Northwest advised workers to see treasure in trash <!-- article utilities box begins --><TABLE class=artUtilsTop cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 border=0><TBODY><TR><TD class=artUtils width="99%"></TD><TD class=artUtils noWrap align=right><!-- pagination --></TD><TD vAlign=top></TD><TD class=artUtils vAlign=top align=right width=88></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><!-- article utilities box ends --><!-- article specifics box begins --><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=158 align=left border=0><TBODY><TR><TD vAlign=top><!-- article images begins --> <!-- article images end --> </TD><TD vAlign=top width=8></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><!-- article specifics box ends --><!-- article text begins -->NEW YORK (Reuters) - Bankrupt Northwest Airlines Corp. advised workers to fish in the trash for things they like or take their dates for a walk in the woods in a move to help workers facing the ax to save money. The No. 5 U.S. carrier, which has slashed most employees' pay and is looking to cut jobs as it prepares to exit bankruptcy, put the tips in a booklet handed out to about 50 workers and posted for a time on its employee Web site. The section, entitled "101 ways to save money", does not feature in new versions of the booklet or the Web site. Northwest spokesman Roman Blahoski said some employees who received the handbook had taken issue with a couple of the items. "We agree that some of these suggestions and tips ... were a bit insensitive," Blahoski told Reuters. The four-page booklet, "Preparing for a Financial Setback" contained suggestions such as shopping in thrift stores, taking "a date for a walk along the beach or in the woods" and not being "shy about pulling something you like out of the trash." The booklet was part of a 150-page packet to ground workers, such as baggage handlers, whose jobs will likely be cut after their union agreed to allow the airline to outsource some of their work, Blahoski said. Prepared with the help of an outside company, the booklet encourages employees to manage their money better and prepare for financial emergencies. "If you have saved some money, pat yourself on the back -- you deserve it," the booklet reads. "Take out only what you need and spend prudently." <!-- article text ends -->
Sounds kinda like my retirement plan There was a time when I planned on surviving by my devilishly handsome looks, razor sharp intellect, lightening reflexes, and my quaint southern charm, that and some as yet unidentified rich relative leaving me the farm and all their Beta-max stocks. Or maybe I'll hit the lottery really big. I don't put much faith in social security carrying me through with the life-style that I presently enjoy and no matter how hard I shake that family tree, the same old piss-poor folks pose at family reunions photos and I'm the only one there with a digital camera. It gets harder to get up in the mornings, and my lightening reflexes barley manage a gasp at the startled reflection in my mirror each morning but my manners forbid me questioning the old man that stares back at me. I don't know where to get my beta-max repaired but I am confident the young man on those old tapes never cared or wasted a thought about retirement. if it ever becomes an issue, I still have the lottery.
It's a vicious business cycle.... like back in the early and mid 80's when the "Darlings of Wall St." were the executives who knew how to slice and dice a company back to profitablility... big incentives for those in charge.... not so great for those caught in the squeeze.... Business never learns.... greed and mis-management takes the companies that can survive the roller coaster on the ups and downs of expansion and downsizing... the savy executives make money on both sides of that slope... JMHO....
And us worker bees continue to trust the savvy executives to look out for our best interests. When will we learn to do for ourselves? To save something, to provide for our own futures and not depend on the largess of the companies we work for or the dot gov to give us back the money they have taken from us in the name of continued existance at the margin? Who the hell are we kidding with this business of company loyalty working both ways? 50 years ago maybe, but not now. Bust your butt for your pay, but don't even think there are hidden rewards in the future other than the satisfaction of doing the best you can with what you have to hand. Having enough to live on is liberating when Social Security fails us. And it will. My outlook, and mine only.
Interesting point, I have always believed that some companies have prospered despite what management did, they were just in the right place at the right time to take the credit.
I can tell you now that I am a fer piece from retiring and if I did now, I wouldn't have anything to keep me secure. I know in a few years SS won't be worth a dime and for me to think it will be my safety net is as stupid a thing as I can do. I will prepare for my own retirement by saving what I can so that in my later years if the SS is still there for me then all the better. If not, then at least I won't be messed up. I will live with the barest of essentials and scrimp where I can, though when most are scrimping to make it because they didn't save anything, I will be a leg up having actually saved for a day of scrimping. My lifestyle, while I wish it were more in line with middle class, I am content with what I do have. I have always been that way. Simple things are what appeal to me most. It won't hurt me to go up in lifestyle, though I know a lot of people that it will definitely hurt when they come down to this level. It is better to have a little than to have none, so I prepare now. And yes this very possibility of SS running out or going broke is also a SHTF scenario. If the SS goes belly up, what will follow right behind it?
