This latest political race we are embroiled in to see who will be our next president as well as a slew of other elected positions has been filled with talking points about jobs, the jobless rate in this country, and how to get people back to work. There are still many people without work, searching "supposedly" for a job, and have as yet to come up with any solid prospects. We hear of college graduates who can't find a job because their sectors are filled with former college graduates. There is also the cadre of women and men who lost their jobs and have been struggling to find some form of work to make ends meet. You drive around and see the homeless on the corners begging for food or money. From all the reports, one might think that we have yet to escape this recession that has lasted for four long years. My question is, where are all these people who are looking for work? As I mentioned, we have probably all seen the homeless on the corners asking for help, yet aside from those individuals, there is a part of me that thinks most people don't want to work, or are unwilling to work in a field that differs from what they have done before or from what they are looking to do. I have been trying for months now to find a single person who is willing to work in the painting business. There were many who were supposed to call me and never did and on the flip side, there are others who I have actually talked to and have blown me off for other 1 or 2 day jobs despite the fact that I have told them I can keep them busy for weeks if not longer. I personally don't get it. If I was any of those individuals who are "looking" for work, I would jump at the opportunity to have some one take me on and actually pay me. But maybe I just have a different mentality. Maybe its the fact that I haven't stopped working and work my but off every day to get as much work done as possible and provide for my family. I really just don't know.
Every single person who was supposed to call me or meet me has been "looking" for work or has been slow with work and could use the extra money. Yet for some reason, no one is working for me yet. I have run the gamut of trying to get white men in their 30's and 40's to work all the way to immigrants from South America in their 20's to work, all to no avail. Perhaps the problem is that I have not driven by a Home Depot with the immigrants standing on the corner waiting for a van to pick them up for the day. Or perhaps it is because I haven't picked up the homeless person on the corner looking for work. Part of me, however, was hoping for someone reliable and experienced in the contracting field to come help me. I have a few more prospects that I am currently scouting "per se" or at least I am having trusted friends scout for me and I am hoping that at least one of them will be willing to work. I have been trying, at least up until now, to tap into my network of contracting friends to find suitable and willing workers. I guess that it will not happen the way I want it to. I am almost at the point of picking up a homeless person on the corner and offering them work. I don't necessarily want to go that route as I don't know who they are and can't necessarily trust them, however, if it comes down to it, I may not have a choice. Perhaps part of the problem is that I am looking for someone I can "trust". Yet it seems if they can't even call me back or commit to meeting me at a certain time, then I really can't "trust" them at all. I am loathe to go to a help wanted ad in the newspaper due to the fact that I could end up with a contractor who has no idea what they are doing and will do a shoddy job. In addition, I don't have time to deal with the influx of calls that I think I would get from going down said route. For me, it is a tough position to be in as I work in people's houses and need someone who won't go searching through a homeowner's belongings looking for that extra buck or two. I know its not necessarily the best way to look at things, however, I have heard too many stories from people of contractors doing just that. I don't operate that way, never had, and never will. I am in the business to build life long customers, ones that will call me back time and time again to do more work, not the once and done type deal that many contractors seem to thrive on.
I have reached the point where I don't want a high school senior or young college kid to work for me. I have found that the work ethic among that demographic just isn't there, if you can actually get them to work at all. Such is life. The search goes on. Yesterday, I was talking to a good friend of mine who does sheet rock and taping work. I was getting a price from him on a few jobs that I have coming up for which I could use his services. It was through him that I was supposed to get in touch with a potential worker. I tried that a month ago and his friend never called me back. Yesterday I had him call his friend so I could talk to him. It would be an ideal situation for me as he is already a painter and probably wouldn't need too much babysitting on the job. Yet when I talked to him on the phone he was working for a pool guy cleaning leaves out of a pool and said he would call me in a week, maybe. I said OK, I'll talk to you soon, and got off the phone. I was flabbergasted as he is not even working in his field of expertise and doesn't seem to want work in the field he is good in. Once the phone was down, I asked my friend if he knew of anyone else who would be willing to work. He told me he had a few friends, but they weren't painters and couldn't do finish work. My response was, I don't care, they won't be doing any finish work, just prep work for now, but as long as they are willing to learn, I will give them a chance. I hope I hear from him today about his friends, but I am going to be realistic here and say that I will probably have to continue my search. It seems like we have a new mentality in America. People want the American dream, yet aren't willing to put in the work to achieve it. That's just my perspective. Building in Connecticut has picked up this past year tremendously, to me signaling that our economy is improving. Maybe people will realize that they need to work if they want to ride the upswing in the economy. Then again, maybe they won't and they will be left behind to languish on the sides with all the others. Such is life. All I know is that I will continue to work my but off to try and take care of the influx of work that has yet to stop. Trust me, I'll take it all, I would just like some help getting it all done. That's all.
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