I am disgusted with Ramon the pool boy and my maid lately. Maybe they have found better opportunities (& if you don’t know that they are figments of my imagination- welcome new reader). As a matter of fact, last week I heard a statistic about the unemployment rate in St. Tammany Parish. It is at 3%, which in idiot terms means that if you want to work, you can find a job! Then I hear the usual grumbling that because of the high housing costs, we can’t get workers to fill the low paying jobs. Stop right there folks and think a little bit.

* Nobody wants housing projects in their backyard. This is not a racial thing at all, just a home owner fact of life. And if you ask me, government housing should be eliminated and subsidies given to the most serious cases for privatized homes. Wake up America, public housing is an abyss that has been created by our government and should be abolished. I am all for being charitable and helping someone if they are down on their luck. But, public housing creates a community of misery and perpetuates a cycle of helplessness. Hey – this is my blog and you are all entitled to my opinion.

* Buy a car and/or find someone that has one and pay for a ride. My hubby commutes 45 minutes a day to work – every day. If we could have afforded to do so, we would have lived right near his work – but we couldn’t! Instead, we made the “choice” to live where we live and for him to drive for gainful employment! We are not crying or complaining about the housing costs. Heck, when we retire and have oodles of cash in our freezer bank account, I want a Shotgun house in the French Quarter and a second house for Ramon and the maid in the Garden District.

* Stop making excuses for local issues – think outside the box and take action. If St. Tammany hospital, for instance, needs lower tier wage earners and so does the rest of the town, work together. Set up a network to pinpoint reasonable alternative affordable housing options and offer daily transportation from a selected residence (point A) to your place of employment (Point B). It is that simple! As for New Orleans, y’all need to do the same!!!

* If you are a skilled laborer and want to make some extra cash – consider staying here for a short period of time. If you look hard enough, I bet you can find a reasonable short term lease. Then you can spend a few months working your trade in the area, whether it be home remodeling, roof repair etc… Know that you will have steady work or a couple of months and take your money in hand and head back to your loved ones. Heck, you can make $8 an hour flipping burgers here – not too shabby if you ask me.

* Like I say to my kids, “Quit your whining and go do something constructive.”

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