--- John Thornton <jthorn65 at sbcglobal.net> wrote:
> In spite of all this Cobbs goal is own her own Temp Service so she
> can help
> hundreds of people have an even more marginal existence than hers
> while she
> profits from it? This is warped. She wants to make a $350 a month
> car
> payment and pay $400 for health-insurance and she aspires to pay
> someone
> maybe $800 to $1000 a month while hiring them out to a company for
> maybe
> one and a half times that and pocket the difference. Something is
> seriously
> wrong with this aspiration in my view. Am I being harsh on her? I
> don't
> think so.
It sounds like Cobb could benefit from some serious credit counseling and money management skills, but don't knock her for the $400 insurance premium. Even under allegedly "good" health plans in the corporate world, covering a spouse and two kids with a basic HMO/PPO, vision, dental, life, etc., can run $400 a month.
As for the car, I'd suggest looking at where she lives, first, before criticizing her too harshly. If you live in an area with adequate, usable mass transit, then switching to a good used car is a great option that should be considered. But some locales can turn a good used car into a money pit plaguing you with costly emergency expenditures if you're having to drive 20+ miles a day to work every day in heavy traffic, tho', Joanna, I think you could make a minor fortune picking used cars for people in Houston with your track record! :)
With the temp business, it sounds like Cobb needs to do a bit of homework, too. The temp business is cutthroat, and it takes high volume and razor thin margins to even begin to make a profit, unless she combines it with permanent placement services and uses the commisions from that to float her in the interim. Still, I wouldn't condemn her outright for thinking that a temp position might help others. There are several independantly owned temp agencies in Houston that are owned by women who were once in her position, and those owners have chosen to offer health benefits and earned vacation days to their employees, so don't throw all temp work into one ugly bucket. Temp work can give green grads much needed experience, and it can give others a foot in the door to a permanent position.
Still, I understand what you meant, and it is disconcerting to know that her definition of success could likely perpetuate the very cycle from which she seeks to escape.
- Deborah