5 ms·

Out of topic but... > This group includes Olivia Alfano, a 29-year-old single mother living in Evansville, Indiana, where she works as a waitress at Red Lobste

by S4M 10y ago

Out of topic but... > This group includes Olivia Alfano, a 29-year-old single mother living in Evansville, Indiana, where she works as a waitress at Red Lobster. The money is pretty good, she told me: She drives a BMW and was able to buy a house last year. Am I the only one who is surprised by that? (I don't live in the US)

selimthegrim 10y ago
In the comments it was mentioned that she was arrested for involvement in a Haitian cocaine distribution ring out of Miami 7 years ago (as per an FBI press release)
Neliquat 10y ago
In some towns, Red Lobster is a very popular resturant. Its pretty terrible, but is seen as a splurge for the lower class. With the splurge status, tips are often decent compared to other family friendly establishments. Homes are pretty cheap outside the city there. Used bmw's are dirt cheap here, for any doubt see LeMons racing, which is packed with em, at a $500 budget (sans safety gear).
JBiserkov 10y ago
I was rather surprised as well (I don't live in the US either), but the Wikipedia page for the city offers several clues: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evansville,_Indiana#Economy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evansville,_Indiana#Economy
scandox 10y ago
I was surprised by this too. Childcare especially is very expensive where I live. It would hardly be worth going to work here. Edit: incoherence
0x445442 10y ago
In addition to the other replies we have this interesting social custom in the U.S. where certain jobs have been arbitrarily recognized as worthy of extra compensation by the paying customers (tipping). So with a number of states raising minimum wage combined with tips and given the right conditions of cost of living, frugal living, and money management I could see it being pulled off.
- mcguire 10y ago
  As a general rule, the minimum wage does not apply to "tipped" jobs. "The American federal government requires a wage of at least $2.13 per hour be paid to employees that receive at least $30 per month in tips. If wages and tips do not equal the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour during any pay period, the employer is required to increase cash wages to compensate. As of May 2012, the average hourly wage – including tips – for a restaurant employee in the United States that received tip income was $11.82." https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tipped_wage_in_the_United_States https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tipped_wage_in_the_United_St...
  - wtbob 10y ago
    I think that you're misreading that: it states that: a different minimum wage (but still a minimum wage) applies to workers earning tips; and the standard minimum wage still applies if their wages & tips are insufficient to equal the minimum wage. In other words, the minimum wage does apply, and even with tips the employer must pay at least some money. Everyone I know who's ever worked for tips has tended to make quite a lot, considering.
    - mjevans 10y ago
      I'd much rather the real cost just be built in to the experience. However as a single participant in the market I don't have much real hope of affecting that outcome.
alecco 10y ago
This article is quite full of narrative. I bet she has a gigantic pile of debt and gets a lot of help from state. And alimony.
obstacle1 10y ago
Millions of Americans were "able to" buy houses in the mid-2000s. The problem is they bought these houses entirely on credit, wholly without the means to eventually pay for them. Cars are also a type of purchase Americans typically take on debt for. It is slightly more difficult to obtain a loan you shouldn't qualify for these days, but there's plenty of opportunity in the US for those who want to get in over their head. The problem with a story like the quoted is that it presents the superficial elements of someone's lifestyle without giving any actual insight into the fundamentals (i.e., budget) on which the lifestyle is based. So, I guess stuff like this might seem surprising to those unfamiliar with US culture. But my point is it may only seem surprising if the assumption is the person actually paid for those things. It's highly unlikely that a house, car, and kids are in the clear on a part-time waitress salary, and more likely that the person is up to her eyeballs in debt and neglected to mention it.
falcolas 10y ago
Probably all on credit. If your debit to income ratio (ironically, not a measure of your actual debit to income, but of how much money you have to pay off debts every month) is good enough, and your credit score is good enough (influenced mostly by using your credit and paying things on time), you can get some pretty huge loans out of the system. IOW, it matters less if you're living with less than a month's worth of savings, so long as you can afford the payments and have a history of making payments; so here's a BMW.
Paul_S 10y ago
Why is it surprising? She gets alimony. In Europe she'd also get extensive state help.
defen 10y ago
It's hard to say. The given information is consistent with either "nothing strange at all", OR someone who is living far above her means using credit, or has sketchy / black-market income sources. For the "nothing strange at all" argument: Median home value in Evansville Indiana is $105700 [1] - even with a bog-standard 30 year mortgage at 4% with no down payment that's a monthly payment of only $505. A relatively small down payment ($20K via help from parents), and/or some fancy (unwise) 5/1 ARM financing could probably get you below $400/month mortgage payment. Depending on age and model and condition, a used BMW can be had for under $3K. If she owns an above-average home and a new/expensive BMW, then I would say there are important details being left out. [1] https://www.zillow.com/evansville-in/home-values/ https://www.zillow.com/evansville-in/home-values/
mywittyname 10y ago
An attractive woman could probably make $40,000 a year there, maybe a good bit more. I worked at an similar restaurant back in the 2000s and cleared $25k a year working part time, mostly weekends. I'm an unattractive man. The attractive women I worked with would clear double what I made each shift. Evansville is a cheap place to live, relative to the rest of the US. It's doable to raise a family on that salary with help from family for child care.

by S4M 10y ago

selimthegrim 10y ago

In the comments it was mentioned that she was arrested for involvement in a Haitian cocaine distribution ring out of Miami 7 years ago (as per an FBI press release)

Neliquat 10y ago

In some towns, Red Lobster is a very popular resturant. Its pretty terrible, but is seen as a splurge for the lower class. With the splurge status, tips are often decent compared to other family friendly establishments. Homes are pretty cheap outside the city there. Used bmw's are dirt cheap here, for any doubt see LeMons racing, which is packed with em, at a $500 budget (sans safety gear).

JBiserkov 10y ago

I was rather surprised as well (I don't live in the US either), but the Wikipedia page for the city offers several clues: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evansville,_Indiana#Economy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evansville,_Indiana#Economy

scandox 10y ago

I was surprised by this too. Childcare especially is very expensive where I live. It would hardly be worth going to work here. Edit: incoherence

0x445442 10y ago

In addition to the other replies we have this interesting social custom in the U.S. where certain jobs have been arbitrarily recognized as worthy of extra compensation by the paying customers (tipping). So with a number of states raising minimum wage combined with tips and given the right conditions of cost of living, frugal living, and money management I could see it being pulled off.

mcguire 10y ago
As a general rule, the minimum wage does not apply to "tipped" jobs. "The American federal government requires a wage of at least $2.13 per hour be paid to employees that receive at least $30 per month in tips. If wages and tips do not equal the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour during any pay period, the employer is required to increase cash wages to compensate. As of May 2012, the average hourly wage – including tips – for a restaurant employee in the United States that received tip income was $11.82." https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tipped_wage_in_the_United_States https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tipped_wage_in_the_United_St...
- wtbob 10y ago
  I think that you're misreading that: it states that: a different minimum wage (but still a minimum wage) applies to workers earning tips; and the standard minimum wage still applies if their wages & tips are insufficient to equal the minimum wage. In other words, the minimum wage does apply, and even with tips the employer must pay at least some money. Everyone I know who's ever worked for tips has tended to make quite a lot, considering.
  - mjevans 10y ago
    I'd much rather the real cost just be built in to the experience. However as a single participant in the market I don't have much real hope of affecting that outcome.

alecco 10y ago

This article is quite full of narrative. I bet she has a gigantic pile of debt and gets a lot of help from state. And alimony.

obstacle1 10y ago

Millions of Americans were "able to" buy houses in the mid-2000s. The problem is they bought these houses entirely on credit, wholly without the means to eventually pay for them. Cars are also a type of purchase Americans typically take on debt for. It is slightly more difficult to obtain a loan you shouldn't qualify for these days, but there's plenty of opportunity in the US for those who want to get in over their head. The problem with a story like the quoted is that it presents the superficial elements of someone's lifestyle without giving any actual insight into the fundamentals (i.e., budget) on which the lifestyle is based. So, I guess stuff like this might seem surprising to those unfamiliar with US culture. But my point is it may only seem surprising if the assumption is the person actually paid for those things. It's highly unlikely that a house, car, and kids are in the clear on a part-time waitress salary, and more likely that the person is up to her eyeballs in debt and neglected to mention it.

falcolas 10y ago

Probably all on credit. If your debit to income ratio (ironically, not a measure of your actual debit to income, but of how much money you have to pay off debts every month) is good enough, and your credit score is good enough (influenced mostly by using your credit and paying things on time), you can get some pretty huge loans out of the system. IOW, it matters less if you're living with less than a month's worth of savings, so long as you can afford the payments and have a history of making payments; so here's a BMW.

Paul_S 10y ago

Why is it surprising? She gets alimony. In Europe she'd also get extensive state help.

defen 10y ago

It's hard to say. The given information is consistent with either "nothing strange at all", OR someone who is living far above her means using credit, or has sketchy / black-market income sources. For the "nothing strange at all" argument: Median home value in Evansville Indiana is $105700 [1] - even with a bog-standard 30 year mortgage at 4% with no down payment that's a monthly payment of only $505. A relatively small down payment ($20K via help from parents), and/or some fancy (unwise) 5/1 ARM financing could probably get you below $400/month mortgage payment. Depending on age and model and condition, a used BMW can be had for under $3K. If she owns an above-average home and a new/expensive BMW, then I would say there are important details being left out. [1] https://www.zillow.com/evansville-in/home-values/ https://www.zillow.com/evansville-in/home-values/

mywittyname 10y ago

An attractive woman could probably make $40,000 a year there, maybe a good bit more. I worked at an similar restaurant back in the 2000s and cleared $25k a year working part time, mostly weekends. I'm an unattractive man. The attractive women I worked with would clear double what I made each shift. Evansville is a cheap place to live, relative to the rest of the US. It's doable to raise a family on that salary with help from family for child care.