"Smiles?"
My daughter is a recent college graduate. Altho' the quality of the school is not always equal to the quality of the education, she was fortunate to go to a good school.
She had always been "under-employed" because she was a student. Always worked too - from junior year in high school, on. Summers, she often had 2 jobs. She will do that again this summer - 2 jobs.
Teaching tennis is seasonal. Being under-employed looks almost permanent. So, she came up with an idea for opening a shop.
I told her the 1st thing she will need, is a banker. The 2nd thing she will need is a "safe" location. She says her shop can't be in a suburban strip mall - she will need to be where people congregate . . . I can't think of a single safe place for my young daughter.
Bankers? We hear about increased lending. I know an old guy who owns a farm and a farmhouse - free and clear. The farm generates a little income but all the land is contracted out. He has trouble getting around and decided he'd better move into town. Bankers wouldn't account for his farm income and he didn't (maybe, couldn't) sell his property. Took him 7 months to get a loan to buy a house.
What is a kid in her 20's going to do? She works part-time for a school now. You know? An evil, money-grubbing public worker . . . There's a real question whether she can continue because of cut-backs. Everyone is scrambling to try and protect her/his position. With no faculty tenure and the budget cuts, there's lots of stress on everyone. Altho' she is liked, she hates being there!
Safety . . . opportunity . . . getting on with life . . ?
David Murdock woke up the other day to a sore throat. Forbes says he is worth of $2.7 billion. This is the Murcock who owns Castle & Cooke. Grew up in Ohio and started out building houses in Arizona, went into agriculture, bought a majority share in Occidental Petroleum, took over Standard Fruit Company and that meant - Dole.
Castle and Cooke, haven't heard of them? They are only a part of Murdock's empire. The original Castle & Cooke were Christian missionaries to Hawaii and saw some opportunities to make a buck. Murdock's Dole Inc. is the largest producer of fruits and vegetables in the world, according to Hoover's.
David Murdock's sore throat? Oh, that inspired him to sink $500 million in a nutrition research institution in North Carolina. Eighty-two year old Murdock says he plans to live to be 125!
I'd like my daughter, who is not yet 25, to live and work in a safe neighborhood and have a steady job.
Steve