Neighborhood going to shit!

[billvon 3,073]

>The factory also has a large workforce of temporary labor . . .

It sounds like (based on your experience) people who work temp jobs are poor workers, whereas people who have the training/experience/references/desire to get permanent jobs are better workers. I've had the same experiences in the places I've worked. That seems straightforward; race wouldn't seem to enter into it.

[slug 1]

Wonder what kind of stuff those temp workers manufactor. Hope it's not something critical. Under those conditions it could be hard to keep a skilled workforce due to the large number of under educated and unskilled.

Wouldn't be surprised if some of the temps don't even show up on the books, etc

R.I.P.

[lurch 0]

...Relax man. Inventory and supply stocks means the grungy industrial part...pallets, piles of cardboard boxes 3 stories high, shelves and shelves of machine parts. I've heard a lot of horror stories about industrial food handling. Usually urban legend or told by somebody with an agenda. Try reading Upton Sinclair's "The Jungle" for a particularly vile example.
Modern industrial food handling is so incredibly stainless steel-UV radiation-ozone sterilized sterile that bacteria and mold run shrieking when they trespass on the property. Before getting into the industry, all I knew about the food industry was from that book I just mentioned. When I saw how real world plants operate I was impressed...urban legend would lead you to expect the filthiest conditions but what I found was more like medical grade cleanliness. I hate to admit our government can do anything right but you can thank the insanely complex bureaucracy and rule structures for your clean and unlimited food supply. And you can thank the people in the industry who take personal responsibility for what they make.
There IS a slow process of attrition which has over time refined our labor pool somewhat. Every now and then a temp becomes a fixture for months, eventually becoming a fulltime employee uniform and all. I figure in about another six years or so all possible positions will finally be filled with the best of the temps, at which point we won't need to use temps anymore. Some time ago the company got fed up with the behavior I was bitching about and started cracking down and aggressively rejecting temps who treated the plant like the poor side of town. The property damage and litter have been slowly dropping off since, but it takes time to spread the idea that its not ok to drop garbage and write on the walls.

Live and learn... or die, and teach by example.

[lurch 0]

Guess I failed to get my point across.
Funks was getting gently flamed because he stated a politically incorrect fact about a subject that tends to be seen in black and white. Spanish speaking latinos of unspecified origin moved into his neighborhood, causing degradation of the living conditions with their behavior.
A stereotype exists. The stereotype says that when latinos move into a neighborhood, crime and slum conditions grow and spread. This is an asshole generalization, but if it did not happen, the stereotype would not exist. Funks is distressed at seeing this stereotype being fulfilled next door.
When a neighborhood changes due to the arrival of a group of people, you have to use some characteristic to describe the people who make up the demographic shift. The race/cultural identity and language of the newcomers are the most commonly used descriptors because that is what you see and how you identify them if you don't know anything else about them than what you can see from 50 feet away. You will see values and behavior patterns common to members of one race/cultural group and not others. Race doesn't enter into it as much as cultural identity but the two are inextricably intertwined and frequently used interchangeably, often inappropriately. The mexicans at the plant aren't a race, they are a cultural group loosely labelled "latino" or "hispanic" because their cultural background is descended from the social results of spanish involvement in the new world centuries ago. Their actual ethnic/racial/genetic backgrounds are a widely varied random mix of mayan, indian, spanish and portuguese descent, all from a place called mexico and all part of the cultural identity collectively called hispanic. It is a factor simply because of the behavior common to the local representative subgroup. If we suddenly restaffed the entire plant with japanese, there wouldn't be graffiti everywhere that says "Mexico." There would not be a litter problem....japanese are not known for strewing garbage about, even in poor neighborhoods with a majority japanese population. Japanese are not known for bringing drug and crime problems with them unless you want to talk yakuza and organized crime which are problems of a different context than car break-ins neighborhood street gangs and annoying neighbors. Japanese are not known for defacing their environment with statements of their national or provincial identity. Nobody says "there goes the neighborhood" when several families of japanese move into the neighborhood, even poor japanese. This is entirely because of cultural identity. Japanese cultural values heavily emphasize things like order, neatness, obedience to authority and politeness. The low income mexicans I interact with do not display this value set as a majority cultural priority.
People think Funks has a problem with his neighbors because of their language or cultural identity. I wanted to point out that the part everyone seemed to be deliberately ignoring is that its the behavior of those speaking the language that is offensive, not their race or language itself.
I have a relative lived in Sacramento for awhile who surprised me when he told me that in the local industrial and neighborhood scene where he was it is the Russian immigrant population who carry the negative stereotype and display the behavioral issues, crime, drugs, trash etc. In that area it is the russians whose arrival causes people to bitch about neighborhood decline. I was surprised because I had never heard of such a thing. Around here, we don't HAVE a significant russian population let alone one known for crime. What russians in the area I DO know are all well to do types, skydivers mostly, friends and skybrothers who bear as little resemblance to the negative russian stereotype as Vanillaskygirl does the hispanic one. If Funks' new neighbors were russians who fit that negative russian stereotype I would expect him to gripe about the neighborhood going to shit because the russians have arrived. If his troublesome new neighbors were all blue-furred spracks who all spoke Crunk I'd expect bitching about those fucking blue crunk speaking spracks. To me its a Voltaire thing. I may not agree but I'll defend to the death your right to bitch about it. Something about too much caffeine...

Live and learn... or die, and teach by example.

[flyhi 24]

Quote

My neighborhood is on a downward death spiral towards scumville. Thank god I am moving

I hear you on that. A family of freeflyers moved in down the street and all the Hispanics and Blacks moved out. I can't wait until I don't have to hear that one unending techno song they play that never, ever starts, stops, or ends.

Shit happens. And it usually happens because of physics.