europe.

You can't get a gallon of gas over there for love or money.

 

[pongo38]

A way through this is: Have a meeting with the guy and both discuss the pros and cons. Then, on a piece of paper, you write down the most you are prepared to pay him. He writes down on a separate piece of paper the least he is prepared to accept. Compare what you have written. If the numbers overlap, then you split the difference. If the numbers do not overlap, then that is the end of the discussion. Such a process really concentrates minds, and in my experience you usually come to the same figure anyway.

 

[turbo]

I have done a LOT of work on the wood-pile today, in just a few 1-hour stints. I've decided that I can tough it out even if the humidity gets nasty again. I'll just do the work myself. I have a cord of firewood left to split and pile, and two more loads (2.5 cords total) afterward. Now that the solid tiers are built up, I can just use them as a backstop to throw the wood into a big "haystack" pile. Wood dries better if you have it in a large rounded pile covered with tarps, so the water (rain outside, condensation inside) sheds off quickly.

 

[murray92]

Probably gas (petrol is british isn't it?), is pretty bad to compare, because it's so ridiculously cheap in the US. (A lot of people in europe are upset about this I think...)

2,6 gallons are about 10 liters right?
for 6 Euro you get 5l of gas /petrol or 6 liters of diesel... at least I think so... don't have a driving license yet, but that's what I remember from the top of my head...

mhm any other product to compare?

 

[DanP]

I have done a LOT of work on the wood-pile today, in just a few 1-hour stints. I've decided that I can tough it out even if the humidity gets nasty again. I'll just do the work myself. I have a cord of firewood left to split and pile, and two more loads (2.5 cords total) afterward. Now that the solid tiers are built up, I can just use them as a backstop to throw the wood into a big "haystack" pile. Wood dries better if you have it in a large rounded pile covered with tarps, so the water (rain outside, condensation inside) sheds off quickly.

Yeah, you do a lot of work if you are motivated. Last autumn we did the wood for the mountain lodge where we sleep when we go in the highlands in one day. 4 persons, 2 splitting the logs (we got the wood as 3-5m long trunks:P) and breaking them in manageable size, 2 persons loading the wood into an old wagon and, transporting it to the storage space and make the stack. We emptied 2 bottles of vodka and had so much laugh that we cramped in the snow (was a very early snow that autumn, we didn't expected it).

But you see , as Mark Twain once said, if we would have got payed for it, it would mean that we work, as opposed to just having fun. And then all the fun would be gone and it would have taken days :P

 

[dlgoff]

I have a cord of firewood left to split and pile, and two more loads (2.5 cords total) afterward.

Sorry if I've asked before, but do you have another source of heat for the winter months besides the wood burner?

 

[waht]

Some people are honest workers, while others are dishonest, sometimes lazy, leeches. Restricting attitude about working to teens is only a small of part of the picture. People whether young or old, can have good or bad work ethics.

I recall plenty of whiners at my former jobs. I recall one adult getting hired and fired on the SAME day. Why? because he's not going to do the job. I recall putting up with constant whining, and whining, "I'm not going to to that - then back to texting" - all coming from adults.

 

[turbo]

Sorry if I've asked before, but do you have another source of heat for the winter months besides the wood burner?

I've got an oil furnace, but I hate to use it. I'd rather burn wood. My stove burns very hot and clean and I'm burning carbon that has been sequestered only for the life of the tree.

 

[turbo]

Here is what I finished today, and what I asked the kid to do. Construct basic cross-tied tiers of firewood that can serve as a backstop against which to loose-pile the rest of the wood. Then put down old pallets and throw the rest of the firewood into a nice domed pile (probably 8-9' high). I'll do it myself. I can't rely on an unreliable kid that works at a snail's pace. I can afford him, financially, but the aggravation and the uncertainty involved with scheduling my wood-supplier are insurmountable.

My wood-supplier is my niece's husband, and I don't want to inconvenience him because he treats me well. He delivers 1.25 cords of wood, cut and split in every load, and they are tightly-packed honest loads. If I call him at suppertime, he'll often show up with a load before dark. Hard-working guy!