Thanks to the people who show up to work.
Some jobs need doing.
Yesterday I needed help. The right front tire on my car looked low. I bent down to look at the tire and the problem was right there, visible. A screw just like this was stuck in the tread.
The tire was full enough to drive three miles to the tire store I have patronized for years, a store called Ed's Point S. I know Ed--Ed Miller--from Rotary. A nice guy. A civic benefactor, the kind of guy who owned a small local business and who got hit up by 4-H kids and Boy Scouts for donations. I don't know if he always said "yes" but be said "yes" to me when I asked him to support a Rotary project. I am grateful to him and to local businesses with local owners, not some corporate office in Kirkland or Bentonville. Thanks, Ed.
Ed recently sold the business, but Ed's name is still on the place. I am hopeful Ed keeps getting paid something for the "goodwill" he developed over the decades. He earned it.
They fix flats for free. They do it right then and there and they don't ask if you bought the tires from them, although I did. I suppose their business model is to hope people like me feel grateful. It works. I do feel grateful.
My car jack is the small cheap thing that comes with the car and it is mostly included for show, but I suppose, with real effort, I could get the tire and rim off the car on my own if my car were on flat, firm ground. Then, again with real effort, I could possibly get the tire off the rim on my own. It isn't easy with a heavy tire and light tools and I might get stuck at that spot. I have not patched a tire since I patched a bicycle tire at age 11 and possibly I would do it correctly, if I had a patch with me, and if I could get the tire re-inflated with a bicycle pump. I wouldn't feel safe driving at freeway speeds until a pro looked it over.
It was way better for me to take it to a shop, if one were open.
Yesterday at 3:30 p.m., the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, the shop was open and a dozen or so guys were busily repairing flats, rotating tires, putting snow tires on cars, removing old tires and installing new ones. Whew! The place has car lifts and hydraulic wrenches, plus guys who know what they are doing. I am grateful.
Working in the open bay of a tire shop is not glamorous or easy work, but I was sure glad they were on the job. I hope they get well paid. I needed those guys. I say "guys" because everyone doing the work was male, and it took at least two to do the job. A second person rechecks the five lug nuts tightened by the guy who puts the tire back on the car, and each of them independently sign the clipboard saying they did it. It is safety check. I am grateful for that.
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| Full employment again. |
We have full employment. A lot of Boomers retired early, a lot of people--mostly women--left the workforce to deal with kids at home due to COVID, and we have reduced immigration. Working people have more market power than usual. I am OK with that, and if it causes some inflation I am OK with that as well. If we want people to do hard jobs well--and we do--then we need to pay them enough so that can afford to live good lives, even if it means working hard on the afternoon before Thanksgiving. I needed them, and they were there.
I am grateful.
6 comments:
In spite of inflation, we do have much to be thankful for this holiday season. The Republicans’ coup attempt was a failure, their opposition to the infrastructure bill failed to keep it from passing and their vaccine disinformation campaign is mainly affecting their own constituents.
And now, on to the mashed potatoes. Happy Thanksgiving.
Peter, I'm finding I need a disagreement or another point of view to write a comment, but I have none on today's blog post.
Full employment in the Biden economy is grand. It has been a Democratic goal since, at least, FDR and later with Humphrey-Hawkins. A goal realized by going through a pandemic and then building back better. The minor difficulties are worth the candle.
Yes, to Ed's Tire and the people working there. Great service.
Especially "yes" to Ed Miller, a wonderful person.
One small disagreement: You could not get the tire off the rim and you could not patch it.😃
"...then we need to pay them enough so they can afford to live good lives"
Can I get an Amen to that?
This holiday celebrates among other things, abundance and prosperity. Every single American should be grateful to be living in a nation that was created with a vision for equality and opportunity virtually inconceivable at the time. Really, just an idea; they had no way of knowing what would transpire, and I can only imagine what they might think if they could see us now.
Yes, much to be grateful for, but still much work to be done.
I have always said that we need to configure the economy so that there is a good position in this society for every person we have, not just the very top end of the IQ distribution.
We need to keep the factory jobs. We need to keep the family farms. We need to keep the independent stores. We need to make things like the corporate raid that destroyed Toys R Us impossible. We need to defang the tech giants whose engagement algorithms are driving the polarization that’s destroying our ability to do these things.
I am grateful to be living in this country, where there’s still enough freedom to stand up to the various manifestations of the machine. We do it for ourselves, and for all the people in places like China who get crushed as soon as they say the first word.
I too am very thankful.
Thankful for the employees and the businesses that hire them. I am thankful for those who work for themselves to build their own businesses.
I'm thankful for the public workers and leaders who do their jobs well.
I'm thankful to everyone who are essential to a thriving society and economy.
I'm thankful to my family and friends who all make me proud.
I'm even thankful to those who don't necessarily agree with my worldview, as they help me to investigate and learn what can be better.
And thanks to Peter who labors daily to put out his words of wisdom, helping me to better understand the world we live in.
M2inFLA,
Good point! I too am thankful to Peter for creating this place and writing all of his interesting and thought-provoking articles.
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