Is there really a depression? Could it be something else?

I have had a lot of employees tell me one of the reasons why they come to work is because they learn something new every day. I have also had employees who couldn't mow grass. What I mean is they were not bright enough to push a lawnmower. One guy I worked with about 6 years. I was his supervisor when he was hired. He told me one day that he almost quit when he 1st was hired because I know everything. The he said he is glad he didn't because he started listening and realized I knew what I was talking about. He even quit the job to work with me when I started the company. Now he is in a wheelchair from a car accident. But I'm going to see what I can do for him. He still wants to work. Wouldn't that be nice. A guy in a wheelchair bossing people around. This job is physical. Most people are not good at physical labor. Most of the people who think they are good at physical labor are slow. I have a landscaping company that specializes in the design, installation and maintenance of flower beds. The last guy who called for employment said he had been doing landscaping for 14 years. I asked what did he know about plants. He didn't say anything specific other than he knew a lot. I asked what plants do you know? He said "bushes n stuff." I don't call them "bushes". They are shrubs. When I say I need Rudbeckia goldsturm I want them to bring Rudbeckia goldsturm. It is a common plant that everyone in landscaping should know. If they don't know it in 14 years then they don't have enough desire to learn. I think I am going to do what my old boss did. She went to the local university and asked the football coach if he had anyone staying for the summer who wanted to work. They did fine and like the job. But they quit because my old boss was nuts. She was hard to take.

When i apply for a job, the one thing i will be true to my boss is honesty. If there is something I don't know how to do, i would ask him and not pretend to know then being in a difficult situation afterwards. Even in the interview, I tell everything I do know and things I don't so it will easier for my supervisor to help me out with the weak points. I don't know how to use a lawn mowner...and it's not because i am stupid..it's because my uncle cuts it and I wash the dishes and water the flowers and the other plating at home. In a certain way, I have no experience with that machine. Some people are desperate to find a job in order to get monney so they will say tons of crap like they know stuff while they don't. The last person you have interviewed sounds exactly like the manager at my job which i quit. The owner was someone really nice and respectful. He hired this silly man as the manager and I guess he succeed in convincing him that he knew alot while he doesn't. So they worked there since it opened for about 5 years but it seems like he still didn't learn anything. My supervisor had more knowledge and they did most of the job while the he just sat there and opint the finger at the thing to do. I call those people incompetent. Not only he was that silly but he abused his title as the manager. So if he was to leave that place to yours, it's certain that he would say that he has 5 years of experience working there but in fact has no potential. In whatever you put effort in, study or work, you will retain something and work experience. I spent about 5 years in science field and i do still remember some informations which are important...how can you come out of it emptyhanded? Of course, you will not retain everything at 100% but at least you will retain something. For these reasons, I believe that people are not stupid but 1. they lied about their performance. 2. they did work at a place for some time but did not use their knowledge and the others did it instead.

So I am not alone to have this feeling about a crappy boss. But I think i wasn't clear about my statement. When I mentionned crappy boss -- crappy employee, I mean if the boss is crappy like mine, i would do a crappy job not because i want to but because nobody could teach me. I remember the two first weeks of working at the photo laboratory. We had to mix the right type of ink with the right amount of water in the right tank. I asked my supervisor in the photo section to tell me how to do it but she always tells me to come 30 min earlier in the job and she would show me...as she was never there. She went home earlier or simply forgot about our meeting. So when she went on vacation, I was in deep crap when the tanks was out of everything because i can't get one picture printed without the problem fixed. Thus, it makes me, as the employee, making a crappy job. I always do my best because this is not like volunteering work so i can't lack out. people are paying me to do this job and I wanted to have a good reference. even if they would pay me double as you say, i would stay longer and probably won't care about it much and just do whatever i can do. But if i had to stay there as my main job, it's not something I would endure till I retire at 60 years old. However, all of my supervisors were really nice to me..except for the manager and the younr supervisor in my photolab section. I stayed for some time because i know i was not alone to feel this way. I couldn't call my manager Mister Gaetan which was his name but had to call him Manager. At this point, I lost respect for him. At that time, I was studying in biochemistry and my manager wanted me to work more...work more = quitting school. And if I don't work more, he would kick me out of job. So I did not have a choice and left that place. I think a good leader is someone who would guide the employee when they need help and not to make a big deals for little mistakes. Those are the things I expect from a boss. On a side note, I see that you are working very hard on your own to keep your company on the run. however, you have to watch over yourself. If you keep on doing excess physical work, you might damage your body. I guess you are still young but when you will get old, the symptoms will show effects. If necessary, you must use your employees. If you don't run them, they will run you. Anyway, you have more experience at leading than I do..just worried about your health conditions. Things are not easy but goodluck there and don't overwork.

Apparently you missed the part where I said I would pay someone $15 an hour if they produced 85% of what I did with the same quality. I also think the employee should prove their worth. There was a guy who worked for me 2 weeks. On a job site a client said "Do you like working with Rich?" (That is not my name. It is what he calls me.) My employee said "Yes sir." He asked how long has he been working with me. The employee said 2 weeks. The client said "Well tell him to give you a raise." The employee said "He did sir. Actually 2 raises." But if someone doesn't care enough to make themselves look like they care, they aren't getting anything. They are wasting their own time because they would never get enough hours to warrant keeping the job. It is a 2 way street. If I tell someone I will pay them $10 an hour and if they work hard I'll give them more, I will. If a potential employee says he knows how to do something and works hard, he has to prove it. Also employees don't need a college degree. Just the willingness to work hard and learn.

Wal-mart will be gone some day. But not tomorrow. LOL In the United States Wal-marts are losing money.

Why do you hate? You should be inspired to do it yourself. I started my landscaping company with a $5 weedeater and a $25 lawn mower along with ambition and desire. It took me $30 to start working. So it would be possible to earn what it took me to start my business on myLot in a month. A couple of weeks later I paid for my business license which was $50. I never said "how" much I am making. It is enough. I am not rich. There are some debts to pay off before I can see where I stand financially. If I made $10 an hour I would be content. When was the last time you worked 70 hours in a week? I love what I do for a living. It isn't for the money. That is just a bonus. Just like myLot. When I worked for a landscaping company I would come home from work and work in my flower beds. I got a job doing something I wanted to do. I didn't get a job with a landscaping company because I had to. I did it because it is what I wanted to do. Rent here is inexpensive. And none of the jobs pay very well. That is why I decided to be in charge of my own paycheck. I wouldn't pay $1,400 - $2,000 for rent. If I had to shell out those kinds of funds I would be paying $1,400 for my mortgage. And where I live there is work. People do not want it.

Well, sh*t, where do you live? I want to move there! I'm paying $120 a week for gas... in a sedan! $2,400 a month for my mortgage, about $800 a month for food, never mind my utilities and any personal items or fun things for the kids. I would love for any employer down here to offer more than $7 an hour. And you only get the $7 if you have a degree!!!! Blessed Be

When I was younger minimum wage was $4.25. The job service called me with a job. They said a guy wanted me to set up his accounting system for his business and he was paying $4.25. I told them the amount of money I would get paid is less than the cost of the book to learn it. I said "Tell the guy to buy the $325 book, spend 8 months reading it and then do it himself." You made a good point. You saw the accounting department not doing their job. I bet they were paid well. But most people think they are not getting paid enough regardless of what they are getting paid. I think you will get lazy workers regardless of how much you pay them. I also tried the temp agency for employees. The last employee was 45 minutes late. They called him and he said he couldn't find it. They tried to send him an hour after he was supposed to be there. I told them "Look the guy lied to me and said he knew where it was or he lied to you and said he couldn't find it. He had my phone number and didn't call. That is all the proof I need that he isn't worth having. He can't follow directions. So how much are you going to pay me to babysit this guy who can't follow directions?" Then they promised a new person the next day who didn't show up because they sent them to another job. LOL I wonder how long the company will last treating their clients that way.

But I will say that 2 out of 4 from the temp agency did a good job.

It is messed up. I had to charge my clients more because of the gas prices. I make more now because I do a lot more work not because I raised prices. If I wanted to work on Saturday I could if I wanted to make extra but I like having 2 days off.

I think our area is doing all right at the moment because things like a recession or depression starts somewhere else in the United States, & then our area is the last place to be affected. If I remember correctly, when the recession that started around 1990 set in, our area did not get affected until a year or two later. When the economy became strong again, it took a while for things here to actually get better.