Have we gone too far?

[*Nately120*]

(03-23-2018, 11:37 PM)SunsetBengal Wrote: Easy now, Nately.  I was just thinking of the irony of the most profitable event of the year, paying crippled old women to be security.  It's not like the Super Bowl is broke, and needing volunteers or anything..

Lots of businesses that make lots of money pay minimum wage.  One may even be so bold as to say paying employees minimum wage leads to such events being so profitable.

[*michaelsean*]

(03-26-2018, 11:44 AM)Nately120 Wrote: Lots of businesses that make lots of money pay minimum wage.  One may even be so bold as to say paying employees minimum wage leads to such events being so profitable.

Lotta people making more than minimum wage at that event.  

[*Nately120*]

(03-26-2018, 11:45 AM)michaelsean Wrote: Lotta people making more than minimum wage at that event.  

Right, but not the people who stand at the gates and scan tickets, or check bags, or do a bunch of other things that don't exactly require a phd.  Event operations and gameday staff jobs are pretty much on the same level and pay-grade as flipping burgers.  I don't see what everyone finds so astounding about this.  I used to work a job like this for a team that paid players hundreds of millions of dollars.  I made less than $10 an hour and it wasn't my full-time job, because a normal bill-paying person can't afford to live on it.

Everyone either had another job, had 2 other jobs, was retired, was a student/living with parents, or was disabled, etc.  It's a very low paying job with seasonal hours and that's why it isn't the sort of job that is often staffed with able bodied men who are looking to get off welfare. I moved back to Pittsburgh in 2012 and applied for a security position at Heinz Field just to get the ball rolling and a woman who was barely 20 talked to me for 30 seconds, didn't even notice my resume, and told me everyone starts at $7.15 an hour. Yeah, no thanks. I had to get a real job. That's just the way it is, but I guess I could have complained that professional football players get paid so much, or something.

Have any of you actually been to a professional sporting event?  Have you looked at the people who staff the place? Also, why is the rich NFL supposed to pay these people more money because they have so much? Isn't that what people say McDonalds and Wal Mart should do? I don't see the difference, here.

[GMDino]

(03-26-2018, 11:52 AM)Nately120 Wrote: Right, but not the people who stand at the gates and scan tickets, or check bags, or do a bunch of other things that don't exactly require a phd.  Event operations and gameday staff jobs are pretty much on the same level and pay-grade as flipping burgers.  I don't see what everyone finds so astounding about this.  I used to work a job like this for a team that paid players hundreds of millions of dollars.  I made less than $10 an hour and it wasn't my full-time job, because a normal bill-paying person can't afford to live on it.

Everyone either had another job, had 2 other jobs, was retired, was a student/living with parents, or was disabled, etc.  It's a very low paying job with seasonal hours and that's why it isn't the sort of job that is often staffed with able bodied men who are looking to get off welfare.  I moved back to Pittsburgh in 2012 and applied for a security position at Heinz Field just to get the ball rolling and a woman who was barely 20 talked to me for 30 seconds, didn't even notice my resume, and told me everyone starts at $7.15 an hour.  Yeah, no thanks.  I had to get a real job.  That's just the way it is, but I guess I could have complained that professional football players get paid so much, or something.

Have any of you actually been to a professional sporting event?  Have you looked at the people who staff the place?  Also, why is the rich NFL supposed to pay these people more money because they have so much?  Isn't that what people say McDonalds and Wal Mart should do?  I don't see the difference, here.

May I add that saying were a "security guard" is probably misleading. I'm sure the person was there to provide direction to the crowd and was part of the "security" team...but they probably had more able-bodied person there to handle the rougher stuff.  

In my mind there is nothing wrong at all with him being in that position.  I'd rather focus on the overpaid meathead professional football player that shoved a disabled person out of the way just because he was told he couldn't do something.

[*Nately120*]

(03-26-2018, 12:09 PM)GMDino Wrote: May I add that saying were a "security guard" is probably misleading. I'm sure the person was there to provide direction to the crowd and was part of the "security" team...but they probably had more able-bodied person there to handle the rougher stuff.  

In my mind there is nothing wrong at all with him being in that position.  I'd rather focus on the overpaid meathead professional football player that shoved a disabled person out of the way just because he was told he couldn't do something.

I can only speak of my own experiences with a similar organization, but there was no shortage of people over the age of 60, 70, and in one case 80 who were "security personnel."  Most of event security is watching people and preventing altercations.  Once things get physical you back off and keep it from spilling over into people who don't want to be involved until the police get to the area of the altercation.

[GMDino]

(03-26-2018, 12:12 PM)Nately120 Wrote: I can only speak of my own experiences with a similar organization, but there was no shortage of people over the age of 60, 70, and in one case 80 who were "security personnel."  Most of event security is watching people and preventing altercations.  Once things get physical you back off and keep it from spilling over into people who don't want to be involved until the police get to the area of the altercation.

I have to ask a friend of mine.  I know he works local events.  It is probably different at different venues.

[*Nately120*]

(03-26-2018, 12:21 PM)GMDino Wrote: I have to ask a friend of mine.  I know he works local events.  It is probably different at different venues.

I worked for a baseball team and we were employed by the team itself, and I applied for an NFL team and they were hired by an outside firm that staffed multiple events in the area.  From what I can tell baseball teams have enough events to have their own in-house staff and bring in additional external organization staff during big games/the playoffs where football is so infrequent that it's all handled by a security company.

But both jobs are primarily staffed by part-time, low-wage employees and that is why the employees tend to resemble those you see working at a Wal Mart.  I was truly out of place when I worked there, but I knew it would provide some extra money and look good on a resume.  So I got what I could out of it and moved on.

[*michaelsean*]

(03-26-2018, 12:28 PM)Nately120 Wrote: I worked for a baseball team and we were employed by the team itself, and I applied for an NFL team and they were hired by an outside firm that staffed multiple events in the area.  From what I can tell baseball teams have enough events to have their own in-house staff and bring in additional external organization staff during big games/the playoffs where football is so infrequent that it's all handled by a security company.

But both jobs are primarily staffed by part-time, low-wage employees and that is why the employees tend to resemble those you see working at a Wal Mart.  I was truly out of place when I worked there, but I knew it would provide some extra money and look good on a resume.  So I got what I could out of it and moved on.

Figured people might take those jobs just to go to games.  I have a friend who answers the phone on the sidelines and tracks down whoever they want to talk to.  I think he gets to eat at the buffet and gets maybe $50.

[*Nately120*]

(03-26-2018, 01:02 PM)michaelsean Wrote: Figured people might take those jobs just to go to games.  I have a friend who answers the phone on the sidelines and tracks down whoever they want to talk to.  I think he gets to eat at the buffet and gets maybe $50.

This sounds a little cliched, but depending on the assignment you have, if you are doing your job you don't really get to watch much of the game.  Also, employees who have that "I'm just here to watch the game" approach tend to get placed at the gates where they can stare at the street the whole day.  You have to show you're pretty ok at the job before you get the better assignments, in my experience.

I think the best gig I had was standing at the top of the lower deck in the center making sure no one harassed the ESPN camera man and/or touched his million dollar camera.  That mostly involved watching the game and keeping aware of the people in the area.  But still, they paid me crap to do it.  I mostly took the job because it was a resume-builder and they provided tuition reimbursement.  But hey, this isn't about me so back to whatshisname pushing over some old lady or something.

[*bfine32*]

The latest being thrown around now is that this is made up as "payback' because dude doesn't stand for the anthem