Pic I saw from Humans of New York Today

[VmissileX]

I follow this page on ********, and sometimes you get some quite interesting pictures and discussions from people. This picture kind of set out to me, as i used to do a similiar thing when I was poor and living in the city.

"If they raise the subway fare one more time, I'm going to explode. I'm making nine dollars an hour. I walk home three hours from work every day to save that $2.50, because that's a half gallon of milk for me and my daughter. And every time they raise the fare, they have a 'hearing.' But they aren't hearing anything. It's a ****ing joke. If you go to one of those 'hearings,' every single person stands up and says: 'Don't raise the fare.' Then they raise it anyway. Oh man, it burns me up. 'We need the money,' they say, 'America is hurting.' That's bull****! If I see one more TV program bragging about multimillion dollar homes I'm gonna scream. How about a ****ing TV program that shows me if there is anywhere in this city that I can ****ing afford to live anymore. I'm sorry, but it's burning me up."

Link:http://www.humansofnewyork.com/post/...e-more-time-im

Currently the minimum wage in NYC is $8.00. New York has a plan to raise it to 9.00 by the end of 2015. This will probably be gobbled up by inflation and raises of cost of living in the city: http://www.labor.ny.gov/workerprotec...t/minwage.shtm

Living on minimum wage as a single adult in NYC is quite difficult, and having a child with that makes it impossible. Most move to the far suburbs to try and find a place to atleast afford a quality of life. Even then, many find it quite difficult. The city becomes "gentrified" and the suburbs and small towns get more of a culture shock. I currently live in a town where the cost of living is much less than NY, and when i visit the city, you can just feel the cost of life being much higher. Going back and forth to work on a metrocard almost singlehandedly kills an hours worth of work in the city.


What are the misc thoughts?

[dragonballz]

You aren't supposed to be able to live off of minimum wage.

My homie, Michael Jackson said, "If you can't feed the baby, then dont have a baby."


This is the kind of person I have no problem with receiving some welfare, though.

[DGAFitness]

Living in NYC is horrible. I lived in Texas for 2 years and then made the mistake of coming back here. I am making well over twice min wage working full time, and my wife works part time for around min wage (still over) and we still can't afford the cost of living here.

It sucks, but I won't blame the city for it. I just know that I can't afford to live here so I plan on moving once I find a similar position back in Texas.

[VmissileX]

You aren't supposed to be able to live off of minimum wage.

My homie, Michael Jackson said, "If you can't feed the baby, then dont have a baby."


This is the kind of person I have no problem with receiving some welfare, though.

The sad truth, is many, wether through choice or bad luck do. I used to work at a grocery store part time before moving into the professional realm and all of the employees recieved some form of assistance as this was their only job.


About the baby, although there are many that may feel financially secure at time of having a baby, but some financial struggle hits.

[FinanceSwole]

it sucks and i could only imagine how difficult it is to be in that position, but you are a no ambition having poverty fuk of a human if you can't get beyond a job that pays minimum wage. harsh but true.

[rubinkazan]

Interesting post OP, as a UK brah I never really understood the feels the average NYC ameri-brah has.
Repped.

[invain]

I always laugh at people complaining about having no money while living in NYC of all places. Sorry, but I have no pity. You chose to live in an area where the cost of living is about 5 times what it should be.

[GriecoR]

This dude is obviously not spending a lot of time with his son if he can waste hours walking home. So what exactly is stopping him from getting a second job?

I feel his struggle but everyone struggles. And usually the ones whining about it are the ones who can do something to fix it.

I had some struggles earlier this year and almost lost my home. I found a job working on a farm on the weekends lol. People can choose their level of comfort. He can move out of the city. I wouldnt go try to live in manhattan while working at Starbucks.

[mkz93]

Minimum wage here is either 7.25 or 7.50,
Don't like paying more than you have to? Don't live in fuking NY

[HaterSalad]

The sad truth, is many, wether through choice or bad luck do. I used to work at a grocery store part time before moving into the professional realm and all of the employees recieved some form of assistance as this was their only job.


About the baby, although there are many that may feel financially secure at time of having a baby, but some financial struggle hits.

Honestly, everyone I know that makes min wage, deserves min wage. They want more money but they don't want any more responsibility. I talked to a guy three weeks ago that makes $8.30 an hour. He's been working at the same grocery store for over 8 years. He sweeps the floors and cleans the bathrooms. He's 31 years old and doesn't appear to have any type of mental disability.

From my experience being around people in this type of pay range, anyone that shows any type of ambition can easily move up and make more money.

[anonymous]

[inq]

I always laugh at people complaining about having no money while living in NYC of all places. Sorry, but I have no pity. You chose to live in an area where the cost of living is about 5 times what it should be.

Agreed. Why not move? Clearly it's not the job that is making him stay there. What, family? It's 2014, you can Skype and visit on holidays. And I bet his daughter would get a better education elsewhere than the district he lives in.

I'd never move to NYC unless I was making good money. Makes no sense to live in such an area of hyper inflated cost of living.

Edit: knew a girl who just became a pharmacist and moved up to NYC. Her salary wouldve made her a queen in our state, but she wanted to experience being "young and single in the City". So her salary is now the average. Bish should've just took a backpacking trip to Europe if she wanted to find herself.

[cux]

What if, now hear me out, instead of walking for 3 hours, he tried working an extra two and taking the subway for one?

[InstantLoser]

This dude is obviously not spending a lot of time with his son if he can waste hours walking home. So what exactly is stopping him from getting a second job?

I feel his struggle but everyone struggles. And usually the ones whining about it are the ones who can do something to fix it.

I had some struggles earlier this year and almost lost my home. I found a job working on a farm on the weekends lol. People can choose their level of comfort. He can move out of the city. I wouldnt go try to live in manhattan while working at Starbucks.

For that matter, why can't he find a job within a few blocks in any direction that pays as much or more than he's currently making, and save the commute?

[kickblake]

People think they're entitled to

1. a livable wage

2. a livable wage EXACTLY WHERE THEY'RE AT


'Merica was founded on motherfuarkers traveling THOUSANDS OF MILES on horseback in search of a place where they could make money (eminent domain, gold rush, etc). Now dudes who live in air-conditioned apartments are all "waahhh, I have to move 20 miles by car to where I can afford to live."

It's ridiculous. You go to where the work is. You go to where the affordable housing is. Nobody owes you a life in NYC just because you like living in NYC.

[RaibeartBruis]

Yet another case of attention and special treatment for the poor. I'm sick of it. If we want to prosper as a society we must accept that a certain % of the population aren't capable of anything more than unskilled, mindless labor. And then we need to move our focus to the middle and upper class and implement policies that benefit them. They are the movers and shakers of society, the innovators, the inventors, the entrepreneurs.

[VmissileX]

it sucks and i could only imagine how difficult it is to be in that position, but you are a no ambition having poverty fuk of a human if you can't get beyond a job that pays minimum wage. harsh but true.

While i do agree with you 90%, there are struggles that prevent people from getting jobs, and that isn't always ambition based. For example, the market is just oversaturated, the cost of education is heightening, etc..

I always laugh at people complaining about having no money while living in NYC of all places. Sorry, but I have no pity. You chose to live in an area where the cost of living is about 5 times what it should be.

Some people are born here. Sometimes it's the only thing you know. Granted many people leave the town and find a much more succesful life outside of the city (note the city does do alot to help the homeless), sometimes this is all you know. Especially with kids and other roots, moving may just not be a simple or easy option.

This dude is obviously not spending a lot of time with his son if he can waste hours walking home. So what exactly is stopping him from getting a second job?

I feel his struggle but everyone struggles. And usually the ones whining about it are the ones who can do something to fix it.

I had some struggles earlier this year and almost lost my home. I found a job working on a farm on the weekends lol. People can choose their level of comfort. He can move out of the city. I wouldnt go try to live in manhattan while working at Starbucks.

I'm sure he is struggling between spending time to hang with his son, vs actually being able to feed him milk.


I'm happy you were able to find success, and many others do. Although, don't you think its quite odd that a good portion of the workers who work minimum wage service jobs in NYC cannot just live nearby? Atleast on the same island?

[Sakeoe]

You aren't supposed to be able to live off of minimum wage.

My homie, Michael Jackson said, "If you can't feed the baby, then dont have a baby."


This is the kind of person I have no problem with receiving some welfare, though.

Actually you are supposed to be able to live off of minimum wage, you know that's why it's called minimum wage. The minimum wage required to live off.....

[VmissileX]

Honestly, everyone I know that makes min wage, deserves min wage. They want more money but they don't want any more responsibility. I talked to a guy three weeks ago that makes $8.30 an hour. He's been working at the same grocery store for over 8 years. He sweeps the floors and cleans the bathrooms. He's 31 years old and doesn't appear to have any type of mental disability.

From my experience being around people in this type of pay range, anyone that shows any type of ambition can easily move up and make more money.

N=1 doesn't mean the whole population although. Also, there are many things you and i may not notice. Always varies and poverty isn't self provoked.

[InstantLoser]

Actually you are supposed to be able to live off of minimum wage, you know that's why it's called minimum wage. The minimum wage required to live off.....

That's not what minimum wage means. It means it's the minimum they are allowed to pay you by law. Whether or not you can live on that has nothing to do with it.

[sabonis224]

NYC sucks. It's a city for the elite. And lol at ppl saying that he shouldn't be in NYC then. You ppl do realize that not every person in NYC came here for the bright lights and to shoot their hopes and dreams. Ppl are born here, ppl get stuck here. And you can say well he should have left, but NYC is the home to many ppl, and it has basic jobs that need to be filled by someone. The rent and all other expenses have gotten out of this world expensive

[AGstrong]

I truly feel bad for this man because he is trying to go down the right path and is finding it difficult. But what can you do? The sad thuth is that our way of life in the society we live in is set up to see some people make it and most people barely scrape by.

Those who can do, those who can not do not.

Capitalism 101.

[VmissileX]

NYC sucks. It's a city for the elite. And lol at ppl saying that he shouldn't be in NYC then. You ppl do realize that not every person in NYC came here for the bright lights and to shoot their hopes and dreams. Ppl are born here, ppl get stuck here. And you can say well he should have left, but NYC is the home to many ppl, and it has basic jobs that need to be filled by someone. The rent and all other expenses have gotten out of this world expensive

Well said.

I honestly see the gentrification thing as more of a pro then a con. Needless to say, we cannot forget about the cons in the situation, and issues such as what is occurring in the OP.

[unstrong]

I always laugh at people complaining about having no money while living in NYC of all places. Sorry, but I have no pity. You chose to live in an area where the cost of living is about 5 times what it should be.

Minimum wage here is either 7.25 or 7.50,
Don't like paying more than you have to? Don't live in fuking NY

This^

People think they're entitled to

1. a livable wage

2. a livable wage EXACTLY WHERE THEY'RE AT


'Merica was founded on motherfuarkers traveling THOUSANDS OF MILES on horseback in search of a place where they could make money (eminent domain, gold rush, etc). Now dudes who live in air-conditioned apartments are all "waahhh, I have to move 20 miles by car to where I can afford to live."

It's ridiculous. You go to where the work is. You go to where the affordable housing is. Nobody owes you a life in NYC just because you like living in NYC.

This guy needs $2.50 to buy a half gallon of milk. How exactly is he affording the costs associated with a move to somewhere else? There are minimum fixed costs required to go somewhere else when you have a child, and may or may not have family outside of NYC that you can stay with while you get settled somewhere else.

To most people, these costs are small in the grand scheme of things. But when your marginal income is (in this case, it seems, justifiably) going to food, it's nearly impossible to make that happen without actually starving yourself.

[Sakeoe]

That's not what minimum wage means. It means it's the minimum they are allowed to pay you by law. Whether or not you can live on that has nothing to do with it.

The idea behind the minimum wage is that it strongly correlates to the living wage.

At least that is how it works in a first world country dunno if in the US you arbitrarily decided on a number just for the sake of it.

[CollinEJ6]

People think they're entitled to

1. a livable wage

2. a livable wage EXACTLY WHERE THEY'RE AT


'Merica was founded on motherfuarkers traveling THOUSANDS OF MILES on horseback in search of a place where they could make money (eminent domain, gold rush, etc). Now dudes who live in air-conditioned apartments are all "waahhh, I have to move 20 miles by car to where I can afford to live."

It's ridiculous. You go to where the work is. You go to where the affordable housing is. Nobody owes you a life in NYC just because you like living in NYC.

This.

Unless you're a CEO, living in NYC is gonna be a bad time. Minimum wage jobs are everywhere, find one in a place with a low cost of living.

[inq]

NYC sucks. It's a city for the elite. And lol at ppl saying that he shouldn't be in NYC then. You ppl do realize that not every person in NYC came here for the bright lights and to shoot their hopes and dreams. Ppl are born here, ppl get stuck here. And you can say well he should have left, but NYC is the home to many ppl, and it has basic jobs that need to be filled by someone. The rent and all other expenses have gotten out of this world expensive

So he should then let someone else do his "basic job" and move somewhere that would be better for himself and his family.

My parents came here from a 3rd world country in the early 1980s (ironically to NYC for a bit but my mom was recruited there as a nurse for the papers, moved to the south as soon as that contract ended). They migrated half way around the world and learned new customs and culture in a time that was more xenophobic, this guy was already born here.

I do get the cons of gentrification, I took Socio and Econ 101 too, but I just never understood why you'd close your boundaries if "stuck" in a position like that. For the betterment of my family, I'd move to better pastures. I think 9 times out of 10, it's just they don't want to get out of their comfort zone by being far from their extended family or from the block they were raised on. Their worldy view is limited and so have artificial walls built upon themselves. Which isn't a good excuse to stay in the crappy situation.

These days, it's the immigrants that then take the "basic jobs". My dad was a driver for the UN making min wage when my parents lived in NYC. But they knew better to stay there where their money wouldn't go as far. Which is why they moved to the south when they could.

[VmissileX]

fukken LMFAO.

I lived a year in Manhattan and I was making about 100k/yr and I felt like the most poverty strikken ******* on Earth. One of the reasons why I left. Place is a giant chithole and no amount of money would put me back there.

The people who live in NYC and have never been anywhere are fukken idiots. They have no idea what world they are missing out on and by world I mean anywhere else in America.

The quality of life in NYC is terrible. I feel bad for the poverty people who live there.

Srs Brah? I could imagine more along the lines of 65k is livable and comfortable. Did you like go out and party with bottles from the bar every night or something?

Sad to hear you don't enjoy NYC, it is a great city, but definetly a culture shock for many.

[InstantLoser]

The idea behind the minimum wage is that it strongly correlates to the living wage.

At least that is how it works in a first world country dunno if in the US you arbitrarily decided on a number just for the sake of it.

Are you suggesting a guy who pushes a broom for a living should be able to afford to live in the most expensive (or one of, I'm not busting out census data) cities on Earth? He should make the same thing that a business owner makes? Or a college professor? Strong Socialism. He makes what he earns. If that's not enough to live in NYC, he needs to move to where he can afford to live, or increase his income.

[Croatbrah]

we outchea

btw everybody telling him to GTFO nyc: its hard to leave your childhood hood. das it mane