• Scam Alert. Members are reminded to NOT send money to buy anything. Don't buy things remote and have it shipped - go get it yourself, pay in person, and take your equipment with you. Scammers have burned people on this forum. Urgency, secrecy, excuses, selling for friend, newish members, FUD, are RED FLAGS. A video conference call is not adequate assurance. Face to face interactions are required. Please report suspicions to the forum admins. Stay Safe - anyone can get scammed.
  • Several Regions have held meetups already, but others are being planned or are evaluating the interest. The Calgary Area Meetup is set for Saturday July 12th at 10am. The signup thread is here! Arbutus has also explored interest in a Fraser Valley meetup but it seems members either missed his thread or had other plans. Let him know if you are interested in a meetup later in the year by posting here! Slowpoke is trying to pull together an Ottawa area meetup later this summer. No date has been selected yet, so let him know if you are interested here! We are not aware of any other meetups being planned this year. If you are interested in doing something in your area, let everyone know and make it happen! Meetups are a great way to make new machining friends and get hands on help in your area. Don’t be shy, sign up and come, or plan your own meetup!

20 something kids

slow-poke

slow-poke

Ultra Member
I'm curious.....

I would imagine that most of the more rural kids would be somewhat handy and have a work ethic. We are in the city and my neighbor has more or less begged me to hire their useless lazy 24 year old son because he can't find a job. So today was day one. The day before we discussed the heat to day 33C so I stated I would start early to get ahead of the heat, He agreed and said I should be there by 10. I started at 7. It took him an hour to attach 10 ' of chicken wire on one edge perhaps 20 screws.it would have taken me 5 minutes. It's just painful to watch him. Has the screw gun going backwards trying to put the screw in. Stops every five minutes to drink more gator aid. Complain about the heat and then on his phone again.

Would you fire him.
 
I feel your pain. Ask your neighbour to subsidize the baby sitting service. J/K.
There seems to be the two extremes, useless and the kids that actually can do something. But basic skills are not encouraged at a young age IMO and leave some behind that could contribute to society.
My Son has a good friend that is 19, likes to hang around work on cars, helped my son with an engine replacement, shows promise. I showed him the machine and woodworking shop and his eyes were wide with excitement. His parents are accountants, and is going to school to be the same. The sad part is his parents are not allowing him to hang out now.
 
Zero potential. Could not be more disinterested.

Yesterday working with my Mexican guy, I asked him where did you learn to speak English so well?
His answer I really wanted to learn English so I watched and practiced with YouTube videos. He understood everything I said and would immediately pass it on in Spanish to his friend. Every single task he got right the first time.

In contrast my neighbour starting 4th year commerce at Queens? Can't follow simple instructions because he is so disinterested he doesn't pay attention. I had to repeat instructions for almost every simple task this morning.
 
slow-poke said:
I'm curious.....

I would imagine that most of the more rural kids would be somewhat handy and have a work ethic. We are in the city and my neighbor has more or less begged me to hire their useless lazy 24 year old son because he can't find a job. So today was day one. The day before we discussed the heat to day 33C so I stated I would start early to get ahead of the heat, He agreed and said I should be there by 10. I started at 7. It took him an hour to attach 10 ' of chicken wire on one edge perhaps 20 screws.it would have taken me 5 minutes. It's just painful to watch him. Has the screw gun going backwards trying to put the screw in. Stops every five minutes to drink more gator aid. Complain about the heat and then on his phone again.

Would you fire him.
Click to expand...
Yup, but I wouldn't have hired him in the first place unless he came asking for the job himself. Always a bad sign when Pop asks.
When we had the kennel running a guy came to drop off his dogs. We were super busy with about 80 dogs. He asks how we can do this all by ourselves. We tell him we work 14 hours/day 7 days per week. He says his son lives just down the road from us and is out of work and that we should hire him. That he could start tomorrow as all he does right now is smoke weed and play online poker:rolleyes:. We passed. I've met the son since and he is a real nice guy but is too lazy to get out of his own way most days.
 
Doggggboy said:
Yup, but I wouldn't have hired him in the first place unless he came asking for the job himself. Always a bad sign when Pop asks.
When we had the kennel running a guy came to drop off his dogs. We were super busy with about 80 dogs. He asks how we can do this all by ourselves. We tell him we work 14 hours/day 7 days per week. He says his son lives just down the road from us and is out of work and that we should hire him. That he could start tomorrow as all he does right now is smoke weed and play online poker:rolleyes:. We passed. I've met the son since and he is a real nice guy but is too lazy to get out of his own way most days.
Click to expand...
Sounds about the same. They have three sons, none of them can find summer jobs since Covid. I think they are just spoiled to no end, my guy just came back from an all expenses paid 4 weeks in Australia. Meanwhile both our kids had jobs every summer starting back in high school.
 
I have a plan.....

This kid is softer than the pillsbury dough boy, with the spine of a jellyfish.

Deck is shaded until about noon. I'm going to get him to start at noon. It gets pretty toasty after that. I don't expect he will last an hour, maybe two tops, better if he just taps out on his own;-)
 
I have two kids; 18 and 17. Both are smart as whips. But we (my wife and I) struggle to get them motivated. Contrast that to my wife and I. She skipped a grade in high school, did the IB program and got all kinds of scholarships for uni. BA, MA and PhD.
I've worked since I was 12, always helping my dad, odd jobs, paper route, Mickey D's in the summer in the Okanagon. Admittedly I hated high school but I know it was because I was not challenged. MBA in 2006. I don't stop working till the job is done.
Tried to pass that work ethic onto the kids but honestly I/we have failed.
 
slow-poke said:
Sounds about the same. They have three sons, none of them can find summer jobs since Covid.
Click to expand...
This is, in large part, due to the government subsidizing wages for new Canadians. Employers can hire 2-3 new ones at the same cost per hour versus one old Canadian. I don't think it's right, our kids shouldn't be handicapped like that. A friend of mines kids say they've literally sent out 60 resumes and not one call back.

I tried to watch the language but that's most PG way I know to say that
 
David said:
Tried to pass that work ethic onto the kids but honestly I/we have failed.
Click to expand...
I doubt you've failed. I don't have kids so take this for what it is worth.
When you're a kid, your peer group is EVERYTHING.
I was a smart kid in grade school but barely passed high school because I chose friends that were popular but lazy and dumb.
If you surround yourself with stoners, chances are not good you'll end up with a rewarding, high paying, satisfying job.
If all your friends are slackers who'd rather just chill and play games or smoke or drink or shoplift for thrills, your future with them is grim. Even having that one friend with ambition and drive for something useful in a future career can make the difference.
"If you can see it, you can be it!" may be an old saying but I firmly believe it is true.
Now get off my lawn.
 
David said:
I have two kids; 18 and 17. Both are smart as whips. But we (my wife and I) struggle to get them motivated. Contrast that to my wife and I. She skipped a grade in high school, did the IB program and got all kinds of scholarships for uni. BA, MA and PhD.
I've worked since I was 12, always helping my dad, odd jobs, paper route, Mickey D's in the summer in the Okanagon. Admittedly I hated high school but I know it was because I was not challenged. MBA in 2006. I don't stop working till the job is done.
Tried to pass that work ethic onto the kids but honestly I/we have failed.
Click to expand...
The above lack of work ethic and motivation seems common in the next generation. I fear for my kids. When they are working for me I'm also thinking I've failed. However I have had others comment in a positive manner about them when they worked for them so maybe there is hope. I've do nothing but work hard (to the extent my body allows) and think I've set a good example for them, but on the other hand maybe the kids are thinking they don't want to turn out like me. I guess I can't blame them if that's their thinking. :(
 
Well I think I would try to talk to him @slow-poke, at the same time not holding out much hope. Sometimes I think cell phones are the big problem, in many ways should not be allowed on the job site. Note there are exceptions. However, if I am paying a person for work, that does not mean I am paying for talking on the phone, any phone, unless that is an expected part of the job. But that is my decision, not theirs.
It seems a lot of people, not just younger people, think they should be able to have anything they want, but they do not want to work to get it. I have said for many years,” I don’t like working, but I like eating!” I was brought up that, if you wanted something, you worked so you could get it, sometimes you could make it, sometimes you paid for it, or the tools to make it. Not a big bunch was just given to me.
As has been said “ I had a lot of nothing growing up, I still have a fair bit of it.
In a lot of countries, if you don’t work, you will not eat. Money doesn’t grow on trees, sometimes food does.
 
Growing up my friends and I always worked our asses off, and that has not changed, so we set a good example. We had high expectations for our kids it was more implied than spoken and fortunately they were surrounded (for the most part) with high achieving kids because of their school and activities. First year summer working for my daughter was a landscaping job, my daughter described the other workers as a bunch of stoners. Her boss told her at the end of summer that she was the hardest working and most productive worker he had hired in ten years, all the guys included. So I guess we're just not use to laziness so it's just painful for me to observe.

The funny thing is everyone that observes me; former colleagues, neighbors etc. comment about how hard I'm always working. My wife tells me I'm lazy, because she works even harder than me, perhaps not physically but all the other stuff, she is definitely more disciplined. By the time my daughter completed her undergraduate degree her CV was pretty impressive; NSERC award, worked for the Mounties, big insurance company crunching data, hospital rotation etc. Provincial champs in soccer. My son very similar. They both landed fantastic jobs when they completed their masters degrees. They could more or less choose from the offers available. One less thing to worry about.
 
Mandatory military service from 18-22!! That should help most to straighten up and fly right.

My son, at my suggestion, joined the Forces at 18. Trained as a vehicle tech, stationed in Edmonton #3PPCLI, bought his 1st house at 22 rented it out, bought his 2nd house at 23 rented it out. He buys used industrial and commercial small machines and tools from Marketplace and Kijiji, fixes them up and flips them. Same with a number of cars and trucks. I don’t know where he got all that get-up-and-go, but I'm sure the Army forced discipline and self-discipline into him.
 
I'm just a grouchy old man with two sons who turned out OK due to no fault of myself.

<rant>
It seems to me that the today's problems are summed up in two words: "human right". That is, Food is a human right. Housing is a human right. Health care is a human right. A living wage is a human right. Safe drinking water is a human right. Education is a human right. Freedom from discrimination is a human right. Choice of religion is a human right. A healthy environment is a human right. Why bother to work hard if everything important is a right?
</rant>
 
Last edited:
kstrauss said:
I'm just a grouchy old man with two sons who turned out OK due to no fault of myself.

<rant>
It seems to me that the today's problems are summed up in two words: "human right". That is, Food is a human right. Housing is a human right. Health care is a human right. A living wage is a human right. Safe drinking water is a human right. Education is a human right. Freedom from discrimination is a human right. Choice of religion is a human right. A healthy environment is a human right. Why bother to work hard if everything important is a right?
</rant>
Click to expand...
Just because it is classified as a human right does not mean that it is supplied free of charge.
It means you should have the ability to access it without fear of discrimination.
 
Fire his ass. Money is too easy to come these days, not many of us remember what it feels like to be hungry, in this country no one under the age of 50 has ever felt it.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top