I'm watching the episode where The Connors all go to that fancy restaurant with the inheritance money they got from a dead aunt. It always confused me how they were shocked that Darlene got offered a $500/week job. That's only $26,000/year. Why did they make such a big deal out of it?
shareThat episode was shot in 1991. $26,000 a year in the Midwest would've been considered doing quite well, at least for a starting position, back in those days.
sharemaking about 25k per year in 1991 is probably equivalent to making about 50k nowadays. For someone with no experience, that's quite an awesome starting wage.
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Who is 1991 referring to? This episode was 1996 btw.
shareRegardless, it was an excellent salary for middle America for any year during the 1990's. In my corner of middle America blue collar wages were already going backwards during the 1980's. A local factory was paying long term employees 15-16 dollars per hour but new hires were coming in at 7.50-8.00 dollars per hour and maxing out at 10 dollars per hour. The area dealerships are loaded up with expensive pickup trucks but I don't know who would even be leasing given the cost versus wages.
shareTo further illustrate the decline sit down home style restaurants are closing as the retirees that were fueling them have moved on to dying or the nursing home. A movie theater closed which is much to do with people not having spending money as it does with online competition. If it were not so bleak it would be an interesting thread to speculate on what has closed in Lanford since the end of the series.
shareyeah, when the St Louis Chrysler plant closed, my cousin chose to move/commute to Detroit, share a place with 3-4 other guys, who all left their families down here. I don't know when he comes home, but it's apparently on a semi-regular basis according to his parents on the occasion I talk to them. (his father is my second cousin, and will talk your ear off for hours. I don't know how the rest put up with him!)
anywho, many chose not to leave the area, and I wound up working with a few later on. Most were still sore about losing such a great paying job, but realized the plant closed through no fault of their own. others...well, one stands out in particular. Her first week, she was mad that she "used to make three times what [she's] getting paid to start here!" and that we apparently ran our asses off compared to her old job. after about a week or two, some of the girls got tired of her bitching, told her if she didn't like it, find another job. I think she came in one more day, then no called-no showed, and we never heard from her again.
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