How privileged are you?

[Nyboy]

This spring it cost me over $400 to have my fathers 1950 sears ridging lawn mower fixed. Was $100 to pick up $100 to bring back. Was so old they had to make the parts. My father has a city house, lawn size of a postage stamp, no one but him cuts the lawn.

 

[sissy]

I used to volunteer in NJ with ford to help out seniors with yard work and repairs on the houses the owned and we did it free and all supplies were donated by business owners and so was money to help us help seniors .Edison still does it to this day .I have friends who still volunteer .I think it is great he is helping a senior .I would hope both my sons would do the same

 

[Nyboy]

Did not realize was for senior. Dutch just be careful your a good kid with a big heart, some people will take advantage of that . Not everyone plays fair.

 

[DutchMuch]

$30 for a 12 hour day is slave labor. Sorry but just not right.

I went there today, she is requesting me to:
Redo her deck
basically cut 2 whole trees down
Mow the yard (I guess permanently?... I don't really know...?)
Trim her bushes (which have medium sized trees, growing in them..)
Remove the trees in her bushes
Possibly fix her door
and do some other misc stuff (small junk)

Haha lady gonna cost you more than that, ill trim your bushes and do your yard for you for thirty idc but all that other stuff will cost you some good $$$ for me to do

 

[Nyboy]

Redo her deck ?

 

[DutchMuch]

Redo her deck ?

yep. Redo her Deck, or back porch, whatever you would like to call it.

The ad was as follows:

"need help with lawn"
So I and most people would think "mowing grass, maybe some planting, trimming, blah blah"

then I go there and "redo my deck, doors, porch, paint my house, etc" (didn't say paint my house)

 

[Nyboy]

For $30 a day I would want to remodel my home too !!

 

[DutchMuch]

For $30 a day I would want to remodel my home too !!

lol

 

[Nyboy]

I have some flower beds i want brick borders put around. Dig a trench about 6 inches deep line up bricks straight and back fill. I paying $10 a hour can work as many hours they want, can not find anyone.

 

[DutchMuch]

I have some flower beds i want brick borders put around. Dig a trench about 6 inches deep line up bricks straight and back fill. I paying $10 a hour can work as many hours they want, can not find anyone.

Well its to bad I don't live closer to you! Lol!

 

[sissy]

airplane comes to mind or bus or train but that may bite into the profits

 

[DutchMuch]

@Nyboy so your total is, 250$ not including supplies for the job.

 

[Lisak1]

Even my cheapskate neighbor offered me six bucks an hour. haha!

But seriously, I have no problem helping out older people, but you also don't want to be taken advantage of. My boys mowed lawns for some people in our neighborhood for "free" (mom paid them) for a number of years. They also mowed for my neighbor who had small kids and a husband who was deployed. But some people are more the "give an inch, take a mile" type. Gotta be careful of those.

 

[DutchMuch]

UPDATE ON THE JOB SITUATION! :

Ok so now I have an "interview" with a guy who wants me to be his skid steer guy, says he owns a landscaping company (just a small crew, he's a Iraq vet and has some injuries, so I imagine he just either lost an arm or a few fingers maybe, idk)

Skid steer guy meaning: Tie up trees, tie up Stuff in general, direct him where to go and how close, etc.

The woman who wanted me to do her yard: I went there today, after PACKING everything up for 30 mins!!!
And it was already done, so I called and told her "*cough* hi mam its Nate the lawn guy, I just called to inform you that your lawn is already mowed...."
Then she said frantically "WAIT NO COME BACK COME BACK WAIT YOU GOTTA COME BACK"
At that point I presumed that she was crazy because she was literally screaming practically, and I hung up. I know it sounds rude because there is the possibility that, she had mental issues, but she didn't because I went to visit her the other day to basically introduce myself.

So theres that.

Really excited for this Iraq guy, he is MY type of boss, he told me on the phone giving hints that he hates seeing people on there phones 24/7 and calling it "work", But he said *in the middle of us having this on topic conversation* " Yea.. Also man, you know, I don't hire people who sit on there phones and call it work, to me that's lazy" (because he knows im sixteen)
So I told him "I haven't owned a phone in my whole life, how does that sound?" then we got into a big talk on all that kind of stuff. EPIC guy, really nice and professional. So I think I definitely have a shot.

Again I gotta thank @MitchM for giving me the balls to "just do it" lol.

 

[qclabrat]

just caught this and haven't read all, but to be frank many people who live in the NYC area like me would answer "yes" to most questions which apply to themselves. It's really quite expensive living here, ask @sissy . For example, how many of you are paying more than $20k a year in property taxes, and I live in moderately taxed town. Once my kids are done with college, we'll consider moving west.

now the questions which pertain to my parents are completely different. Neither went to college, in fact my father had to use forged documents to join the army at 16. He rose in ranks to lead a special forces team in the 60s. For those who don't know, I am Chinese and the 60s in China was like the McCarthy era here in the US. Here you were persecuted for being a communist loyalist, there if you were not communist enough you got in trouble. He was one who got in trouble and was sentenced to a detention camp for 20 years. He ended up escaping after 8 years by swimming for 40 hrs to Hong Kong.

My mother on the other hand grew up in Hong Kong, finished high school and became a kindergarten teacher. China was a third world country then, and now the second largest economy. How things have changed in only 50 years? What's to come for the next 50?