Seth Arndt is a Tool

[JenniferJuniper]

I don't know about nowadays, but when I worked minimum wage food service jobs they did not make ANYONE full time. Every extra hour I could work, I did. It's hard not to go in to get hours if you cannot be reached.

I was a "shift manager" at McDonald's when I was I college (had been a cashier there in high school) and only the store manager and the assistant store manager worked full time and had benefits. Everyone else took whatever hours they could get and they varied weekly. This was before cell phones and even pagers and I shared a phone with two roommates. Many times I never got the message in time to pick up extra hours when someone was out sick or had to work at another store. People working jobs like this today who have cell phones have a big advantage over those who don't have them.

But Sethie-poo Penguin Boy thinks you aren't really "poor" if you have a phone or can watch TV.

[halfheartedheroine]

I don't know about nowadays, but when I worked minimum wage food service jobs they did not make ANYONE full time. Every extra hour I could work, I did. It's hard not to go in to get hours if you cannot be reached.

I just quit working at Walmart recently, and nearly everyone was part-time that I worked with. Bonus? If you accidentally went over 40 hours with lunch breaks, coming in early/leaving late, etc, it was a FIRE-ABLE offense. Dead serious. No "coaching" (being taken into the back rooms and given a stern talking-to).

[Peas n carrots]

My post got eaten by the interwebz yesterday. Ugh...hope this one goes.

My husband works for a non-profit in a very wealthy suburb of Chicago. Last winter, they teamed with North Face and gave 200 brand new North Face coats to homeless men. If you aren't familiar with the brand North Face coats usually retail for over $200. Also, DH sees tons of poor kids with smart phones...but A) they are relatively inexpensive to get these days and B) oftentimes this is the kid's only internet connection. Try going to school these days and doing your homework without the internet. Public libraries aren't always open after school or have enough PC"s available either for kids to use.

My mom was complaining to me the other day that she sees able bodied homeless people and wonders why they don't work. Well, judging by the homeless people I pass every day (which is about a dozen of the same folks) most of them - if not all - have some kind of mental illness. Some look crazy, and some you only realize have issues when you talk to them. These folks either would need to be under a lot of medication and supervision to be able to take part in society, or in earlier times would have been institutionalized.

In short, it drives me batty when folks complain about poor and homeless people...looks can be so very deceiving.

[acheronbeach]

Full disclosure, one of my duties at work involves looking at financial statements submitted by people who want the government to fund their legal aid or who want their fines reduced for committing offences. The basis is too poor to pay.

Just over a third of the applications contain expenses for cell phones which exceed $50 per month (for one person, not the family). The last one I had, she listed her own and her seven-year old child's cell phone bill as $250 per month. In approximately half of them, cable bills exceed $80 per month.

The legal rule is that these are discretionary expenses. The government will assist if the applicant has shown that they have made good faith efforts to cut these costs.

What do you think of this? My work has made me somewhat sympathetic to Seth Arndt in this situation (which is why I asked about the transcript writing), though you guys have pointed out a lot of "what ifs" that are certainly valid.

[gezykah]

Full disclosure, one of my duties at work involves looking at financial statements submitted by people who want the government to fund their legal aid or who want their fines reduced for committing offences. The basis is too poor to pay.

Just over a third of the applications contain expenses for cell phones which exceed $50 per month (for one person, not the family). The last one I had, she listed her own and her seven-year old child's cell phone bill as $250 per month. In approximately half of them, cable bills exceed $80 per month.

The legal rule is that these are discretionary expenses. The government will assist if the applicant has shown that they have made good faith efforts to cut these costs.

What do you think of this? My work has made me somewhat sympathetic to Seth Arndt in this situation (which is why I asked about the transcript writing), though you guys have pointed out a lot of "what ifs" that are certainly valid.

My brother has a pretty large sneaker collection but he hasn't bought any since he was laid off from a job where he was making very good money a couple of years ago. Some people have given him some as gifts for his birthday or Christmas since then. Certain things he couldn't spending money on like his car payments. He had enough money saved up that he didn't miss any payments.

That's pretty much how life works. Having a nice car or a ton of shoes doesn't mean he is irresponsible. Just like he financed his car and bought his sneakers before losing his job some of these statements you're seeing could be from people who bought or were given their phones and signed contracts with phone and cable companies before they became "too poor to pay." The fact that they have somebody at your work reviewing financial documents to see if people are making a good faith effort to cut discretionary costs speaks to the fact that financial aid isn't supporting a lavish lifestyle.

Edited to add something that happened to him which is relevant to this discussion.

One of the big problems he experienced after being laid off was being told he was overqualified for jobs he applied for. He seriously considered a career change and was willing to start somewhere at the bottom and work his way up. Among the places he applied was McDonald's. He was called for one interview then got called to come in for a second interview where the manager told him he would never hire him because he was too qualified. My brother was polite through it all but was sitting there thinking you wasted my time, phone minutes, and gas money to drive here for this?

[Saoirse]

As the bumper stickers say, "While you were busy bitching about the guy who bought a Snickers with his food stamps, Exxon pocketed $9000 of your tax dollars."

[TheJewAmongUs]

Here's today's bit of lulz from Seth:

If anyone is on the fence about coming to the Classic a week from tomorrow, they should keep in mind that here in mid-August we’ve about the mildest weather you could ask for! It feels just like Florida!

Seth has been to Florida once, this past May.

First of all, where in Florida? Second, I would hardly take the weather I experienced in part of one month and use it to compare it to the weather 3 months later, in a broad, general statement. And third, August in Florida can be pretty freaking miserable. If you want mild weather, try So Cal, not lows of 75, highs in the 90s and insane humidity.

Mild weather that feels like Florida. Lolol. Stick to what you know, little boy. Tells use about NHL '94 and duck happenings.

[lizziesmom]

Here's today's bit of lulz from Seth:

Seth has been to Florida once, this past May.

First of all, where in Florida? Second, I would hardly take the weather I experienced in part of one month and use it to compare it to the weather 3 months later, in a broad, general statement. And third, August in Florida can be pretty freaking miserable. If you want mild weather, try So Cal, not lows of 75, highs in the 90s and insane humidity.

Mild weather that feels like Florida. Lolol. Stick to what you know, little boy. Tells use about NHL '94 and duck happenings.

It's true we have had a very mild August which is most unusual for this part of the country. It is normally hot and humid like Forida in August I am not sure Seth understands how to strings sentences together. He must have meant to say that it usually feels just like Florida so we're all catching a break right now.

[emesbe]

I have an "Obama"phone. Really, they're actually Reagan phones.

http://www.snopes.com/politics/taxes/cellphone.asp

http://www.wirelessforhope.org/#!about-lifeline

It's nowhere near a smart phone. It's what they call a candy bar phone, cause it's about that size, and has no moving parts. It's a very very basic phone. No camera, no touch screen. Don't text on it unless you absolutely have to, because you have to use the number pad. There's no keyboard. I found the link. It's like the phone on the left. https://www.safelinkwireless.com/Enroll ... wHome.html

My 16 year old takes it with her when she goes out of the house. It's got to be embarrassing for her, most of her friends have smart phones. Luckily, she does have an ipod touch that she saved up for.

I don't use it, because I have a $30/month Straight Talk phone. Also not a smart phone.

I'm also fat. So there ya go. :nenner:

[JenniferJuniper]

It's true we have had a very mild August which is most unusual for this part of the country. It is normally hot and humid like Forida in August I am not sure Seth understands how to strings sentences together. He must have meant to say that it usually feels just like Florida so we're all catching a break right now.

I think you are giving him way too much credit here.

And I'll say this for the Arndt boys, they usually say what they mean and mean what they say. They do not have problems with sentence structures. They do, however, have huge problems with logical thinking and, like Daddy, have a propensity for really bad analogies.

Seth has been to Florida once in his life. We know this from the recent video posted by the FamTeam. He can be seen shivering when walking into the ocean on a sunny day.

So for Seth, Florida = mild and sunny weather. Hence mild and sunny weather in Southern Illinois = Florida weather.

[formergothardite]

Here's today's bit of lulz from Seth:

Seth has been to Florida once, this past May.

First of all, where in Florida? Second, I would hardly take the weather I experienced in part of one month and use it to compare it to the weather 3 months later, in a broad, general statement. And third, August in Florida can be pretty freaking miserable. If you want mild weather, try So Cal, not lows of 75, highs in the 90s and insane humidity.

Mild weather that feels like Florida. Lolol. Stick to what you know, little boy. Tells use about NHL '94 and duck happenings.

Exactly. If it is like Florida in August, then nobody will want to come. :lol: I'm used to hot humid weather, but one experience with Florida in the summer made me want to never step foot outside. The heat and humidity was oppressive.

[Peas n carrots]

Of all things to complain about with the Arndt's, them comparing Illinois weather to Florida weather isn't registering very high on the radar.

So the Classic is coming up? Oooo...I might have to check my calendar and make a road trip...I would love to see the Arndts live and in person.

[EmiGirl]

My problem isn't with people who can't find jobs (I'm "over educated" for every job I've interviewed for and they've flat out told me that's why they won't hire me). My problem is that there are people like my cousin and her boyfriend who refuse to even look for work even though they're both perfectly capable - they're just not willing.

[polecat]

Of all things to complain about with the Arndt's, them comparing Illinois weather to Florida weather isn't registering very high on the radar.

Oh, we're used to 100+ temps here and sky-high humidity during July and August here. I'd say Florida weather isn't too far off in the description of So. Ill. summer weather. The past few weeks have been freakishly mild -- we even had our AC off this whole week and only just turned it back on today. I would assume either he meant we usually have Florida-like weather or that he visited Florida when the weather was mild and just didn't have enough sense to realize that just like our weather isn't always mild, neither is theirs.

[polecat]

I have an "Obama"phone. Really, they're actually Reagan phones.

http://www.snopes.com/politics/taxes/cellphone.asp

http://www.wirelessforhope.org/#!about-lifeline

It's nowhere near a smart phone. It's what they call a candy bar phone, cause it's about that size, and has no moving parts. It's a very very basic phone. No camera, no touch screen. Don't text on it unless you absolutely have to, because you have to use the number pad. There's no keyboard. I found the link. It's like the phone on the left. https://www.safelinkwireless.com/Enroll ... wHome.html

My 16 year old takes it with her when she goes out of the house. It's got to be embarrassing for her, most of her friends have smart phones. Luckily, she does have an ipod touch that she saved up for.

I don't use it, because I have a $30/month Straight Talk phone. Also not a smart phone.

I'm also fat. So there ya go. :nenner:

I have to use the keypad to text on my phone, too. I hate using my DH's iPhone because I'm so in the habit of pushing the stupid numbers, lol.

This is what happens when you get old. You become resistant to change. :wink-kitty:

[TheJewAmongUs]

I would assume either he meant we usually have Florida-like weather or that he visited Florida when the weather was mild and just didn't have enough sense to realize that just like our weather isn't always mild, neither is theirs.

That was my take. Since this is the Seth Arndt is a Tool thread, I shared another example of the tool making definite statements about things he doesn't know anything about.

[JenniferJuniper]

That was my take. Since this is the Seth Arndt is a Tool thread, I shared another example of the tool making definite statements about things he doesn't know anything about.

And how utterly sheltered he is at nearly 22.

The video of him and two of his brothers in matching swim trunks at the beach in Florida is some of the sadder Arndt footage you'll see.