New York Liberty HQ: Raising a glass to Ron Paul

Updated: Mon., Jun. 6, 2011, 6:52 AM

Raising a glass to Ron

By HELEN FREUND and TODD VENEZIA

Last Updated: 6:52 AM, June 6, 2011

Posted: 11:02 PM, June 5, 2011

There’s one congressman who will never have to pay for a drink in Manhattan.

Rep. Ron Paul, the libertarian-leaning Republican presidential candidate from Texas, has become an unlikely hero among bar and restaurant workers as he fights for a bill that would end all taxes on tips — the bread and butter of bartenders and waiters.

Last Thursday, a group of Paul’s Big Apple supporters, called the Ron Paul NYC Liberty HQ, held a Manhattan pub crawl in support of the legislation.

“It’s just not right. That money is supposed to be a gratuity for [the workers], not for the government,” said Dominic Inferrera, 38, a volunteer with the group.

William Miller

TIPPING POINT: Kristin Rocco, working at the Upper East Side’s Wicker Park bar, is toasting Rep. Ron Paul’s tip-tax ban.

“I worked as a server for 10 years, and I know how hard it can be,” he said. “The sad thing is that a lot of the servers end up getting audited at the end of the year and usually work so hard that they don’t have the time or financial resources to handle it.”

Paul introduced the Tax Free Tips Act of 2011 in March. The measure would end all income tax, Social Security withholding and other federal levees on any tips earned by salaried workers.

“Unlike regular wages, a service-sector employee usually has no guarantee of, or legal right to, a tip,” Paul said in 2009, when he introduced a similar bill.

“Instead, the amount of a tip usually depends on how well an employee satisfies a client. Since the amount of taxes one pays increases along with the size of tip, taxing tips punishes workers for doing a superior job.”

As Liberty HQ members spread the word of Paul’s proposal to bar workers around the city, they got enthusiastic support.

At the Wicker Park bar on 83rd and Third Avenue, bartender Kristin Rocco, 24, said, “People just don’t understand what it’s like to work for a living in the service industry.”

“It’s already a big blow to just receive a meager 15 to 20 percent tip for the amount of work we do.”

At nearby Dylan Murphy’s, bartender Gavin Ward said he was a Paul backer. “I like the sound of this bill — I hope it passes,” he said. “I don’t mind paying my taxes like every other citizen, but the way we servers and bartenders have to do it — on an already meager wage — well, it’s just no good.”

Unfortunately for the bar workers, the bill doesn’t have a good track record. Similar measures Paul sponsored in 2007 and 2009 failed to pass.

todd.venezia@nypost.com

Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/manhattan/raising_glass_to_ron_pnQMYegNe82iIc7oNyuVPK#ixzz1OXuzUGnV

The moment of doubt.

It’s always something that will jolt me back into whatever I should be doing. Whether it involves getting into a better career path or getting back in shape. Something has to happen before I start taking that part of my life under control.

I remember last summer going with a friend to the Gansevoort in the meatpacking district just for kicks and to meet new people.  We knew people who could get us in and we got there before it got too crowded.  Just my luck, I ran into an old friend I had not seen since 2008 despite staying in touch via Facebook and messenger. He was completely suited up and was there to celebrate his show’s success in getting expanded to a daily format. He talked about how he was involved in activism and caught the attention of some media personalities in need of someone of his experience and political views. One meeting led to another and he became the producer. I really was glad he made it after going through some challenges several years ago. At the same time,  it struck me that I really didn’t advance in my professional life I had hoped. I was scapegoated in my previous position and I basically had to start over when I joined a new account team. The pay did not increase and the company gave all employees a paycut regardless of performance as a cost cutting measure to stabilise their precious share price.

It really hit me that night out and I lost the mood to enjoy the night. It was more complicated when I saw a coworker there enjoying his professional and personal growth with his friends and girlfriend as well. It really felt like everyone was moving ahead while I was left behind with a few others. I wound up leaving the place with my friend after spending less than two hours there.

After that night, I made an effort at my current position with the new account team. The effort rarely paid off as I was being micromanaged with no chance to work independently and based on my actual workload. There was also no guarantee that I would even get a raise, let alone promoted.

I knew this was a dead-end and I started working on getting myself out of this professional rut. For starters, I hired a professional writer to help update my resume based on my work experience with the hope it would get attention from better companies and highlights skills that I may have overlooked. It was also good luck that a headhunter reached out to me with an opportunity at a company I had strong interest in. In the end, I managed to quit my dead-end job and start at a place that is closer to my professional goals.

Now I find myself facing a similar situation in my personal life. I was in a serious relationship for over a year before it ended thanks to my previous position and from an increasingly unappreciative girlfriend. It took me time before I decided to go on a rebound relationship with a girl setup by friends. After three months, she decided to break up without reason and the friends who set me up with her didn’t care and blamed me for it without caring how it happened. It was messed up that she stopped on a whim but it was even more disappointing the way people who I thought were my friends reacted.

I decided to simply stop bothering to meet new people or girls after those chain of events. I was growing sick of the revolving door friends in the NYC social scene and I was tired of being hurt and worn down by immature and petty girls. I just had it with the entire New York social scene and only trusted my friends from childhood, NJ and college while everyone else is a potential revolving door friend who could disappoint me or drop me at will.  There would be no real reason to go to social events other than professional reasons or for appearances.

Then recently, I met someone at one of these social outings. She was approachable and had a very interesting background. It was also helped by the fact she liked cute things. We were having a fun conversation about current news and random stuff until an old friend ran into her. It turned out that they knew each other from a previous job but lost touch for many years. They really hit it off and I felt lost in the conversation as the event became more crowded and hard to follow. We exchanged numbers and emails and seemed interested in knowing more about some things we discussed, but I really felt I could have made things move in a better direction.  I held back and got lost in the scene because I was wary of making new fake friends and the prospect of a failed connection or more.  It got awkward at the end and I wound up leaving early that night.

The missed connection is bothering me and still bothers me. It’s becoming one of those moments that will get me to reassert myself in this area. It sometimes can be hard distinguishing between someone who can be a good friend from one who will work himself out of a circle of friends for petty reasons. It’s even harder to find a connection in a hectic career and with similar backgrounds despite being in such a large city. I really am unsure how I will get myself out of this predicament and I know this needs to be done or else I will keep having these moments in my personal life.

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Strange times

It’s been months since I have started blogging. Blogs from years past focused on personal subjects,  commentary on current events and random reviews.

The blog stopped after a representative/marketing manager from Michael Page international went out of their way to track me down and pressured me in a passive-aggressive way to delete a post detailing my poor experiences dealing with their reps in 2007. The comments from that blog gradually became a hotbed for disgruntled MPI reps and immature reps that supported their company. In any event, mixed reviews of this boutique recruiting firm are all over glassdoor.com if they are out to remove any real or imagined criticisms of their company.

Another reason I stopped blogging was the busy work schedule that kept me from putting time into blogging. Then there was the failed relationship that I involved in but ultimately nothing was ever enough.  These issues lead to a void in my thoughts, feelings and interests.

Recently, I resumed my interests in world events after the people’s revolutions in Egypt and the Middle East. The success in people power and al-Jazeera in contributing to this success gave me a sense of hope and optimism that faded when Obama took office. It really gave people hope that they can make change if they had the means to do so. Some friends expected the uprising to fail and for protests to result in jihadis taking power, but nothing is for certain.  I can only hope that the rebellion in Libya is just as successful as the Egyptian and Tunisian uprisings.

In terms of my social life I am really not sure who my friends in NYC really are. It’s been said that friends come and go but my circle of so-called friends is like a revolving door. Some of them simply cut off contact over changes in Facebook while some distance themselves once I switched jobs.  Then there are those who simply disappoint when it mattered and those who will only hang out only if a “cool” mutual friend is there. This is one of the more unpleasant realisations of my time in the city.

My childhood friends are accessible and can be counted. My high school era buddies are good company.  My college friends are one of my core circle of friends. Friends I’ve met around NJ are also good company.  I only wish they were less busy and more accessible.

This is an unpleasant feeling and the only way to get around it is going out and meeting new people. My previous social circle in NYC is not what I thought it was.

There are some things I needed to change now. I will need to start with my Gmats now I have more leisure time that was taken because of an unproductive start-up and issues with my previous job.  I also started exercising again after being in poor shape for months.

I need to keep changing even if people like Obama and my fake NYC friends disappoint me.

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Egypt: Preview of America in 2015

Egypt: Preview of America in 2015

The rioting and looting taking place in Egypt is primarily a result of massive food inflation and shows what all major cities in the United States will likely look like come year 2015 due to the Federal Reserve’s zero percent interest rates and quantitative easing to infinity. On December 16th, 2009, NIA named Time Magazine’s 2009 ‘Person of the Year’ Ben Bernanke our ‘Villain of the Year’, saying he created “unprecedented amounts of inflation in unprecedented ways” and “When it costs $20 for a gallon of milk in a few years, Americans will have nobody to thank more than Bernanke.”

What started out a few weeks ago as protests in Algeria with citizens chanting “Bring Us Sugar!” and five citizens being killed, quickly spread to civil unrest in Tunisia which saw 14 more civilian deaths, and has now spread to riots in Egypt where 300 Egyptian citizens have been killed. Food inflation in Egypt has reached 20% and citizens in the nation already spend about 40% of their monthly expenditures on food. Americans for decades have been blessed with cheap food, spending only 13% of their expenditures on food, but this is about to change.

NIA was the first to predict the recent explosion in agricultural commodity prices in our October 30th, 2009, article entitled, “U.S. Inflation to Appear Next in Food and Agriculture”, which said we have a “perfect storm for an explosion in agriculture prices”. A couple of months later in ‘NIA’s Top 10 Predictions for 2010′ we predicted “Major Food Shortages” and said, “Inventories of agricultural products are the lowest they have been in decades yet the prices of many agricultural commodities are down 70% to 80% from their all time highs adjusted for real inflation”. Over the past year, agricultural commodities as a whole have outperformed almost every other type of asset, with silver being one of only a few other assets keeping pace with agriculture. (On December 11th, 2009, NIA declared silver the best investment for the next decade at $17.40 per ounce and it has so far risen 64% to its current price of $28.39 per ounce).

The world is at the beginning stages of an all out inflationary panic. Wheat, which NIA previously called on ‘NIAnswers’ its favorite investment besides gold and silver, is now up to a new 30-month high of $8.63 per bushel and has doubled in price since June of last year. Algeria bought 800,000 tonnes of wheat this past week, bringing their total purchases for the month of January up to 1.8 million tonnes, which was quadruple expectations. Saudi Arabia is also beginning to stockpile their inventories of wheat. Rice futures have gained 8% during the past few days with Bangladesh and Indonesia placing extraordinary large orders. Indonesia’s latest rice order was quadruple its normal allotment and Bangladesh plans to double rice purchases this year. Meanwhile, the U.S., which is the world’s third largest exporter of rice, is expected to cut production by 25% in 2011.

NIA considers rice to be one of the world’s most undervalued agricultural commodities at its current price of $15.96 per 100 pounds and forecasts a move back to its 2008 high of $24 per 100 pounds as soon as the end of 2011. NIA believes cotton, at its current price of $1.80 per pound, may have gotten a bit ahead of itself in the short-term. In NIA’s first ever article about agriculture on February 17th, 2009, we said that cotton’s “upside potential is astronomical” at its then price of $0.44 per pound. NIA pointed to increasing sales to textile companies in China and the fact that cotton was down 70% from its all time high as reasons to be very bullish on cotton at $0.44 per pound. Early NIA members could have made 309% on cotton, but today we see much bigger potential in rice. The recent spike in cotton reminds us of the 2008 spike in oil. Although we believe cotton will ultimately rise above $3 per pound later this decade, we could see a dip to below $1.40 per pound first.

Many people in the mainstream media have criticized NIA’s recent food inflation report, claiming that agricultural commodity prices have very little to do with prices of food in the supermarket. CNBC’s Steve Liesman, in particular, claims that “rising commodity prices won’t cause inflation”. Liesman has it backwards. NIA has never claimed that rising commodity prices cause inflation. Soaring budget deficits that the U.S. government can’t possibly pay for through taxation causes inflation when the Fed is forced to monetize the debt by printing money.

Rising commodity prices are only a symptom of inflation. The reason NIA was so bullish on agricultural commodities going back two years ago when we produced our first documentary ‘Hyperinflation Nation’, is because while gold is the best gauge of inflation and is often the best tool for predicting future money printing, agriculture is where the majority of the monetary inflation ends up going after the Fed’s newly printed money trickles down to the middle-class and poor. With gold prices already surging two years ago when we produced ‘Hyperinflation Nation’, NIA said in the documentary “food prices have the potential to surge most during hyperinflation”.
One thing NIA is almost 100% sure of is that come year 2015, middle-class Americans will be spending at least 30% to 40% of their income on food, similar to Egyptians today. As NIA warned in its latest documentary ‘End of Liberty’, if you don’t have enough money to accumulate physical gold and silver, it is important to begin establishing your own food storage, and store enough food to feed you and your family for at least six months during hyperinflation. Many store shelves in Egypt are now empty after recent panic buying, with shortages of nearly all major staple items throughout the country.

The U.S. Treasury is getting ready to sell $72 billion in new long-term bonds next week, as the U.S. rapidly approaches its $14.29 trillion debt limit. The debt limit is now expected to be reached by April 5th and Treasury Secretary Geithner warned the U.S. will see “catastrophic damage” if it isn’t raised. With the Federal Reserve now surpassing China and Japan as the largest holder of U.S. treasuries, the real “catastrophic damage” ahead will be hyperinflation as a result of the U.S. government doing absolutely nothing to dramatically cut spending. It is an absolute joke that Obama during his State of the Union address announced $400 billion in spending cuts over the next 10 years, but then the very next day, the Congressional Budget Office increased its 2011 budget deficit projection by $400 billion to $1.48 trillion.

Not raising the debt limit would be a good thing, as it would force Washington to live within its means. Sure, the stock market would collapse and the U.S. economy would enter into its next Great Depression, but at least it would save the U.S. dollar from losing all of its purchasing power. In fact, the standard of living for middle class Americans might actually improve if the government allowed the free market to put our economy into a depression, because goods and services would get cheaper.

The U.S. economy has become a drug addict that is dependent on cheap and easy money from the Federal Reserve. While Wall Street bankers took home a record $135 billion in total compensation in 2010, up 5.7% from $128 billion in 2009, this money was stolen from middle-class and poor Americans through inflation. The more monetary inflation (heroin) the Federal Reserve creates to satisfy the (in the words of Gerald Celente) “money junkies” on Wall Street, the more middle-class and poor Americans become dependent on unemployment checks and food stamps just to survive. Millions of American students are graduating college with hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt but no jobs. Luckily for them (but not holders of U.S. dollars), NIA is hearing reports from both unemployed and underemployed college graduates with student loans that the government is reducing their required monthly payments by sometimes 90% or more based on their current incomes.

China and Japan recently saw their credit ratings downgraded, while the U.S. credit rating remains at “AAA”. NIA believes it would make far more sense for the world’s largest debtor nation to be downgraded instead of the world’s two largest creditor nations. The Federal Reserve’s second round of quantitative easing has yet to even reach the halfway point and the Fed already holds about $1.11 trillion in U.S. treasuries. By the time QE2 is over at the end of June, the Fed will own $1.6 trillion in U.S. treasuries, about what China and Japan own combined. Shockingly, Kansas City Fed President Thomas Hoenig is already dropping hints about QE3. According to Hoenig, the Fed may consider extending treasury purchases beyond June 30th, 2010, (the scheduled completion date for QE2) if U.S. economic data looks disappointing.

With the Fed taking over as the largest holder of U.S. treasuries, China is beginning to rapidly move away from the U.S. dollar and into gold. In just the first 10 months of 2010, China imported 209 metric tons of gold compared to 45 metric tons in all of 2009, a stunning five-fold increase. While the western world is downplaying the threat of inflation as much as possible, Asian countries understand that hyperinflation is the most devastating thing that can possibly happen to any economy. The demand for gold in Asia now is the most intense it has ever been, as they look to tackle rising inflation before it becomes hyperinflation.

The Chinese are so smart that families are now giving each other gold bullion as gifts instead of traditional red envelopes filled with cash. China is now on track to soon surpass India as the world’s largest consumer of gold. The China Securities Regulatory Commission recently gave Beijing-based Lion Fund Management Co. approval to create a fund that will invest into foreign gold ETFs.

U.S. stock mutual funds saw $6.7 billion in net inflows during the past two weeks, the most in any two week period since May of 2009. The rioting, looting, and civil unrest in Egypt is now making the U.S. look like the safe haven of the world, even though it should be considered the riskiest place to invest. From the Dow’s low in August until now, about $38 billion was actually removed from U.S. stock mutual funds, despite the stock market rising 20%. The Dow Jones has risen from September until now solely due to the Federal Reserve printing around $350 billion out of thin air. When central banks print money, stock markets often act as a relief valve due to there being too much inflation going into the hands of financial institutions.

The U.S. M2 money supply surged by $46.6 billion during the week ending January 17th to a record $8.8623 trillion, following a rise during the previous week of $7.6 billion. The rise in the M2 money supply over the past two weeks of $54.2 billion equals an annualized increase of 16%. The M2 multiplier now stands at 4.218 compared to a long-term average of 10. When QE2 is complete, the Fed’s monetary base will likely stand at $2.59 trillion. A return to the long-term average M2 multiplier of 10 means we are due to see a 192% increase in the M2 money supply and that is not even including a possible QE3 and QE4.

The U.S. economic ponzi scheme could unravel very quickly in the years ahead, with the velocity of money increasing faster than anybody expects. As more Americans learn about NIA and become educated to the truth about the U.S. economy and inflation, a complete loss of confidence in the U.S. dollar could occur very suddenly. It is important for all Americans to prepare as if hyperinflation will be here tomorrow. At least in Egypt, their currency still has purchasing power and their citizens are trying to carry out a regime change before it is too late. By 2015 in America, it will already be too late and the civil unrest here has the potential to be many times worse.

It is important to spread the word about NIA to as many people as possible, as quickly as possible, if you want America to survive hyperinflation. Please tell everybody you know to become members of NIA for free immediately at: http://inflation.us

My 2010

The start of 2010 was the beginning of the new decade and the end of the previous one.  The previous decade was marred by fears of terrorism, the war of terror, a gilded economic boom, and an erosion of values.  There were some triumphs and some disappointments in this year and I can only hope that things will get better in the end.

My 2010 started on a shaky footing after a dismal 2009 with the decline in my career and my relationship.  Things were never the same after the end of 2009 with my previous relationship.  Nothing I did was able to make it work and nothing I did was ever enough for her and she talked of breaking up.  She had the nerve to go back to work after our vacation was ruined from the 2009 blizzard and didn’t seem to care what I did during the days she was working since I couldn’t have roll over vacation days.  It was really disappointing to see that she would choose her job that she complains about over me even though I thought she would not actually go back to work during our supposed vacation time together.

Things at work were even worse.  My acting manager decided to scapegoat me by giving me a poor evaluation that insinuated that it was my fault that the client switched vendors.  Nothing I did seemed to amount to anything at my job either even though I worked weekends, late hours and even on extremely tight schedules to meet the client’s business goals.  Most of all, in this evaluation the manager admitted to never discussing my work with the client but decided that I had poor communications and interpersonal skills with them.  I also learned that my previous manager had decided to badmouth me to this acting manager before he resigned out of spite when the client dropped us.  I really was in doubt if I really was that horrible of an employee and it was made worse when the manager lied about not giving me any sort of raise or cost of living adjustment due to economic difficulties (when in fact they were planning on laying me off).

With these problems, I was near a low point at the start of the year.  Things kept going wrong and nothing was working.  Phone interviews and online applications for positions went absolutely nowhere.  There were times when I was told I would get a second round interview only to have them take it back at the last minute because there was a more experienced person who was willing to work for much less.  It also didn’t help that Barack Obama kept saying nice things about the economic and society in general despite living a vastly different reality than his Disney-friendly ravings.

I was angry and felt powerless.  My now-ex was still having problems at work and would call me in the middle of office hours asking if I could stay over at her place in the middle of the week.  I told her that I couldn’t promise anything and I was having my own problems; but it seemed she only cared about her issues.  I wound up not going and forgetting about it when I decided to go to a happy hour with my colleagues to get away from work and a waning relationship.  She later called me in anger wondering why I wasn’t there and I finally had enough.  I yelled back to her on the phone and was just tired of these complaints that nothing I did is enough.   After that she decided that we shouldn’t meet up that weekend and it seemed like she had fun with her friends while I was alone that weekend.

Back at the office, I was still angry and in doubt if I performed poorly for the client.  I later asked the client if I did poor work for her that would call for a poor evaluation and they told me that I was generally able to complete projects on time and made sure the product was always to their standards.  It was really frustrating to realise that my client was more understanding and supportive than my account team.  Under normal circumstances, the client is typically less understanding and more difficult than my account team and supervisors.  Around this time, the same manager who gave me a poor evaluation reached out to me to do several ad hoc projects for the same client who decided to switch to another vendor since their current vendor was having difficulties.  The nerve that this bastard had to give me false praises despite scapegoating me for his problems and his inability to support the client relationship.

As things at work got worse, I spent less and less time with my then girlfriend.  It was at a point where I was uncomfortable talking to her because anything I did or said would just get her upset regardless of the intent.  As things kept getting worse, I managed to move most of my belongings out of her apartment and leave.  I should have called her to let her know I was moving out but it would have led to more mindless drama which I just wasn’t in the mood to deal with.   She wound up breaking up with me on facebook and we ended up fighting on the phone when we were supposed to be working things out.  When everything was said and done, she said she was never happy with me and I felt that anything I did was never enough.  Her parents would later try to talk her into making an effort to get back together but I just didn’t want to deal with anything.

The relationship had died. Problems at work had played its part in relationship problems and problems in the relationship directly affected my work.  After the break up, most of our mutual friends took her side and a few took mine not unlike children taking sides when their parents divorce.  In the meantime, I started to prepare for the eventual lay off by cleaning out my desk and spending time with my colleagues as much as possible. My HR had simply told me to look at the company website for positions instead of making any real effort at finding people who needed resources in the office.  One of my office VPs told a colleague of mine that I “wasn’t really part of the office” while the GM doesn’t know I exist. Also, the work began to dry up and I spent most of my office hours reading blogs or playing mafia wars on facebook.

I spent my spare time with some friends and those who had free time going out and keeping my mind occupied while my present universe was falling apart.  Some family members expressed concern at my present situation while one American cousin gloated at the fact I was no longer working in NYC and had a failed relationship.  Then again, this same cousin was the one who invited all his random church buddies to his own father’s funeral and tried to get me drunk to help his friend get information from me.

I was on the way out of the company until my client reached out and provided positive feedback to my then-manager.  As a result of this feedback, he decided to help a manager in my office fill a resource need by referring me for an internal interview to join their team.  One of my colleagues was expressing support and provided advice while I was still confused about why an internal interview was needed when they had simply done transfers.  The internal interview went well and I had a permanent position with no immediate danger of being laid off.  The only person who seemed annoyed at all this was my HR because she had to fill extra paperwork to recognise the transfer.  I knew that I was being laid off because anyone in our department  who did not have their desk moved to the other floor during our office move was let go after the move was complete.  It turned out that I was not on the list for the office move until the last minute.

I celebrated my non-layoff and proceeded to learn things in the new account.  Most of the work was less demanding than my previous assignment but it was often chaotic since I had to report to two managers with different personalities.  The new managers were both patient and knowledgeable and I was glad to learn from them.  It was difficult getting back into a normal working routine after spending months loosing interest in the job, becoming unfocused from problems and easily loosing my temper due to pent up anger.  Most of these early months in the new team were shaky since I often lost focus when performing routine tasks and lacked any real interest in the work.  It was really unfair to my managers and to myself.

As I was settling into my new team, the manager from the previous account, who scapegoated me, reached out to my current manager for my help.  I learned from my manager that two of their account team members had quit, which was not surprising since I learned from both that they left because they did not like the “culture of cost cutting”, felt the client was more supportive of their work and had fears of being scapegoated.  As a result, the previous manager wanted my help since I was the most knowledgeable of the account and had a working relationship with the client, which was just ironic since he wrote on my evaluation that I was a detriment and had a poor relationship with the client.  It was one of the first times I argued with my current manager over this arrangement since I had no interest in going back and I was still angry over the problems he caused me. Despite my concerns, they still went ahead of this and had me train some people from our India office to do the work.  My Indian colleagues were impressed and were surprised I was not working on this.

I knew from this episode that no matter what team I was working and what clients, I would still be taken for granted and affected by other problems tied to the company.  I once thought I would have a career with this company that involved new experiences and professional growth, but I started to see this as just a job and my colleagues were the only reason I would stay on.  These doubts would linger in my mind to the point where they would sometimes affect my focus while I am working.

My life outside of work was rather interesting. I had time to hang out with new friends along with getting in touch with old friends that I had no seen for some time.  It was good company finally meeting my penpal from Australia and an old friend who had recently returned from studying abroad and needed good company.  During this time, I didn’t pursue any girls for dating or a relationship since I was still recovering from my previous relationship and because the girls that seemed interested were playing games.

My life for most of 2010 involved routine work and hanging out with friends in my spare time.  It was a pretty relaxing time until several of my colleagues started leaving the company and when my friends started getting busy with their own commitments.  During a night out with a friend, I ran into another friend that I had no seen in almost two years.  When we first met we were both volunteers at a political campaign.  I was focusing my time writing blog posts supporting my candidate and occasionally expressing concern over political issues while he made well-edited videos highlighting events from our local campaign office.

Since the campaign ended, we went our separate ways; I wound up working in NYC while he received an offer to work in DC as a result of the work he did in the campaign. A few years later we run into each other by accident at a local lounge where I learn he is now an assistant producer for a popular show that has now gone to a daily format.  It was moments like this that made me wonder what I was doing with my life while my friend stuck with his interests and wound up reaping all the fruits of his labour while I was scapegoated by my company and coping from a failed relationship.  It was very unpleasant and bothered me for the rest of that night.

I decided to improve my focus at my job despite what had happened.  I reached out to my GM to be included in the weekly office meetings with the hope that I would be included in the weekly presentations and for some form of acknowledgment that I existed.  I was included in the meetings but I was never asked to present anything despite my colleagues joking that I would eventually get picked to present like them.  I asked for my colleague to see if I could be part of the department group that was involved setting the agenda and discussing challenges in the meetings but nothing came of it.  Even though I was still in the office, I still felt I was not really a part of it in any professional capacity.

I really was bothered by the idea that I was falling behind.  My actor friend had turned into a producer of a hit TV show, several of my colleagues were either leaving the company for better opportunities or were promoted.  All of this was happening while I was still being paid the same wages and hitting an invisible ceiling.  Other opportunities for training and growth were dashed out of a need to cover while my managers or colleagues were away.  It was even more awkward having to deal with my predecessor and on weekly calls after she resigned and went to work for the client (I am still surprised my company allowed this conflict of interest to happen). Even my asshat cousin managed to get a job in NYC and bragged about it.

I started looking for new opportunities again with the help of a professionally updated resume.  I eventually was contacted by a recruiter who told me of an opportunity at an agency.   It took me 3 rounds of interviews and serious consideration before I signed the offer letter.  I submitted my resignation and thanked my current manager for being patient and investing time to help me adjust to the new account team.  It is going to be a bittersweet departure, but I need to move on after everything that has happened.

On a personal note, I started seeing someone not too long ago with the help of some friends who had set us up.  I really hope it works out.

Resignation Letter from Piss-Off American Apparel Employee

From: Ryan Narita
Sent: Wed 11/10/2010 9:59 AM
To: [A half dozen entire AA stores]
Subject: peace out american apparel… peace out forever.

Dear fellow american apparel employees,

First off I’d like to say working for this company for the most part was pretty fun! I’ve made some excellent friends and met some really cool people. Working for american apparel has opened up many interesting opportunities for me and I am thankful for that. I am also thankful for all my past managers district, store, and backstock(al boyle) I was lucky enough to have kind , thoughtful, intelligent people leading the way.

That said I’d like to share a little of my story.

A little over a year ago when I started with this company I was (although not by my standards) a prime candidate for management. Within my first week I memorized all proper procedures, knew all placements, style codes and any technical aspect of the job. I was even helping my backstock manager with his duties. Being naturally a hard worker, well organized, and to some extent obsessive compulsive helped me to excel easily at my job. As months passed and my responsibilities grew exponentially I received little reward for both my hard work and aptitude. I could already feel the stupidity of 9 dollars an hour. But I sucked up my pride to work with cool friendly people. I’ll try to condense this a little..

Around 2 months in: I was given the title ‘assistant backstock manager’ and promised a small but reasonable raise. No such raise came.
Around 5 months in: my backstock manager was fired. And instead of promoting me(second in command) to manager they brought in someone who 1. Had worked two months less than me. 2. Knew less about the job. 3. Knew nothing about our store.
Around 7 months in: my backstock manager was once again fired. And once again replaced by someone with less knowledge, and less experience. However, this time my new backstock manager was completely incompetent and entirely unproductive. Although he was good at playing the drums. wwabd.
Around 8 months in: to everyone’s surprise he too was fired(sarcasm)

I thought finally they will make the obvious choice and make me the new backstock manager and I will finally get paid more than 9 dollars an hour for this stupid job.

Around 8.5 months in: I am once again stepped over and another outside person is brought in to be promoted..
By this point I had been screwed too many times to care about my job. I simply concluded that by nature this company is counter productive. Someone might ask why I would be so resentful? If you worked full time for a company for a full year at 9 dollars an hour I could only assume you must be mentally retarded. I however was given a raise of 75 cents so that only makes me partially mentally retarded.

The moral of my story is don’t give a shit about the company because they definitely do not give a shit about you! That is obvious.

I’d also like to share a couple more secrets I’ve learned over the past year:

- don’t be afraid to lose your job. if some shit for brains ass hole like dov or dan sends a quiver down your spine then I truly pity you. they are just men. Stupid spoiled jewish men. Losing 9 dollars an hour is nothing to be afraid of. Certainly nothing worth losing your dignity over. Which brings me to my next point.

- all “head office” employees(with the exception of dom. He is competent) are nothing to fear. These are people with no ambitions nor goals in life. they are content with being the subservient pet of an idiot cocaine addict and blatant self proclaimed pervert. They know they will go no further in life than this company and concurrently don’t mind sucking a little dick once in a while .

- [Other person] is incompetent. [Other person] is useless. [Other person] is a moron. [Other person] is satan incarnate. Ignore her whenever you get the chance.

- Dov charney is an ethical pervert. THAT is why you do perfect fill..

- If you are a hard working valuable employee ask for a raise now.(if you do not receive a raise within three weeks guess what? You’ll never get one.)

- You may ask whatever you want to pretty much anyone in charge, you will receive little to no response you WILL be ignored.

- the company may ask whatever they want of you then place the word “mandatory” after it, If you do not comply you WILL be fired.

- this is just a job you do so you can get drunk on the weekend and have food to eat during the week . it’s not a career do not disillusion yourself in thinking otherwise.

sincerely Ryan Narita
ASSISTANT BACKSTOCK MANAGER

xoxo

For Details – http://gawker.com/5690499/an-american-apparel-employee-says-goodbye-dov-charney-is-an-ethical-pervert

Thanks, Mr.Hipster Record Store Clerk.

Thanks, Mr.Hipster Record Store Clerk.
Date: 2008-02-26, 5:25PM PST

Dear Hipster Record Store Clerk,

Thank you for judging me on the CD I bought yesterday. Our passive-aggressive altercation made me realize how conformist I am for buying an old Rage Against The Machine album. Your condescension was just the intellectual wake-up call I needed.

I discovered a new me yesterday, and my eyes were opened in a new way. Thanks to you, I realize now that the key to enlightenment is reading Pitchfork, watching High Fidelity, listening to Velvet Underground, having a tattoo of a star on the inside of my wrist, growing an ironic mustache, living in the Mission, and wearing a too-small sweater, multi-colored 70′s ski-vest, chunky plastic-frame glasses, a high school sports T-shirt, air-tight black jeans, and Nixon-era Chuck Taylors.

I had it all wrong, man. You showed me that a skilled job and a comfortable living is just a lie. I need to go to art school, have my parents pay my rent, join a Joy Division-influenced band, and wait for a record deal, like you. I’m totally missing out in life.

So thanks again for mocking me. I mean, at first I thought you were just a pathetic, frustrated musician trying to feel better about yourself. But now I see you’re an uncompromising visionary.

No one will ever understand you. You’re so different.

Signed,

Everyone Not Like You

* it’s NOT ok to contact this poster with services or other commercial interests

PostingID: 588037045

http://www.craigslist.org/about/best/sfo/588037045.html

Another tiring day

Today was just one of those days.  I am just so glad I didn’t go to one of those lame happy hours in Asiana Tuesdays.  About half the crowd are the over 35 crowd, a handful of college students and the rest are Korean kids with their girls.  I didn’t really have a good time the last time I went to Asiana Tuesdays.  The drinks were overpriced, the crowd was mainly a sausage party and it was on a Tuesday night.

Anyway, I didn’t go tonight and things are more relaxing.  It also helped that I had to work late tonight and the trains were crowded due to that USA vs Brasil exhibition match today.  I often find myself getting depressed or thinking of unpleasant thoughts when doing extremely monotonous work.  This kind of work is just very mechanical and very easy to lose focus from the typical routine.

Recently a childhood friend has resurfaced after spending several years abroad sorting out most of his issues.  I just hope that this is not another phase and this is the final cycle of his colourful journey.  A college friend also came back and he is still relatively laid back but comes across as aloof, despite being good company.  It’s going to be interesting to see where he goes on his MBA abroad.

At this point I am just in a state of flux.  I would like to have good company with the ladies but I really don’t want to get into a relationship after getting out of one that was rocky.  I really feel that my current job is just a place for a salary despite loving the people and the overall environment.  I want to go back to school but no longer have the passion to work myself into that state of being.

I am in a startup and I really hope it works out.  At the same time, I feel that certain approaches could be done better and it can sometimes become frustrating working with someone who believes in his product to the point where it becomes difficult for him to listen to different viewpoints and who is always thinking about work all the time.  I do this in my spare time and I cannot work in an environment where I am expected to always live my life around work to the point where I am losing interest and losing my work-life balance.  It’s eaten up enough of my time while at the same time helping me realise that I am more competent in project management and consulting on various items than being a marketer.

It is things like this that help me realise what I want to do with my life.  Despite graduating with honours with a degree in marketing, I am not really a marketer.  After all, the main thing I  learned from my marketing major was the means-end chain, segmentation, cultural marketing and analysing messaging.  Other than that, I learned in the undergrad business programme that the biggest cheaters find the most success, that possessing prior knowledge in any business major will help, the school promotes a “sink or swim” mentality, and my classmates mostly have tunnel-vision.

It’s things like this that make me wonder if I am a marketer despite having the degree and working in a marketing company.  At my company, I spent most of my time project managing my internal teams, my off-shore team, client expectations, manager expectations, and occasionally attending company seminars on career development.  Most of the time, I am on the news checking on the financial markets, world news, and occasionally industry news.  It’s ironic that very little marketing occurs in my line of work despite being in the industry.  Some people have the impression I am working with my superiors and clients doing marketing research and plotting campaigns to drive brand awareness and market share, but that is not the case.

Its from my current work and academic background that I would prefer to return to grad school and study a discipline that caters to my interests in international affairs and business strategy.  I thought about it, I got the GMAT guides and even looked into some schools with programmes that fit my interests.  I know I am going to have to take loans since the cost of tuition is outpacing any rate of savings I have set aside for graduate studies and it make have to be abroad since I really want to have a different experience away from America.  I used to be someone who would have an end goal and then carefully plot out realistic milestones to reach that goal.  I did it when I arrived in New York towards professional and personal growth and I took a similar approach to some of my better job interviews.  I just don’t know what happpened that caused me to lose my way and now I am in an ongoing struggle to regain that state of mind.  In any case, I still need to try.

Valedictorian Speaks Out Against Schooling in Graduation Speech

Last month, Erica Goldson graduated as valedictorian of Coxsackie-Athens High School. Instead of using her graduation speech to celebrate the triumph of her victory, the school, and the teachers that made it happen, she channeled her inner Ivan Illich and de-constructed the logic of a valedictorian and the whole educational system.

Erica originally posted her full speech on Sign of the Times, and without need for editing or cutting, here’s the speech in its entirety:
Here I stand

There is a story of a young, but earnest Zen student who approached his teacher, and asked the Master, “If I work very hard and diligently, how long will it take for me to find Zen? The Master thought about this, then replied, “Ten years . .” The student then said, “But what if I work very, very hard and really apply myself to learn fast — How long then?” Replied the Master, “Well, twenty years.” “But, if I really, really work at it, how long then?” asked the student. “Thirty years,” replied the Master. “But, I do not understand,” said the disappointed student. “At each time that I say I will work harder, you say it will take me longer. Why do you say that?” Replied the Master, “When you have one eye on the goal, you only have one eye on the path.”

This is the dilemma I’ve faced within the American education system. We are so focused on a goal, whether it be passing a test, or graduating as first in the class. However, in this way, we do not really learn. We do whatever it takes to achieve our original objective.

Some of you may be thinking, “Well, if you pass a test, or become valedictorian, didn’t you learn something? Well, yes, you learned something, but not all that you could have. Perhaps, you only learned how to memorize names, places, and dates to later on forget in order to clear your mind for the next test. School is not all that it can be. Right now, it is a place for most people to determine that their goal is to get out as soon as possible.

I am now accomplishing that goal. I am graduating. I should look at this as a positive experience, especially being at the top of my class. However, in retrospect, I cannot say that I am any more intelligent than my peers. I can attest that I am only the best at doing what I am told and working the system. Yet, here I stand, and I am supposed to be proud that I have completed this period of indoctrination. I will leave in the fall to go on to the next phase expected of me, in order to receive a paper document that certifies that I am capable of work. But I contest that I am a human being, a thinker, an adventurer – not a worker. A worker is someone who is trapped within repetition – a slave of the system set up before him. But now, I have successfully shown that I was the best slave. I did what I was told to the extreme. While others sat in class and doodled to later become great artists, I sat in class to take notes and become a great test-taker. While others would come to class without their homework done because they were reading about an interest of theirs, I never missed an assignment. While others were creating music and writing lyrics, I decided to do extra credit, even though I never needed it. So, I wonder, why did I even want this position? Sure, I earned it, but what will come of it? When I leave educational institutionalism, will I be successful or forever lost? I have no clue about what I want to do with my life; I have no interests because I saw every subject of study as work, and I excelled at every subject just for the purpose of excelling, not learning. And quite frankly, now I’m scared.

John Taylor Gatto, a retired school teacher and activist critical of compulsory schooling, asserts, “We could encourage the best qualities of youthfulness – curiosity, adventure, resilience, the capacity for surprising insight simply by being more flexible about time, texts, and tests, by introducing kids into truly competent adults, and by giving each student what autonomy he or she needs in order to take a risk every now and then. But we don’t do that.” Between these cinderblock walls, we are all expected to be the same. We are trained to ace every standardized test, and those who deviate and see light through a different lens are worthless to the scheme of public education, and therefore viewed with contempt.

H. L. Mencken wrote in The American Mercury for April 1924 that the aim of public education is not “to fill the young of the species with knowledge and awaken their intelligence. … Nothing could be further from the truth. The aim … is simply to reduce as many individuals as possible to the same safe level, to breed and train a standardized citizenry, to put down dissent and originality. That is its aim in the United States.”

To illustrate this idea, doesn’t it perturb you to learn about the idea of “critical thinking.” Is there really such a thing as “uncritically thinking?” To think is to process information in order to form an opinion. But if we are not critical when processing this information, are we really thinking? Or are we mindlessly accepting other opinions as truth?

This was happening to me, and if it wasn’t for the rare occurrence of an avant-garde tenth grade English teacher, Donna Bryan, who allowed me to open my mind and ask questions before accepting textbook doctrine, I would have been doomed. I am now enlightened, but my mind still feels disabled. I must retrain myself and constantly remember how insane this ostensibly sane place really is.

And now here I am in a world guided by fear, a world suppressing the uniqueness that lies inside each of us, a world where we can either acquiesce to the inhuman nonsense of corporatism and materialism or insist on change. We are not enlivened by an educational system that clandestinely sets us up for jobs that could be automated, for work that need not be done, for enslavement without fervency for meaningful achievement. We have no choices in life when money is our motivational force. Our motivational force ought to be passion, but this is lost from the moment we step into a system that trains us, rather than inspires us.

We are more than robotic bookshelves, conditioned to blurt out facts we were taught in school. We are all very special, every human on this planet is so special, so aren’t we all deserving of something better, of using our minds for innovation, rather than memorization, for creativity, rather than futile activity, for rumination rather than stagnation? We are not here to get a degree, to then get a job, so we can consume industry-approved placation after placation. There is more, and more still.

The saddest part is that the majority of students don’t have the opportunity to reflect as I did. The majority of students are put through the same brainwashing techniques in order to create a complacent labor force working in the interests of large corporations and secretive government, and worst of all, they are completely unaware of it. I will never be able to turn back these 18 years. I can’t run away to another country with an education system meant to enlighten rather than condition. This part of my life is over, and I want to make sure that no other child will have his or her potential suppressed by powers meant to exploit and control. We are human beings. We are thinkers, dreamers, explorers, artists, writers, engineers. We are anything we want to be – but only if we have an educational system that supports us rather than holds us down. A tree can grow, but only if its roots are given a healthy foundation.

For those of you out there that must continue to sit in desks and yield to the authoritarian ideologies of instructors, do not be disheartened. You still have the opportunity to stand up, ask questions, be critical, and create your own perspective. Demand a setting that will provide you with intellectual capabilities that allow you to expand your mind instead of directing it. Demand that you be interested in class. Demand that the excuse, “You have to learn this for the test” is not good enough for you. Education is an excellent tool, if used properly, but focus more on learning rather than getting good grades.

For those of you that work within the system that I am condemning, I do not mean to insult; I intend to motivate. You have the power to change the incompetencies of this system. I know that you did not become a teacher or administrator to see your students bored. You cannot accept the authority of the governing bodies that tell you what to teach, how to teach it, and that you will be punished if you do not comply. Our potential is at stake.

For those of you that are now leaving this establishment, I say, do not forget what went on in these classrooms. Do not abandon those that come after you. We are the new future and we are not going to let tradition stand. We will break down the walls of corruption to let a garden of knowledge grow throughout America. Once educated properly, we will have the power to do anything, and best of all, we will only use that power for good, for we will be cultivated and wise. We will not accept anything at face value. We will ask questions, and we will demand truth.

So, here I stand. I am not standing here as valedictorian by myself. I was molded by my environment, by all of my peers who are sitting here watching me. I couldn’t have accomplished this without all of you. It was all of you who truly made me the person I am today. It was all of you who were my competition, yet my backbone. In that way, we are all valedictorians.

I am now supposed to say farewell to this institution, those who maintain it, and those who stand with me and behind me, but I hope this farewell is more of a “see you later” when we are all working together to rear a pedagogic movement. But first, let’s go get those pieces of paper that tell us that we’re smart enough to do so! 

Hey, Gen Y: It’s “Get Real” Time!

Our generation’s future is headed on a one-way trip down the toilet — that is, unless we do something fast.

Rising debts. Recessions. Mass layoffs. Two million recent college graduates jobless. Nearly 40 percent of Americans between the ages of 18 and 29 have been either unemployed or underemployed since 2008. And, perhaps the biggest kick in the teeth, members of Gen Y have been bestowed with the title “boomerangs”: a generation so poor, jobless, and in debt that we’ve been forced to moved back into our parents’ homes after college in record numbers.

So much for following the “work hard, get good grades, and go to college” mantra to the letter. That worked out real well for us, didn’t it?

The fact is, our “traditional” options are shrinking by the day, and they aren’t coming back anytime soon. Was this the way we were told it was supposed to be for us? No, of course not. But like it or not, this is our reality. We can either deal with the cards we’ve been dealt and thrive in spite of the harsh actualities or nosedive in the face of hardship and adversity.

I say we choose the former.

It’s time for a new game plan: an age of Gen Y realism where we take on the roles of “real” entrepreneurs. Not simply by touting undeserved, inflated titles as fact or pursuing “going-for-millions” fantasies that will never come to fruition, but rather by becoming self-sufficiency experts well versed in turning hard work into cash flow and transforming passion into supportive livelihoods.

However, simply stating Gen Y needs to “get entrepreneurial” is but a first step. Let’s face it: it’s no big secret that the vast majority of us have had it too good for too long, and this coddled upbringing has made us lazy, spoiled entitlement junkies who believe the world owes us something simply for showing up.

Nothing could be a bigger load of crap.

Truth be told, the only way we’ll unseat archaic captains of industry and take our rightful place as the most entrepreneurial generation in history is to get real about the task at hand and get our heads out of our asses. To that end, if we are to become a truly successful entrepreneurial generation capable of attaining the goal of self-sufficiency, we must adhere to these 10 principles of Gen Y realism:

1. Stop sending resumes or doing stuff you hate! Congratulations to the class of [insert your recent graduation year here]. No one wants to hire you. That is, unless you’re lucky enough to get an unpaid internship or get hired as a roofer even though you studied to be an electrical engineer. Deal with it and reallocate your efforts toward something productive and proactive. This economy is not a job market, it’s an opportunity market. It’s a time when big companies cut back and smaller ones are able to steal precious market share. Rather than wasting time, money, and resources on sending out resumes or working dead-end part-time gigs to make ends meet, refocus your energies on attaining financial independence.

2. Don’t listen to old people! Love your parents and mentors, yes. Listen to them about following the “real” job mantra? Absolutely not. The world as they knew is long gone. Job security, gone. Retirement with a gold watch, adios. High percentage of job placement out of college, that’s a funny joke. No, they don’t know what they are talking about anymore — they don’t get it. Worry about your actual reality, not the extinct one of those before you. Don’t be pressured into following a dead-end career path because your parents believe you need to validate your diploma. You’ll only be hurting yourself. Work hard to make your own living instead of begging others to give you one.

3. Drop the fame and fortune crap. If you’re on a quest to be famous or a millionaire by 30, allow me to offer you some free advice: you’re a hopeless dreamer who won’t have any shot in the real world unless you get your act together. A business doesn’t need to be “sexy” to make money; the vast majority of successful cash-flow-positive businesses aren’t. Stop living in a fantasy world. No one will care about you unless you make them care. You need only concentrate on two things: putting all of your efforts into creating a business with immediate revenue-generating capabilities and keeping your head deflated with your feet on the ground. Letting this millionaire fantasy get to your head will destroy your decision-making abilities and put you in the poor house faster than you can say, “Do you want fries with that?”

4. Stop with the excuses. What do “I don’t have time”, “I don’t have enough money to start a business,” and “I’ll start tomorrow” all have in common? They are all bull$h@t. You either do something or you don’t. That’s it — there’s no grey area here. Get started right now. Not tomorrow. Not next week. Right now. Think of it this way: the longer you wait, the more potential income you are losing. Be proactive, start small, and figure out how to move your career forward yourself with the means you have at your disposal. There is ALWAYS a way to get things done. Our generation is already full of big talkers, so I suggest you not add to the noise.

5. Get focused fast. Worry about one real business. You heard me. Not an idea, one business! And not five companies simultaneously — ONE! You can’t be a serial entrepreneur until you actually have one successful business to your credit. Instead of spreading yourself thin, put everything you’ve got into one thing and stick to it. Dedicate your full mind, body, and spirit to the cause.

6. Be unoriginal. Stop right now if you have plans to revolutionize the wheel. You don’t need to. Keep your offering simple and easy for customers to understand. Don’t feel like you have to disrupt an entire industry or reinvent the wheel to be successful. The vast majority of businesses in the world produce products and services that are cheaper, faster, or better than some other guy. Don’t kill yourself trying to change the world or creating the next Twitter. You won’t, nor will you make any income trying. Provide a simple service to a targeted niche and expand over time. Remember: unoriginal works, unoriginal can be profitable.

7. Make REAL Money. Put your delusions of Google acquisitions to bed. Hypothetical buyouts, going public, big Web advertising dollars, and other similar nonsensical business models will not enable you to generate immediate revenue and help you sustain yourself. Your business must be able to sell X service or product to Y customer for Z profit … and repeat. If it doesn’t do that, don’t expect to quit your job as a Wal-Mart greeter anytime soon.

8. Accept that no one will invest in your idea! This should be self-explanatory, but allow me to reiterate since I KNOW most people seem to believe they are the exception to this rule! No one will give your startup money. You need to create a business that isn’t dependent on big investments or unattainable traction. Starting with nothing is not an automatic disadvantage. Often it will make you stronger, more resilient, and more adaptable to change than well-entrenched competitors. Figure out what you can produce with your own two hands, not with someone else’s imaginary wallet.

9. (Actually) work hard. I know: if watching cat videos on YouTube or Tweeting about our breakfast were careers, many of us would be six figure executives on easy street. Well, guess what. In the real world, time-wasting results in only three things: loss of productivity, a shrinking bottom line, and a likely chance of going bankrupt. Business takes a lot of real work. It’s not a mystery why most businesses fail within five years. Without constant, unyielding execution, you’re dead. Yes, entrepreneurship is the most rewarding career experience you’ll ever have, but you get out what you put in. No one will do it for you. If you think you’re entitled to anything because you’ve got some brilliant idea or life changing widget, think again. The only thing you’ll be guaranteed is failure.

10. Realize everything isn’t microwaveable. If you grew up with a microwave, then the concept of having to wait for anything has become absurd to you. Hungry? 30 seconds until you chow down. Want to watch a movie? It’s on demand! Your car is dirty. Drive that sucker through the 5-minute car wash and, BOOM, effortlessly clean. But guess what? Everything in your life will not happen in 30 seconds or less. Rome wasn’t built in a day, and if you think your business will be, you’re in for a rude awakening and a trip to the soup kitchen. Success and traction take time, steadfast determination, and a strong work ethic. Don’t try to run a sprint when the race is really a marathon, or you’ll find yourself dying of an asthma attack before you hit the quarter mark. Be in it for the long haul with the right reasons in mind — a living and a career, not fancy cars and private yachts.

http://www.allbusiness.com/population-demographics/demographic-groups-generation-y/14701297-1.html

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Scott Gerber is a syndicated small business columnist, founder of GerberEnterprises.com and Managing Partner of SizzleIt.com. Find out about his upcoming book Never Get a “Real” Job: How To Dump Your Boss, Build a Business and Not Go Broke at AskGerber.com.