Unemployed Albertans inundate Vancouver homeless shelters

[peter12]

Originally Posted by rubecube

I think going to Mexico once a year still qualifies as leaving the place you were born in if you're from Alberta, doesn't it? I may need to consult Google maps for this.

EDIT: Hell, tell Europeans you're driving 8 hours each way to go on annual vacation and they look at you like you're bat####.

My Danish relatives vacation at a seaside cottage 45 minutes drive from their home. Sometimes they go to Spain and complain about the food.

[rubecube]

Originally Posted by peter12

My Danish relatives vacation at a seaside cottage 45 minutes drive from their home. Sometimes they go to Spain and complain about the food.

Yeah for my buddies it was annual trips to Jutland for God knows why.

[peter12]

Originally Posted by rubecube

Yeah for my buddies it was annual trips to Jutland for God knows why.

Where are they from? Jutland is gorgeous. Tons of great places in Jutland. Aarhus is my favourite city in Europe.

[rubecube]

Originally Posted by peter12

Where are they from? Jutland is gorgeous. Tons of great places in Jutland. Aarhus is my favourite city in Europe.

It was somewhere smack dab in the middle not close to the water. Can't remember the name.

[peter12]

Originally Posted by rubecube

It was somewhere smack dab in the middle not close to the water. Can't remember the name.

Odense?

[rubecube]

No, much smaller. I'm trying to look at a map to see if I can remember what it was called but not having any luck. I know it was SW of Aarhus.

[peter12]

Originally Posted by rubecube

No, much smaller. I'm trying to look at a map to see if I can remember what it was called but not having any luck. I know it was SW of Aarhus.

Ebeltoft?

[peter12]

I can keep one-lining names of small towns that sound like nonsense words until we get this right.

[rubecube]

I want to say Stilling but it's pretty much an uneducated guess at this point.

[afc wimbledon]

Originally Posted by kunkstyle

I'd have to imagine a lot of them are vacationing too, especially with the low dollar. I was out there the other week and talked saw a ton of Alberta plates on the ferry, but most of them were camping, etc.

I hope so, been flat busted once or twice when I was younger, wouldn't wish it on anyone.

[jayswin]

Originally Posted by rubecube

Totally. Don't get me wrong, I feel bad for the people who've lost their jobs, but then there's the crowd who are merely settling into a lifestyle that's considered average to above-average for most Canadians and freaking out about it.

"God damn NDP! Now I can only go to Mexico once a year instead of three times! How do people live like this?!"

I think you may be a little too far out of the Alberta bubble to see what's going on there. The vibe in Calgary and vacationing isn't what you think for the most part - People settling into a lower cost of living and cheaper vacations, so therefor "Hahaha, they're freaking out at not going to Mexico 3 times a year, welcome to everywhere outside Alberta!!".

What you're seeing is lots of families without income and no job prospects on the horizon just trying to take a cheap vacation for their family so they have a chance to get away. The job market is **** without Oil here, you're not seeing people adapting to a slightly lower quality of life with their new found, lower paying jobs. Certainly that accounts for a small percentage of those vacationers, but obviously Oil and Gas layoffs have trickled into nearly every other industry. We're hurting out really bad.

Totally misread on your part, imo.

That NDP stuff you guys make fun of Albertans with has really jumped the shark as well. I'm not sure if you've noticed but the fears a lot Albertans had of their governing style and policies that you guys routinely mocked us for are kind of proving to be quite founded, at this point, which you've admitted yourself, I believe.

[rubecube]

Originally Posted by jayswin

I think you may be a little too far out of the Alberta bubble to see what's going on there. The vibe in Calgary and vacationing isn't what you think for the most part - People settling into a lower cost of living and cheaper vacations, so therefor "Hahaha, they're freaking out at not going to Mexico 3 times a year, welcome to everywhere outside Alberta!!".

What you're seeing is lots of families without income and no job prospects on the horizon just trying to take a cheap vacation for their family so they have a chance to get away. The job market is **** without Oil here, you're not seeing people adapting to a slightly lower quality of life with their new found, lower paying jobs. Certainly that accounts for a small percentage of those vacationers, but obviously Oil and Gas layoffs have trickled into nearly every other industry. We're hurting out really bad.

Totally misread on your part, imo.

That NDP stuff you guys make fun of Albertans with has really jumped the shark as well. I'm not sure if you've noticed but the fears a lot Albertans had of their governing style and policies that you guys routinely mocked us for are kind of proving to be quite founded, at this point, which you've admitted yourself, I believe.

Not trying to be a dick, but I think I might have a better read on the pulse of my immediate social circle. Most of my friends and acquaintances aren't in the oil industry and the ones who are acting in the manner I've described are certainly living better than 75% of the country is. These aren't people struggling to make ends meet, they're people who own nice homes, make decent money, have had fairly lavish weddings, own various recreational vehicles, etc., and blame the government for not having anything left over instead of themselves for not prioritizing better. It's people who bitch that 100k/year isn't enough to survive on when the majority of Canadians make half of that.

I think you're maybe mistaking me mocking people I have direct knowledge of as me mocking Albertans in general. I'm not. I know more Albertans who work their asses off and are grateful for what they have than I do ones who are completely entitled and disconnected from reality.

Plus, any time I mock Alberta or Calgary you have to realize there's more than a dash of self-deprecation in it.

[Flash Walken]

I have a friend who makes 100+k per year, lives alone, no car, no girlfriend.

He told me the other day he is basically living paycheck to paycheck.

At this point I can only assume he is dropping thousands of dollars on webcam models.

[Blaster86]

Originally Posted by Flash Walken

I have a friend who makes 100+k per year, lives alone, no car, no girlfriend.

He told me the other day he is basically living paycheck to paycheck.

At this point I can only assume he is dropping thousands of dollars on webcam models.

Even then... That's.... amazing. I make half that and live comfortably with savings every pay cheque.

[rubecube]

Originally Posted by Blaster86

Even then... That's.... amazing. I make half that and live comfortably with savings every pay cheque.

Oh yeah? Well I make a third of that and live comfortably with a borderline alcohol problem! Well maybe not comfortably. I eat a lot of tuna.

[peter12]

Originally Posted by Flash Walken

I have a friend who makes 100+k per year, lives alone, no car, no girlfriend.

He told me the other day he is basically living paycheck to paycheck.

At this point I can only assume he is dropping thousands of dollars on webcam models.

That is really weird. I make a decent salary that isn't close to 100k, but significantly above average. My wife and I live like someone making around 38k.

We have a friend who has been a lawyer for a few years - makes around 100k and also has $124,000 of consumer debt.

My wife and I were working out how one actually could get $124,000 of consumer debt, and turns out, it isn't all that hard.

[CliffFletcher]

Originally Posted by Flash Walken

At this point I can only assume he is dropping thousands of dollars on webcam models.

We joke, but I think a surprising number of people have secret vices that consume most of their money. I've known guys who have no wife or kids, a beater that's parked most of the time, who don't buy nice clothes or furniture or anything, don't travel, and who can't even consistently make rent in cheap one-bedroom apartments. They spend 2k or more a month in a manner that is not visible to any of their friends or family. Presumably some combination of drugs, hookers, and gambling.

[burn_this_city]

Originally Posted by Flash Walken

I have a friend who makes 100+k per year, lives alone, no car, no girlfriend.

He told me the other day he is basically living paycheck to paycheck.

At this point I can only assume he is dropping thousands of dollars on webcam models.

Massive coke habit.

[NuclearFart]

Originally Posted by CliffFletcher

We joke, but I think a surprising number of people have secret vices that consume most of their money. I've known guys who have no wife or kids, a beater that's parked most of the time, who don't buy nice clothes or furniture or anything, don't travel, and who can't even consistently make rent in cheap one-bedroom apartments. They spend 2k or more a month in a manner that is not visible to any of their friends or family. Presumably some combination of drugs, hookers, and gambling.

It's been mentioned before but it bears repeating - some people are just plain bad with money regardless of income. Their spending habits and waste levels just scale with the money.

It's actually quite easy to have a really high cash burn rate in this city without resorting to vices, especially if you're surrounded by colleagues doing the same thing. I know a few high income earners who have a personal shopper at Holt, drink/eat out all the time, fancy car lease(s), fly first class, hotel suites instead of regular room, huge mortgages...etc. Some of them live hand to mouth with big debt, just as they did making 40-50k/year a decade ago.

[AltaGuy]

Originally Posted by NuclearFart

It's been mentioned before but it bears repeating - some people are just plain bad with money regardless of income. Their spending habits and waste levels just scale with the money.

It's actually quite easy to have a really high cash burn rate in this city without resorting to vices, especially if you're surrounded by colleagues doing the same thing. I know lots of high income earners who have a personal shopper at Holt, drink/eat out all the time, fancy car lease(s), fly first class, hotel suites instead of regular room, huge mortgages...etc. Some of them live hand to mouth with big debt, just as they did making 40-50k/year a decade ago.

I think we're speaking more of the guys who aren't obviously spending their money though: like Cliff said - the ones who live by themselves in crap apartments, have no car, and are "forgetting their wallet" when you go out with them.