CARBON-FREE BIRDING?
I would like to respond to the mean-
spirited and completely unfair bashing of
Noah Strycker by Phil Henderson in Letters
March 10. We are birders ourselves and were
fortunate to meet this extremely nice young
man on his return from his birding adventures.
Strycker makes a living writing books
about birds. This obviously requires that
VIEWPOINT
he has experiences to write about; and,
like most everyone that makes a living,
it requires travel by car, plane, train, bus,
etc., all not “carbon-free.”
As for “carbon-free” birding, I assume
you have one or more of the following
things: bicycle, backpack, water bottle,
binoculars, shoes, clothes, jacket, etc. All
of them not “carbon-free.” The road you
ride your bike on? Not carbon-free. Your
existence on this planet? Not carbon-free.
Get off your high horse, Mr. Henderson.
If you want to minimize your use of CO2
producing fuel, fine; but that isn’t going
to save this planet. If you really want to
make a difference, you should be out there
lobbying for nuclear power plants, the only
current, cost-effective technology that could
both fuel our cities (almost carbon-free) and
remove CO2 from the atmosphere.
Dena Fowler
Cottage Grove
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BY SE T H CL A RK
Thanks a Lot, Oregon!
THE WAGE HIKE WILL HURT A LOCAL BUSINESS
I
’m not one to usually complain. I typically see
both sides of the equation. But this nonsense of
raising the minimum wage to $13.50 an hour!
How come I didn’t get a vote on this?
Let me explain my personal economics. I own
a small restaurant and have seven part-time employees.
Because of the retirement community in Creswell, we
strive to keep our costs low so our fixed-income friends
can enjoy visits to our business, which serves as one of
Creswell’s social centers. All seven of my employees
make between $9.25 and $10.25 an hour, plus $2 to $3
in tips per hour each shift. My wife and I on the other
hand bust our butts 56 hours apiece each week at the
shop for $8.91 per hour. You can do that math if you
wish to figure our earnings.
Now let’s match that scenario with one of the
common arguments for increasing the minimum wage.
“People deserve to make a living — shouldn’t a single
mom who has two kids and works 60 hours a week be
able to afford a home and food on the table?” Yes! An
astounding yes! I agree completely with this. I believe
in the American Dream. I believe every man, woman
and child should live a life of peace and be able to afford the things that make them
happy. Yes, people should be able to buy a house; yes, people should have a reliable
form of transportation; yes, people should be able to spend quality time with their
loved ones. These are inherent necessities of our times and culture.
To accomplish this American Dream, my wife and I bought a coffeehouse.
Some people assume owning your own business assures a few things like, making
enough money to live comfortably and taking time off whenever you want. Anyone
who owns a small business can tell you how wrong that is. Six years in business
and we still don’t make minimum wage, and free time is at a premium. In addition
WE ARE EXCITED TO
ANNOUNCE NEW
EXTENDED HOURS!
to the 56 hours per week we each spend in the shop, we
run errands — like picking up fresh produce and pastries
— about 288 days a year. We don’t get paid for this time
but it’s what is required for the shop to work.
Some Oregonians have determined that $13.50 an hour
is a livable wage. Um, over the past five years, $8.91 (or
less) has bought us a small house, an economical car and
food on our table. But for the sake of it, let’s pretend that
$8.91 is not a livable wage, that in this lovely state we call
home it is now $13.50 an hour. I spend roughly $80,000
a year paying my seven employees to run our shop six
days a week. I can’t afford to spend more on payroll. If
I bumped all seven of my employees up to $11 an hour
and include the taxes I’m forced to pay on their behalf
that total would rise closer to $92,000 a year, an additional
$12,000. If I am able to do the same level of business as
last year, and all my other expenses stayed the same, we
would pay ourselves $12,000 less a year. Our new hourly
wage is $6.85 per hour. Now, how am I supposed to afford
a home, food on the table and medical bills for my wife’s
pregnancy and our first child?
Do people need to make a livable wage? Absolutely, I
just wish I could make that wage while also paying it to my employees. The bottom
line is, we can’t unless we operate with just three employees so we can make at
least the same dollar figure we made last year. That will get interesting around
September when my wife’s water breaks. Oh, and there will be four additional
unemployed people in our community who lose their jobs to the wage increase.
It doesn’t sound like a winning combination to me. So again, I ask, how come
I didn’t get to vote on this?
Seth Clark and his wife own and operate Creswell Coffee Co. in Creswell.
NoDak
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eugeneweekly.com • March 31, 2016
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