I don't want to hear the old "there ain't no jobs" b/s. I have a friend (no, actually a brother of a friend) who has never really had a job that I can remember. He has a thousand and one excuses as to why he can't work, but I've known him for 26 years and have NEVER witnessed any real reason he can't do SOMETHING. He's lived on the public dole since I've known him. I have no clue what kind of program(s) he's on, but if there's a government hand-out program, he knows ALL the details. Silly b/s like his "Obama phone", etc. He can rattle off "programs" I've never heard of and didn't even know existed! I will guarandamntee you, if I had ZERO income and was physically able to work, I could at least get a job flipping burgers by noon today! I see no reason on earth he can't flip burgers. Heck, the reason I bring this up is I ran into him yesterday and he was hand-waxing his truck! Heck, that crap would wear ME out even when I was a young pup!
Anyway, I have mentioned eBay to him for the past year or so and yesterday I asked him if he'd ever looked into it. He hee-hawed around and ... well, the answer was "no". He doesn't really need it ... whatever "programs" he's on, he seems to be happy with and sure doesn't seem to be really in need of anything. Granted, I'd never consider living in the apartment he lives in, but that's beside the point and he has no problem with it.
When I got out of the hospital, I could barely walk across the room. After months of physical therapy, I got to the point I could at least get around, but accomplishing anything remotely physical was pretty much out of the question. Ok, without disability insurance (SDI) for a couple of years, I'd have been royally screwed ... BUT ... I paid into that account all my working life, so I was NOT on the public dole. Heck, I was at the age I could retire anyway, so I "officially" retired and am now drawing Social Security ... which AGAIN, I paid into all my working life.
But this dude is nothing but a bum! I have no clue what all his benifits add up to, but there is no way he's drawing from ANY sort of account he actually contributed to. He's worked harder all his life learning the system than most people do at their "real" jobs, so maybe he deserves it! Anyway, what brought this up is what I mentioned above ... he had no interest in eBay or actually EARNING a living. In my case, my Social Security pretty much pays my bills (EXCEPT for surprises). Ebay pays into our emergency slush fund, but also provides a little extra to live a somewhat normal life and take small weekend trips or the occassional vacation. I ain't gettin' rich mind you, but I see no reason in the world that the bums sitting around drawing "assistance" because there "are no jobs", can't do SOMETHING to lighten the load. I just received my accounting from eBay through the month of June. It's fun, gives me goals to work for AND helps with the bills. Like I said, I ain't getting rich, but I see no reason in the world for ANYBODY who's physically able to get around, to do nothing but sit on the porch and whine about not having a frigging job.
Sure, there was a learning curve and I started out slow, but considering this is a part-time (and FUN) endeavor that now lands me between $1600 - $1700/month "pocket money", I'm beginning to look at my "friend" as a frigging worthless POS. Here's my report from ebay covering the past 2 years. It's far from a "living", but it's sure a nice little shot in the arm so that we can afford to at least get out of the house from time to time. And I WORK for it!
I've had $125 in sales the first 3 days of this month, so I've cracked the $37,000 mark. Now. mind you, 99% of this is little crap I can package and stick in my mailbox for pick-up ... not big freight items.
Your total sales as of June 30:
Total sales amount:$36,900.24
Total transactions:1361