Work life balance in the USA

JustAThought

Well I am relieved that you did have some lovely memories ( despite the bunny boiling) and have some good experiences and happy memories for
all the years you spent there. Life is too short.

ShatterAlan

JustAThought wrote: »

we are all aware that you cannot just ‘get’ a
green card - there is a process and yes - incredible to imagine - you do actually have to apply for one for a chance to be granted one.

A naturalised American citizen can sponsor a family member - or used to be able to
up to the last time I looked - so for example my (Irish) sibling who applied for, did the test, swore the oath, passed all the scrutiny and and was
granted citizenship can apply to sponsor me. as
could my first cousin who married an american etc There are other family visa types (or used be) but these stuck for me as both would work. Different rules for different nationalities and u18’s,
step children etc - they are thorough.

Shatter - you still havn’t mentioned
why you stayed in america for seven years, a
country and people whom you clearly hated and despised and which you have nothing good to say about.Why did you choose to stay and torture yourself? Planes fly both ways.

Your sibling or first cousin can't do anything to obtain you legal residency in the US.



Call the INS and they will tell you the same thing.

Palmy

radiata wrote: »

What part of the US are you thinking of moving to OP?
It can make a huge difference in your life depending on your location and what you're looking for. There's a huge difference in the cost of living throughout the States too.
If you're looking for a good outdoor type lifestyle, the states of Oregon and Washington are beautiful with beaches and mountains, and very laid back in general.
A lot depends on your financial situation too, if it's not great you can rule out a lot of the west coast or bigger cities as you'll need a headstart when you arrive.

Are you high, Washington just passed to make Crack,Meth and Cocaine legal for personal use. Plus it’s cold as hell for 6 month of the year.

Palmy

ShatterAlan wrote: »

Your sibling or first cousin can't do anything to obtain you legal residency in the US.



Call the INS and they will tell you the same thing.

If you are a citizen you can get your parents over pretty quickly within a year. Getting a brother or sister over is possible but takes approximately 10 years to do. A cousin forget about it.

Palmy

ShatterAlan wrote: »

I didn't know any better at the time. Working and living in other countries opened my eyes up to how the place is not all it's cracked up to be.


It was fun when I was younger. I didn't despise the place OR the people. I had a nice job, a girlfriend (who turned out to be a wacko, but that's a different story) a nice circle of friends, etc. But you can have that anywhere. The US doesn't have a monopoly on these basic human comforts. Looking back I wouldn't have spent as long as I did there. I held out for citizenship but once that came through and I left the place I had no desire to return. Everytime I go back I feel this overwhelming weight of the state bearing down on everyone. Petty rules, people in uniform everywhere on their own power trips just itching to give someone a hard time, sit under a tree reading a book in a park or walk around taking photographs and you can almost be sure that someone will call the cops on you because this is not "normal behaviour" and you look "suspicious" and of course the cop will demand ID, obscene displays of military prowess and plastic patriotism when I just want to watch a few guys hit a ball with a stick and run around a field, stupid laws like having to produce age verification to enter a bar and get a beer even though you look like Gandalf, seething racism, the all-too-quick way that they say "fuck him" when someone is unlucky, the lack of awareness of anything going on in the world outside their own borders felt stifling



I enjoyed my weekends going out in Manhattan. I loved things like diners and delis and I loved the Chinese food in NY. I enjoyed taking road trips up to New England and staying in seedy little motels. I've been in 20 states and to be honest they almost all look the same. Of course Colorado is going to look a lot different to Texas but leaving aside temperature and scenery the homogeneity of the place was boring.

That’s what happens when you live in a Democratic state. They are leaving NY in droves. High taxes, homelessness, We can’t build houses fast enough in Florida.

ShatterAlan

JustAThought wrote: »

Well I am relieved that you did have some lovely memories ( despite the bunny boiling) and have some good experiences and happy memories for
all the years you spent there. Life is too short.

I did have a good time. I'm not going to lie. But I had better times in other countries.



You can have a great time in the US if you've got the money. But then you can have a great time anywhere if you've got the money. But I'd wager that a working stiff wage slave in the US would be much happier and lest stressed if they could transplant themselves to Belgium or Sweden or the Czech Republic.


I lived in Galway for a year. It was fun also but too small for me. But I would say that an American (who can handle the rain) would be infinitely happier there doing a "middle class" job than in say New Jersey.


I was in New Orleans last September and said to myself...yeah I could live here. But 6 days in the Big Easy is a lot different to having to get up everyday and go to work and pay the bills. I wouldn't be able to go on the lash every night in the French Quarter.



Friends of mine who live there (Americans) many of them are struggling. Kids, bills, falling wages, rising prices, a work-dinner-bed-work-dinner-bed existence.


Life IS too short for that.

ShatterAlan

Palmy wrote: »

Are you high, Washington just passed to make Crack,Meth and Cocaine legal for personal use. Plus it’s cold as hell for 6 month of the year.

I find this impossible to believe.....the drug laws that is.


And Washington State is not cold as hell (is hell cold?) for 6 months of the year. It's quite a mild climate. Temperatures rarely reach freezing point unlike states in the North Mid-West and North East. It's about the same as Ireland / UK. Temperatures in February are about 4C, March about 8C, April low teens, May high teens up to about 25 in July / August and dropping in a similar pattern down to about 3 or 4 in December.

ShatterAlan

Palmy wrote: »

If you are a citizen you can get your parents over pretty quickly within a year. Getting a brother or sister over is possible but takes approximately 10 years to do. A cousin forget about it.

This is not true. Only a parent who is a citizen can qualify a child for permanent residency and that only AFAIK means the father or the mother if the child was born out of wedlock.

ShatterAlan

Palmy wrote: »

That’s what happens when you live in a Democratic state. They are leaving NY in droves. High taxes, homelessness, We can’t build houses fast enough in Florida.

Give me a break. They are leaving New York because of COVID and they can work remotely. It has nothing to do with Democratic or Republican states. If you can work remotely then why would you see the need to pay to live in an expensive city where you don't need to be anymore. There's probably some who are moving to Cuba and that's apparently a communist dictatorship.

Manic Moran

ShatterAlan wrote: »

There's only 7 public holidays in the US IIRC. You're back at work on the 26th of December FFS.

Ten, actually. https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/pay-leave/federal-holidays/#url=2020

Some are. I'm not.

My employer realises bugger-all gets done the week in between Christmas and New Year's, so we get it off. Similarly, almost every company gives the day after Thanksgiving off, even though it's not a public holiday, for the same reason. True, this is more an office worker thing, I have limited contact in the blue-collar world. But there's nothing saying the OP is looking for a blue-collar job.

My sister lives in Amsterdam with her husband. Owns a flat there, been living in NL for well over a decade. Seems like she likes it. No way in hell I'll be trading my Texas life for one in Amsterdam, though. If you like Amsterdam and the type of living which goes on there, then more power to you. Go with my blessings. To say that Amsterdam provides a better life than San Antonio, though, is a non-objective statement which very much is dependent on the individual making it.

Ultimately, 'quality of life' comes down to how much you enjoy it. If you didn't enjoy the US, so be it. Plenty of us do.

ShatterAlan

Manic Moran wrote: »

Ten, actually. https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/pay-leave/federal-holidays/#url=2020

Some are. I'm not.

My employer realises bugger-all gets done the week in between Christmas and New Year's, so we get it off. Similarly, almost every company gives the day after Thanksgiving off, even though it's not a public holiday, for the same reason. True, this is more an office worker thing, I have limited contact in the blue-collar world. But there's nothing saying the OP is looking for a blue-collar job.

My sister lives in Amsterdam with her husband. Owns a flat there, been living in NL for well over a decade. Seems like she likes it. No way in hell I'll be trading my Texas life for one in Amsterdam, though. If you like Amsterdam and the type of living which goes on there, then more power to you. Go with my blessings. To say that Amsterdam provides a better life than San Antonio, though, is a non-objective statement which very much is dependent on the individual making it.

Ultimately, 'quality of life' comes down to how much you enjoy it. If you didn't enjoy the US, so be it. Plenty of us do.

Only 7 of those holidays are nationwide. President's Day, Columbus Day and Veteran's Day are only holidays in certain states.

dresden8

Invidious wrote: »

And I'm sure many of those millennials will eventually benefit from large inheritances. How much wealth do they expect in their 20s and 30s?

I think that's quite the point. Hard work used to be the path to wealth. Now inheritance is.

Which quite pisses over the whole trope of work hard, get rich.

Your point is, be born to rich parents, get rich.

The_Kew_Tour

Worked for US Broadcaster and they still only gave 10 days off per year.

Had few friends who went to Canada and States during recession. Had good laugh at them when they were planning to make a trips home in summer and winter for Christmas. Was one or other as they found out hard way

99nsr125

Go to Canada, it's the best country in the world

Invidious

ShatterAlan wrote: »

This notion of if you work hard you'll have a great life in America is just not true. US workers work longer hours with less free time than practically all other OECD countries. Wages are stagnant and have been so since the 1970's.

And back in paradisiacal Ireland, we have plenty of young college-educated people who are stuck in overpriced house shares or living with their parents, despairing of ever buying a home or having a family. All while they pay tax at a marginal rate of over 50% on their below-average salaries. Can they expect to have a great life here?

As for health care concerns, there are over 820,000 people on hospital waiting lists in Ireland. That's close to 20% of the population.

You seem to want to go on and on about the wretched lives that you believe Americans have to endure. Ireland is no picnic, either, and there are many people in Ireland (especially highly educated, hard-working people) who would be far better off in the USA.

Invidious

ShatterAlan wrote: »

This is not true. Only a parent who is a citizen can qualify a child for permanent residency and that only AFAIK means the father or the mother if the child was born out of wedlock.

If the US citizen parent has lived for five or more years in the USA, a child born abroad is automatically a US citizen (not a permanent resident). All they have to do is register the birth at the US Embassy, and a Social Security Number will be issued along with a US passport.

Invidious

dresden8 wrote: »

I think that's quite the point. Hard work used to be the path to wealth. Now inheritance is.

Which quite pisses over the whole trope of work hard, get rich.

Your point is, be born to rich parents, get rich.

You're missing the point.

Someone is complaining that the millennial generation owns a small proportion of the wealth and the boomer generation owns far more.

Well, logically the boomer generation (currently in their 60s and 70s) will eventually pass on, leaving their wealth to younger millennials ... and eventually the next generation will be complaining that millennials own all the wealth.

It's a pointless argument, really, complaining that young people in their 20s and 30s don't own as much wealth as their parents.

Wibbs

Invidious wrote: »

And back in paradisiacal Ireland, we have plenty of young college-educated people who are stuck in overpriced house shares or living with their parents, despairing of ever buying a home or having a family. All while they pay tax at a marginal rate of over 50% on their below-average salaries. Can they expect to have a great life here?

As for health care concerns, there are over 820,000 people on hospital waiting lists in Ireland. That's close to 20% of the population.

You seem to want to go on and on about the wretched lives that you believe Americans have to endure. Ireland is no picnic, either, and there are many people in Ireland (especially highly educated, hard-working people) who would be far better off in the USA.

Are you recruiting, or trying to convince yourself? You're like a GO USA! poster or something.

Manic Moran wrote: »

To say that Amsterdam provides a better life than San Antonio, though, is a non-objective statement which very much is dependent on the individual making it.

Ultimately, 'quality of life' comes down to how much you enjoy it. If you didn't enjoy the US, so be it. Plenty of us do.

Pretty much what MM says. Some will like it some won't. Like any country in the west. It's very dependent on the individual and it also very much depends on where in the US you go and what career you find yourself in. Hell it's like that across the Irish sea. London is quite different to say Aberdeen. I know people who love London, I personally couldn't stand the place, but that's just me. Being Irish with qualifications under your belt, that you paid significantly less than Americans pay would put you at a serious financial advantage right off the bat, so that's a plus point.

Wibbs

Invidious wrote: »

You're missing the point.

Someone is complaining that the millennial generation owns a small proportion of the wealth and the boomer generation owns far more.

Well, logically the boomer generation (currently in their 60s and 70s) will eventually pass on, leaving their wealth to younger millennials ... and eventually the next generation will be complaining that millennials own all the wealth.

It's a pointless argument, really, complaining that young people in their 20s and 30s don't own as much wealth as their parents.

While you have a point, it's quite the different landscape to when America was in her boom times of the 50's and 60's, when access to higher education and the workforce and property was very much spread more evenly(If you were White of course). For the average young American coming out of WW2 generational wealth was far less an issue than the young American faces today.

Invidious

Wibbs wrote: »

Are you recruiting, or trying to convince yourself? You're like a GO USA! poster or something.

Not recruiting at all, just stating facts for the benefit of those who seemingly believe Ireland is an idyllic paradise and the US a wretched hellhole.

If someone is a "working-class stiff" as someone phrased it above, they're probably better off in Ireland.

For anyone well-educated and skilled, especially in tech, it's a no-brainer. They'll make far more money, pay much less tax, and have an overall better standard of living in the US.

NSAman

Wibbs wrote: »

Are you recruiting, or trying to convince yourself? You're like a GO USA! poster or something.

Much the same as Amsterdam and the Netherlands, I absolutely hate the place. Different strokes for different folks. As for England, I would never again go there, I even avoid transferring by plane if at all possible.

Pretty much what MM says. Some will like it some won't. Like any country in the west. It's very dependent on the individual and it also very much depends on where in the US you go and what career you find yourself in. Hell it's like that across the Irish sea. London is quite different to say Aberdeen. I know people who love London, I personally couldn't stand the place, but that's just me. Being Irish with qualifications under your belt, that you paid significantly less than Americans pay would put you at a serious financial advantage right off the bat, so that's a plus point.

Every country has its positives and negatives. As you say it is all down to the individual. I have lived and worked in many countries, for me the US has allowed me to develop ideas, initiatives and obviously make money more easily than anywhere.

Invidious

Wibbs wrote: »

While you have a point, it's quite the different landscape to when America was in her boom times of the 50's and 60's, when access to higher education and the workforce and property was very much spread more evenly(If you were White of course). For the average young American coming out of WW2 generational wealth was far less an issue than the young American faces today.

The decades between the end of WWII and the oil crisis of the '70s saw the greatest economic expansion in US history. The boomer generation was fortunate enough to live through benefit from that — but such a period of economic growth was both unprecedented and atypical. Before WWII, the US was suffering through the Great Depression. Using the boomer generation as the yardstick by which to measure everything before or since is clearly a flawed premise.

As for access to higher education in the 50s and 60s ... in 1960, only 10 percent of American men and 6 percent of women had a college degree. Now, 37 percent of women and 35 percent of men have degrees. Millennials are far better educated than their parents' and grandparents' generations.

Palmy

ShatterAlan wrote: »

I find this impossible to believe.....the drug laws that is.


And Washington State is not cold as hell (is hell cold?) for 6 months of the year. It's quite a mild climate. Temperatures rarely reach freezing point unlike states in the North Mid-West and North East. It's about the same as Ireland / UK. Temperatures in February are about 4C, March about 8C, April low teens, May high teens up to about 25 in July / August and dropping in a similar pattern down to about 3 or 4 in December.

https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/politics/buoyed-by-oregon-drug-decriminalization-vote-washington-groups-propose-similar-plan-for-2021-legislature/?amp=1

jrosen

I definitely think hard work is rewarded in the US and it certainly imo is a place where anything is really possible work wise. People are very open minded and those who show initiative are given a platform.

I think minus kids we would still be there and have a damn nice life. But everything is extremely expensive, rent, kids activities, medical. Its not a place to be if money is tight..

NSAman

jrosen wrote: »

I definitely think hard work is rewarded in the US and it certainly imo is a place where anything is really possible work wise. People are very open minded and those who show initiative are given a platform.

I think minus kids we would still be there and have a damn nice life. But everything is extremely expensive, rent, kids activities, medical. Its not a place to be if money is tight..

I agree that hard work pays dividends here, BUT you have to work smart also. This, in my humble opinion, is where the vast majority of Americans fall down. They do work hard. Too hard! They lack the knowledge and education to make the most of their system.

Schindlers Pissed

*Disclaimer* I've never lived in the US but I've been to New York many times, more than 25 times for a holiday.

The one thing that struck me with NYC is the rat race, I normally drank in Connollys, or The Perfect Pint, or the Pig and Whistle just off Times Square. What struck me was as other posters have said, office workers might come in for a couple of beers after work but then they scurry away onto the Subway and home to one of the boroughs. I would think it's difficult to make true friends and build true relationships over there.

The hardship of getting around too, it's so impersonal. We often went out to Hoboken for a few pints with my extended family, so get to the PATH station in Manhattan, out to NJ, have the pints, then checking a timetable to get the PATH back. Nobody talking to each other...etc etc....

I really enjoy NYC and I would say to the OP to take the chance, don't have that "what if" feeling in a few years time.

My cousin over there has a really good job with unlimited leave, but as she says herself, you don't get time to take it! She leads a team so when she gets back there's a mountain of work so it's just not worth it....

Also, in the last few years it's gone really expensive with the exchange rate....I used to buy lots of electronics because I like tech but the last couple of trips I didn't bother....there's no value in New York anymore in my opinion.

jrosen

Schindlers Pissed wrote: »

*Disclaimer* I've never lived in the US but I've been to New York many times, more than 25 times for a holiday.

The one thing that struck me with NYC is the rat race, I normally drank in Connollys, or The Perfect Pint, or the Pig and Whistle just off Times Square. What struck me was as other posters have said, office workers might come in for a couple of beers after work but then they scurry away onto the Subway and home to one of the boroughs. I would think it's difficult to make true friends and build true relationships over there.

The hardship of getting around too, it's so impersonal. We often went out to Hoboken for a few pints with my extended family, so get to the PATH station in Manhattan, out to NJ, have the pints, then checking a timetable to get the PATH back. Nobody talking to each other...etc etc....

I really enjoy NYC and I would say to the OP to take the chance, don't have that "what if" feeling in a few years time.

My cousin over there has a really good job with unlimited leave, but as she says herself, you don't get time to take it! She leads a team so when she gets back there's a mountain of work so it's just not worth it....

Also, in the last few years it's gone really expensive with the exchange rate....I used to buy lots of electronics because I like tech but the last couple of trips I didn't bother....there's no value in New York anymore in my opinion.

I know those bars well. You will find most locals avoid Time Square like the plague.

Alot of people live and raise their families in the city. But eventually yes they move out for more space. Which if you think about it alot of Irish people do the same, move for space. How many families moved from Dublin to the commuter belt to get more bang for their buck?

The benefit in NYC is that you can time your watch by the NYC subway system. You can get to every corner of that city by train. Crossing platforms when needed at no extra cost to catch a different tram.

Now the PATH is a whole other situation. But alot of people I know use the ferry to get from Hoboken and Jersey City. Its pricer but 6 mins your in downtown Manhattan.

Manic Moran

I think NYC is to Americans what Paris is for Frenchmen. To foreigners, and to people who live in those cities, they are the centers of their respective universes, but the rest of the country has little time for them. It takes a very specific attitude of person to live (and enjoy living) in those megalopoli.

Unfortunately, when folks go visit on vacation, it's often to these big cultural/economic centers. It's much easier to spend a week visiting sights in a concentrated area like NYC or Boston than enjoying what life has to offer in Denver. I don't know if there's a way around this problem, but consider, if you were going to consider going to live in France or the UK, would you only be picking the one or two biggest cities despite the chances being that those are the only places you've been to, or would you keep the options open a bit more?

salonfire

Manic Moran wrote: »

Ultimately, 'quality of life' comes down to how much you enjoy it. If you didn't enjoy the US, so be it. Plenty of us do.

Also comes down to your luck. Fall on hard times where you lose your Health Insurance, would you 'enjoy' the US then? If you had an accident and they took you to a out-of-network hospital, would you enjoy the bill?

They take you to an in-network hospital, but the doctor is out-of-network, would you enjoy that bill?

They take you to an in-network hospital, use an in-network doctor but an out-of-network lab, would you enjoy that bill?

Would you enjoy running for cover as a shooter opens up in a mall or school? Or enjoy living with that risk every day?

arctictree

salonfire wrote: »

Also comes down to your luck. Fall on hard times where you lose your Health Insurance, would you 'enjoy' the US then? If you had an accident and they took you to a out-of-network hospital, would you enjoy the bill?

They take you to an in-network hospital, but the doctor is out-of-network, would you enjoy that bill?

They take you to an in-network hospital, use an in-network doctor but an out-of-network lab, would you enjoy that bill?

Would you enjoy running for cover as a shooter opens up in a mall or school? Or enjoy living with that risk every day?

What happens in the US if you can't or just won't pay the bill?