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Systematic discrimination, my a$$… I’ve had to pee in the cup for every job I’ve had in the last 20 years.</p>
<p>Another objection was that the jobs at the low end of the ladder were “disrespecting” and that young males did not want to take these jobs because their peers would not respect them.</p>
<p>This is very sad. One thing I’ve noticed in some lower-income communities is that the GIRLS are willing to take these jobs and the boys are loafing around (likely mooching off the girls). Now, why isn’t mooching off working young ladies “disrespected”???</p>
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<p>I’ve had a few jobs now, and I’ve never been drug tested once. I suspect that it may be that companies don’t want to filter out weed smokers (even if they might want to filter out anyone else), but may be forced to if they were to drug test, though I really have no idea. Does anyone have any insight into this? As in, why is it generally that some companies drug test and other similar companies don’t?</p>
<p>I was wondering the same thing. My H is an 30 year employee of a large utility. He has been drug tested since day one. I am a public school teacher and have never been tested.</p>
<p>However, starting this year, in MA all teachers will be fingerprinted and those will be processed and filed with the FBI. By the way, the teacher will pay for this out of pocket.</p>
<p>Should I feel demeaned? (gotta admit, I do)</p>
<p>To get back to the original scenario: our congregation has recently gotten involved with an organization that is working to try to make a real difference. </p>
<p>[Learn</a> About Dart « DART](<a href=“http://www.thedartcenter.org/learn-about-dart/]Learn”>http://www.thedartcenter.org/learn-about-dart/)</p>
<p>A description of what they do:
</p>
<p>It’s just getting started in our community, but so far it’s promising.</p>
<p>EPTR,
I don’t recall being tested for drugs, but I know I had to be finger printed in FL and CA, to be licensed to work with children.</p>
<p>Some industries drug test. I was tested when I went to work for an auto dealership conglomerate. They didn’t want druggies handling their $50,000 cars – certainly a reasonable requirement – and decided to test everyone to be fair, even the folks like me who didn’t get near their cars.</p>
<p>S1 has been drug tested before being permitted to work in hospitals.</p>
<p>Drug testing may be controversial, but it seems to be here to stay. Young people can weigh the pros and cons to drug testing vs no job.
I think this church member’s attitude is defeating the attempt to encourage young people to have a better future. What’s left for them if they aren’t employed?
Jobs bring more than income and experience- they bring pride and accomplishment. Peer pressure is a tough thing to overcome, but someone role modeling for young people would go a long way. Are there any adults in the church who are willing to do this?
For the record, when I go to the grocery store, I see a diverse group working at the register, including retirees adding to their income, graduate students, high school honor students saving for college, and people from low income families. There’s no shame in it. What a nice peer group for a young person starting in the workforce.</p>
<p>2 of the 3 jobs I had in the investment industry required drug testing, with one having a surveillance program. The theory was we controlled a significant amount money and if you had a drug habit, you might make poor decisions while under the influence or give inside information to someone in exchange for money to feed your habit. </p>
<p>I don’t see these concerns with a grocery bagged, however.</p>
<p>What some of you seem to be forgetting is that many companies will face questions regarding legal liability if one of their employees does something and it is found that this employee was under the influence of some substance. </p>
<p>Don’t see it for a grocery bagger or kid who cleans up Aisle 8? How about if that kid perhaps overloads a grocery bag, it rips open in the parking lot, and while leaning over to pick up the mess the customer trips on one of the cans? Or that kid really doesn’t clean Aisle 8 that well, and a customer slips on the missed spill? Now it comes out that the kid had traces of an illegal subtance in his system? Don’t you think an ambulance-chasing lawyer will look into that when getting ready for his case agains that grocery chain?</p>
<p>Drug testing costs a company money. Do you really think they want to spend that money if it wasn’t in their best (read: “bottom line dollar”) interest? They may also perhaps want to hire someone reliable who is there to WORK and DO THE JOB, and have found statistically those under the influence ar usually the least reliable to accomplish that.</p>
<p>I’m sorry, but these two issues scream “EXCUSES” to me, especially the “it’s beneath me to do this” arguement.</p>
<p>Any job that involves driving or potentially involves driving will require a drug test, as will jobs requiring any use of heavy equipment. Which includes the little carty things in Home Depot and in the supermarket. That’s an insurance and liability issue, no matter what race you are. My husband is both a truck driver and a stock person in a supermarket. Both drug test.</p>
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<p>If there is a potential for the employee to be injured on the job even in a sober state, you bet they will drug test. They do not want to pay worker’s comp to an employee who is hurt on the job if that person was impaired and thus contributed to his injury.</p>
<p>As a nurse, I am subject to random drug testing, for very obvious and sound reasons. They do not want impaired nurses giving patient care. That is pretty “convincing” rationale to me. Also, diversion is a problem in health care. Do you want your nurse substituting Tylenol and taking your loved one’s pain pills home for her own use? It happens more than you would hope, and drug testing is a way to at least give some nurses pause before diverting. Probably a bandaid on an arterial bleed, but they have to at least try to make a dent.</p>
<p>Once I threw my back out bending over drawing blood from a patient (poor body mechanics on my part). I could barely walk to the nurse’s station to tell my boss. She was required by policy to send me to employee health, where they promptly drug tested me, then sent me home. It was clearly about worker’s comp concerns. I wasn’t interested in worker’s comp, I just wanted to go home, take some Aleve, and lie down.</p>
<p>I’m disgusted by the attitude that any entry level job is somehow beneath these young people who have not yet gained any skills or experience. I know plenty of adults, middle aged and older, who came from comfortably middle class backgrounds yet expected to have to do all sorts of unpleasant work in their first jobs. As was said earlier, if their friends disrespect them for doing honest work then they need to drop those friends. </p>
<p>Not one of my H’s friends gave him any grief for his job that entailed emptying bed pans, cleaning bodily fluid spills, etc. when he was in high school. In college he worked 20+ hours/wk. scraping dishes in the cafeteria kitchen, degreasing the fryer, etc. People respected how hard he worked and that he managed to carry a full load (18 sem. hrs. in college) and earn good grades, too. </p>
<p>The idea that there’s shame in any sort of honest work is abhorrent to me.</p>
<p>I’ve been drug tested with several companies including one that drug tested contracted employees also. I think it depends on the company and the industry. In both cases I was working for manufacturing companies where it was critical that in some positions the workers be drug and alcohol free and the company made the decision to randomly drug test ALL positions, white, blue, factory, corporate. Does it bother me on the surface? – not really, we do many things we may not totally agree with when we agree to work for an organization.</p>
<p>I, too, am disheartened by the cavalier attitude that some young people and not just minority young people have, about working ones way up the proverbial ladder. The entitlement mentality exists not only with the wealthy. I support tighter requirements around welfare of any type.</p>
<p>I’m disgusted by the attitude that any entry level job is somehow beneath these young people who have not yet gained any skills or experience</p>
<p>Unfortunately, there are communities where black market “businesses” and drug dealing yields so much more money that starting at a bottom rung job just isn’t appealing.</p>
<p>It isn’t clear to me from the original post whether it was the young men who thought the entry-level jobs would bring them “disrespect” or if it was the opinion of one of the church members. If it were me, I would present the opportunities to the unemployed young men and see what happens. I am just not making the connection between peer respect and having a job. So what kind of job would bring peer respect?</p>
<p>Maybe that’s the weird thing here. I have respect for all people doing all work. I come from a blue collar background. It was really important to me that my kids have experience with that kind of work before they went to college. </p>
<p>The odd thing is how much they both enjoyed those high school jobs, and how proud they were of those pay checks and it’s really carried over into life with my oldest. My youngest it’s too soon to know, though, I suspect it will be the same. </p>
<p>When she was offered a management position last summer, she was as proud of that as of her college acceptance. “Well if you ever want to come back, we will find a place for you” is really nice to hear from the place where you started out washing dishes.</p>
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<p>I would agree.</p>
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<p>“Why Do Drug Dealers Still Live with Their Moms?” is a great chapter in Freakonomics. Yes, the ones on the top of the drug selling chain make $$$…the ones doing the grunt work, they live with mommy because the income just isn’t ‘all that’. </p>
<p>However, the street creed is greater for drug dealers than it is for loading dock workers. So the question becomes …how to change an entire cultures attitude…and I for one don’t have a good answer…</p>
<p>Aren’t the church members who are saying this from the targetted community? If so, I don’t think they’re just guessing. I think they know of what they speak. If these church members are from the community then they’re hearing this from sons, grandsons, nephews, and so forth.</p>
<p>So what kind of job would bring peer respect?</p>
<p>From what I understand, a job that pays very well and has some time flexibility. A job that is low paid, requires a schedule prepared by “the man,” requires an ugly uniform, requires evening/weekend hours, will be disrespected. </p>
<p>As for why do many drug dealers live with (mooch off) their moms…lol…yes, that is true. Not only do they not have regular income, but they often blow the money that they get on “flashy stuff”. They also don’t often have the ability to show “credit” and “income” in order to rent an apt. </p>
<p>The working young ladies in those communities are often targets for mooching as well. Some complain that these guys “show up” whenever they know that these young ladies have just gotten paid.</p>