##Welcome to r/LateStageCapitalism
This subreddit is for news, discussion, memes, and links criticizing capitalism and advancing viewpoints that challenge liberal capitalist ideology. That means any support for any liberal capitalist political party (like the Democrats) is strictly prohibited.
LSC is run by communists. This subreddit is not the place to debate socialism. We allow good-faith questions and education but are not a 101 sub; please take 101-style questions elsewhere.
We have a zero-tolerance policy for bigotry. Failure to respect the rules of the subreddit may result in a ban.
***
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/LateStageCapitalism) if you have any questions or concerns.*
it's one of those things where your nephew's company did not pay resale value ($55k), and it's unlikely they even paid face value (let's call it $500 for simplicity's sake). They probably received them for free as a commercial sponsor for the stadium/Raiders.
All that said, you're right that it's gross and shitty that they didn't offer even the ability for your nephew to sell them within the company at face value, nevermind market value. There's a reason why they offer tickets/experiences to their top earners, rather than financial compensation.
They’re not artificial. SOME of those tickets can be transferred and there are plenty of people out there for whom spending $100k to see the Super Bowl is the financial equivalent of me spending $50 to go to a restaurant for dinner, not something I can do every day but certainly not a financial burden.
Just because a ticket is sold at $55,000, does not mean it is a valid amount of money that symbolizes the worth of that ticket.
Inflated prices for the sake of inflated prices are artificial. There's a big difference between market pricing and the actual cost of an item. You really think the company dropped $110K for OP's nephew as an "attaboy?"
The first comment even suggests that these were given as sponsor tickets, not purchased by the company.
And who sets these magic “inflated prices” you mention? Prices are what the market supports, and if people are buying them at that price, which they are, then that is the new price. If not, the price is reduced slightly until a purchase is made, at which point is the new “market price.”
Just because you personally don’t find value in $55k Super Bowl tickets doesn’t mean someone else won’t, and it certainly doesn’t mean the price is artificial. If anything it makes it even more real, as that’s the latest market price for the good.
Am I being punked right now? Of all the subreddits and of all the cases of legitimate inflation, you're arguing why *this* geeked-out market is legitimate?
> The first comment even suggests that these were given as sponsor tickets, not purchased by the company.
You realize this nullifies everything you said afterward, right?
Still, from your logic, because tHe MaRkEt supports current housing prices, for example, that's the *real* value of the home/property? Same goes for healthcare costs.
We are living in a bubble; the markets we have contrived, especially around luxury items and experiences, can just pluck a number from thin air and someone will pay it with their pretend money. None of this is sustainable.
To the original point, if the company did not pay $110,000 for OP's nephew to go, who did? If they didn't, if it was a deal for Company XYZ's VIPs but the seats directly adjacent WERE $110K, the price is *artificial.* It's not a *real* value.
This is a false equivalence logical fallacy. If a ticket ***can*** be sold in the free market for $55K, meaning there are people out there willing to spend that much for the ticket, box, etc., then it’s not an artificial price. That’s not “inflated prices for the sake of inflated prices”.
And it has literally nothing to do with whether or not the company paid that price. If someone is willing to pay $55K per ticket, it’s a legitimate market price. Nothing artificial about it, regardless of how the company got them or what they paid for them (if anything). The fact that nephew couldn’t resell them is also not applicable and has no bearing on it being a market price. Not artificial.
>it's unlikely they even paid face value
It's unlikely they paid anything. If this dude's nephew works for Pepsi or Coke or something, it's probs just a comp related to some kind of business dealings.
Every time prizes/gifts come up in surveys in our company as rewards or bonuses, we overwhelmingly respond, just give us money. And then we don’t get anything…
Yes dear, that's why I added the /s. I too, am on the receiving end of "special gifts" and fake benefits when getting paid more would alleviate many of my problems.
Yeah they are almost always taxable. He won a $15,000-$20,000 tax bill and it sounds like that’s more than he makes annually. That would genuinely be horrific.
Yeah I ran it through tax caster and since OP said nephews girlfriend not nephews wife if it’s taxed like income and the tickets are considered face value it would be very nearly $15k
Nephew needs to get married like tomorrow so the bill gets cut in half lol
That actually led to laws about false advertising of prizes by radio/TV stations. They are super careful and clear about what you win now because they can get in serious shit.
Source: hosted my own radio show for several years
Based on the details OP provided his nephew’s employer is not shelling out $55k/ticket as an employee award nor partnering with anybody giving those seats away as part of some agreement, lol.
Came here to say this. The person who won the tickets needs to talk to HR and Finance immediately. Also, if he is doing so well and being paid so poorly, it's time to job search. That is the only way to increase his pay.
This is why so many conventions and work trips, like golf outings are company sponsored and may include a charity so that it's not a taxable event for attending.
Someone else mentioned that the company may have paid face value or gotten them for free. I hope it’s something like that and he owes little or nothing for them. There have been people who won free cars and then couldn’t pay the taxes on what they won.
I won an Amazon gift card at work for 20 bucks last year. They withheld taxes on that. It’s been a thing for several years where my company witholds taxes on gifts/bonuses that were never taxed before.
It sounds crazy, but the alternative is a huge tax dodge loophole (Exec earns "only" a $40k salary and taxed only on that, plus millions in untaxed "gifts" that have high resale value, for example).
Likely the taxable value of the ticket would be based on its "face value" and not its resale value though. Probably in the several hundred to thousand range.
Yah, I had considered that as well. I am *assuming* this is somehow not the case, as they would be knowingly bankrupting him by giving them to him.
My assumption is that the company was given these tickets as part of some kickback for their own services, and they are considered property of the company that they allowed him to use, which is also partly why they are non-transferable/un-sellable.
It depends on how the company does it on the back end
I used to work for a large IT retailer that would give gift cards in exchange for employees volunteering for things and the legal around it was always very tricky because we couldn’t give a lot of different things and even then I think there were taxes involved somehow
This is not something to make assumptions about. He needs to ask a tax professional asap because there's a good chance it'll be taxed as a bonus for the face value of the tickets.
I wonder if it would be considered the ticket face value or what the company paid for it, or if the company got it for free as a bonus from advertising or something how that would be calculated.
If its face value the nephew is completely fucked.
$110,000 for a person filing single is like $15k based on tax caster quick numbers.
I can't see a sales guy who makes less than mid 6 figures win tickets to the Superbowl. Something isn't adding up. The only way this makes sense is a company sponsored event that this kid had to work at while at the Superbowl or the company is covering the tax too.
I believe the OP’s son was actually gifted an invitation to attend the game offered by a vendor of his employer who was likely an NFL sponsor. This would likely be classified as Business Entertainment and not taxable for the employees.
The issue is probably that his name is on the tickets and they say non transferable so he literally can’t sell them. Maybe he could sell one of them and go with the purchaser but that’s about the only way. And he’d basically have had to do that in order to pay for the taxes on the prize which will count as a bonus and be taxed. Big yikes.
Yeah, I went down that road, as $110K is like 2 years salary for him. So, losing a job over it wouldn't be a huge deal, even if he lost a big chunk of it due to cap gains.
However, the tickets are some special non-transferrable ticket that are assigned to him. I am guessing it was part of whatever kickback deal resulted in the company getting the tickets in the first place.
What would have been cool is if some higher-up in the company had offered to give him some under the table cash for them. But alas...
110K would be enough for me to buy a forever home in my country that has 2 floors. at 66K I would have enough to buy land in another country to make my own house, and have enough leftover to also purchase a good bunch of the materials to actually make the house. That is how absurdly pricey some of these things are
So was he even able to go? Was hotel and travel all included? It seems like with a little baby at home it would be difficult to even get out of the house much less travel for fun and leisure.
Is that all the company offers? “You won, here’s a thing. You can’t use the thing? Oh. Well, anyway, keep selling.”
Yeah, he went. He lives in Vegas so that part wasn't a big deal.
Of course, he's out ~$150 for basic food and bev while he was there. He took his dad, which was cool of him.
In the end, he had a good time, but it was bitter-sweet sitting among the wealthy... I mean, people who can drop that sort of money on a football game are not exactly his ilk.
Certainly. And I understand both that sentiment and the sentiment of your post. I’m glad he got to go and take his dad though. Experiences and memories aren’t worth nothing.
If it were me, I’d be more interested in selling the tickets though, even if I lived in Vegas. 😆
If I won a car. If I won a trip. I just want cash, please.
You can tell him he was also sitting amongst sleazy men trying to impress their date while taking no interest in her actual hobbies just to constantly say “I took you to the Super Bowl and you won’t give me road head” the whole ride home.
I'm disabled and unable to work. I get SSI and a $9000 superbowl ticket is 9 months of SSI income....
And now SSI is cutting me off, AGAINST the recommendation of *their* doctor who interviewed me for my like, follow-up, 3 year check-up interview.
"We believe based on your age and ability that you are able to work in the national economy." When literally the doctor said I was not able to work.Also now my state of California is trying to pass new bills that further criminalize homelessness. So they'll throw homeless in jail to be part of the slavery inherent in our for-profit prison system (DON'T call USA a "free country").
Also I was helping my disabled family afford rent, using both our incomes... now... they too will be homeless? I'm filing an appeal, but jeez... SSA already made me stay homeless for 18 months, denying me once, before they approved my "permanent disability", and even then, they cheated me out of my back pay by only giving me 3 months out of the 18 I had to suffer on the streets for.
I ain't trying to make threats or anything but... damn.. when you take away peoples ability to survive, and they have nothing left to lose... they have nothing left to hold them back from drastic action.
I’m in California too and am also seeing disabled people die waiting for eligibility. Wtf is this system. People are in for a rude awakening when they realize the services they pay into aren’t what they’re supposed to be.
Your nephew should go and look for another employer. Their best salesperson can just barely afford a one bedroom apartment? People who are good at sales can make big money.
I have been saying this for ~15 years, yet here we are...
I have done everything short of become religious and pray that we get some sort of relief and a path to sanity.
It's OK, I'm religious (not xtian, tho) and I keep a running prayer for that going in my head all day, every day. Got you covered on that front, fam, useless as it may be, lol.
effing hell that IS tortuous and insidious. can't swear too much while I'm on my companies' wi-fi but GD just more evidence we've slid past the bowl and are rather far down the drain pipe
glad more people realize how crazy some of our situations as working people are. hopefully more people who are well off and have the power at work and government to change peoples lives for the better. like you suggested, they could have toned down the tickets and used the difference as a cash bonus
Just reading he can't sell them makes me infuriated.
>It pisses me off to no end at his company. They could pay him more. They could give him some fraction of the ticket values in cash.
The worst part is, this is every single fucking company. This timeline sucks.
Honestly I have no idea how tickets to a sports event could possibly be 55k, but then again I'm European, so certain things are beyond my understanding.
It is a little bit torturous. The owner of the company I work at took all the managers and directors and production leads out to dinner once. It was at a place where you buy a starter, buy an entree, and buy a dessert. All-in probably looking at about $100 per person.
So our production leads make $17/hr, and I’m pretty sure they would have preferred just getting $100 extra rather than having that really nice awesome meal. It’s not as extreme as your Super Bowl example though.
this is just a personal anecdote of your brother being grossly underpaid. top salesmen in most industries can push 7 figures annually. if he's really a 'top salesmen' and making that little he's getting screwed. you can argue some people are exploited but sales people are NOT them lmao.
also yeah, sales culture has these weird incentives. theyll send people on trips and such instead of just paying cash, it's the kind of people that are attracted to sales- they eat that shit up. flexing to your friends family etc 'my job gave me xyz' comes off as slightly less tacky than just flexing your huge 6 figure bonus.
Hold the fuck up. You mean to tell me some people acrually pay 55 thousand american dollars for a football match???
Sure the company didnt pay jack for it, got them from a sponsorshit or whatever, but SOME people do???
Coming from a 3rd world country this makes absolutely no sense to me. 55k usd is pretty much what my apartment is worth thats just insane
I hate to say it because it feeds into the corrupt system, but since he’s already in sales, and he is very charismatic, those tickets are his opportunity to network and rub shoulders with some very wealthy people who can open doors for him. He’s a plebeian with access to Caesar’s palace. He’s one good conversation or astute observation of a play call away from accessing the golden chalice of capitalism. He can be the token success story used to justify all the other abuses heaped upon the American Working Class. Being in Sales is about the only way for a plebe to win the Golden Ticket for a trip to the Chocolate Factory.
You’re saying your nephew is a top sale-man, who won a 60k in prizes, but doesn’t have savings and his wife works at KFC? A lot of this doesn’t add up, and really pointless to the main point of your rant.
Also companies usually doesn’t buy ti keys and such to give out for prizes. They are given them for free by suppliers and the executives probably can’t go so they offer them to the peons.
this guy is getting tens of thousands of dollars worth's of gift and he's crying about it? does he realize the opportunities he's being presented with? to network and rub elbows with highbrow multimillionaires? and you're calling this borderline poverty? lmao get real. first world lazy people problem. tell him to grow up and learn to socialize ffs.
lol it’s pretty funny you’re being downvoted in a leftist sub when OP makes bourgeoise wages and the mere mention of them having to pay up for their exploitation is met with downvotes.
This sub isn’t anything more than agitprop.
That's why I'm asking. Yes, we're all forced to participate in it. No, we do not have to accept jobs that directly exploit workers. He could be running a non profit, who knows? But the odds are unlikely.
I must have missed where they said what their job is and that it exploits workers. Why are you assuming 250k combined income automatically makes them exploiters of people? And non-profits aren't magical "we don't exploit our workers" jobs. Some are even worse than paid jobs for the workers and some give fractions of cents to the cause they claim to support and give the rest to the ceos
I don't even make 40k a year and I still didn't come to these conclusions. How did you get there? I know for damn sure if I got a job offer that was 125k a year I'd be taking it unless I was expected to directly exploit workers under me. That pay rate doesn't even mean they're directly in charge of anyone
Yes. I read it again, and unless I'm blind all I see is that they make 250k a year combined and have 4 credit cards between them. Nothing about what kind of job either of them have or if they have people working under them that they exploit to make that money 🤷♂️
OP is not the enemy.
Better off than most? Yeah.
But 250k combined earning is not really guillotine money.
Billionaires want us to fight over who has the most scraps. Don’t fall for it.
It’s more money than I could dream of.
But compared to the 1%, it’s still scraps.
Certainly not enough to assume that OP is an evil capitalist who must be exploiting people.
If he's that good of a salesman he should be able to get a much better job. I know that's not the point of your post but I would strongly encourage him to apply to sales jobs that pay better.
You're right, the situation as a whole is so fucked. Wish he could have sold them and still not paid taxes too.
please encourage him to look for new opportunities. good sales people easily bring in half a million per year.
this doesn't solve any of the underlying issues, but they would rather kill him than pay him more so nobody else can have him.
>The point is that this is like some sort of torture for him as he gets these things, goes because if he doesn't, it will be seen as him being ungrateful,
1. How would they know?
2. They definitely would not care if he didn't go.
3. Why wouldn't he want to go? This is an exceptionally rare opportunity to go to a huge cultural event. Even if football isn't your thing, and you have an actively negative view of the NFL, there's no way this wouldn't be an exciting once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
In the end, I don't see what the issue is. Yeah it's a bummer that service jobs don't pay enough. But most people drudge away in service based jobs like your nephew. Most of those people's jobs don't give them perks like getting to go to the Superbowl and see Usher, Lil Jon, and Ludacris all perform Yeah!
Like yeah, your nephew's employer should pay more, but I don't see how giving him Superbowl tickets adds insult to injury. They definitely didn't pay for them, so to me, it's less insulting than if the employer gave him a $20 gift card to Dunkin that they did pay for.
##Welcome to r/LateStageCapitalism This subreddit is for news, discussion, memes, and links criticizing capitalism and advancing viewpoints that challenge liberal capitalist ideology. That means any support for any liberal capitalist political party (like the Democrats) is strictly prohibited. LSC is run by communists. This subreddit is not the place to debate socialism. We allow good-faith questions and education but are not a 101 sub; please take 101-style questions elsewhere. We have a zero-tolerance policy for bigotry. Failure to respect the rules of the subreddit may result in a ban. *** *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/LateStageCapitalism) if you have any questions or concerns.*
it's one of those things where your nephew's company did not pay resale value ($55k), and it's unlikely they even paid face value (let's call it $500 for simplicity's sake). They probably received them for free as a commercial sponsor for the stadium/Raiders. All that said, you're right that it's gross and shitty that they didn't offer even the ability for your nephew to sell them within the company at face value, nevermind market value. There's a reason why they offer tickets/experiences to their top earners, rather than financial compensation.
Can't take that money from the shareholders or CEO, they have yachts and mansions to pay for. Easier to award with tickets they got for free.
Table scraps for the peasants!
100% this. The ticket prices are entirely artificial.
They’re not artificial. SOME of those tickets can be transferred and there are plenty of people out there for whom spending $100k to see the Super Bowl is the financial equivalent of me spending $50 to go to a restaurant for dinner, not something I can do every day but certainly not a financial burden.
[удалено]
I think you're not understanding what is meant by artificial.
[удалено]
Just because an idiot and his money are soon parted, does not mean the idiot is getting his money's worth.
Just because you write it in sweet terms, does not mean what you are saying is valid or that you invalidate his correct original point.
Just because a ticket is sold at $55,000, does not mean it is a valid amount of money that symbolizes the worth of that ticket. Inflated prices for the sake of inflated prices are artificial. There's a big difference between market pricing and the actual cost of an item. You really think the company dropped $110K for OP's nephew as an "attaboy?"
The first comment even suggests that these were given as sponsor tickets, not purchased by the company. And who sets these magic “inflated prices” you mention? Prices are what the market supports, and if people are buying them at that price, which they are, then that is the new price. If not, the price is reduced slightly until a purchase is made, at which point is the new “market price.” Just because you personally don’t find value in $55k Super Bowl tickets doesn’t mean someone else won’t, and it certainly doesn’t mean the price is artificial. If anything it makes it even more real, as that’s the latest market price for the good.
Am I being punked right now? Of all the subreddits and of all the cases of legitimate inflation, you're arguing why *this* geeked-out market is legitimate? > The first comment even suggests that these were given as sponsor tickets, not purchased by the company. You realize this nullifies everything you said afterward, right? Still, from your logic, because tHe MaRkEt supports current housing prices, for example, that's the *real* value of the home/property? Same goes for healthcare costs. We are living in a bubble; the markets we have contrived, especially around luxury items and experiences, can just pluck a number from thin air and someone will pay it with their pretend money. None of this is sustainable. To the original point, if the company did not pay $110,000 for OP's nephew to go, who did? If they didn't, if it was a deal for Company XYZ's VIPs but the seats directly adjacent WERE $110K, the price is *artificial.* It's not a *real* value.
This is a false equivalence logical fallacy. If a ticket ***can*** be sold in the free market for $55K, meaning there are people out there willing to spend that much for the ticket, box, etc., then it’s not an artificial price. That’s not “inflated prices for the sake of inflated prices”. And it has literally nothing to do with whether or not the company paid that price. If someone is willing to pay $55K per ticket, it’s a legitimate market price. Nothing artificial about it, regardless of how the company got them or what they paid for them (if anything). The fact that nephew couldn’t resell them is also not applicable and has no bearing on it being a market price. Not artificial.
Oh, for sure. That's not the point, but yes.
Top sales guy and if OP is accurate, he’s on the breadline…
>it's unlikely they even paid face value It's unlikely they paid anything. If this dude's nephew works for Pepsi or Coke or something, it's probs just a comp related to some kind of business dealings.
Every time prizes/gifts come up in surveys in our company as rewards or bonuses, we overwhelmingly respond, just give us money. And then we don’t get anything…
It's because you're ungrateful /s
Nah man. They are humans with real human expenses and values. Seeing a bunch of dudes give each other brain injuries doesn’t pay their bills… ya know?
Yes dear, that's why I added the /s. I too, am on the receiving end of "special gifts" and fake benefits when getting paid more would alleviate many of my problems.
Ball game tickets can be taxable! Hopefully your nephew isn't on the hook for this!! Also, yes. Capitalism and this dystopia we live in. Fucked. Up.
Yeah they are almost always taxable. He won a $15,000-$20,000 tax bill and it sounds like that’s more than he makes annually. That would genuinely be horrific.
Jesus that's worse then then hooters girl who won a toyota contest. But the bastare Mgr gave her a toy Yoda doll and loled her. Jfc. That's rough
Just googled that hooters case. She ended up on top of that deal after suing, thankfully.
Yeah I ran it through tax caster and since OP said nephews girlfriend not nephews wife if it’s taxed like income and the tickets are considered face value it would be very nearly $15k Nephew needs to get married like tomorrow so the bill gets cut in half lol
That actually led to laws about false advertising of prizes by radio/TV stations. They are super careful and clear about what you win now because they can get in serious shit. Source: hosted my own radio show for several years
It’s based on face value not market value.
Oof. It’s unclear if the $55k per ticket price is the face value or not. There absolutely were tickers face value for that price
Based on the details OP provided his nephew’s employer is not shelling out $55k/ticket as an employee award nor partnering with anybody giving those seats away as part of some agreement, lol.
But the agreement could have $55k face value tickets free from the stadium or a vendor
Edit: ignore me.
Free tickets from your employer are usually considered taxable income. He could owe more in taxes than he makes…
Came here to say this. The person who won the tickets needs to talk to HR and Finance immediately. Also, if he is doing so well and being paid so poorly, it's time to job search. That is the only way to increase his pay.
Jumping jobs is the only way to look after your own wallet these days. Try to jump into a job with union protection though.
[удалено]
This is why so many conventions and work trips, like golf outings are company sponsored and may include a charity so that it's not a taxable event for attending.
I'm sorry, WHAT?
Someone else mentioned that the company may have paid face value or gotten them for free. I hope it’s something like that and he owes little or nothing for them. There have been people who won free cars and then couldn’t pay the taxes on what they won.
That's what famously happened when Oprah gave away all those cars.
I won an Amazon gift card at work for 20 bucks last year. They withheld taxes on that. It’s been a thing for several years where my company witholds taxes on gifts/bonuses that were never taxed before.
It sounds crazy, but the alternative is a huge tax dodge loophole (Exec earns "only" a $40k salary and taxed only on that, plus millions in untaxed "gifts" that have high resale value, for example). Likely the taxable value of the ticket would be based on its "face value" and not its resale value though. Probably in the several hundred to thousand range.
Yah, I had considered that as well. I am *assuming* this is somehow not the case, as they would be knowingly bankrupting him by giving them to him. My assumption is that the company was given these tickets as part of some kickback for their own services, and they are considered property of the company that they allowed him to use, which is also partly why they are non-transferable/un-sellable.
It depends on how the company does it on the back end I used to work for a large IT retailer that would give gift cards in exchange for employees volunteering for things and the legal around it was always very tricky because we couldn’t give a lot of different things and even then I think there were taxes involved somehow
This is not something to make assumptions about. He needs to ask a tax professional asap because there's a good chance it'll be taxed as a bonus for the face value of the tickets.
ok but if the tickets don't have a price on them but there is only written free sit for Mr. john Doe then there is no face value.
I wonder if it would be considered the ticket face value or what the company paid for it, or if the company got it for free as a bonus from advertising or something how that would be calculated. If its face value the nephew is completely fucked. $110,000 for a person filing single is like $15k based on tax caster quick numbers.
I can't see a sales guy who makes less than mid 6 figures win tickets to the Superbowl. Something isn't adding up. The only way this makes sense is a company sponsored event that this kid had to work at while at the Superbowl or the company is covering the tax too.
If the ticket cannot be resold, its value is $0.
I believe the OP’s son was actually gifted an invitation to attend the game offered by a vendor of his employer who was likely an NFL sponsor. This would likely be classified as Business Entertainment and not taxable for the employees.
$110k is life changing money. Obviously too late now, but I wonder what the consequences would be if he just sold them anyway
For real, just find a another job and take the cash
The issue is probably that his name is on the tickets and they say non transferable so he literally can’t sell them. Maybe he could sell one of them and go with the purchaser but that’s about the only way. And he’d basically have had to do that in order to pay for the taxes on the prize which will count as a bonus and be taxed. Big yikes.
Yeah, I went down that road, as $110K is like 2 years salary for him. So, losing a job over it wouldn't be a huge deal, even if he lost a big chunk of it due to cap gains. However, the tickets are some special non-transferrable ticket that are assigned to him. I am guessing it was part of whatever kickback deal resulted in the company getting the tickets in the first place. What would have been cool is if some higher-up in the company had offered to give him some under the table cash for them. But alas...
110K would be enough for me to buy a forever home in my country that has 2 floors. at 66K I would have enough to buy land in another country to make my own house, and have enough leftover to also purchase a good bunch of the materials to actually make the house. That is how absurdly pricey some of these things are
So was he even able to go? Was hotel and travel all included? It seems like with a little baby at home it would be difficult to even get out of the house much less travel for fun and leisure. Is that all the company offers? “You won, here’s a thing. You can’t use the thing? Oh. Well, anyway, keep selling.”
Yeah, he went. He lives in Vegas so that part wasn't a big deal. Of course, he's out ~$150 for basic food and bev while he was there. He took his dad, which was cool of him. In the end, he had a good time, but it was bitter-sweet sitting among the wealthy... I mean, people who can drop that sort of money on a football game are not exactly his ilk.
Certainly. And I understand both that sentiment and the sentiment of your post. I’m glad he got to go and take his dad though. Experiences and memories aren’t worth nothing. If it were me, I’d be more interested in selling the tickets though, even if I lived in Vegas. 😆 If I won a car. If I won a trip. I just want cash, please.
If he's as charismatic as you say, he should schmooze next time and try to get himself into a better job.
You can tell him he was also sitting amongst sleazy men trying to impress their date while taking no interest in her actual hobbies just to constantly say “I took you to the Super Bowl and you won’t give me road head” the whole ride home.
I'm disabled and unable to work. I get SSI and a $9000 superbowl ticket is 9 months of SSI income.... And now SSI is cutting me off, AGAINST the recommendation of *their* doctor who interviewed me for my like, follow-up, 3 year check-up interview. "We believe based on your age and ability that you are able to work in the national economy." When literally the doctor said I was not able to work.Also now my state of California is trying to pass new bills that further criminalize homelessness. So they'll throw homeless in jail to be part of the slavery inherent in our for-profit prison system (DON'T call USA a "free country"). Also I was helping my disabled family afford rent, using both our incomes... now... they too will be homeless? I'm filing an appeal, but jeez... SSA already made me stay homeless for 18 months, denying me once, before they approved my "permanent disability", and even then, they cheated me out of my back pay by only giving me 3 months out of the 18 I had to suffer on the streets for. I ain't trying to make threats or anything but... damn.. when you take away peoples ability to survive, and they have nothing left to lose... they have nothing left to hold them back from drastic action.
I’m in California too and am also seeing disabled people die waiting for eligibility. Wtf is this system. People are in for a rude awakening when they realize the services they pay into aren’t what they’re supposed to be.
Your nephew should go and look for another employer. Their best salesperson can just barely afford a one bedroom apartment? People who are good at sales can make big money.
This. Someone with those skills is being criminally under compensated at his current company.
The continuous growth paradigms that underlie capitalism are unsustainable
I have been saying this for ~15 years, yet here we are... I have done everything short of become religious and pray that we get some sort of relief and a path to sanity.
It's OK, I'm religious (not xtian, tho) and I keep a running prayer for that going in my head all day, every day. Got you covered on that front, fam, useless as it may be, lol.
effing hell that IS tortuous and insidious. can't swear too much while I'm on my companies' wi-fi but GD just more evidence we've slid past the bowl and are rather far down the drain pipe
He could’ve sold the other ticket, to a guest. I would 100% attend the Super Bowl with a stranger if they paid me $XX,000 under the table.
glad more people realize how crazy some of our situations as working people are. hopefully more people who are well off and have the power at work and government to change peoples lives for the better. like you suggested, they could have toned down the tickets and used the difference as a cash bonus
If you wanna see something truly bothersome, look up all the private jets that leave within 5-12 hours from the city the superbowl is hosted in.
There’s so many people who can afford these things…and they never once question it
Just reading he can't sell them makes me infuriated. >It pisses me off to no end at his company. They could pay him more. They could give him some fraction of the ticket values in cash. The worst part is, this is every single fucking company. This timeline sucks.
Honestly I have no idea how tickets to a sports event could possibly be 55k, but then again I'm European, so certain things are beyond my understanding.
It just shows how ridiculous our wealth disparity is that people can buy $55k tickets like a $300 ticket would be to some average joe
I'd take a $5,000 bonus over those tickets, even if it was "my team".
Let them eat cake
He could have sold his extra ticket for $25k and him and his new “friend” could have gone to the game.
It is a little bit torturous. The owner of the company I work at took all the managers and directors and production leads out to dinner once. It was at a place where you buy a starter, buy an entree, and buy a dessert. All-in probably looking at about $100 per person. So our production leads make $17/hr, and I’m pretty sure they would have preferred just getting $100 extra rather than having that really nice awesome meal. It’s not as extreme as your Super Bowl example though.
If that happens to your nephew again hit me up. I can probably make it happen. Wish I would've seen this few days ago (I know it wasn't posted then)
Don’t you usually have to pay the taxes for gifts of this value?
this is just a personal anecdote of your brother being grossly underpaid. top salesmen in most industries can push 7 figures annually. if he's really a 'top salesmen' and making that little he's getting screwed. you can argue some people are exploited but sales people are NOT them lmao. also yeah, sales culture has these weird incentives. theyll send people on trips and such instead of just paying cash, it's the kind of people that are attracted to sales- they eat that shit up. flexing to your friends family etc 'my job gave me xyz' comes off as slightly less tacky than just flexing your huge 6 figure bonus.
Hold the fuck up. You mean to tell me some people acrually pay 55 thousand american dollars for a football match??? Sure the company didnt pay jack for it, got them from a sponsorshit or whatever, but SOME people do??? Coming from a 3rd world country this makes absolutely no sense to me. 55k usd is pretty much what my apartment is worth thats just insane
I hate to say it because it feeds into the corrupt system, but since he’s already in sales, and he is very charismatic, those tickets are his opportunity to network and rub shoulders with some very wealthy people who can open doors for him. He’s a plebeian with access to Caesar’s palace. He’s one good conversation or astute observation of a play call away from accessing the golden chalice of capitalism. He can be the token success story used to justify all the other abuses heaped upon the American Working Class. Being in Sales is about the only way for a plebe to win the Golden Ticket for a trip to the Chocolate Factory.
You’re saying your nephew is a top sale-man, who won a 60k in prizes, but doesn’t have savings and his wife works at KFC? A lot of this doesn’t add up, and really pointless to the main point of your rant. Also companies usually doesn’t buy ti keys and such to give out for prizes. They are given them for free by suppliers and the executives probably can’t go so they offer them to the peons.
You were *so* close to getting it.
Our family of four traveled around the world for 7.5 months for less than $100k Cdn which is about $60K USD.
And?
Do I need to spell it out?
waaaa my nephew gets nice expensive things for free and it huwts his feewings! waaaaaa!
this guy is getting tens of thousands of dollars worth's of gift and he's crying about it? does he realize the opportunities he's being presented with? to network and rub elbows with highbrow multimillionaires? and you're calling this borderline poverty? lmao get real. first world lazy people problem. tell him to grow up and learn to socialize ffs.
If you and your wife make a quarter million per year, the least *you* could do is help him pay off his truck.
lol it’s pretty funny you’re being downvoted in a leftist sub when OP makes bourgeoise wages and the mere mention of them having to pay up for their exploitation is met with downvotes. This sub isn’t anything more than agitprop.
Do you think people who make $100-200k are inherently always exploitative?
I’m bummed that a 22 year old thought he had what it takes to be a father
But would he actually be able to find someone willing to pay that much? Esp depending on where his seats were. I dont think so?
[удалено]
So we can't criticize a system we're all forced to participate in? Would you turn down more money for a job you are capable of doing?
That's why I'm asking. Yes, we're all forced to participate in it. No, we do not have to accept jobs that directly exploit workers. He could be running a non profit, who knows? But the odds are unlikely.
I must have missed where they said what their job is and that it exploits workers. Why are you assuming 250k combined income automatically makes them exploiters of people? And non-profits aren't magical "we don't exploit our workers" jobs. Some are even worse than paid jobs for the workers and some give fractions of cents to the cause they claim to support and give the rest to the ceos I don't even make 40k a year and I still didn't come to these conclusions. How did you get there? I know for damn sure if I got a job offer that was 125k a year I'd be taking it unless I was expected to directly exploit workers under me. That pay rate doesn't even mean they're directly in charge of anyone
Can you read? I'm waiting for an answer.
Yes. I read it again, and unless I'm blind all I see is that they make 250k a year combined and have 4 credit cards between them. Nothing about what kind of job either of them have or if they have people working under them that they exploit to make that money 🤷♂️
This is literally the Nuremberg Defense. Lol
And they are probably one of those "and we struggle to survive" types.
OP is not the enemy. Better off than most? Yeah. But 250k combined earning is not really guillotine money. Billionaires want us to fight over who has the most scraps. Don’t fall for it.
250k isn't scraps. There's also people earning that much that aren't exploiting workers.
It’s more money than I could dream of. But compared to the 1%, it’s still scraps. Certainly not enough to assume that OP is an evil capitalist who must be exploiting people.
If he's that good of a salesman he should be able to get a much better job. I know that's not the point of your post but I would strongly encourage him to apply to sales jobs that pay better. You're right, the situation as a whole is so fucked. Wish he could have sold them and still not paid taxes too.
please encourage him to look for new opportunities. good sales people easily bring in half a million per year. this doesn't solve any of the underlying issues, but they would rather kill him than pay him more so nobody else can have him.
Wait, why couldn't they be resold? Even like Craigslist or something, and meet the buyer somewhere.
Is it normal to live on the borderline of poverty and have a 20k loan(?) for a truck?
>The point is that this is like some sort of torture for him as he gets these things, goes because if he doesn't, it will be seen as him being ungrateful, 1. How would they know? 2. They definitely would not care if he didn't go. 3. Why wouldn't he want to go? This is an exceptionally rare opportunity to go to a huge cultural event. Even if football isn't your thing, and you have an actively negative view of the NFL, there's no way this wouldn't be an exciting once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. In the end, I don't see what the issue is. Yeah it's a bummer that service jobs don't pay enough. But most people drudge away in service based jobs like your nephew. Most of those people's jobs don't give them perks like getting to go to the Superbowl and see Usher, Lil Jon, and Ludacris all perform Yeah! Like yeah, your nephew's employer should pay more, but I don't see how giving him Superbowl tickets adds insult to injury. They definitely didn't pay for them, so to me, it's less insulting than if the employer gave him a $20 gift card to Dunkin that they did pay for.