what is wrong with modern kids and no motivation to shovel?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My teen just made $50 shoveling for a few hours. He is psyched and just asked me to put up an ad on our neighborhood listserv. He is 15 and doesn’t get an allowance. I probably wouldn’t want to shovel either if my parents gave me an allowance.

My 15 yo does soccer refereeing on weekends and that pays better than shoveling.

It does pay better, but since most fields are out of commission at the moment, my teen ref shoveled.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:College age kids went out with a group of friends (6 in total) and shoveled Sunday/Monday. They each made over $250/day.

There weren't many other offering so they had to decline several jobs due to time/cold/difficulty.

If your kid wanted to, the money was sitting there.

BS - the money is on the easy snow removal. This is hard work and maybe they were actually paid an appropriate wage by some homeowners, but the people complaining want to pay well below the market rate for some random "local kids". I know because I shoveled my long driveway myself over the course of 2 days.

Lol. Ok, you can call BS all you want. It WAS hard work (DH and I did our house while they were making money.) They came home exhausted both nights. But $500 is a lot to college kids. They got rave reviews on our neighborhood listserve and their phone was blowing up with people wanting to hire them since they could walk to homes. Our neighborhood is big on hiring 'local kids' and supporting kids who have grown up in the neighborhood.

You live in a rich community that is actually paying a fair wage. Most of the people complaining want the neighbor next door to do it for $20

This x1000. If they are boomers, they will pay even less if the kid is younger. My aunt was complaining that the boy Nextdoor she hired to water her outdoor plants, sweep their porch, bring in mail, take trash cans to the curb etc was not reliable and she was paying him a full dollar! A dollar, a cold buck!

My poor kid had an elderly neighbor who asked him last year to shovel, and for an hour's work for a fairly large house/driveway, he was paid 10$. I told my kid not to complain and paid him an extra 20$. But he didn't shovel for that neighbor this year again.

A decent teen would do an elderly neighbor for free. Mine did. One day you will need the help.

Exactly. Not to mention many elderly are on a fixed income and $10 is huge for them

Well, then have your own kids and grandkids shovel for you for free, whom you so lovingly raised.

Some of us raised our kids to help out our elderly and disable or struggling neighborhors for free. My kid did our house and 3 others for multiple days and knew better than to take money.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I remember as a kid loving snow because it meant we could go door to door and earn cold hard cash shoveling. It was great earning $200 bucks for a few hours of work.

Now I'm reading in DC that it is a sidewalk apocalypse because no one shoveled their walkways. It is too late now because it is packed down into ice, but where are the kids going door to door to make loot? It was a goldmine opportunity if they went out and made some effort. They even had multiple rounds of opportunity for shoveling due to the hours of snowfall and days off from school. I bet they could have easily made $2000 going door to door all day.

What happened to modern kids? Parent too scared? Or are they completely demotivated because they're stuck on their screens the whole time scrolling TikTok? It is great exercise too.

Because snow shoveling prices haven't kept pace. No one is going to spend an hour shoveling for $20.

Shoveling is some excellent cardio while using strength to build arm and leg muscles. I don’t know why any teen wouldn’t want that. Put some music on and get exercising.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Many of these kids are studying because that is their full time job and they carry heavy academic loads that include tons of honors and AP classes. So let them study OP, they want to work smart and not hard when they grow up. Besides many neighborhoods have crews to come in and do that hard work.

Kids can do multiple things.
And they are not learning to work smarter. They are learning to be lazy and entitled. The results are in a gen x sucks as parents

Healthy adults who demand teens do their shoveling are the selfish ones.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:College age kids went out with a group of friends (6 in total) and shoveled Sunday/Monday. They each made over $250/day.

There weren't many other offering so they had to decline several jobs due to time/cold/difficulty.

If your kid wanted to, the money was sitting there.

BS - the money is on the easy snow removal. This is hard work and maybe they were actually paid an appropriate wage by some homeowners, but the people complaining want to pay well below the market rate for some random "local kids". I know because I shoveled my long driveway myself over the course of 2 days.

Lol. Ok, you can call BS all you want. It WAS hard work (DH and I did our house while they were making money.) They came home exhausted both nights. But $500 is a lot to college kids. They got rave reviews on our neighborhood listserve and their phone was blowing up with people wanting to hire them since they could walk to homes. Our neighborhood is big on hiring 'local kids' and supporting kids who have grown up in the neighborhood.

You live in a rich community that is actually paying a fair wage. Most of the people complaining want the neighbor next door to do it for $20

This x1000. If they are boomers, they will pay even less if the kid is younger. My aunt was complaining that the boy Nextdoor she hired to water her outdoor plants, sweep their porch, bring in mail, take trash cans to the curb etc was not reliable and she was paying him a full dollar! A dollar, a cold buck!

My poor kid had an elderly neighbor who asked him last year to shovel, and for an hour's work for a fairly large house/driveway, he was paid 10$. I told my kid not to complain and paid him an extra 20$. But he didn't shovel for that neighbor this year again.

A decent teen would do an elderly neighbor for free. Mine did. One day you will need the help.

Actually, a decent family would shovel an elderly neighbors walk together. A decent family is not sending their teen out by themselves to do charity work to feel good about themselves. They take a few hours off of work and they do it with them.

+1 Wtf. If you want to do volunteer work, go and do it. Don’t blame a hardworking teenager for being annoyed by stingy grandpa who thinks that shoveling is only worth 10$ an hour.

Parents liek you are the problem. Mine doesn't need $10 and did it for free to be a decent person.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Get off your ass, OP, and shovel yourself.

Stop blaming others.

Thank you. End of thread.

(of course OP will now come back with a list of “disabilities” or “I’m tooo ooollld” or “I have liiiitle kiiiids” that preclude them from getting off their ever-spreading derrière to do it themselves, but whatever. 🙄

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:College age kids went out with a group of friends (6 in total) and shoveled Sunday/Monday. They each made over $250/day.

There weren't many other offering so they had to decline several jobs due to time/cold/difficulty.

If your kid wanted to, the money was sitting there.

BS - the money is on the easy snow removal. This is hard work and maybe they were actually paid an appropriate wage by some homeowners, but the people complaining want to pay well below the market rate for some random "local kids". I know because I shoveled my long driveway myself over the course of 2 days.

Lol. Ok, you can call BS all you want. It WAS hard work (DH and I did our house while they were making money.) They came home exhausted both nights. But $500 is a lot to college kids. They got rave reviews on our neighborhood listserve and their phone was blowing up with people wanting to hire them since they could walk to homes. Our neighborhood is big on hiring 'local kids' and supporting kids who have grown up in the neighborhood.

You live in a rich community that is actually paying a fair wage. Most of the people complaining want the neighbor next door to do it for $20

This x1000. If they are boomers, they will pay even less if the kid is younger. My aunt was complaining that the boy Nextdoor she hired to water her outdoor plants, sweep their porch, bring in mail, take trash cans to the curb etc was not reliable and she was paying him a full dollar! A dollar, a cold buck!

My poor kid had an elderly neighbor who asked him last year to shovel, and for an hour's work for a fairly large house/driveway, he was paid 10$. I told my kid not to complain and paid him an extra 20$. But he didn't shovel for that neighbor this year again.

A decent teen would do an elderly neighbor for free. Mine did. One day you will need the help.

Exactly. Not to mention many elderly are on a fixed income and $10 is huge for them

Well, then have your own kids and grandkids shovel for you for free, whom you so lovingly raised.

Some of us raised our kids to help out our elderly and disable or struggling neighborhors for free. My kid did our house and 3 others for multiple days and knew better than to take money.

It’s really ugly though when those elders and neighbors who could easily pay stiff the poor kid. Boomer entitlement!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My twelve year old and his best friend have made $500 over the last two days. But, they haven’t been going door to door. They have been using the neighborhood list serv. There are lots of kids posting on there. Maybe you just aren’t seeing them because they are using new technology.

Nope, our listserv is desperate for people to shovel. Literally zero kids offering to shovel in our area.

Why do you want children to work for you? Hire adult workers like a normal person. Plenty of landscape companies make their winter money in snow removal.

Because they want to rip teens off. “Pocket money.” 🙄

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kids were busy helping us chip through the ice dam at the foot of our driveway. They then went and helped a couple of our neighbors for a bit. But then they were exhausted as were all the adults out chipping away at the ice.

This. It's a lot.

Also some teens have probably dealt with the cranky entitled boomers who live around them who think that paying them $20 for multiple hours of back breaking work is great "pocket money". Hell no. Raise your price and you'll find someone willing.

The boomers in my TH neighborhood were the most generous to my 12-yr-old kid, especially when they saw him showing up multiple times on Sunday, rotating between houses, clearing and salting, and making his last runs as the sun was setting. What were initially supposed to be $20-40 jobs, I sent him out on his own on Saturday to discuss terms and process with the "clients" who'd emailed me to see if he was available during the week. He let them all know that he would work throughout the day on Sunday to stay on top of it. They offered $20-40 for just clearing steps and sidewalks, as well as clearing snow off cars. At the end of the day, when he went to collect just before sunset, no one paid him less than $75. He spent no more than an hour or so on each house. The snow and sleet were easy to move on Sunday, because both were so dry, the sleet, like nothing I've ever seen, was like little dry ice pellets, they could have been blown away with a leaf blower, hardly back-breaking at that point. But they saw him showing up throughout the day, and when he was there, he hustled. I got several emails that evening praising his commitment and diligence.

So much is about perception and relationships: showing up early (he started at 8 am), showing initiative, and working hard even when you don't think anyone is watching. My DC doesn't have a cell phone, so no one saw him standing around scrolling when he was supposed to be working. He was polite, reliable, and worked independently and steadfastly just as he said he would, which means a lot to Boomers and GenXrs.

Your kids will be fine in life.

[Anonymous]

My kid did a huge stretch of our sidewalk well past our property. I encouraged him to seek out opportunities to earn but he seemed to be into it for its own sake.

This was surprising to say the least lol! But he enjoyed the sense of achievement and copious compliments from family.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My twelve year old and his best friend have made $500 over the last two days. But, they haven’t been going door to door. They have been using the neighborhood list serv. There are lots of kids posting on there. Maybe you just aren’t seeing them because they are using new technology.

Nope, our listserv is desperate for people to shovel. Literally zero kids offering to shovel in our area.

Why do you want children to work for you? Hire adult workers like a normal person. Plenty of landscape companies make their winter money in snow removal.

I get hundreds of landscaping ads spring through fall, and 0 snow shoveling ads. I sure some guys are willing to do the job, but first, it's hard to travel in these conditions and that's why it's a "neighbor kid" job, and second, it's not a regular job, not even every year, so people don't have the business connections to make arrangements, and third, it's hard to make arrangements on short notice with short due date and not knowing how much work will be needed where and when.

Every HOA has a contract with private snow removal. These guys are not hard to find or to hire. You do have to plan ahead, but even if you're not willing to contract for the season, this storm was forecast more than a week out.

People don't want to plan, or pool funds with neighbors, or even advertise before or during the storm that they'd be willing to pay. And then they're mad when there isn't a local labor force knocking on their door asking for work

So tone deaf. Do you know how much is costs to have people shovel for you? Nope. Most people don't have that kind of money just sitting around. Get out of your HOA bubble.

So? Too damn bad. Pay it or DO IT YOURSELF.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:College age kids went out with a group of friends (6 in total) and shoveled Sunday/Monday. They each made over $250/day.

There weren't many other offering so they had to decline several jobs due to time/cold/difficulty.

If your kid wanted to, the money was sitting there.

BS - the money is on the easy snow removal. This is hard work and maybe they were actually paid an appropriate wage by some homeowners, but the people complaining want to pay well below the market rate for some random "local kids". I know because I shoveled my long driveway myself over the course of 2 days.

Lol. Ok, you can call BS all you want. It WAS hard work (DH and I did our house while they were making money.) They came home exhausted both nights. But $500 is a lot to college kids. They got rave reviews on our neighborhood listserve and their phone was blowing up with people wanting to hire them since they could walk to homes. Our neighborhood is big on hiring 'local kids' and supporting kids who have grown up in the neighborhood.

You live in a rich community that is actually paying a fair wage. Most of the people complaining want the neighbor next door to do it for $20

This x1000. If they are boomers, they will pay even less if the kid is younger. My aunt was complaining that the boy Nextdoor she hired to water her outdoor plants, sweep their porch, bring in mail, take trash cans to the curb etc was not reliable and she was paying him a full dollar! A dollar, a cold buck!

My poor kid had an elderly neighbor who asked him last year to shovel, and for an hour's work for a fairly large house/driveway, he was paid 10$. I told my kid not to complain and paid him an extra 20$. But he didn't shovel for that neighbor this year again.

A decent teen would do an elderly neighbor for free. Mine did. One day you will need the help.

Actually, a decent family would shovel an elderly neighbors walk together. A decent family is not sending their teen out by themselves to do charity work to feel good about themselves. They take a few hours off of work and they do it with them.

+1 Wtf. If you want to do volunteer work, go and do it. Don’t blame a hardworking teenager for being annoyed by stingy grandpa who thinks that shoveling is only worth 10$ an hour.

Parents liek you are the problem. Mine doesn't need $10 and did it for free to be a decent person.

Whatever mommy warbucks. If you want your kid to be taken advantage of by a stingy person, go ahead and volunteer your own kid and our own time to go shoveling with your kid. Don’t insult other kids who don’t want to do it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:College age kids went out with a group of friends (6 in total) and shoveled Sunday/Monday. They each made over $250/day.

There weren't many other offering so they had to decline several jobs due to time/cold/difficulty.

If your kid wanted to, the money was sitting there.

BS - the money is on the easy snow removal. This is hard work and maybe they were actually paid an appropriate wage by some homeowners, but the people complaining want to pay well below the market rate for some random "local kids". I know because I shoveled my long driveway myself over the course of 2 days.

Lol. Ok, you can call BS all you want. It WAS hard work (DH and I did our house while they were making money.) They came home exhausted both nights. But $500 is a lot to college kids. They got rave reviews on our neighborhood listserve and their phone was blowing up with people wanting to hire them since they could walk to homes. Our neighborhood is big on hiring 'local kids' and supporting kids who have grown up in the neighborhood.

You live in a rich community that is actually paying a fair wage. Most of the people complaining want the neighbor next door to do it for $20

This x1000. If they are boomers, they will pay even less if the kid is younger. My aunt was complaining that the boy Nextdoor she hired to water her outdoor plants, sweep their porch, bring in mail, take trash cans to the curb etc was not reliable and she was paying him a full dollar! A dollar, a cold buck!

My poor kid had an elderly neighbor who asked him last year to shovel, and for an hour's work for a fairly large house/driveway, he was paid 10$. I told my kid not to complain and paid him an extra 20$. But he didn't shovel for that neighbor this year again.

A decent teen would do an elderly neighbor for free. Mine did. One day you will need the help.

Actually, a decent family would shovel an elderly neighbors walk together. A decent family is not sending their teen out by themselves to do charity work to feel good about themselves. They take a few hours off of work and they do it with them.

+1 Wtf. If you want to do volunteer work, go and do it. Don’t blame a hardworking teenager for being annoyed by stingy grandpa who thinks that shoveling is only worth 10$ an hour.

Parents liek you are the problem. Mine doesn't need $10 and did it for free to be a decent person.

Working for free doesn’t make someone a “decent person.” You don’t sound like a decent person yourself if you expect teenagers to do backbreaking work for free from the safety of your keyboard and be happy about it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's the parents.
The same parents who think their little darling deserves to be paid like a professional nanny for babysitting but complain about actually paying a nanny a proper rate.

Spoiled.

Box of donuts says this clown is the type to complain about tipping at a restaurant.

You'd be out a box of donuts.

Doubt it.

DP

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Many of these kids are studying because that is their full time job and they carry heavy academic loads that include tons of honors and AP classes. So let them study OP, they want to work smart and not hard when they grow up. Besides many neighborhoods have crews to come in and do that hard work.

Kids can do multiple things.
And they are not learning to work smarter. They are learning to be lazy and entitled. The results are in a gen x sucks as parents

Healthy adults who demand teens do their shoveling are the selfish ones.

I worked all day. My teen had all day to shovel. I would’ve been pissed if I got home to nothing being shoveled. I shoveled my car out yesterday.