My kid tried to get a job this summer, but no one would hire her. She just turned 16, and she doesn’t have her license yet. The economy still sucks for many people, including teenagers.
Lack of employer interest may also have something to do with the fact that the kid shaves half her head and occasionally fashions the locks that are left into multicolored spikes.
So she’s volunteering at an animal shelter in lieu of a paying job. They put her to work in the “cattery,” as they call it, scooping poop, laundering bedding and socializing potential adoptees.
I think it’s wonderful that she’s doing this, but here’s the thing: We don’t need another pet, god knows we don’t, not with two dogs, seven chickens and a hedgehog to look after already. The mister doesn’t even like cats. But she is hell-bent on rescuing a critter.
Please send pet acquisition resistance vibes my way, and feel free to discuss whatever.
rikyrah
McDonnell trial spins into soap opera
Steve Kornacki reports on the latest developments in the criminal trial of former Virginia governor Bob McDonnell, whose defense strategy appears to be to deflect as much blame as possible for inappropriate gifts onto his wife, Maureen.
http://on.msnbc.com/1lC8vKc
dmsilev
Resistance is futile.
Only thing I can suggest is to offload as much of the work as possible on the kid.
greennotGreen
No help here. I fostered dogs for awhile (and will again come fall,) and now I have ten. Also six birds, two frogs, and two ferrets.
Won’t your daughter be going off to college (relatively) soon? Wouldn’t it be better for the prospective pet for her to wait until she sees if she has time for a pet when she gets to college…IF she can find housing that can accept pets?
NCSteve
@dmsilev: @dmsilev: @dmsilev: Yup. They own the big cube. We’re just the drones.
jeffreyw
Betty, Mrs J says she would send some of those vibes but she has to see after Homer, Ginger, Toby, Bea, and Bitsy. Just as soon as she feeds the three dogs.
MazeDancer
One cat would be a mistake. Two, or three, on the other hand, would be excellent. They would keep each other company.
It is absolutely wonderful for daughter to work in a pet shelter. But really hard to do that without bringing home some worthy additions.
Daughter might consider pet/cat sitting as a sideline. She now has good experience. She can put up a little web site on some free template. And post flyers in the neighborhood. And on the bulletin board at the shelter and at participating vets. Print cards, hand them out to cat lovers.
cmorenc
You do realize that even if for now, daughter actually undertakes and sticks with the work of taking care of kitteh through high school, if she goes off to college somewhere away from home, even within an hour or two of home, the cat will effectively become YOUR kitty to take care of. The cat will become YOUR cat, whom daughter will of course visit on trips home. But you know that already, don’t you?
Amir Khalid
@rikyrah:
If he benefited from anything that she got, it wouldn’t matter that it was given to her, would it? He’d still be as guilty as she, of receiving corrupt inducements. All it would take is one men’s Rolex among the gifts, one photo of him at the wheel of a borrowed sports car.
rikyrah
A man who has chickens has no business turning up his nose at an abandoned kitty.
Gin & Tonic
@greennotGreen: Pets for college kids are, IMO, a Bad Idea. College lasts 4-5 years. A dog or cat can live more than 15. Kid graduates college, moves on , and what?
maurinsky
I think MazeDancer makes a good suggestion!
My 18 year old introverted step-son hasn’t been able to get a job for 2 years despite tons of applications. He’s not exactly a good personality for entrpreneurial undertakings, but he’s suddenly started to show a lot of initiative, so we’re hoping he can find a job up in Boston where he’s going to college.
RoonieRoo
Hmmm. One, two, three, four cats…..one, two dogs. Yep, sorry, I’m not so good at those types of vibes. Your doomed if you are relying on BJ commentariat vibes.
Citizen_X
Oh honey, you’re in the wrong place for that request.
If you posted pictures of kitteh candidates, it would be all over.
PurpleGirl
I realize that until she has her license it may be difficult for her to get around, but she could volunteer at a cat rescue or shelter and help the critters there.
(Of course, that could also lead to her wanting to foster kittens at home… Cassie started by fostering kittens for a shelter and now she’s incorporated and got 501(c)(3) status and operates her own kitten rescue shelter.)
Betty Cracker
@rikyrah: His view is that the dogs and chickens pull their weight, the dogs by being watchdogs, and the chickens by providing eggs. This isn’t exactly true: The dogs are fat, slobbery layabouts who would probably hold the flashlight for a burglar, and we could have bought a thousand year supply of eggs with the money we sank into building a coop and chicken house, plus the ongoing supplies. But such runs the mister’s thinking.
Mustang Bobby
The one thing that keeps me from acquiring a pet is the clause in my lease that says I have to pay an additional $500 cleaning deposit per pet.
Try that one on your daughter, Betty…
wooflikeabear
She could probably just start her own business as a dog-walker – that way there’s no rescuing animals to add to your brood. My retired neighbors do it and it’s apparently good money.
Amir Khalid
@Betty Cracker:
Didn’t you also say that your dogs aren’t the kind that get along with cats? I’d be wary of bringing in cats where existing dogs might pose a danger to them.
Suffern ACE
I am sending vibes to resist those cats, but sending attraction vibes for my friend’s cat who needs a new home due to a pending move. I can’t take him because my cat doesn’t like other cats. But his cat likes everybody and would probably enjoy protecting chickens.
TaMara (BHF)
This story probably won’t help your cause.
I will point out, two cats (ok 4, but don’t tell anyone) are much easier to care for than just one. They entertain themselves. Unless of course you have one that only likes dogs and you are currently (at least for the next few days) dogless. Then you have to go out and finally get another dog.
PurpleGirl
@PurpleGirl: I forgot the live cam link for Cassie’s Kitten Kastle:
http://new.livestream.com/cassieskittenkastle/kittenpalooza
(Kittens are hiding right now, so not on camera. Pesky kittens not entertaining us.)
kc
Cracker Daughter is awesome!
Paul in KY
@greennotGreen: It is very hard to find any decent rental unit in Florida that accepts pets. Worried about fleas.
Paul in KY
@Amir Khalid: Good point. However, this is a jury trial & the jury can decide it was all her fault & thus poor gullible governor McSaintyboy is innocent only of having a greedy wife.
Paul in KY
@rikyrah: Word!
John Cole +0
Tell her to get a Maine Coon. Plus, you live in Florida, so you can probably find a polydactyl down there.
Shit, that was the opposite of what you asked.
Paul in KY
@maurinsky: Having a job while attending college full time is not helpful to graduating said college, IMO.
Iowa Old Lady
Volunteering is a good step toward getting a job. My introverted son had to volunteer as part of his high school government class, so he worked at the HQ of the country Democratic party doing data entry. Later they hired him, and that experience gave him a good line for a resume for the next job.
Also he’s allergic to cats, which I have found useful in resisting the offers of pet loving friends.
Roger Moore
@Betty Cracker:
And a cat would help to control vermin, including various forms of insect life. That seems like it might be a valuable service to somebody in Florida.
Paul in KY
@Amir Khalid: A decent cat could whup ass on any 1 boxer. Probably not 2, if they teamed up, though.
Southern Beale
YOU WANT A CAT COME ON YOU KNOW YOU DO TAKE THE DAMN CAT!
Southern Beale
@Betty Cracker:
His view is that the dogs and chickens pull their weight, the dogs by being watchdogs, and the chickens by providing eggs.
Cats pull their weight by deigning to share this existence with us.
Seriously, we have 7 cats. You can never have too many cats.
Mustang Bobby
@Paul in KY: True that. When I moved to Miami in 2001 from Albuquerque where fleas are not a problem, Sam was infested on the first day. It took two baths and Frontline to get him clean, and I had to fumigate every three months.
David Hunt
No vibe help from me, Betty. I’m hopeless. There’s this sign outside my house, visible and legible only to cats that reads, “Sucker lives here.” My most recent decent into markdom was about a year ago when I was carrying in groceries. A young tom about six months old walks up to me and I say “hi.” He just walks into the house ahead of me and starts looking around. The other cats are too shocked by the presence of an intruder to make an immediate fuss. I pick the guy up and carry him to the end of the driveway. He doesn’t even fidget. He’s obviously been socialized by someone. I set him down and start walking back to the house. He beats me to the door and when I step in, he’s got his face in a food bowl. My other cats are looking at me wondering why I’ve allowed the antichrist into the house. I repeat the process of carrying him to the end of driveway, but he beats me to the house again and is already eating when I get there. I realized that I’m very likely already doomed. I ask around and he doesn’t belong to anyone, but was a kitten that was born about two doors down and living under their house until recently. It looks like I’m all the guy’s got and I know I’m doomed now.
jayjaybear
Have you suggested she start telling people she’s working in a cathouse yet? :D
Amir Khalid
@jayjaybear:
You’re a bad bad person, jayjaybear.
Citizen_X
@jayjaybear: I was gonna go with “Get thee to a cattery,” being more classy and all.
Betty Cracker
@Southern Beale: We had seven cats at one time when I was a kid. My mom was a cat lady. Well, an animal lover in general. So am I, which is how I get talked into dogs, chickens, hedgehogs, etc. And probably a damned cat too. I like cats.
Cervantes
@Betty Cracker:
Assuming only the following:
0.75 per egg
4 eggs per person per week
4 persons
One arrives at
$12 per week
$624 per year
And for a thousand-year supply:
$624,000
Yikes!
(On the other hand, I bet they’re delicious.)
Scamp Dog
Who drew the portrait, BC or Cracker Daughter? It’s a charming illustration for the post.
kc
@Betty Cracker:
My cats don’t lift a finger to help around the house, but they do lay on me and purr, so I forgive them.
kc
@David Hunt:
Aw. You’ve been adopted.
Paul in KY
@Mustang Bobby: I lived in Homestead Florida in about the only rental place in town that took pets. Needless to say, it was a dump. Called at the time (early 80s) Polynesian Village Apartments. I had the damdest flea problem. Pulled 160 odd off one cat one day after I flea bathed her. Took massive amounts of chemicals & just feeling them on me & chucking them in commode, before I got a handle on them.
Visited down there after Hurricane Andrew & my old complex was the only one of four that survived! There had been 3 other, nicer complexes right beside this one & they were all completely gone, but my old dump continued on.
Paul in KY
@David Hunt: Good on ya, Dave, for helping him out.
Betty Cracker
@Scamp Dog: It’s mine, thanks!
Interrobang
Don’t look at me. My boy cat died a week and a half ago. I was not going to get another cat, because I’m pretty sure my girl cat would prefer to be an only cat, but then I went into a pet store where they have shelter kitties and now I have a blue-eyed white (but hearing!) 13 week old kitten bouncing around the house and annoying the hell out of girl cat.
Omnes Omnibus (the first of his name)
I am allergic to cats. I can help you out with the vibes.
Cervantes
@Interrobang: There aren’t too many things as engrossing as the investigations of an intelligent kitten.
MazeDancer
@Interrobang:
Congratulations! How wonderful!
geg6
@Paul in KY:
Late to this, but you are wrong. It depends on the job. Records going back forty years show that students who work on-campus in work study jobs graduate at higher rates and with higher grade point averages than students who work off-campus or who don’t work at all.
No causation but high correlation.
gene108
Getting the first job is tough, as a teenager. We (adults) sort of look at the entry level stuff as – retail, fast food, etc. – as having a low bar to entry, but crossing that bar at 16 is not always automatic.
I remember getting turned down a few times, before my brother filled out a form for me at a job fair for a parking attendant position. I got the job.
After that getting other jobs was not as hard.
Especially summer jobs in college, when as a “veteran” 19 year old, I knew I could easily beat out the “rookie” 16 year olds for entry level type jobs.
Mnemosyne
@Gin & Tonic:
You take the cat with you to your non-college apartment like I did? Dude, not every college kid is totally irresponsible and abandons pets with, well, abandon. The cat before Boris I did have to give away because I got caught, but I put an ad in the paper and found her a good home (it helped that I had already had her spayed and vaccinated).
(Boris was with me for 12 years until fucking Natural Balance decided to save a buck, put melamine-laced rice gluten from China in their food, and poisoned him.)
David Hunt
@kc: Yes, Buddy is very friendly and quickly learned from the other cats that the best way to express affection is to imitate a fur stole and drape himself over my chest and neck. Unfortunately, I’m having problems integrating him into the household. He’s generally respectful of the other cats and doesn’t start things but he’s not well liked. The one cat that genuinely liked him passed away about six weeks ago. Now I’ve got one that’s neutral/vaguely positive, one that’s negative but will ignore him as long as he’s not close to her, and one that will swat and chase him when he thinks he can get away with it.
Paul in KY
@geg6: OK. I was thinking about a fast food job or something you would be working 30 hours a week at.
Mnemosyne
@geg6:
If I had to guess, it would be that work-study or other on-campus jobs are more willing to be flexible for student schedules. I wasn’t eligible for work-study, but I got a job with the campus housing department. Working in the graduate student housing office in the summer was awesome because no one ever came in and there was an IBM Selectric that I could use to work on my (very bad) novel.
Paul in KY
@David Hunt: That’s normal behavior for unrelated cats. Might take a year or two before the swatter has morphed into ignoring, etc.
geg6
@Mnemosyne:
It’s not only the flexibility with schedules that matters, it really seems to be one of those touchy-feely things that makes the difference. In higher ed circles, we call it “engagement.” It seems that students with campus jobs feel more engaged with the campus community. This leads to them feeling more committed to their colleges and campuses. Their employers act more as mentors, both professionally and academically. The students are also less hesitant to ask for help because they know administrators, faculty and staff better.
lurker dean
@Suffern ACE: When we got our first rescue cat, Lizzie, we were told she doesn’t like other cats. In fact, at the foster’s home, which had a dozen or so cats, Lizzie was the only one who had to have her own room because she didn’t play well with others.
So we got Lizzie and after a couple of years, it seemed like Lizzie was lonely. So we figured we’d give a second cat a try – worse case the rescue said they would take back the second cat. Luckily, that second cat we chose turned out to be the friendliest cat in the world, and patiently put up with a year of hissing from Lizzie, and never tried to fight with Lizzie. Now a few years later they are buds. And we even got a third cat, and Lizzie is pretty okay with her too.
So long story short, if your friend’s cat is very friendly, this might be a good opportunity to try a second one!
Cervantes
@geg6:
Right, because if it were, then the following (quoting you from above) would likely not be true:
(Is this correlation as strong as the one I elided? You might want to say.)
Tinare
@David Hunt:
You are a good person. Cats know. And my latest took a year to get integrated and accepted. It’s been at least a month without any hissing or growling.
And Betty, as someone owned by a dog and five cats, I can’t help you with the resistance thing either.
A Humble Lurker
Can cats be persuaded to chase out tree frogs?
rikyrah
So,
Peanut is discovering the re-runs of the following shows:
Sister Sister
Full House
The Cosby Show
It’s so fascinating watching these shows through her eyes.
maurinsky
Paul in KY: Never having had a job when you graduate college is not good for getting a post-graduate job. He’s only taking 4 classes a semester.
Cervantes
@rikyrah: Perhaps more fascinating, and edifying, might be watching song-birds, or ripples, or moonlight and moving shadows, through her eyes.
(Just a thought, worth roughly what you paid for it.)
rikyrah
Study: White People Support Harsher Criminal Laws If They Think More Black People Are Arrested
Stanford research suggests support for incarceration mirrors whites’ perception of black prison populations
Informing the white public that the percentage of black Americans in prison is far greater than the percentage of white people behind bars may not spur support for reform. Instead, it might actually generate support for the policies – such as stop-and-frisk and three-strikes laws – that created the situation.
BY SHARA TONN August 6, 2014
Stanford psychology researchers discovered that when white voters perceive more black Americans in the prison population, they support harsher laws.
Although African-Americans constitute only 12 percent of America’s population, they represent 40 percent of the nation’s prison inmates.
But informing the white public of this disproportionate incarceration rate may actually bolster support for the very policies that perpetuate the inequality, according to a studypublished in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science.
http://news.stanford.edu/news/2014/august/prison-black-laws-080614.html
geg6
@Cervantes:
Actually, the research shows that the “engagement” piece is more highly correlated than the scheduling. And, to be honest, as someone who actually runs a campus-wide work study program, the flexibility with schedule is hardly ever an issue in that the supervisors don’t hire anyone whose schedule does not match what their departmental needs are. For instance, the work studies in my department, Admissions and Student Aid, have to be able to cover their desk when we need them, not when it’s convenient for the student workers. We might have them switch with another student worker if they have a project or something that has to be done during their normal work hours, but we would do that with any part-time employee. It’s not something special that we only do for work studies.
I think some people have this idea that work study is not a real job with real responsibilities. I can’t speak for anyone else, but having worked as a work study back in my college years and having spent 16 years running the campus program, our work studies work. They don’t study at work, they don’t make their own hours and they are expected to dress and act professionally. That’s what work study is supposed to be all about.
Commenting at Balloon Juice since 1937
My daughter wants a puppy from her friend’s dog’s litter. I told her she could have it if she takes the 14 year old cat to be euthanized at the vet. He did not get along with the last dog and doesn’t deserve to have to put up with a puppy in his old age. So far this is working to keep the puppy desiring to a minimum.
Paul in KY
@maurinsky: Don’t see where not having a job at Chucky Cheese would hurt you when you try to leverage your Chemistry degree into a real job.
My point was having the job at Chucky Cheese might be detrimental to getting that Chemistry degree.
I’m sure there are cases where having a certain kind of job in college actually helped you.
rikyrah
Rick Perry Staffs Up for White House Bid
Associated Press: “Those close to Perry say he is aggressively eyeing a second presidential bid… With the help of veteran Republican operative Henry Barbour, Perry has also begun hiring staff in key states to help prepare for a possible run. His travel and staffing is being paid by a nonprofit group, led by his chief political adviser, called Americans for Economic Freedom, which can raise and spend unlimited sums of money without disclosing its donors.”
http://www.pressherald.com/2014/08/06/for-2016-presidential-bid-texas-governor-has-eyes-on-new-hampshire/
aimai
Good for your daughter. My daughter (aged 15) is participating in the local Mayor’s program which creates/finds paying jobs for kids aged 12-17. You sign up and they put you into a work program like a theater program (last year she worked on and performed in a play about crossing borders) or you work in a child care center or a senior center or run a summer camp program for little kids. Its very cool: they also pay a full day’s wages (a six hour day) for kids to visit some local public colleges and learn about the application process,a nd for kids to do a two day course at a local bank about banking, finance, and your credit.
But she has found it nearly impossible to find non-paying community service jobs. No place will take her alone until she is 16. She’s called all over.
Suffern ACE
@rikyrah: Yep. The outcome is considered a desireable benefit, made all the better by the fact that the injustice can be denied by citing those same statistics.
aimai
@rikyrah: I am not at all surprised. Its another example of how the two communities white/conservative vs white and black/liberal see the same “facts” in a completely different light. Its why it can be so hard, or so pointless, to argue with a convinced right winger about things like prison reform. Where a normal person sees high incarceration rates as a problem the other sees it as a solution to the problem.
WereBear
@David Hunt: Get Buddy a kitten so he has someone on his side.
Balance of Power
I am completely hopeless at dissuading anyone from animal adoption. At one time I had three dogs, ten cats, a rabbit, a parrot, a hamster, and a lizard.
I regretted only the lizard. He needed live crickets and never moved, but the cats found him fascinating, because if he was going to move, they wanted to see it.
Mnemosyne
@aimai:
It’s probably because of the child labor laws in your state — most states have tight restrictions on the number of hours and type of work that kids under 16 can do, and the organizations probably think it’s too much of a hassle to deal with those restrictions even for a non-paying job. The mayor’s office probably got some kind of exemption or set the program up so it’s not considered “work” under those laws.
Paul in KY
@WereBear: I had a pet Iguana once, named Rover. He lived in a big cage & I would get him out in the day and let him crawl up the curtains & sun himself, etc. He was a young one, about 16 or 17 inches, including tail.
I had 2 young kittens then & one night I went out drinking & forgot that Rover was out. When I came home I remembered, but didn’t want the hassle of catching him & thought he would be OK for one night. In the morning, I found the bottom half of Rover in the cat litter box. That was a $40 iguana that I got killed.
bumper
I love your picture of cat girl, Betty.
Joy in FL
Sorry Betty, I can’t send you resistance vibes. I’m with your daughter both as far as her cool hair goes and that she wants a critter.
As others have said, resistance is futile. Example: When I was in college, living with my parents, a stray cat started hanging around the garage. My dad said, “Do not feed the cat.” (We had a Great Dane and a St. Bernard at the time) So I did not feed the cat. Until some time later, when I saw my dad giving her a dish of food. So we fed her, she stayed around, got along with the dogs, and after about 6 weeks, gave birth to 4 kittens as my Great Dane and I watched her. One of the best parts of my life, ever, was watching that beautiful tabby bring her kittens into the world, with a human and a Great Dane sitting two feet away.
We kept 3 of the kittens also. It was great.
Resistance is futile.
Cervantes
@geg6: Thanks for the details!
Cervantes
@Commenting at Balloon Juice since 1937: No flies on you, then.
WereBear
@Paul in KY: How sad. They find them tasty.
We knew someone whose kid’s iguana got loose at the beginning of one summer. It was Long Island, so it got nice and hot, and he was about two feet long, and they couldn’t find him anywhere.
When he slowed down, got spotted, and was caught in the fall, he was four feet long, and they had to buy a new cage. Don’t know what he ate… they’re supposed to be vegetarians. But whatever it was, it was a lot.
Bob In Portland
Russian counter sanctions from Russia’s point of view.
This should make bacon cheaper here in the US.
Paul in KY
@WereBear: I’m glad they were able to catch him. I wish I hadn’t been so lazy that night & had caught him. He was a very pretty creature.
schrodinger's cat
@Betty Cracker: Tell the mister that kittehs will kill unwanted critters like mice and snakes
.
Villago Delenda Est
OK, we’ve seen pictures of the dogs carefully watching the end of the couch.
This is a pretty lame rationale for two dogs who are well known in this community for making Homer Simpson look like a couch potato dilettante.
kc
@David Hunt:
You know, the solution to that is to get another cat.
I’m not joking! Just ask WereBear, resident cat expert. I bet she’ll back me up on this.
Schlemizel
Our younger son had dreadlocks, short ones when he started work at GNC. A couple of years later he was consistently one of the top sales people in his district (I don’t know if I should be proud of that or not!). The district manager came to give him some award & saw the dreads and tols the local manager to fire him as he did not fit the GNC image. Fortunately the local guy fought for the kid (it affected his bonus) and showed the district guy how he affected the district numbers so he was kept on. Eventually GNC screwed up their compensation plan so badly that good sales people couldn’t make much more than bad ones & the kid quit but thats a different story.
I get that there are some styles that put people off but generally if the kid is clean and interested in working I don’t really get most of the “lookism” thing (I admit the facial piercings/tattoos are a step too far for me though)
ang
For help on the job front start keeping track of this stuff and any other volunteer work for the resume, including job responsibilities, who the supervisor was, time frame worked, etc. Once she’s been there awhile have her ask the supervisor if it’s OK to use them as a reference. Get a letter of recommendation from them if possible, heck, have the kid offer to write a rough draft of one if it would help.
Some high schools also require volunteer hours to graduate now so it could be a jump on that as well.
Mohagan
@Betty Cracker: Cats do, of course, have a long well documented history employed as mice and rat exterminators (and lots of other small animals). Do you perhaps have mice eating the chicken feed?