He has no car

[presonorek]

There are people in this world like the fictional character that I am about to create. How do these people gain access to the various opportunities in our economy?

David Critten is a 26 year old with no car, no driver’s license, no credit, no assets, very little money, a super low paying part time job (minimum wage 26 hours per week, and currently lives on his friend’s couch while paying no rent. A friend takes him to work most days but occasionally he walks to work or just doesn’t go because he has no way to get there. David’s dad was not a part of his life and his mom passed away last year. David has no siblings but does have a few aunts, uncles, and cousins in the area. Would you hire David? What is a good 6-12 month strategy for David to put himself in a situation where he can make his own living? Who is responsible for taking him to work? This is only semi fictional. There are people like this in real life. Maybe we can chitter chatter about it. Not everybody has parents that help them get “started out”. My parents taught me to drive, took me to get my license, and the rest was pretty much easy for me. Without the advantage of good parents, who is inclined to step in and give David a ride to work everyday and pick him up from work everyday?

Let’s get some chitter chatter going. Is David a horribly irresponsible person? If so, should we ignore his plight or step in to help out? If you help, it can go many ways. David could learn to enjoy this extremely inexpensive lifestyle or he could utilize these free rides as an opportunity to improve his life.

What is the proper response if you become aware of someone in this situation?

 

[Natural Citizen]

Sounds like David's business.

So far as who does what for David, people are still free to voluntarily associate with whom they please. That's their business.

 

[MisterBeale]

You do what you can, and you do what you think the person is worthy of.

It is a dangerous world, you must be on guard for scammers, and the young learn slowly as well. Sometimes life is the best teacher, but, a lending hand, or a small hand up can be good too.

I guess it all depends on the person and situation. Fictional hypotheticals are impossible. Until you talk to someone and look in their eye, you can't really make a judgement call about someone's integrity.

 

[Darkwind]

I can create a sound economic plan for David for three easy payments of $49.945

 

[Godboy]

There are people in this world like the fictional character that I am about to create. How do these people gain access to the various opportunities in our economy?

David Critten is a 26 year old with no car, no driver’s license, no credit, no assets, very little money, a super low paying part time job (minimum wage 26 hours per week, and currently lives on his friend’s couch while paying no rent. A friend takes him to work most days but occasionally he walks to work or just doesn’t go because he has no way to get there. David’s dad was not a part of his life and his mom passed away last year. David has no siblings but does have a few aunts, uncles, and cousins in the area. Would you hire David? What is a good 6-12 month strategy for David to put himself in a situation where he can make his own living? Who is responsible for taking him to work? This is only semi fictional. There are people like this in real life. Maybe we can chitter chatter about it. Not everybody has parents that help them get “started out”. My parents taught me to drive, took me to get my license, and the rest was pretty much easy for me. Without the advantage of good parents, who is inclined to step in and give David a ride to work everyday and pick him up from work everyday?

Let’s get some chitter chatter going. Is David a horribly irresponsible person? If so, should we ignore his plight or step in to help out? If you help, it can go many ways. David could learn to enjoy this extremely inexpensive lifestyle or he could utilize these free rides as an opportunity to improve his life.

What is the proper response if you become aware of someone in this situation?

Fast food is a real shit job, but there are always openings. He can also use the bus. Those two things alone would get him out of his hole within a year, at which point he can start putting in applications to better places.

 

[presonorek]

Fictional hypotheticals are impossible.

This isn’t exactly hypothetical. I know three real life situations like this. All I have to do is change a few factors.

Real person one was born in 1962 and never had a vehicle or a driver’s license. She never or at least almost never missed work. I have known her since 2002 and have gave her financial help on a few occasions here and there for years. To my knowledge she has never once asked me to drive her anywhere. She has one child that is grown. She lived off the system ish but still maintained employment. She has section 8 housing so her rent is really low. She pays a cab or takes the bus wherever she needs to go. She lives alone and never inconveniences other people to handle her responsibilities. Real person 2 is a 28 year old female with a less independent personality and the capacity to charm people into doing things for her. Once she burns a bridge she charms her way into the heart of another sucker and repeats ad naseum. I think she likes having her whole paycheck to blow on having a grand ole time. She never says thank you and even occasionally complains about something you have done for her. I told this person to go blow goats after I finished my commitment to drive her back and forth to work for 2 full pay periods (four weeks) until she got a good start on things. If I take her at her word she made $125 from her first paycheck but very easily spent $200 just in my presence on sodas, cigarettes, fast food, etc. She would always say, “Now I’m broke after buying these cigarettes.” The next day she would buy crap again and say the, “now I’m broke” line. She had money from another source or she was a liar. She never once offered to buy me gas, give me money, buy me a hamburger, or anything. She made no effort to incentivize me to continue helping her.

This kind of crap is not an impossible hypothetical. This is a real thing even if you want to pretend these people aren’t out there. It doesn’t mean they aren’t there.

 

[presonorek]

Fast food is a real shit job, but there are always openings.

Since Covid and up until recently those have been cream of the crop high paying jobs. You are right though. I think these companies are creatively firing these people they hired on at high wages and replacing them with lower paid people at this point. Those jobs are starting to revert back to their status as crap paying job. There for a little bit fast food work was quite lucrative. When I think of a crap job I don’t think of fast food workers. I think of house keepers in hotels. It’s hard work, pays slightly more than minimum wage, they probably work less than 5 hours a day, and when a customer misplaces something they quickly resort to accusing the housekeeper of being a thief. Financially speaking the housekeeper makes the least amount of money per month then any other occupation I can think of. A lot of people working that kind of job doesn’t have reliable transportation. They rely on others to take them to work.

Some people are forced into this situation by life circumstances and do everything they can to make the best of it. Some people simply choose this lifestyle because it is easier and requires less responsibility. They are capable of rising above it but don’t want the hassle of being an adult.

I once heard about a guy that always got a ride back and forth to work. The problem was he had strong opinions and a big mouth. He talked about how stupid it was to own a car because of all the expenses associated with it. One guy heard this man’s rants and made sure he never gave this dude a ride anywhere. He forced this douchebag to hold firm to his principles and didn’t tolerate his hypocrisy. It would be fun to tell that guy, “ Either you hate cars or you don’t. Just don’t get near mine. And by the way, go screw yourself.” Not all people without cars or driver’s license are scum bags but I think it is safe to say most of them are if they happen to be over the age of 25 and haven’t figured it out yet.

 

[presonorek]

Sounds like David's business.

So far as who does what for David, people are still free to voluntarily associate with whom they please. That's their business.

That sounds heartless but I think you are spot on. Nobody is independent. It’s basically impossible to avoid interacting with all humans and still maintain survival. However, David is responsible for incentivizing people to give him the help he needs. On the low end, owning a car would require about $250 a month to maintain (gas, car insurance, repairs, etc.). Take $125 a month of your income, tell a sob story, and ask a friend to ride you to work for $125 a month. Then as time goes on, keep increasing that amount to incentivize the other person to gain some sense of purpose. $125 isn’t a good deal but it gives them the ability to see that you are trying to be fair and aren’t a complete con artist. Most people who ask for a ride from here and there never even consider the absurd idea of giving another person money to express gratitude. A little gratitude goes a long way. If somebody takes you to work 3 days in a row and you haven’t even mentioned paying them then you suck as a human being.

 

[ABikerSailor]

Yanno, I kinda found myself in a similar (not exact) situation back in the mid 80's. I'd just gotten divorced, the ex took the car, and my motorcycle's engine blew. I didn't have the almost 1,000 it would cost to get it repaired, and I lived 7 miles away from base. Oh yeah, I was also paying child support and was just an E-4 (not much money).

So what did I do? I managed to carpool with some other Sailors who lived near me for about a week until my tax return check came in. It was only around 300.00, not enough to fix the motorcycle, but, was enough to buy a decent quality bicycle. I remembered that as a kid I used to ride damn near everywhere, and thought that 7 miles didn't sound like that far, so I took the 300 and bought the bicycle.

Slowly, over the course of the next few months, I started buying gear to make it easier (and faster) for me to ride my bike. After about 6 months of doing so, I was in great shape, had enough gear for commuting, and was doing okay. Then, I decided to see how far I could take this bicycle thing.

10 years later found me still on a bicycle, still riding, and was now racing and holding my own with top racers in my area. I had also been able to upgrade my bicycles over the years and was now riding a really sweet machine that helped me win a couple of races. Had lots of gear, and was happy, healthy and fit. I'd also managed to ride a bicycle from one duty station to the other twice by that time. First one was from Memphis TN to Jacksonville FL (took a week), and the second one was from Jacksonville FL to Newport RI (took around 12 days). Most of the people around me thought I was a bit off as I really had no desire to own a car, would rather sink the money into bicycles and gear instead. Managed to save money during those years, and was living pretty well.

After the 10 year period, I had enough money to buy a Harley Davidson, as well as a car. Now? I have a car, enough money to live fairly decent, and still ride on occasion (even though I'm 58). Still have good health (docs at the VA always look at me kinda shocked when I tell them I'm not on any medication of any kid) and still have a good attitude towards life.

I guess it all depends on what a person thinks they can do, as well as what they actually do. Me? I saw a small opportunity, and managed to turn it into a pretty decent thing. Yeah, I could have bitched and complained about life not being fair, or that I had been thrown in a bad situation, but I didn't. Just saw what I had to work with and started building from there. Most people can do that if they can get over the initial hump of telling themselves that the task ahead is impossible, or they don't have the resources to get it done. Start small, work your way up, and eventually a person can find themselves in pretty good situations.

Oh yeah...............never had anyone out there (family) who could help. Was orphaned at 8, and my Grandparents broke my plate when I turned 18, which is why I enlisted in the military.

 

[presonorek]

Yanno, I kinda found myself in a similar (not exact) situation back in the mid 80's. I'd just gotten divorced, the ex took the car, and my motorcycle's engine blew. I didn't have the almost 1,000 it would cost to get it repaired, and I lived 7 miles away from base. Oh yeah, I was also paying child support and was just an E-4 (not much money).

So what did I do? I managed to carpool with some other Sailors who lived near me for about a week until my tax return check came in. It was only around 300.00, not enough to fix the motorcycle, but, was enough to buy a decent quality bicycle. I remembered that as a kid I used to ride damn near everywhere, and thought that 7 miles didn't sound like that far, so I took the 300 and bought the bicycle.

Slowly, over the course of the next few months, I started buying gear to make it easier (and faster) for me to ride my bike. After about 6 months of doing so, I was in great shape, had enough gear for commuting, and was doing okay. Then, I decided to see how far I could take this bicycle thing.

10 years later found me still on a bicycle, still riding, and was now racing and holding my own with top racers in my area. I had also been able to upgrade my bicycles over the years and was now riding a really sweet machine that helped me win a couple of races. Had lots of gear, and was happy, healthy and fit. I'd also managed to ride a bicycle from one duty station to the other twice by that time. First one was from Memphis TN to Jacksonville FL (took a week), and the second one was from Jacksonville FL to Newport RI (took around 12 days). Most of the people around me thought I was a bit off as I really had no desire to own a car, would rather sink the money into bicycles and gear instead. Managed to save money during those years, and was living pretty well.

After the 10 year period, I had enough money to buy a Harley Davidson, as well as a car. Now? I have a car, enough money to live fairly decent, and still ride on occasion (even though I'm 58). Still have good health (docs at the VA always look at me kinda shocked when I tell them I'm not on any medication of any kid) and still have a good attitude towards life.

I guess it all depends on what a person thinks they can do, as well as what they actually do. Me? I saw a small opportunity, and managed to turn it into a pretty decent thing. Yeah, I could have bitched and complained about life not being fair, or that I had been thrown in a bad situation, but I didn't. Just saw what I had to work with and started building from there. Most people can do that if they can get over the initial hump of telling themselves that the task ahead is impossible, or they don't have the resources to get it done. Start small, work your way up, and eventually a person can find themselves in pretty good situations.

Oh yeah...............never had anyone out there (family) who could help. Was orphaned at 8, and my Grandparents broke my plate when I turned 18, which is why I enlisted in the military.

That’s flipping awesome.

 

[progressive hunter]

There are people in this world like the fictional character that I am about to create. How do these people gain access to the various opportunities in our economy?

David Critten is a 26 year old with no car, no driver’s license, no credit, no assets, very little money, a super low paying part time job (minimum wage 26 hours per week, and currently lives on his friend’s couch while paying no rent. A friend takes him to work most days but occasionally he walks to work or just doesn’t go because he has no way to get there. David’s dad was not a part of his life and his mom passed away last year. David has no siblings but does have a few aunts, uncles, and cousins in the area. Would you hire David? What is a good 6-12 month strategy for David to put himself in a situation where he can make his own living? Who is responsible for taking him to work? This is only semi fictional. There are people like this in real life. Maybe we can chitter chatter about it. Not everybody has parents that help them get “started out”. My parents taught me to drive, took me to get my license, and the rest was pretty much easy for me. Without the advantage of good parents, who is inclined to step in and give David a ride to work everyday and pick him up from work everyday?

Let’s get some chitter chatter going. Is David a horribly irresponsible person? If so, should we ignore his plight or step in to help out? If you help, it can go many ways. David could learn to enjoy this extremely inexpensive lifestyle or he could utilize these free rides as an opportunity to improve his life.

What is the proper response if you become aware of someone in this situation?

sounds like david is right where david wants to be,,
if not he would be trying to educate himself into a better job with more money,,

I say leave david alone and let him decide what to do,,

 

[presonorek]

sounds like david is right where david wants to be,,
if not he would be trying to educate himself into a better job with more money,,

I say leave david alone and let him decide what to do,,

So don’t give him a ride to work?

 

[Blues Man]

That sounds heartless but I think you are spot on. Nobody is independent. It’s basically impossible to avoid interacting with all humans and still maintain survival. However, David is responsible for incentivizing people to give him the help he needs. On the low end, owning a car would require about $250 a month to maintain (gas, car insurance, repairs, etc.). Take $125 a month of your income, tell a sob story, and ask a friend to ride you to work for $125 a month. Then as time goes on, keep increasing that amount to incentivize the other person to gain some sense of purpose. $125 isn’t a good deal but it gives them the ability to see that you are trying to be fair and aren’t a complete con artist. Most people who ask for a ride from here and there never even consider the absurd idea of giving another person money to express gratitude. A little gratitude goes a long way. If somebody takes you to work 3 days in a row and you haven’t even mentioned paying them then you suck as a human being.

How far away is his job from where he is staying?
Is there public transportation?
Why isn't he looking for full time work?

These hypotheticals always seem to lack details

 

[presonorek]

How far away is his job from where he is staying?
Is there public transportation?
Why isn't he looking for full time work?

These hypotheticals always seem to lack details

This scenario is only semi hypothetical. You can tweak as many details as you want to offer a solution. There are really people in this situation. Some are there by choice. Some are there by default. It’s hard to tell him apart. In a non hypothetical I can answer some of those questions. 8 miles, yes there is public transportation. I can’t answer the third question because it requires mind reading skills.

 

[progressive hunter]

So don’t give him a ride to work?

everyday??

how does that help him???

 

[Blues Man]

This scenario is only semi hypothetical. You can tweak as many details as you want to offer a solution. There are really people in this situation. Some are there by choice. Some are there by default. It’s hard to tell him apart. In a non hypothetical I can answer some of those questions. 8 miles, yes there is public transportation. I can’t answer the third question because it requires mind reading skills.

IMO if the guy isn't getting himself to work and isn't actively trying to improve his position that he isn't getting any help from me.

 

[ABikerSailor]

This scenario is only semi hypothetical. You can tweak as many details as you want to offer a solution. There are really people in this situation. Some are there by choice. Some are there by default. It’s hard to tell him apart. In a non hypothetical I can answer some of those questions. 8 miles, yes there is public transportation. I can’t answer the third question because it requires mind reading skills.

Hey, like I said further up the thread, I got thrown in a similar situation, so I decided to see what I could do for myself to manage and thrive. And, while riding a bicycle back and forth MIGHT sound like an impossible feat to accomplish, it's not. It's only a hassle for the first month or two until a person gets into shape, and then it becomes something different. Me? I considered it a blessing in disguise, as I got in EXCELLENT shape, and was able to push myself both physically and mentally further than most, just because I wanted to see how far I could take it. And, the shortest distance I ever commuted back and forth was 3 1/2 miles each way (shortest distance). Many times it was 7 to 12 miles each way, and like I said, because I wanted to push myself to see how far I could go, most times I turned my commute into training, and was doing 50 to 100 miles/day in my heyday. Could cruise at around 20 to 25 mph, could hit 48 on the flats under my own power, could draft at 50 plus mph, and have been clocked at 66 mph going downhill. If the Navy bicycle team had a billet available when I was riding, I'm pretty damn sure I would have qualified and made the team.

Even though I'm 58 and out of shape (by my standards) I can still cruise a bicycle at 15 to 17 mph for around 20 miles, with bursts up to 25 to 30 mph for interval training.

 

[Mac-7]

Sounds like David's business.

So far as who does what for David, people are still free to voluntarily associate with whom they please. That's their business.

Sooner or later David will make it your business too

Lazy bums always do

 

[The Duke]

There are people in this world like the fictional character that I am about to create. How do these people gain access to the various opportunities in our economy?

David Critten is a 26 year old with no car, no driver’s license, no credit, no assets, very little money, a super low paying part time job (minimum wage 26 hours per week, and currently lives on his friend’s couch while paying no rent. A friend takes him to work most days but occasionally he walks to work or just doesn’t go because he has no way to get there. David’s dad was not a part of his life and his mom passed away last year. David has no siblings but does have a few aunts, uncles, and cousins in the area. Would you hire David? What is a good 6-12 month strategy for David to put himself in a situation where he can make his own living? Who is responsible for taking him to work? This is only semi fictional. There are people like this in real life. Maybe we can chitter chatter about it. Not everybody has parents that help them get “started out”. My parents taught me to drive, took me to get my license, and the rest was pretty much easy for me. Without the advantage of good parents, who is inclined to step in and give David a ride to work everyday and pick him up from work everyday?

Let’s get some chitter chatter going. Is David a horribly irresponsible person? If so, should we ignore his plight or step in to help out? If you help, it can go many ways. David could learn to enjoy this extremely inexpensive lifestyle or he could utilize these free rides as an opportunity to improve his life.

What is the proper response if you become aware of someone in this situation?

A good friend would help him to get his license.

 

[Leo123]

Get religion and become a ‘preacher’ the flock will pay him.