[PRCo] Burning Leaves--and Coal

[PC]

This is not unlike what Mr.Rathke says:  "We all have our computer stories."
We all have our retail horror stories.  People are people world wide.
People are people in the high-society stores as well.  It is beneath
their dignity to serve a commoner isn't it.  TV sitcoms are made of such.
Dad always said:  "It takes two to Tango."
Such stories are never one-sided are they.

This speaks more of prejudice doesn't it, and even more strongly of exaggeration.
This list trains one to overlook--no, to dismiss, the vast majority written.
There is also a 'good ol' boys' network:  "I'll slap your back if you slap my back."
It goes on and on doesn't it.

Another old saying of yore:  "When in Rome do as Romans do."  'Inexpensive'
works very nicely doesn't it.  But one can not see the 'sophistication' unless
we speak multiple foreign languages and, of course, denigrate our own country.
Why not move?  It is the wife-thing.  "I would, of course, but she does not want
so to do.  Family, you know."

With all the evidence here in this email alone let alone in the list in general
maybe dancing with the stars is where one could excel.  The messages may
contain good information but it is difficult to find with all the two-stepping.
Answering a question sees comments all around the topic but never addressing same.

As a good friend would say to end his conversation:  "And on we go!"
Maybe that is:  "On and on and:"


PC



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On Sun, 10/27/13, Herb Brannon <hrbran at cavtel.net> wrote:

 Subject: Re: [PRCo] Burning Leaves--and Coal
 To: "Western PA Trolley discussion" <pittsburgh-railways at mailman.dementix.org>
 Date: Sunday, October 27, 2013, 9:31 AM
 
 You know Fred, you sure know how to "baffle with b.s."
 
 
 On Sun, Oct 27, 2013 at 12:16 PM, Fred Schneider <fwschneider at comcast.net>wrote:
 
 > Herb,  I am not insulting Adam
 Gimbel.   I am using "cheap" in the English
 > language sense, not the way the American's have
 adulterated it to mean
 > "crappy" or "no good".   It means
 economical, as in the "cheap day return
 > ticket" in Britain … translated means the bargain one
 day round trip ticket.
 >
 > Gimbels was the cheap (bargain) store but they were not
 in a position to
 > compete with the likes of WalMart and it this area they
 were the first
 > department store to fold.   If I had to
 make a comparison, it would be the
 > British Home Store … yes I have a favorite shirt with
 a BHS label.  That's
 > what happens when you vacationed so many times in
 Britain.
 >
 > Sadly, Gimbels was not only the economical store but
 locally they had some
 > of the worst help too.   He could not
 stay in business when WalMart or
 > K-Mart had no help and he was paying for
 doofuses.   I remember one day I
 > went into the Gimbels store to buy something for my
 wife.   A friend who
 > was a PennDOT attorney was with me.   He
 had just returned from a vacation
 > in Japan.   I could not get any of the
 sales girls to wait on me.   They
 > were all having a hen party.  So I lead Gareth
 over until we were within
 > hearing range of the goofing off sales clerks, and then
 looked at him and
 > said, "Is it true what you told me … that in Japan
 the sales clerks
 > actually are hired to wait on the
 customers?"   He played it to the hilt
 > and those girls went balistic.   How
 dare you insult them by expecting them
 > to work.   They told us off at full
 volume.   And naturally, we went to
 > another store in the mall.   I think I
 saw some other customers evacuating
 > Adam Gimbel's store.
 >
 > I think there were some other problems
 too.   Each region operated
 > independently.   My charge card for
 Gimbels in Lancaster was only good in
 > the Philadelphia region stores.   It was
 not valid in Pittsburgh or
 > Chicago.   It might get immediate
 clearance for a temporary card there but
 > I had to apply there if I wanted credit.
 >
 > Of course, doesn't matter.   They are
 gone.
 >
 > Saks?   No such thing
 here.   Nearest  is in King of
 Prussia.   And I
 > never heard of a Barneys…. New York store isn't it?
 >
 > Lancaster County, Pa.,  was an area that thrived
 through the 1980s and
 > then crashed.   For many years we had
 lower wage rates than the national
 > average, which means it isn't the place people who want
 really high wages
 > come but it might be where a corporation wants to come
 to build a factory.
 >   All through the 1960s, 1970s, 1980s,
 one company after another came here
 > to exploit the cheap labor and the "Amish work
 ethic."   The result was a
 > doubling of the population from 1950 to 2000.  But
 when you stress the
 > local economy and push the unemployment rate down to
 half the national
 > unemployment rate (it was actually as low here as 1.4
 percent in the summer
 > of 1964), that puts extreme pressure on
 wages.   They rose.  Unions become
 > popular.   So popular that one by one
 the factories close and the
 > corporations decide we don't don't need this
 shit.   This was a major
 > garment manufacturing center … all those plants
 closed.  Roughly 10,000
 > shoe, garment and textile jobs
 vanished.   Those jobs went first to Mexico
 > under the North American Free Trade Agreement and then
 to China and
 > southeast Asia.    A lot of recreational
 vehicle plants were built here in
 > the 1980s … we decided fuel is too expensive to tow
 those trailers so those
 > plant closed.   Armstrong once employed
 several thousand people here making
 > linoleum and other resilient floor coverings …. they
 still do it but in
 > right-to-work states and in new plants on one
 floor.  In the 1960s RCA had
 > about 3000 people building color TV sets here and in
 Wilkes-Barre;  then
 > they were introduced to Sony.    Hamilton
 Watch used to employ almost 2000
 > people making watches … no one wants quality watches
 … the last remnant of
 > the company was sold to a Swiss firm … they're "out
 of here" and the
 > building is an apartment now.   We still
 have manufacturing but its about
 > half the number of workers we had in that sector in
 1970.    We now have
 > unemployment over 6% and routine shootings and
 burglaries as a means of
 > supporting each other … it's called income
 transfer.    We no longer have
 > any upper end stores.    We don't have as
 many upper income people today.
 > I guess they're in Dallas today.   But
 at my age, no reason to move.
 >
 > The sad thing about the crash here, Herb, was unlike
 Pittsburgh, it
 > affected a young population to begin
 with.   When steel went down in 1982
 > in Pittsburgh, it wasn't something new.  They
 already had 20 years of
 > on-again, off-again problems with the mills. 
 Allegheny County's population
 > was relatively stable after 1930 in the 1.4 to 1.6
 million range.   It
 > actually began dropping from 1.629 million in 1960 to
 1.450 million before
 > the big collapse of steel in 1982 … the kids were
 already leaving home and
 > going where the jobs were.   You cannot
 have really high unemployment when
 > people go directly from working to pensions … they
 are out of the labor
 > force.
 >
 > But Lancaster was still growing rapidly when our crash
 came.   We had
 > 212,000 in 1940 and 423,000 in 1990 when things began
 to soften, 471,000 in
 > 2000 and 519,000 in 2010.   Part of the
 anomaly of a tapering economy along
 > with growth is that we have also found ourselves within
 commuting distance
 > of Philadelphia's suburban job market and now the same
 for the northeastern
 > suburbs of Baltimore.   For a while,
 until the state began to decide they
 > didn't want workers, the northwestern part of this
 county was also
 > attractive for people working in the state capital …
 only 20 minutes away
 > on the train.   Trouble is, Herb, if
 that guy gets laid off in Philadelphia
 > he is still among the 6.5% unemployed in
 Lancaster.   And, as you can see
 > from those numbers, we have over 50,000 homes built in
 the last 40 years ….
 >  not the same as someone who built a house in
 Pittsburgh in 1935.   When
 > you have a couple who built a house in 1990 and the
 area crashes and they
 > still have a mortgage, you have problems.