Paul Fairie

@paulisci

Jul 19, 2023 • 93 tweets • 19 min read • Read on X

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The Long History of Nobody Wants to Work Anymore

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2002

"I can't fill the jobs. It just seems kids don't like to work anymore." --The Post-Star, 12 April 2002

2001

Hauling off garbage, ordering merchandise and everything in between; she does it herself -- by hand, the old-fashioned way. "People don't want to work hard anymore," Fandel said. --Southern Illinoisan, 14 January 2001

2000

Winter is the hardest for the towing business for both operators and their trucks. Gonzales said he works alone because "nobody wants to work anymore." --The Santa Fe New Mexican, 22 November 2000

1999

"Nobody wants to work anymore," Cecil said. "They all want to work in front of a computer and make lots of money." --Tampa Bay Times, 10 November 1999

1998

Kinney blamed the mugging on idle hands, saying young people don't want to work anymore. She also said Americans just don't treat old people the way they used to. --Times Leader, 21 July 1998

1997

He said: "We saved jobs at Airdrie and created jobs in Alness. "But nobody was interested in saving those jobs -- neither the Highlands and Islands nor the Scottish Office." He added: "The problem is the same as it always has been in Scotland. Nobody wants to work." --Daily Record, 17 May 1997

1996

The other day he clobbered me while I was waiting to catch the bus. Not a single person had shown the remotest interest in his job. "What wrong with this country?" he bemoaned. "Nobody want to work. Nobody want to work. I put an advert in the paper and nobody reply. Nobody want to work." It seemed a good idea to agree with this assessment -- but he is right. --The Birmingham Post, 16 November 1996

1995

At which Raymond Boutte rejoined the convers[at?]ion, "They (prisoners) got it better in jail than they do on the streets. Now what kind of punishment is that?" That phrase seemed to trigger a response from Sorrel. "Nobody wants to work anymore. People just want a free ride nowadays." "Almost everybody who comes in here is conservative," noted Clyde. "We had a liberal in here this morning. Most of them won't admit it." --The Daily Advertiser, 7 January 1995

1994

One of the biggest reasons there is such a constant turnover of drivers, Filipowicz said, is that people don't realize how much work is involved in the job. "It used to be a good day's work for a good day's pay," he said. "Not a lot of people want to work anymore." --Omaha World-Herald, 17 April 1994

1993

045 Sales Help Wanted SALES $ ACT TODAY $ I have had such a tough time finding the right person to run many confirmed qualified leads. Does anyone out there want to work anymore. --Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 31 October 1993

1992

Why work if you can get on welfare I don't understand the welfare system. I earn $1,000 a month and support a family of four. A person on Social Security receives less, but a family of five on welfare and food stamps receives about $800 total. No wonder nobody wants to work anymore. --The Times (Shreveport, La.), 29 January 1992

1991

WHATS WRONG? Doesn't Any One Want To Work Anymore? I need 10 motivated Bahama Vacation Sales Reps. to start immed. Average $250-$1000 per week. Day & night shift avail. if you want to work. --Tampa Bay Times, 15 December 1991

1990

The man turned to his companion and shrugged. "See," he said. "I told you. That's why the economy has gone to all pot. It's hard to get good help because nobody wants to work any more." --The Galveston Daily News, 3 April 1990

1989

Coppola said he has hired six people to work at the new store and will probably hire another five. About five people will work inside and another six will deliver food, he said. Coppola said of the hiring process, "It's not easy, believe me. Nobody wants to work anymore." --The Evening Sun, 16 December 1989

1988

And how would Rasmussen change the world? "I would like to see a country with more of a will to be on top. People don't take things like the draft seriously anymore, and this attitude isn't good for our country. We could end up like England -- a has-been country. "We've turned into such a consumer country that nobody wants to work anymore. I would also go for a better outlook on the U.S. abroad, letting others come to respect us as people who want to help." --Reno Gazette-Journal, 12 June 1988

1987

I'm 73 and as long as I can remember, American workers have had the highest standard of living in the world. All too many American workers don't want to work anymore, and all it seems they have on their brain is "strike -- give me more," which only drives up the American cost of living. --Lancaster New Era, 11 February 1987

1986

Doesn't anyone want to work? I am getting sick and tired of hearing how bad the economy and unemployment are. Nobody wants to work. Too many fat welfare and unemployment checks. In this past year, I had four occasions on which to base my facts. --The Courier-News, 23 October 1986

1985

It takes five or six hours to set up the rides and have them ready to run, Merriman says. Disassembling goes faster; the midway can be packed up and ready to go in about 2 1/2 hours. Personnel problems are a big headache. "We've got a bigger turnover out here than General Motors," Merriman says. "Nobody wants to work." --The Dispatch, 10 July 1985

1984

Is this country of ours going to hell in a handbasket because people don't want to work any more? --CONCERNED IN PHILADELPHIA --The Vancouver Sun, 18 January 1984

1983

Lipshutz told the council members that of the 34 prisoners who were awaiting arraignment when he went on duty at 3:30 p.m. yesterday, 15 of them had been arragined by 11 p.m. But he said all of them could have been processed in that time if the police employees at the detention center had moved them along faster. "What do you think the bottleneck is?" Mrs. Verna asked. "Nobody wants to work," Lipshutz replied. --The Philadelphia Inquirer, 9 January 1983

1982

"Now we have 30-year-old persons who are in responsible positions who were brought up on that and they are now making (television) tapes.. just constantly feeding the cancer," he said. "I don't know if there's a way out of it any more." "We are the spoilers. We are so fat and lazy. The art has been made so anybody can do it." Lo Bianco said deteriorating television fare has produced a "synthetic society" in which "nobody wants to work any more." --The Stuart News, 14 May 1982

1981

While the negotiations go on between the owners and players, the St. Charles Post went out on the street on Monday to ask pedestrians what they think of the baseball strike. Following is a sampling of their thoughts: Carrie Rhodes of St. Charles "I think it stinks. They (they players) are a bunch of crybabies. Nobody wants to work anymore. The whole country is going downhill." --St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 16 June 1981

1980

Commenting on Gasparri's remark about him being a rare craftsman, Lupi said it was because the young people today don't want to learn about construction. "Nobody wants to work anymore. I got three sons; they don't want to know about it. They just want to go to school, get a job in an office, wear a shirt and tie. Now, what kind of work is that for a man?" He threw up his hands. --The Journal News, 6 January 1980

1979

"Nobody wants to work anymore." --disgusted businessman --News-Journal, 9 May 1979

1978

Contacted Tuesday night, Bruckhart said he no longer has much interest in township business, but noted that the quality of the roads appears to have lessened since he was in office. "All good things come to a stop," Bruckhart commented. "Nobody wants to work anymore." --Intelligencer Journal, 23 August 1978

1977

"I go to the office expecting to find that certain work has been prepared for me by other staffers. Instead, I find nothing done. I work in an office pretty much staffed with leftists. "They seem to spend their time talking about their rights and plotting how to take the company to court for violating this or that clause in their work contract. Nobody wants to work these days. If I should suggest that more work be done, then I'm antiworker. "I honestly think I'm becoming a fascist." --Chicago Tribune, 9 July 1977

1976

Popular notion in the United States has it that "nobody wants to work anymore." It is said that "workers are interested only in pay and benefits;" "the puritan work ethnic [sic] is dead and buried;" and "those under 30 have no morals, no worthwhile goals and are difficult or impossible to manage." --Thousand Oaks Star, 18 November 1976

1975

Knott believes the present government's welfare system has "ruined the work force." He added: "No-one wants to work any more. They are all on welfare. They receive money from the government which enables them to lead a lazy life. They tell you openly they will work for a couple months and then go on welfare or unemployment insurance." --The Vancouver Sun, 23 July 1975

1974

"Athletics usually reflect the mood of a country," he said. "It seems nobody wants to work anymore. They want money but don't want to work for it. "The same is true in athletics. Fewer and fewer people want to make the sacrifice to work at it. --The Palm Beach Post, 27 January 1974

1973

Argument Given The furniture manufacturer did not give up without an argument. He said, "Still, with this state's right to work laws, perhaps we ought to go ahead and integrate the chimps, educate them and put them all to work. That is, if they would do some real, hard work. It's got so nobody wants to work hard, anymore. Without all the fringe benefits, or with them. It's got so the help wants to see the boss's financial statement. It would shock the pants off most employees if they did see it and see how much the boss didn't make and how much he has to pay in taxes. --The Monitor,...

1972

Anyway, nobody wants to work anymore. "I got a couple of teenagers a few weeks ago, paid the, $1.65 an hour. They quit after four hours. Said it was too much trouble and the pay wasn't enough. You tried hiring anybody lately?" --Birmingham Post-herald, 10 July 1972

1971

What has brought about the demise of the former king of fuels? "Convenience," answered Stanley Kijek, disgustedly. "Nobody wants to work anymore." --The Mercury, 8 December 1971

1970

Due to the unions, the skilled man -- backbone of an industry -- has become the workhorse for the unskilled -- the lazy employee who knows but one thing: demand the sky. Everybody wants to be a salesman, a white-collar worker, an executive. Everybody wants to see their children go to college. Nobody wants to work anymore. --Calgary Herald, 7 August 1970

1969

"The political situation here deformed the economy in the 1960's and this is going to happen all over again. No one wants to work anymore. At the only trade union meeting I went to recently, they only discussed how we could avoid working but still get more pay. The morale is terrible." --The Baltimore Sun, 8 June 1969

1968

cartoon of two bored looking business executives "The trouble with people today is -- nobody wants to work!" --The Palm Beach Post, 31 July 1968

1967

'Nobody Wants to Work' Larchmont, N.Y., garage operator -- "My big obsession is getting decent help. This labor problem is awful. Nobody wants to work. Nobody wants to do a good job. Everything is sloppy." --Asbury Park Press, 24 September 1967

1966

Nobody wants to work any more -- like the panhandler who hustled Milton Berle with "Can you spare 50 bucks, mister, so I can take the rest of the day off?" --The Tampa Times, 27 April 1966

1965

"No one wants to work any more," he went on. "Why, if women could, they'd buy their babies in cans these days." --Detroit Free Press, 12 May 1965

1964

Niles Supervisor William Morgridge, chairman of the judiciary committee, said yesterday that his committee has been studying the shorter week and might recommend it at this month's supervisors' meeting. --The Herald-Palladium, 5 March 1964

1963

Does Anybody Want to Work Anymore? --Delaware County Daily Times, 15 August 1963

1962

"The government does so much now that nobody wants to work hard anymore. Where does all this farm program get us? We had the surplus program years ago, and we still have it. Before the election, Mr. Kennedy had all the answers. Now he doesn't seem to have any answers. He is a rich man and the son of a rich man. He thinks in a different bracket from us." --The Herald, 25 April 1962

1961

"TURNOVER in this business is tremendous also. And no one wants to work anymore, it seems. Hoists are doing what hands used to do. Instead of lifting a 50-pound steel beam, now they'll use a hoist. Workmen used to consider it almost an honor to lift that steel and put it in place. But not anymore." --Arizona Republic, 6 February 1961

1960

"PEOPLE today only think about pleasure. Nobody wants to work. They are all too busy crying out for less work and more pay." These comments were made not by a fist-shaking orator, but by a woman drawing on 100 years experience of life. --The North Wales Weekly News, 17 March 1960

1959

"Nobody wants to work anymore," she said. She warned that "the forces of evil are constantly at work," and called on "Christian thinking" to combat them. --The Olympian, 18 May 1959

1958

It is a universal complaint that nobody wants to work any more, or only enough to "get by." Employers are frantic for dependable employees. When young people apply for their first job, the first questions many of them ask are, "When will I begin to draw a pension? How many coffee breaks in a day? How many paid holidays? How long and how frequent are the paid vacations? And if I work more than 40 hours in the 144in six days, do I get time and a half?" --The Fresno Bee, 15 June 1958

1957

Today, when men are in a hurry and women are likewise, the mark fo many accomplishments turns out to be that they are done with deception. This is easy. Nobody wants to work any more. To knit a set of tiny garments, as the coy gossip columnists put it, a woman needs only flip a switch on her handy home knitting machine. The result is more polished than the booties it took her mother a month to click out. --Calgary Herald, 10 January 1957

1956

'Look, Ma, No Brains' That's the modern battle-cry, for no one wants to work anymore. Page 18. --The Jersey Journal, 12 December 1956

1955

Joe Garcia said his Albany State wrestling squad has dropped from thirty to 12 candidates. "Guess nobody wants to work anymore." --The Troy Record, 22 November 1955

1954

The two chaps in the pit stopped digging and watched as Ef ran all around the area drawing lines. She spotted their inactivity and cursed them soundly. "Nobody wants to work anymore," she said. --Pasadena Independent, 20 May 1954

1953

"My husband has only one day a week off and has been working like a dog to make our home the way we want it and to enjoy some outdoor living with our children and friends. Every time he starts to work on his day off we get company from the city. "We have been here almost a year, but have had only three days alone, without any company. Nobody wants to work, they all want to sit around with a drink in their hand and give my husband advice on how a certain project should be done. --The San Francisco Examiner, 9 December 1953

1952

I heard somebody say the other day that everybody was getting too darned lazy and nobody wants to work anymore. That's the truth if I ever heard it. --The Evergreen Courant, 29 May 1952

1951

The actual contact time in football is only about 12 minutes spread over from two hours to two hours and a half. But evidently they either can't take it or won't. And most of the time it is the latter. They don't care for the sober business of doing the same thing over and over again. They want change, they want variety -- and they want rest. As one elder put it, "Nobody wants to work hard on a job anymore. Everybody wants to be a vice president." --The Brooklyn Daily Eagle, 1 December 1951

1950

Last week was the first time in my life that I have seen navvies smoking cigars while working, but it appears these days that nobody wants to work. They all want money for nothing. --The West Australian, 2 May 1950

1949

"New Zealanders have confused social security with social equality," Clark said. "Nobody wants to work any more. Servants have all but vanished. You can't even find a shoe shine boy. A few of the more fortunate find cooks but the help insists that employers treat them like one of the family." --Gisborne Herald, 12 April 1949

1948

Mr. Mahon stated that everybody was thinking about the big situations. But there are a few little things we ought to pay attention to. "It seems to me nobody wants to work any more. It used to be that we'd point to a man on the streets and say "he lays more brick than anybody else in town, and that man was a hero. Now there's a tendency away from work. In every nation in history that ever went down, its people quit." --The Columbia Record, 9 June 1948

1947

Many employers are in despair because nobody wants to work any more. They got their first education from the FDR regime, which was more pay and less work. Today you can't even hire anyone to work at enormous wages. They have been told that when they have an education they don't need to work any more. Just sit around and draw big pay, but the world is not made that way. Without production there can be no wealth, and without work there can be no results. -- Ex. --The Fairbury Journal-News, 2 October 1947

1946

One can hardly blame Mr. Triplett for deciding that what the country really wants is not a full employment but a no employment bill. Coming straight to the point, he has introduced a measure in the Virginia House of Delegates to abolish employment altogether. "Nobody wants to work any more," he explains, "so I propose to prohibit work." His bill would make it unlawful for anyone to work for any other person for a consideration and provide fines up to $100 for the first violation and up to $1,000 for the second. --Elizabethton Star, 21 February 1946

1945

Workers Shoot Craps Nobody wants to work any more, it seems. "I saw workmen shooting craps instead of loading express. The elevators -- both freight and passenger -- were idle for an entire week. During the strike the town just about closed down. People just didn't come to work. They stayed home or else got in the picket line. Nothing was running. --The Daily Ardmoreite, 10 October 1945

1944

Election year... war going on... the wettest season since Noah launched his ark... nobody left but old men... nobody wants to work... a scarcity in all lines... everyone hoping the war will end... airplanes thicker than automobiles... the tired business man is no myth these days... fifth war loan coming up... plenty of money to more than subscribe our quota... tempus fugit! --The Leader, 2 June 1944

1943

"NOBODY WANTS TO WORK FOR COLLEGE EXPENSES!" ELON COLLEGE - Defense plants and shipbuilders are not the only ones having labor shortages. Elon college is finding it a might hard task to find help enough to prepare and serve food for the aviation students placed here, and for the student body. There was a time when students were begging for work. Now the college is offering increased pay for self help students and jobs are still open and no sign of filling them. Opportunity for earning all college expenses for working on the college farm hasn't appealed to enough high school gradu...

1942

And yet, almost in contradiction to that feeling, they think America is in the mess it's in now becuase we had got too soft. Nobody wants to work hard, everybody's looking out for himself, nobody wants to give up his comforts. And one of the boys said: "And another thing, people think too much about sex in this country. That's what caused France to fall. We're just as bad as they are." --The Idaho Statesman, 27 March 1942

1941

World Gone Awry, Says 84-Year Old Nobody Wants To Work On Farms He Complains The farmers can't get the help. Nobody wants to work on the farm at the price the farmer can pay. No man is worth $10 a day for work. I have two farms. --The Commercial Appeal, 24 August 1941

1940

After mentioning the reduction of the $85,000 a year laundry bill for Wisconsin General hospital by having the laundry done by Waupun prisoners, Gov. Heil said he wanted to lower taxes, "but the trouble is everybody is on relief or a pension -- nobody wants to work anymore." --Wisconsin State Journal, 22 March 1940

1939

Nobody wants to work these days. Nobody wants to don a pair of overalls or a gingham dress and pitch in. No, it is fashionable to accept relief. Honest-to-goodness labor is taboo. All I ask is to be let alone for I am perfectly capable of attending to my own affairs so am asking no privileges from anybody. The country is overrun by poke-your-noses-into-other-people's-affairs otherwise there would be more peace and harmony. MAY --The Los Angeles Times, 29 April 1939

1938

Who Prefers Relief to Work? To the Editor: Sir-- Why so much fuss about more money for relief, when people don't want to work? Why is it so difficult to get domestic help? Call the free employment bureau and see if you can get a girl for housework. What is wrong with a job offering $5 per week with a private room and better board than one usually gets, in a small six room house -- no cooking to do -- but every electrical gadget to help make work easier? Does the girl making $12 a week who has to pay her room and board and laundry and car fare have five dollars left clear out of her pay...

1937

ORCHARDISTS COMPLAIN OF SHORTAGE OF LABOR Faced with a shortage of labor when unemployment is widespread, peach orchardists in York and Adams counties are complaining that "Nobody wants to work anymore." There is work, it is reported, for 15 to 25 peach pickers in every orchard in the two counties, but only two to five pickers are at work because of the unavailability of labor. --York Daily Record, 16 September 1937

1936

Franta took the rank cigar from his mouth, moved the band back an inch from the fire, then puffed away. "There's too much education," he says. "Everybody's getting smart and nobody wants to work. Take that bunch I went to school with. Nearly all of the went to high school. I went to work on the farm." --The Oklahoma News, 12 October 1936

1935

"Gosh, it's a snap working nowadays," says Mr. Currie. "Only 10 hours a day -- just think of it! For years I used to work 16 and 18 hours. On 10 hours a day I feel like I'm on a vacation. Nobody wants to work any more. That's what's wrong with the country. Heck, there's acres and acres of land in every county where a man could work spare time and raise enough for his family to eat from eight months a year. Fellers haven't got the gumption they used to have, I guess." --The Boscobel Dial, 2 January 1935

1934

Men Don't Want Work Why don't you write editorials condemning the foolish extravagance, the terrible waste of money and the parasites that the government is making of people by handing out unearned money. People in our class can't get a man to do a decent day's work. They don't want to work. I know what I am talking about for we have had work all summer for men but they don't want work. --Star Tribune, 26 August 1934

1933

There will be more unemployment next month than this month, because the world cannot be revolutionized in thirty days, and even if it were, men do not want to work anymore like they used to do. --Wilmington Daily Press Journal, 4 January 1933

1932

Nobody wants to work any more. Humanity seems to be looking for something for nothing, while political parties and their leaders play horse and hull=gull with the people, and the people play hokus-pokus with themselves. I congratulate Mrs. Ferguson for so modestly and yet so pointedly sounding a warning to all and so definitely pointing the way out of our distimpers. --Tulsa World, 5 June 1932

1931

In the opinion of Madam Amelita Galli-Curci the difficulty in assembling a staff of stars for opera nowadays is because no one wants to work anymore. She worked hard for five years after completing her training before she was ever ready to sing in opera. One must have a repertoire and that is gained only after long years of hard work. --The South Bend Tribune, 4 January 1931

1930

SPORT CHATTER BY DAVE CHRISTENSON "Nobody wants to work" that was the reason given for the failure of the Wausau Tennis club to elect officers at its annual meeting yesterday afternoon at the YMCA. Stanley Wright, the retiring president, has left the city, and no one wanted to head the organization. Before the meeting adjourned yesterday the other officers resigned, and no one was willing to take their places. Last year the club made some good strides under the lead of Stanley Wright, and probably before many days pass some other good net player will volunteer to head the club. ...

1929

Work, But No Workers Available in Wausau; Charity Group Large "Calls for workers are plentiful but nobody wants to work" says Superintendent S.J. Smrcina of the US Department of Labor Free Employment bureau in Wausau. "I have calls for millwrights, carpenters, laborers, woodmen, trackworkers and domestic workers, but the group of persons I usually supply to these positions don't want to work. This condition is unusual because ninety-nine families are being maintained by charity in Wausau. These families are maintained through the police department and the Federated Charitie...

1928

Everybody Wants to Speculate Nobody wants to work. The Bible says by the sweat of your face you shall eat bread. Nobody wants to eat bread. They all want to eat cake. --Tampa Bay Times, 11 January 1928

1927

Why don't some of you come east instead of going further west where crops seem to be so uncertain. There are any number of farms, small ones, within a few miles of here for sale cheap because their children can earn good money in the factories here in town and it seems nobody wants to work hard any more. --The Stockman's Journal, 30 May 1927

1926

He declares that nobody wants to work nowadays, the forty-four hours agitation being a great stride towards perpetual idleness; that apprenticeship is not encouraged; that the wages of laborers are equal to those of skilled workmen; that skill is quantitatively and qualitatively decreasing; that slap-dash is the watchword in industry; that thoroughness is unknown, and that we are galloping to the precipice as swiftly as madness drives. --The Melbourne Age, 16 October 1926

1925

But since that great catastrophe, the war, there has been a bad tendency which has seized us all. The tendency amounts to a craze. It is the craze to avoid, dodge and shirk work, that we may pursue pleasure. Nobody wants to work. Everybody is bent on loafing or having a good time. Work is regarded as irksome and an evil to be shirked at every opportunity. Shops and factories are filled with shirkers and I am sorry to say that trade unions have been encouraging that sort of practice. --The York Dispatch, 18 March 1925

1924

"I think it's because nobody wants to work these days," replied Mr. Jarr. "All the young fellows growing up want to be cake-eaters and want white collar jobs. The poor man doesn't want his son to be a workingman. He wants him to be a preacher or a doctor or a lawyer or even a clerk at starvation wages rather than see him working as a farmer or as a mechanic at good wages. --The Buffalo Times, 1 June 1924

1923

GOOD AFTERNOON! Too many holidays. But then nobody wants to work nowadays. First thing we know Thanksgiving will be upon us. --The Evening Standard, 13 November 1923

ed. note: Taking a break to do a few other things, thread will resume.

Until then, if you enjoyed this you might enjoy my new book, documenting our repeated complaints about this and jazz and kids these days and much more. Pre-order here: unbound.com/books/thepress…

1922

What is the cause of unemployment and hard times? The manufacturer and business men say it is because nobody wants to work any more unless they can be paid enough wages to work half of the time and loaf half of the time. The working man says that hard times are caused by the determined stand the employers have made to beat down wages. Now why is it these things exist during a Republican administration? --The Mulberry News, 5 May 1922

1921

The following clipping appeared in an Illinois paper recently: "A man in this locality has been seeking for a housemaid far and near for a humanitarian cause but none is to be had. Girls are going to high school and those graduated do not stoop down to be a kitchen mechanic. No one has the conscientious pleasure of performing work. Nobody wants to work anymore. Too much high school! We are paying high taxes developing "I Won't Works," propagating American race suicide." --The Henry Republican, 10 February 1921

1920

cartoon of two golfers enjoying a leisurely day of golf one says to the other AIN'T IT TERRIBLE THE WAY NOBODY WANTS TO WORK ANYMORE! --Albuquerque Morning Journal, 4 September 1920

1919

A shrewd old farmer near Holden sized up the situation about right when he declared the other day, "Nobody wants to work any more. Even the farmers are selling out and moving to town where they will have a better chance to escape work. We all seem to getting to be I.W.W.s" --The Henry County Democrat, 11 December 1919

1918

Nobody Wants to Work "The real trouble with Russia at present is that nobody wants to work." --Evening Star, 17 June 1918

1917

Idle Acres Go Begging HL Robinson, Civil War Vet, Can't Get Aid to Help Uncle Sam NOBODY WANTS TO WORK FARMS --New Castle News, 22 May 1917

1916

Nobody Wants to Work "What about vegetables? Hasn't it been a good year for vegetables?" the dealer was asked. "Well, as near as I can find out," he answered, "the reason for food scarcity is that nobody wants to work as hard as they used to. I asked a a man who was in here the other day, why he didn't raise more live stock and make his own butter. "Women don't want to make butter any more," he said, and then he asked: "Do you now where prices would go if we raised more calves and pigs, and made more butter? They would go away down." "I ...

1915

THE FARM LABOR PROBLEM Editor Omaha Daily News: Many say idle men don't want hard work and my experience tells me they are right. I have hired many men. I hired one man on Saturday, kept him over night, gave him two good meals. At 10 o'clock Sunday morning he said he would go for a walk. He never came back. Another got supper and breakfast, took the team, went to plow corn. When he got out of sight of the house he wound the lines on the handle of the plow and left. --The Omaha Daily News, 23 January 1915

1914

MEN DON'T WANT TO WORK Chicago Employment Bureau Head Gives Some Figures CHICAGO, Feb 28 - One of the chief reasons for the "army of unemployed" here is the refusal of the men to work, according to Charles I. Smith, superintendent of the Municipal Employment Bureau. Mr. Smith sent a report to the Mayor today, saying that out of 347 men assigned to jobs this morning and given carfare to go to them, 199 failed to report. --The Boston Globe, 1 March 1914

1913

Well, let us go to the root of things. Men do not like to work, and women do not like to work; and they won't work if they can help it. The attitude of the world today is one of antagonism to work. People don't want to labor; men don't want to labor; women don't want to labor. They would rather fight than work; they would rather steal than work. You are apt to insult a man today if you ask him to do work for you. You almost offer a woman an indignity when you offer her a means of making a living. People don't want to work. --The Menace, 17 May 1913

1912

"Next, a boy came along and asked to cut the grass for 60 cents. He cut one side of the walk and then said he'd have to come back the next day to finish. He told me some sad story about a widowed mother and seven children or something, and I felt so sorry that I gave him the 60 cents in advance. He never came back. "And what gets me," again sighed the mistress of the house, "is that I'm continually contributing to charities to help along the poor, but when I want to pay anybody to do some work for me, nobody wants to work." --Rock Island Argus, 17 August 1912

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Paul Fairie

@paulisci

Nov 8

A List of People and Things Blamed for Ruining America

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Absence of whiskey

Absence of Whiskey Is Ruining Nation, Says Aged Veteran By the Associated Press NEW YORK, Aug 10 - Declaring that the lack of whisky is breeding a “race of ping pong players,” Nathan Douchy, 91 year old champion of rum and tobacco, has spoken his mind about what this world’s coming to. –The San Angelo Daily Standard, 10 Aug 1925

Flirting

Flirting Evil Is Ruining the Nation By the Rev. PERCIVAL H. BARKER of the First Congregational Church of Maywood N.J. FLIRTING IS A POTENT CAUSE OF THAT COARSENESS AND BESTIAL VULGARITY WHICH ARE DOING SO MUCH AT PRESENT TO IMPACT THE BEAUTY AND DIMINISH THE POWER OF AMERICAN HOME LIFE, DEGRADING MARRAIGE TO THE LOW LEVEL OF A CONVENIENCE AND TO THE STILL LOWER LEVEL OF SENSUALITY. FLIRTATIONS FOSTER THE SOCIAL EVIL. –Bluefield Evening Leader, 22 Oct 1910

Paul Fairie

@paulisci

Oct 9

A Brief History of Students Today Aren’t Prepared for College

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2024

High School Students Think They Are Ready for College. But They Aren’t --EducationWeek, 21 Feb 2024

2015

Too many students unprepared for college --Portage Daily Register, 17 Mar 2015

Paul Fairie

@paulisci

Aug 27

A Brief History of Baseball is Dying

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2022

Opinion Guest Essay Baseball Is Dying. The Government Should Take It Over. April 6, 2022 --New York Times, 6 Apr 2022

2010

Baseball's dying. Who's got the will? Every summer, I celebrate the ultimate privilege tempered by infinite sadness. --Sun-Journal, 11 July 2010

Paul Fairie

@paulisci

Aug 21

A List of Predictions of When America Will Have Its First Woman President

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2017: "someday"

Chelsea Clinton predicts woman president -- someday Chelsea Clinton mostly stuck to the subject of childhood obesity Friday at a Variety magazine event honoring prominent women and their charity work -- except for her last line. Responding to a pointed quip hours earlier from emcee Vanessa Bayer that none of the honorees' mothers was president, Clinton said that maybe not, "but someday, someone's (mother) will be." --Press Journal, 23 April 2017

2005: "2016"

Here are some predictions about the future of politics: 2012: Michigan extends term limits. 2016: U.S. elects its first female president. 2024: U.S. elects its first African-American president. --Lansing State Journal, 17 September 2005

Paul Fairie

@paulisci

Aug 7

A Brief History of Nobody Dresses Well Anymore

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2022

"Attitudes have changed," she said, a bit wistfully. "People don't dress up much anymore. --Lincoln Journal Star, 12 September 2022

2015

"People don't dress well anymore. They don't even dress up to go to work. On the tube I see a lot of black clothes all the time," she explained. "I have black clothing too but I like to wear colours, particularly purples, mauves and pinks and other bright colours. "In my day when you went to London for the day you always wore gloves, a hat and smart shoes. It was unthinkable to wear trainers. I don't like it. Things like trips to the theatre are a chance to dress up." --The Argus, 19 November 2015

Paul Fairie

@paulisci

Jan 1

A List of Predictions Made in 1924 About 2024

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Beds will automatically fling children out in the morning

A Century Hence SCHOOL LIFE IN 2024 A.D. CRASH! My bed turns over automatically and I am deposited on the floor. It is eight o'clock and the switch, operating the above fiendish substitute for an alarm clock, is operated from school so that, at the moment, I am in the same predicament as the rest of the 450 scholars. After donning my one piece asbestos suit (washing being unnecessary under new atmospheric conditions) I partake of breakfast in tabloid form & step outside in time to catch the 8.10 aerobus & arrive at school two minutes later. The first lesson is English, and... the English ...

Horses will no longer exist

Future of the Horse Another scientists says that the horse is to be extinct, and he sets the date a century hence. The extinction process may be at work, says the Washington Star, but whether the horse will go to the vanishing point in that time one does not know. If horses would decrease in the same ratio as in the last ten years, it might be easy to tell when the last horse would give up his stall to an automobile and pass on to that realm where good horses should go, and perhaps where old Pegasus still rears and canters through the clouds. But the decrease in horse population -- or in &...

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