kalibane wrote:Not that this is a referendum about me feeling sorry for cheerleaders for making their poor choice. (My only point was that there really isn't any benefit for them either so if it disappeared it's not like you are doing them an injustice. I mean can you name anyone who got their big break from cheerleading?).
That being said my theory about the complaining is that a lot of them go into it knowing that pay is low but they don't fully realize how many restrictions and side effects that "job" ends up putting on their lives outside of Sunday. People always underestimate that stuff. But the easiest thing to complain about is money so people take the position that, "if they are going to control me like this I should be paid more".
You see the same thing going on with Uber Drivers now. It looks great on paper to set your own hours, control your own business and it seems like an easy way to make decent money. But they don't think about the wear and tear on their car, exactly how much money they are going to spend on gas, and most of them have never had a job where you have to plan for your taxes that aren't being automatically deducted from their checks and they get slaughtered at tax time. When the reality hits that in average cities you're only making $10 -$15 an hour unless you really hustle, figure out optimal areas and hours to drive they get upset and demand more pay. It's their own fault but because of the way Uber recruits and their own presumption about how easy it is, they get mad and complain about pay.
Two things: The first is look before you leap. If any of those cheerleaders gave up better paying jobs, quit school, etc, under the assumption that they were going to be better off financially by performing as a cheerleader, then that's completely on them. The onus is on them to ask questions, do a little research by talking to other cheerleaders, read the fine print, etc. They're all adults.
The second thing is that even if they were unaware of the drawbacks to being a cheerleader, they can still get out of the job with very little effort. I doubt that they signed a long term contract to perform. If they think that the pasture is greener on the other side of the fence, there's nothing stopping them from leaving.
If there's one thing I'm high on, it's personal responsibility and accepting the consequences of your own actions or decisions. Those girls had/have complete control over the decision to accept an offer or walk away from the job if they so choose.
Not to change the topic, but there's a much bigger scandal going on where apparently the Department of Defense has been paying NFL teams to put on what appears like team sponsored, public service events honoring the military.
