A business owner's rant about lazy workers demanding higher pay is setting people off online



A business owner's impassioned rant encouraging new job seekers to add to their skillset before demanding higher pay and fewer hours is angering people online.

What happened?

The rant, which was allegedly posted in a job search group on Facebook, was screenshotted and uploaded to Reddit this week along with the title, "Local business owner shares this tantrum on her page in response to someone seeking employment in a job search group."

But the supposed "tantrum," appears to be nothing more than a poignant exhortation to prospective employees about what's expected of them in the job market.

In the rant, the alleged business owner responds to a job seeker looking for a position paying at least $14 an hour with weekends off by asking what they have done to improve their skills before expecting a cushier job.

"And let me guess," the business owner writes, "you want to be off every night by 5 p.m., [work] no more than 25 hours a week and you expect benefits for your entire family paid by the company!"

"Huh... No!..," she then states.

Later in the post, the business owner writes, "The times may be changing but what change have you made? What online courses have you taken? How many books have you read? What certifications have you completed? ... What the heck have you done to earn anything?"

Image source: Reddit screenshot

The poster explained that even though the U.S. is currently suffering from a labor shortage, business owners should still be "picky, patient, and hire only the studs that are worth the money."

"Business owners," she said, "I encourage you not to fold for just anyone. Ask the hard questions in your interviews and be selective."

Then, turning her attention to job seekers, the business owner encouraged them to "take what's your[s] but don't take advantage."

"In order to get somewhere in life, you have to work for it," she added. "Things will not be handed to you and if you do what is easy, life will be hard. But if you do what is hard, your life will be easier!"

What was the reaction?

The screenshot of the rant was posted on the subreddit "r/antiwork," which describes itself as a forum "for those who want to end work, are curious about ending work, [or] want to get the most out of a work-free life."

As one might expect — given the perspective of this particular online community — reactions to the post were extremely negative:

  • "[This] person has no clue how to run a successful business," one commenter argued.
  • Another sarcastically said, "Lol I love small business owners like this. I love seeing their posts like this. Then later they'll post about how awful it is that their business failed because of amazon or some s**t. Guess you should've worked harder."
  • "If they can’t pay their employees a living wage, they shouldn’t be in business in the first place, banks should really be looking [at these flaws] in their business plan before giving these failed businesses loans," one person suggested.
  • "What you need to do to deserves a live wage: be alive," another agued.
  • "Hiring pandemic? No, it’s a wage shortage," still another said.

Anything else?

The controversial rant comes as many business owners across the country continued to grapple with a severe labor shortage that has plagued the U.S. since the start of the pandemic but has been made worse under the Biden administration.

In November, TheBlaze reported on an Arkansas construction company owner who has been forced to pay "lazy" workers high wages even though they have "no idea" how to perform the job just to keep his business afloat.

At around the same time, the National Federation of Independent Business, a small business lobbying group, revealed that more than half of small business owners in the U.S. reported job openings that they could not fill in September, marking a 48-year record high.

Presumably, job seekers were unwilling to take the open positions due to low pay. Many business owners suspect that job seekers are content to collect federal unemployment money rather than hold down a job.

Baltimore shops fed up with 'prostitution, public urination, and defecation' — and threaten to not pay taxes until there's more police, better services



A group of nearly 40 restaurants and shops in Baltimore's Fells Point neighborhood are threatening to withhold city tax payments and other fees unless they get more policing and better services, WJZ-TV reported.

What are the details?

The 37 business owners signed a pointed letter addressed to Mayor Brandon Scott, Councilman Zeke Cohen, State's Attorney Marilyn Mosby, and Police Commissioner Michael Harrison following a weekend of violence and mayhem that included three men getting shot Saturday night, the station said.

"What is happening in our front yard — the chaos and lawlessness that escalated this weekend into another night of tragic, unspeakable gun violence — has been going on for far too long," the letter said, according to WJZ.

The businesses plan to place the withheld funds in an escrow account until the city meets four demands, the station reported:

  • Pick up the trash
  • Enforce traffic and parking laws through tickets and towing
  • Stop illegal open-air alcohol and drug sales
  • Empower police to responsibly do their jobs

The letter added that minor crimes that police "ignore" are what leads to incidents like the weekend shooting, WJZ noted.

'Prostitution, public urination and defecation'

"When it comes to prostitution, public urination and defecation, and the illegal sale and consumption of alcohol and illicit drugs on the streets, we know these crimes are not as serious as the carjackings, shootings, and homicides that have become routine," the letter also said, according to the station. "But, as this past weekend proved, a culture of lawlessness rarely remains confined to petty offenses and invariably leads to the kinds of violence and tragedy we witnessed late Saturday night."

The letter ended by saying that Fells Point is "one of the crown jewels of Baltimore," and that the small problems could lead to the neighborhood's demise, WJZ noted.

"Frankly, it's pathetic that we have to ask for these basics," the letter also said, according to the station. "But this is where we are."

Here's the full letter:

What did the mayor's office have to say?

"Mayor Scott shares the business owners' frustrations over the violence across the city, and has ordered the Baltimore Police Department, Department of Public Works, and Department of Transportation to work collaboratively to address it," a statement from the Mayor's Office reads, WJZ reported. "The Mayor is working tirelessly to hold people committing violence accountable, remove violent offenders from our streets, and identify illegal firearm traffickers so Baltimore residents can enjoy a night out without fear of endangerment."

Anything else?

Perhaps not coincidentally, Mosby in March announced that Baltimore would permanently suspend prosecution of prostitution, drug possession, minor traffic offenses, and other so-called "quality of life" crimes.

After the program had been in place temporarily due to COVID-19, Mosby claimed violent crime had declined 20%, and property crime had declined 36%: "Clearly, the data suggest there is no public safety value in prosecuting low-level offenses."

Here's another video report about the violence over the weekend — and at whom the business owners are pointing their fingers:

Fells Point business owner blames Mosby, Harrison, Scott for failing to curb violenceyoutu.be

'We just can’t do this anymore': Small business owners say federal unemployment handouts are crippling them



Small businesses across the country have reportedly fallen on hard times in recent months, but not for lack of business. Rather, they suggest that pandemic-related government handouts are keeping much-needed workers out of the labor force.

Business owners from Ohio, Florida, Wisconsin, and North Carolina told the Dispatch recently that pandemic-enhanced unemployment benefits are stymieing their hiring efforts. It seems, they argued, that people would rather collect money from the government while they can instead of working in lower-wage industries such as the restaurant business.

"I've been in business for 33 years ... this is the absolute worst it's ever been," Bill Anderson, who owns Dale's Diner in Waterville, Ohio, told the news outlet. He added that it's primarily back-of-the-house employees such as dishwashers, managers, cooks that he needs.

"Usually, we'll put ads in in different locations to get people and we'll get anywhere from 6 to 12 applications in the first week or whatever and we'll get to take our pick — we'll get to pick the best of that bunch. Within the last couple of months, we don't even get a call — we don't get anything," he added.

Unable to keep up with generous unemployment benefits, Anderson closed his restaurant earlier this month. A line cook at his restaurant typically earns wages of $11 an hour, which amounts to roughly $21,000 a year for a full-time worker, he said.

But current unemployment benefits — which include $300 weekly federal payments often stacked onto similar payments made by state governments — pay much more. The Dispatch reported that an unemployed worker in Ohio could easily make $33,000 or more to stay home.

Last month, federal benefits unemployment benefits were extended to run through September as a part of the Biden administration's $2.25 trillion coronavirus relief bill, which means that things won't be changing anytime soon, even as the country begins to open up again.

"We just can't do this anymore," Anderson told the outlet.

His sentiment was shared by Kevin Rudzki, owner of Juana's Pagodas, a popular beachfront restaurant in Florida panhandle currently short-staffed during the busy spring and summer season. Rudzki said his restaurant has two kitchens but, at the moment, there are only enough workers to operate one of them.

"We're not even seeing applications, we're not even seeing people trying, except ones that are playing the game of filling out the paperwork, so that they can say they tried," he said.

"Normally, I have people lined up to work. I have never advertised for a job — ever. People just show up," he continued. "My competitors are running ads on radio stations, Facebook, etcetera — the same thing. There's no one."

Across the inlet, Paul Ruiz, owner of Where Y'at Seafood, is dealing with the same problem. He closed his restaurant on Tuesdays to give his staff a break, but that hasn't fixed the problem. Even now, he is short a line cook or two.

"You can't incentivize people not to work," argued Ruiz, a longtime Air Force veteran. "You need to have incentives to get people to work, not to stay home. You've got the hard workers who want to have a job, but the others need that motivation."

VIDEO: Glenn Beck surprises business owners hurt by COVID lockdowns after GoFundMe raises more than $250K



A fundraiser set up by BlazeTV host Glenn Beck to support small businesses hurt by the coronavirus pandemic raised more than $250,000 since its launch last month — and on Friday, Beck surprised them with amazing gifts.

"We launched a GoFundMe in December to fight for a few small businesses abandoned by government during Covid-19 lockdowns," Beck said in a post on Twitter. "Today we surprised 3 owners with your generous giving. Here are their stories."

The first recipient, Catherine Hill, is the owner of Miss Kitty's Lounge, a neighborhood bar in Clovis, California. After making her rent payment on time every month since her bar opened in 2013, Hill fell on harder times once the pandemic struck and her bar was shut down by executive order. On top of that, she had been diagnosed with stage 3 breast cancer — now stage 4. Without income due to the lockdowns and the costs of chemotherapy and other medical treatment, Hill was unable to make rent payments for the first time. Her landlords decided to take her to court and are threatening to take away her business and everything else, including life insurance for her kids.

However, when presented with the monetary gift, Hill decided not to save her business but rather to redirect the funds to a charity that specializes in stage 4 cancer research, METAvivor.

Small business owners fighting for survival get MASSIVE surprise from Glenn Beck audience youtu.be

The second recipient, Joe Crowley, owns Breakaway, a community building 20 miles north of Boston which plays host to local and national bands. But after the pandemic led to shutdowns in Massachusetts, Crowley's business was forced to temporarily close down. Adding to the stress of trying to survive the pandemic, last September, Crowley suffered a massive heart attack.

The third recipient, Dave Foldes, is a co-owner of Cronies Sports Grill in California. Foldes became a target of the state government last month when he refused to close down and lay off his employees during the Christmas season despite government orders to do so. Since then, Foldes has been fined $500 a day and now owes the state more than $20,000 for refusing to abide by the lockdown restrictions. In December, Foldes assured Beck that his defiance isn't a political statement, rather he just wants his employees to be able to earn a living and doesn't intend to break his commitment to them.

Then Beck spoke about one additional beneficiary of the fundraiser: A 39-year-old mother of two who tragically took her own life in October after coronavirus restrictions forced her business, Boat Barn Bagels in Cañon City, Colorado, to shut down. The woman's mother said her daughter was a casualty of COVID-19. Now, money from the fundraiser is going to help cover the family's debt.

In an address to the City Council following her daughter's death, the mother pleaded with her community to help small business and business owners struggling to stay afloat.

"She tried to do it, but she couldn't do it and she killed herself," the mother said. "She was strong, she was smart, she was developing the business mind and doing well. I just feel like dollars are more important than just about anything, and then testing so that when the community freaks out, [business owners] can test themselves and their employees."

TheBlaze has refrained from publishing the business owner's name out of respect to her family.

In addition to the selfless giving from so many listeners, Beck also donated proceeds collected last month from Glennbeckart.com to help small business owners.

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