Cafeteria workers at Facebook struggle to make ends meet • Hacker News Board

Re: Cafeteria workers at Facebook struggle to make ends meet

#281

Post by tyingq » Mon, Jul 24, 2017, 6:48 PM UTC

FussyZeus wrote: post #231

tyingq wrote: post #175

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They are one of many lower wage workers you might see at a place like Facebook that aren't Facebook employees. They probably contract out for janitorial services, landscaping, security guards, etc. All at probably similar wages.

I'm not sure what your point is? I was saying this was a perfect example, it's far from the only one.

Sometimes replies aren't argumentative, but rather, additive. Thought it worth pointing out that a typical corporate campus has many types of workers that don't work directly for the company.

Re: Cafeteria workers at Facebook struggle to make ends meet

#282

Post by nylonstrung » Mon, Jul 24, 2017, 6:48 PM UTC

anigbrowl wrote: post #254

wutbrodo wrote: post #240

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Wow. Just wow. For some people, marriage is more than a financial arrangement. Marriage in the legal sense and marriage in the religious/personal/emotional commitment sense are not the same thing. I don't think you're necessarily _always_ wrong, but I also don't see why you think it's so universal that people should load a specific legal status with so much emotional weight and be unable to separate it from the act…

It sounds like you've never been married. It's not a matter of getting the government to approve, it's a matter of getting other people to recognize it. If you have a common-law marriage but it's not documented then if your spouse falls ill and taken to hospital you might be denied visitation rights, for example. I suggest you read some court filings/legal articles on the gay marriage cases from a few years ago to ge…

There are obviously real benefits to being legally married.

That said the #1 reason that marriages fail is finances and I can imagine divorce would be massively net positive it if alleviated the financial desperation this family feels, allows them to spend time together vs working overtime and gives them healthcare they wouldn't have access to otherwise.

The downsides of not being legally married honestly seem trivial in comparison to the realities of poverty.

Re: Cafeteria workers at Facebook struggle to make ends meet

#283

Post by purple-again » Mon, Jul 24, 2017, 6:48 PM UTC

angersock wrote: post #252

perfectstorm wrote: post #244

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One of the reasons for disallowing employees from taking home food is that they will lose their motivation to sell food if they get to keep the unsold food after business hours. I wouldn't be surprised if some of the deli employees hide expensive food from customers and take it home after work because it's "unsold". My cousin worked at Walmart during Black Friday sales and he has told me that his coworkers hide popul…

That's the dumbest goddamn thing I've ever heard, least of all because a TV on sale on Black Friday is pretty far from a nice sandwich. This sort of selfish reasoning--"but but but what about the poors that might somehow abuse the system"--is cancerous, and you sir or madam are a shitty person for suggesting it.

Woah calm down buddy. He's not suggesting anything. He's explaining the reason these policies are in place across the nation. Poor people's number one pasttime is abusing the system for personal gain. Wouldn't you in their situation?

If you say no to that you might actually be the first person that "check your privledge" would non ironically apply to that I have met.

Re: Cafeteria workers at Facebook struggle to make ends meet

#284

Post by anigbrowl » Mon, Jul 24, 2017, 6:49 PM UTC

wutbrodo wrote: post #270

anigbrowl wrote: post #254

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It sounds like you've never been married. It's not a matter of getting the government to approve, it's a matter of getting other people to recognize it. If you have a common-law marriage but it's not documented then if your spouse falls ill and taken to hospital you might be denied visitation rights, for example. I suggest you read some court filings/legal articles on the gay marriage cases from a few years ago to ge…

It sounds like you haven't read the thread you're commenting on. Those issues (visitation rights etc) are explicitly stated in the GP comment, and the comment was speculating that it may be worth the trade-off. The comment _I_ was responding to was talking entirely about legal marriage _meaning_ more to its participants. I suggest you read the threads you're participating in before smugly assuming that someone else i…

I'd read it, and I stand by my original comment. Your understanding of this seems to be abstract rather than concrete and I'm suggesting reading material you could examine to concretize your understanding. I don't know why you're being so rude about it.

Re: Cafeteria workers at Facebook struggle to make ends meet

#285

Post by jogjayr » Mon, Jul 24, 2017, 6:49 PM UTC

rhizome wrote: post #233

redorb wrote: post #179

They have been priced out of their own neighborhood and that is really unfortunate. Theoretically they should move to a place with a cheaper cost of living. People move all the time for wages and cost of living; I would guess its the number one reason people move. They don't work for Facebook they work for a contractor; I would say they need to find a better job or a less expensive place to live (cost of living).

Theoretically they should move to a place with a cheaper cost of living. Theoretically the entire company could do that.

So...make all of their employees choose between uprooting their lives to move to a low-cost area (which they they didn't get to pick), or leaving their job? Didn't Reddit catch some flak over that recently? (yes I'm aware it was the other way, into the Bay Area rather than out)

Re: Cafeteria workers at Facebook struggle to make ends meet

#286

Post by 8ytecoder » Mon, Jul 24, 2017, 6:50 PM UTC

Bay Area has a unique challenge in this regard. All jobs (pretty much) pay more than what would have one qualify for benefits but not enough to actually pay for even the basics - healthcare, housing and food. The only solution for those who are not already locked into a rent controlled place and can't afford the sky high rent is to move out. Politicians, NIMBYs everybody blocks or opposes every proposed solution for one reason or the other. It's a stalemate. It needs a big big political push out of this. Only someone who has a lot of political capital can get it done - not just money.

My personal preference is to merge the housing, zoning and public transportation authorities of all cities and municipalities in the bay area into Metro wide organizations that plan for the whole area instead of just a city/town.But this is the antithesis of local governance and a really hard pill to swallow. Until then cities like SF and Oakland will bear the brunt of this crisis while cities like Palo Alto try to ban even two story constructions.

Re: Cafeteria workers at Facebook struggle to make ends meet

#287

Post by door » Mon, Jul 24, 2017, 6:51 PM UTC

sushid wrote: post #263

angersock wrote: post #252

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's the dumbest goddamn thing I've ever heard, least of all because a TV on sale on Black Friday is pretty far from a nice sandwich. This sort of selfish reasoning--"but but but what about the poors that might somehow abuse the system"--is cancerous, and you sir or madam are a shitty person for suggesting it.

Have you ever worked in food services or retail? If not, you don't know what you're talking about, because this kind of thing happens all the time because people abuse the system. The parent commenter is not even the one making up the reason. She/he is simply explaining the reason why such a policy commonly exists. FWIW, most places also allow the workers to eat the food before/during/after they work there.

people abuse the system bc the system fucks them

Re: Cafeteria workers at Facebook struggle to make ends meet

#288

Post by dragonwriter » Mon, Jul 24, 2017, 6:51 PM UTC

koolba wrote: post #174

> They earn too much to qualify for state healthcare, but not enough to afford the health insurance offered by their employer. They frequently struggle to find enough money for basics like food and clothes for their children. Victor recently borrowed money from his mother to hold a birthday party for one of his daughters, and from a friend to pay for a dentist appointment. They might want to look into not being marri…

> They might want to look into not being married. A single mother with three children would qualify for quite a few benefits.

Or maybe not; what she would qualify would be based on her income after child support payments, which she would be (in most if not all states, and definitely in CA as I've helped people do the paperwork for it) be required to seek an order for as a prerequisite for seeking public benefits.

Re: Cafeteria workers at Facebook struggle to make ends meet

#289

Post by nylonstrung » Mon, Jul 24, 2017, 6:52 PM UTC

manarth wrote: post #250

austincheney wrote: post #218

They could move to Texas. The price for that garage is probably more than the total cost of a 3000sqft house in north Fort Worth. The Toyota headquarters just moved from CA to TX and those guys are buying large houses in expensive areas of town in cash. I have known many people who have left CA for exactly this reason. I am sure CA is great when you are young and single, but once reality kicks in CA becomes very expe…

The family of five have lived in this cramped space next to Victor’s parents’ house for three years. It sounds like the garage belongs to his parents. Which implies they don't own it (so no equity to free up in order to buy a place in Texas), and they may well pay a very low (or no) rent.

Didn't notice that- if that's the case this story is pretty different than what I'd initially thought.

80K/year with no or a trivial amount of rent is a pretty good setup. There are tens of millions of people in the US who have it worse.

Re: Cafeteria workers at Facebook struggle to make ends meet

#290

Post by nylonstrung » Mon, Jul 24, 2017, 6:52 PM UTC

manarth wrote: post #250

austincheney wrote: post #218

They could move to Texas. The price for that garage is probably more than the total cost of a 3000sqft house in north Fort Worth. The Toyota headquarters just moved from CA to TX and those guys are buying large houses in expensive areas of town in cash. I have known many people who have left CA for exactly this reason. I am sure CA is great when you are young and single, but once reality kicks in CA becomes very expe…

The family of five have lived in this cramped space next to Victor’s parents’ house for three years. It sounds like the garage belongs to his parents. Which implies they don't own it (so no equity to free up in order to buy a place in Texas), and they may well pay a very low (or no) rent.

Didn't notice that- if that's the case this story is pretty different than what I'd initially thought.

80K/year with no or a trivial amount of rent is a pretty good setup. There are tens of millions of people in the US who have it worse.