Teaching my kid to dislike Republicans

[xmas74]

At one of my jobs I work for a group of self-professed neoconservatives. They are very proud of donating as much money as they can to their cause and then delaying our paychecks upwards of a week at a time.
My daughter has had a good week. I promised her that if she had a good week (did well at summer school, did what she was told, etc) I would take her to the dreaded McDonalds for dinner when I got my paycheck. Well, here we are on Wednesday and still no paycheck (it was due on Monday). Everyday she has asked about the paycheck and about going to McDonalds. I've explained to her that Momma needs to get paid before I can take her.
Today she asked about it. When I told her that I still don't have it she looked at me and said "Stupid Republicans!" (she's overheard my conversations w/ friends over the phone). I should punish her for saying stupid (one of our no-no words) but I just don't have the heart to punish her for telling the truth.

[Shell Beau]

1. She will figure that on her own. You

shouldn't teach your child to dislike a whole group of people without knowing them. I am sure that is not really what you meant either, but I am glad she sees at an early age that they are indeed stupid!!

I do not want you to think I am telling you how to parent your child, by the way. I am sure you do quite a fine job!! ;-)

[xmas74]

4. I know.

It's just funny that she has eavesdropped enough to hear me say such things. It's even funnier that she is attacking the correct group around here(believe me, they've done alot of damage in MO).
Sadly, she is learning about where some of their priorities are. It will be even worse if I don't get this check before Friday. Friday is her birthday and w/o the check I can't afford to buy her birthday present. (BTW-they do know that I need this check for her birthday. My boss said that he would get me the check "when he was damn good and ready". In the meantime, he just bought a new car but doesn't want to pay his employees). It's going to keep getting worse w/ her attitude towards them if they keep crap like this up. She understands why she can't have certain things-because there is no money. And she is starting to understand that there is no money because they refuse to pay me.

[Shell Beau]

6. I remember as a kid, McDonald's

was the best. I would get so excited to go! Now it tastes like crap to me, but it is good to see your daughter at least has taste when it comes to politics!!

[xmas74]

12. She really wants to go.

We never go there so for her this is a huge treat.
She's still upset because they (my companies owner and his wife) brought in McDonalds to their daughter at summer school for lunch on Monday yet they will not give her Momma her check.

She also doesn't like that they have a car full of ugly bumperstickers and magnets (which they do) and that their little girl in her class said that kids w/o their dads around are b*stards and that they shouldn't play w/ them.
So she has problems w/ them in the first place.

[Shell Beau]

15. What pricks!!! Get your check, they have no right to hold it!

[xmas74]

18. They are not in town right now.

Callie said that her schoolmate said that they were going to the mall this afternoon.
They are almost never there (at work) anyways. We are expected to run it for them. I just left a message w/ labor dept in my capitol about it. They said that someone will return my call in the next day or so. Even if I got my check tonight I will still file a complaint.

[Shell Beau]

19. And you should!

Good luck!

[xmas74]

23. Thank you.

I've been there for 18 months now. According to them I am stupid and a waste of space. I've been looking for a new job but the marketaround here hasn't been so hot. So I'll hold on to this job until something else comes open.
I'm still filing a complaint for this and for harrassment in the workplace(but that's another story).

[Shell Beau]

26. That sounds like a hell hole. I hope you are

able to find a job where you are appreciated and paid when you are supposed to be!

[xmas74]

29. Good luck around here!

I'm applying at factories and foundries. At least they have decent benefits and pay you on time (just refuse to go over to Tyson's. I remember a horrible incident that happened there a few years ago. Proof that they find their employees expendable).

[KurtNYC]

28. Right - NY has massive penalties

for employers who don't pay on schedule. Not sure about other states but they must. :shrug:

[xmas74]

38. MO is a right to work state.

It seems like many things fall through. I have filed reports on harrassment from this place before and they still haven't done anything about them (last report was about 8 months ago). And I'm not the only person who has filed against them.

[tjdee]

14. Now *that's* one thing my kid is learning about.

I never wanted to be one of those parents who was like "I don't have the money", but that's exactly what's happening, and it sucks. I'm trying really hard to give reasons other than "we can't afford it". I don't know if I say it a lot, but I say it more than I'd like to.

As for the other thing...last year my daughter said that everyone could come to her birthday party..."except Republicans". At first I was like "That's my girl!"...but then I thought about what it would have been like if she said "except Asians" or "except gay people". So I have been talking to her about respecting everyone and that I disagree with Republicans on some things, but we all want the best for our country. She knows how much I *don't* respect certain people--but the entire group of them, I try to be nice about.

Kids hear everything.

[xmas74]

25. That's why I am worried about what she overhears.

She has one little friend of hers whos father is a preacher. I went to pick her up one day at their house and I actually saw a framed pic of * on their dining room wall.
This is a very red county. I have to teach her to watch her mouth (even though I agreed w/ her). I don't want her to insult people or to isolate herself.

[tigereye]

2. my kid has started to groan

when I talk about Santorum, our Senator. I make it clear that I suspect the Senator is a good and caring father, that he may be a good person, but does not act like one, and that I write polite complaints to his office. I make clear that I do not think he is a good Senator to represent our state and that I hope and pray that he will be defeated in the next Senate race.

kids know how we feel, we just have to uh, urge some respect for the offices that these fellows, sadly, hold.

[xmas74]

7. I try to have her show respect.

But this is not an office holder. And she gets to hear all about the stuff that they do not just from me. One of their children is in the same class as her and they tell her things. She just doesn't understand why they can "give" people money and yet they refuse to pay her Momma for her job.
I think that it's just going to get worse.

[tigereye]

17. I find it hard to understand

how anyone can have a business and not pay their people in a timely fashion. How do they keep their employees?

[xmas74]

21. They don't.

They have horrible turnover. We are a college town and they figure that they can just hire another college kid in 8 weeks or so. We just hired 3 new people about 2 weeks ago. 2 of them quit today over the paychecks and one is giving notice over comments about single mothers.

[friesianrider]

42. Don't say that word! He is one of "those we don't speak of"

In my house, S****rum is a bad, dirty word we don't speak.

[fob]

3. YES! Please don't punish her for telling the truth. She used it

correctly and with the right inflection and ire I hope!

Missus fob always gets me for influencing the "blue" language in our house, but when Lil fob saw a pic of bush*ler on TV and said, "Dad, is that the guy that's an asshole?" I smiled wide and said, "Yes he is." Missus fob had to leave the room to laugh but not a word about the language that time!

[xmas74]

8. She's not getting punished.

They have punished her enough by not paying her momma for a job that she did. When Momma doesn't get paid she doesn't get the things that she wants or needs.
I do need to watch my mouth around her more often.

[politicaholic]

5. Withholding your paycheck is illegal...

with the idea that a company cannot gain interest off of the payroll money owed to their employees.

You may consider making an anonymous call to the Better business Bureau.

[xmas74]

9. Already did.

Plus called time and wage and contacted Legal Aid. This isn't the first time they've done it. They were fined for it not too long ago and here they are doing it again.

[CitrusLib]

10. I was just going to suggest that! Very illegal.

[xmas74]

13. They've been fined.

They just don't care. There is a rumor going around (and I heard it at a Prog Women's meeting lately too) that supposedly they are going to sell their business. In the meantime, they have been on a spending spree.

[Old_Fart]

47. Spending spree?

Maybe they are planning on filing bankruptcy and screwing all of their employees on the way out.

I use to work for someone that said that by law he had two weeks to give us our paychecks. He would hold them until the end of the two weeks and then pay us. I lasted a couple of months on that job because I couldn't pay my bills on time.

Try finding something else because if they file bankruptcy and you are living paycheck to paycheck you will be messed up big time.

[Hapameli]

11. My 8yo doesn't like Bush either... I took him to an anti-war rally and he

heard the chant "Hey Bush, what do you say, how many kids did you kill today"...

Well, being a touch autistic and very literal, he thinks Bush is a child killer! He also thinks that Ahnold buries kids, because her heard Phil Angeledes (who is running against Ahnold in 2006) say that "Arnold S. is burying our kids under a mountain of debt".

I tell him not to talk about Republicans outside of the family (for some silly reason he thinks the FBI will come and take me away - again, he's a tad autistic), so when he goes out with my mom or my brother he talks about Bush with them!

[xmas74]

16. She is allowed to talk about them when she goes

over to my friend's house to play w/ her children (friend is a leftist). Otherwise, she has to learn to keep quiet. We live in a extremely red county and I don't want her making enemies.

[Old_Fart]

20. I was raised to hate them

She needs to learn about how heartless they are and not paying their employees on time is a perfect example. If I could give you a McDonald's gift card so that you could take her out I would but I am not in your area.

[xmas74]

22. She'll be ok.

I guess this is how she will learn.
I grew up w/ Reaganomics so I learned at an early age how to hate them. I had hoped that she wouldn't learn the same lesson.

[Hapameli]

31. I was raised w/Reaganomics by apolitical parents... I tried to teach THEM

how to hate Republicans! They're still very apolitical and non-voters, though I did get them registered in 92. My mom knows I was interested in politics since I was a toddler, I used to LOVE to see Jimmy Carter on TV and would stop whatever I was doing to watch him. My son, even with his autistic disorder, is quite political and wants to be either the president or a construction worker when he grows up! I love liberal kids! :P

[xmas74]

34. She wants to either teach or work at a zoo.

She's just pretty upset right now. I've had to keep her from crying all afternoon.

[Old_Fart]

36. I was a child during Eisenhower's reign in office

Being poor was a given.

[xmas74]

39. I remember being so poor during Reganomics

that the commodity cheese and turkey franks were almost a treat. My dad was a diecaster and his plant moved to Mexico. He was unemployed for almost 2 years.
School lunch was free and it was the best meal of the day. I can remember eating every last bit of it and wishing that I could get more. Otherwise, it was rice for dinner or maybe a watery bean soup. I swore that my daughter would never go through that.

[Old_Fart]

41. Right wingers are teaching their kids to hate us

I don't see anything wrong with making her aware of what is going on around her. The more she knows the more she can make others aware of what is going on in our country.

Ronnie Raygun was one of the worse presidents in history. I feel bad that you had to go hungry during his reign in office. No one in the US should be hungry but its now a privilege to be able to eat properly.

"I don't ever want to see beans or grilled cheese sandwich's again".

[xmas74]

43. Beans is a big one.

I also refuse to eat hot dogs now because of the taste of those damn commodity turkey franks. I also don't eat any cheese unless it's "real" cheese (processed cheese is nasty).
And they do treat it as a privilege to eat at all nowadays. Pretty sick idea.
I just wanted to keep her from learning some lessons quite so soon.

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

24. Well, you didn't really teach anything. Bitter reality did. (nt)

[xmas74]

27. I know.

But I didn't want her to learn like this.
I guess it's ok. After the Mon and Tues fiasco one of my friends and his partner both said that they were going to get her an entire book of McDonalds coupons for her birthday (they wanted to know if $30 worth would be good for her). She's learning exactly who cares about her and who doesn't.

[48pan]

30. I gotta disagree...

As a parent, you should realize that whatever you try to teach your kids, they are going to do the exact opposite. If you tell them to hate Republicans, I guarantee they will be Republicans before they are 18.

[Hapameli]

32. No way that would happen if these kids are being raised with real MORALS

[48pan]

37. Way. It's almost a lock that your kids will do...

whatever pisses you off. You did it to your parents. Your parents did it to their parents, etc. (since the dawn of history)

[xmas74]

40. I rebelled in other ways.

Never politically. Just drugs and crap like that.
I don't think she'll go Repub. She has too many people who care about her that are treated like third class citizens by Republicans.

[48pan]

44. I hope you are right, butt...

don't be surprised.

[xmas74]

45. I'm never surprised about anything that happens.

But I really don't see her going that route. Moderate, maybe. Apolitical, maybe. Republican-probably not. I have too many gay and lesbian friends that have been in her life since-well really conception-that she refers to as her aunts and uncles. She loves and adores them and I can't see her supporting a party that is so against them. Also, most of her school friends are minorities. I can't see her siding w/ a party that would be so against them either.
It could happen but I kind of doubt it.

[xmas74]

33. I don't know.

We (my brother and I) as liberals and that is exactly how we turned out.

[Old_Fart]

46. Thats a different type of rebelling

This is a new era and they won't rebel when it comes to caring about people. Telling a kid not to go out at a certain time at night is different then telling them that the man that is living on the streets is hungry and we need to help feed him.

[xmas74]

35. Just got a call from someone at work.

They might be there tomorrow w/ the checks. They are not sure yet.
This is such bull!