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The Braselton News
Wednesday, December 21, 2022
Opinion
The labor shortage is world-wide
One of the
threads that ran
through the dis
cussion with Jack-
son County's six
legislators at a
recent chamber of
commerce event
revolved around
the workforce, or
lack thereof.
Several of
the legislative
folks highlight
ed “workforce develop
ment” as a key focus for the
state’s upcoming General
Assembly. Related to that
was their emphasis on find
ing new ways to transition
high school students into
technical colleges, a move
that is less expensive than
traditional colleges and that
can churn out workers more
quickly than most 4-year
colleges.
This focus on “workforce
development” stems from
the massive labor short
age we’ve seen across the
country over the past three
years. There simply aren’t
enough workers
to fill all the jobs
in the economy.
• ••
The reasons for
that aren’t clear.
While it appears
to be linked to
the impact of the
Covid shutdowns
and dislocations,
that may only be
part of the picture.
Some observers
blame bad government pol
icies for creating the labor
shortage.
Whatever the cause,
some business sectors are
struggling. Healthcare is
one area that needs more
workers, so much so that
Northridge in Commerce
handed out help want
ed slips along with candy
during the town’s recent
Christmas parade. “Scan
the code to apply,” says the
diminutive flyer.
In Northeast Georgia, the
massive amount of indus
trial and warehouse growth
has roiled the labor market,
creating more jobs than the
local communities can pro
vide. The area now imports
workers from other areas,
including Gwinnett Coun
ty which had long been a
regional labor magnet that
pulled from this area.
It still does, of course.
Labor dislocations take
a lot of time to level out.
The Jackson-Banks-Mad-
ison-Barrow counties area
doesn’t have enough labor
or enough housing for the
amount of jobs being cre
ated.
That will, eventually,
shift as more houses are
built and the area sees a
population growth that
isn’t largely just for com
muters to other areas. The
West Jackson area and
Barrow County have seen
a huge amount of residen
tial growth, but much of
that has been as a bedroom
community development
for Metro Atlanta.
That probably won’t be
the case as the other areas
grow, especially around
Commerce-Banks-Madi-
son counties which are a
little far from Atlanta to be
come a commuting suburb.
That area will grow as local
jobs bring more people to
the area who want to work
closer to home.
• ••
This labor shortage has
a lot of implications in the
political world, too.
For example, while much
of rural America appears to
be anti-immigration, farm
ers in the Midwest are hurt
ing for agricultural labor, so
much so that many support
pending legislation that
would make it easier for
immigrants to come to the
U.S. for agricultural jobs.
They don’t want a wall
built unless it has a door
through which a stream of
workers can enter.
Ditto for the hospitality
industry, which is critically
short of workers.
For a variety of reasons,
Americans don’t want to
work in demanding agri
cultural jobs, or in service
industry jobs, like cleaning
hotel rooms, or as restau
rant wait staff. Immigrants
have long been a source of
labor for those jobs, but the
Covid shutdowns and the
heated political atmosphere
against immigrants has
slowed that pipeline.
• ••
But this shortage isn’t
just about the U.S. It is a
world-wide problem.
We were on the other side
of the world last month in
New Zealand. There, busi
ness were struggling to find
enough workers at restau
rants and hotels. Signs
were everywhere: “Help
wanted.” One person asked
Alex and I if we wanted to
get a job in Queenstown,
NZ (which is a beautiful
place, but expensive with
“starter” homes at $1 mil
lion NZ$ which is about
$600,000 U.S.)
Hotel rooms weren’t
cleaned except after check
out; check-ins were delayed
since rooms weren’t ready
in time. In some places,
restaurant service was slow
or uneven due to a lack of
servers.
So the problem isn’t just
in the U.S., or just due to
bad U.S. policies, it’s an is
sue worldwide.
• ••
Nobody has a quick fix
for the labor shortage. But
it does make sense to pipe
line high school students
into technical schools and
to fix the nation’s messed-
up immigration system.
Work visas for immigrants
need to be easier and quick
er to get for those in agri
culture and service jobs.
Eventually, the current
hot market will cool and
there will be more balance
between workers and job
openings. The question is,
who will clean your hotel
room, harvest your food
and take care of your health
care needs while we wait?
Mike Buffington is
co-publisher of Mainstreet
Newspapers. He can be
reached at mike@main-
streetnews.com,
mike
buffington
Christmas, 2022: A Gothic Christmas Tale
At the turn of
the 20th century,
and on into the
mid-1950s, life in
the Appalachians
was a tale of
black and white
gothic existence.
Hollywood pre
tends it knows
the truth when
it shows little
girls in tattered
coats, handed
down many times
and mended repeatedly,
while men wear overalls
and women are covered
in dresses, thick stockings
and sweaters that some
times lasted 25 or 30 years.
At Christmas, a scrawny
tree was dragged in from
the piney woods and dec
orated with rustic, home
made ornaments and, if
possible, strands of pop
corn. As Mama told it, each
child had an old
sock for a stock
ing. On Christ
mas morning,
nothing thrilled
the children more
than to find fresh
fruit - a real
luxury to those
who barely had
enough to eat.
This story I
will always re
call her telling:
My uncle Doyle,
three years old, could not
talk plain. He had pulled
out an orange and a few
pieces of hard candy when
he realized the sock was
still heavy. He dug back in
and found another orange,
stuck in the toe of the sock.
He was overcome with pure
joy.
“Wook!” he exclaimed,
dancing around the bare
floor and cold room. “Me
got another ‘wrange.’”
For the rest of her days.
Mama would remember
the joy those two oranges
gave her baby brother. In
the mountains, especially
in the Depression, folks
would often say, “It's gon
na be a hard candy Christ
mas” meaning there would
be no toys. Only fruit
and hard pieces of candy.
Christmas never comes that
I don’t think of Mama and
her love for peppermint
sticks. In fact, in the kitch
en of her house, I still have
the jar with the last seven
or eight peppermint sticks
that were left over from the
Christmas before she died
in February.
Dolly Parton made a
Christmas standard of a
song called, “Hard Candy
Christmas.” Once, Tink and
I were discussing songs
of hers that would make
good movies. I comment
ed, “Hard Candy Christmas
would make a terrific mov
ie.”
Dolly replied, “I didn’t
write that song. Carol Hall
did.”
I was stunned. “It sounds
just like you.”
She shrugged. “I didn’t
write it but I lived it.”
Later. I read that Carol
Hall, a Broadway compos
er, had been inspired to
write the song after read
ing Truman Capote’s “A
Christmas Memory”, one
of my favorite short stories.
Appalachian folks from
that era - the one in which
Mama was raised - had a
mournful woe woven into
the timbre of their voices
when they recited poems or
stories. It was a sad melo
dy born into their voices
that never escaped them. It
could be chillingly haunt
ing like Mama’s voice
when she recited a lengthy
ode that she had learned as
a child.
A gloomy tome, it is 90
lines long. Mama knew
each by heart. Sometimes
I, or later my niece, Nicole,
would climb into bed with
Mama and ask her to tell
the story. In her best Appa
lachian, melancholic tone,
she began:
The room was so cold
and cheerless and bare,
With its rickety table and
one broken chair
A cradle stood empty,
pushed up to the wall
And somehow that
seemed the saddest of all.
It was a Christmas tale for
us, about a man who left his
dying wife and baby, with
out food or heat, to go to
The Drinking House Over
The Way — the title of the
poem. Occasionally, Mama
would stop and gather her
thoughts but she always re
membered all 90 lines.
Over 100 years old, it
ends with the lines:
And, please, when I’m
gone, ask someone to pray
For him at the drinkin’
house over the way.
Nicole asked Mama to
write down the words. Re
cently, while going through
my desk, I found a note
book of Mama’s where, in
her distinctive script, she
had written the poem. It
was almost as powerful in
her writing as it was in her
voice.
A gothic Christmas tale
of Appalachian woe.
Ronda Rich is the
best-selling author of What
Southern Women Know
About Faith. Visit www.
rondarich.com to sign up
for her free weekly news
letter.
rhonda
rich
NY is Back
NEW YORK
- Dating back to
the mid-seven
ties, I was fortu
nate to visit this
electric city at
least once a year.
I have never had a
bad experience in
New York.
Until COVID,
the National
Football Foun
dation held its
annual induc
tion dinner at the
Waldorf Astoria. Then the
property was sold to a Chi
nese group and the Foun
dation had to find a new
home. The event moved to
the mid-town Hilton. Not a
bad address but it did not
carry the esteem that pa
trons found at the Waldorf.
The lobby at the Wal
dorf, with the big clock as
the centerpiece of a smash
ing people center, was al
ways abuzz with foot traf
fic that was unparalleled.
Quite often there were
countless celebrities mov
ing about without a lot
of fanfare.
When the vi
rus brought New
York to its knees,
there was no ban
quet held in 2020.
The decision was
made to move the
event to Las Ve
gas in 2021. It re
turned to Vegas in
early December a
fortnight ago and
will remain in
“Sin City” for at
least a couple more years.
Now that Las Vegas is
home for the banquet, the
likelihood that it might
wind up in “the City” again
is unknown. Happily, for
this country boy who will
always be fascinated with
Manhattan, I was able to
return to one of my fa
vorite cities for the recent
Heisman trophy ceremony.
I am happy to say that
New York is back. The
streets were filled with
shoppers. Families were
out in abundance to enjoy
the theatre. Times Square
and Rockefeller Center.
Traffic was so overwhelm
ing that gridlock meant
that it might take an hour
to move three blocks. For
sure, New York is back.
The tree at Rockefeller
Center is as splendorous
as it has ever been. This
part of town is where you
see kids in their stocking
caps, smiling and laughing
as they and their parents
elbow their way down the
streets.
New York really dresses
up for Christmas. All the
trees and buildings with
the simple white lights
which sparkle in the snow
and rain when that takes
place, are a charming and
a heartwarming delight.
All those classy tiny lights
are soul soothing. There
are no colored lights in the
mix. There are no over
sized bulbs. How nice.
They say that Broadway
is back, but, like hotel rates,
tickets are at a much high
er price than ever. A public
relations friend, Phil Mar-
will, says, “If you know
what to do there is a way
to get around that.” When I
return, I am going to let my
friend show me how that is
done. There is nothing to
compare to a Broadway
musical. Mere mention
of Broadway makes one
hark back to the classic
shows of yesteryear. Too
many to count, but here
was West Side Story, Les
Miserables, Chicago, Mir
acle at 42nd Street, Hello
Dolly among others which
made you pine for more
trips to New York even if
you only had time to vis
it the theatre for a couple
of days. But $600.00 for a
ticket? I’d have to settle for
SportsCenter on my TV at
the hotel.
Food and drink are not
cheap, not that they ever
were in Manhattan, but
you can always find a
place where it doesn’t cost
an arm and a leg to satiate
your hunger.
Years ago, I found a
k-
’T 0
loran
smith
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place, “Burger Heaven,”
which offered a nice eggs,
toast and bacon breakfast
for a little over $10.00.
Lunch allowed for a mod
estly priced hamburger
for a little more. Dinner?
Now that was another sto
ry.
I remember paying a
$100.00 for a luncheon
steak at the Plaza and
wondered if I had lost
my mind. Now I wonder
if that steak is still on the
menu and if so, how much
would that set me back?
The museums, the at
tractions, and the shows.
New York is a magical
place where you are never
bored. Then there was a
fellow I know who went
to New York for a function
and spent his time going to
a movie. I was astounded.
You go to New York and
take in a movie. You can
do that in Anywhere, USA.
I know there is some
thing negative about New
York other than inflation. I
am aware that crime can be
an issue as it is in any big
city in our country today,
but on a recent trip. I felt
safe in the most exciting
city in the world.
Now I can’t wait to go
back.
Loran Smith is a UGA
announcer and columnist
for Mainstreet News.
The Braselton News
Mike Buffington Co-Publisher
Scott Buffington Co-Publisher & Advertising Manager
Ben Munro Editor
Taylor Hearn Sports Editor
Wesleigh Sagon Photographer/Features
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