Job Discussion Forums

[Richfilth]

pffft, toys. I have debts to pay off (mortgage, student loan, home renovation expenses.) I still have a 25-year-old TV and, until recently, a 27-year-old car, so I'm not exactly living the high life.

Plus, there's a lot of lesson recycling; 7 hours is just about comfortable, as an average; it's the 9-hour days that kill. Live to work, not work to live.

[Jack Walker]

[bfrog]

[Harry from NWE]

[dynow]

10,000 zl. is an incredible amount of money for a teacher working any number of hours in a month. i guess if you need that much cash, do what you gotta do.

as for me, I put in about 115 lessons last month and I GROSSED around 5,000. after ZUS slaps me in the face, i pay my taxes along with my accountant, i'm looking at about 3,500 net.

regardless, it's still enough to get by on out here but when i factor in airfare and spending cash for a trip home once a year, i'm breaking even.

[dynow]

by the way, as pointless as the "who drives on the correct side of the road" discussion goes, it's a useless and boring argument, but I will add this....comparing statistics in countries that drive on one side of the road vs. the other is simply crazy.

there are so many other factors you need to consider when looking at these statistics, such as whether or not the country allows drinking and driving (the US still allows a 180lb. man to legally drive after three 12 oz. beers drank in about an hour's time), the economics of the country, what their insurance policies are regarding automotive accidents, weather (obviously a city like say Detroit has plenty of accidents due to icy roads/snow/rain, something a country like India doesn't have to contend with), how many people in the country actually have their cars insured (i bring up insurance because if there's no insurance claim there often times will be no report of the accident, therefore giving you false statistics), what percentage of people own cars, what the overall road system looks like of the country along with overall population (NYC has more car accidents than say Fiji).....the list goes on and on.

i don't know about the rest of the world, but in America, EVERYBODY drives (once you're old enough to drive, car ownership is automatic), everybody has to have insurance by law, and if there's so much as a fender bender, the insurance companies are notified. in Poland, it's not uncommon for people to not have their driver's licenses even at 25-30 years old. again, i can't speak for other countries, but if Poland is like this, i'm sure other countries are similar, especially ones that are economically further behind, resulting in a crash statistic incomparable to America for the simple reason that more people living in America drive.

more cars, more drivers, more accidents.

people crash their cars due to carelessness, being tired, not paying attention to the road, heavy traffic, driving in the winter, speeding, etc. etc., not because they're using their less dominant eye or hand to shift gears.

[Glenlivet]

[dynow]

[Glenlivet]

[dynow]

regarding accident statistics, case and point:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30059443/

for those that don't feel like reading, it's a headline from msnbc.com today, and it cites increased seatbelt use, the economic downturn, and high gas prices to be reasons for less US highway deaths. in fact, the lowest it's been since 1961.

a couple highlights:

"The silver lining in a bad economy is that people drive less, and so the number of deaths go down," said Adrian Lund, president of the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. "Not only do they drive less but the kinds of driving they do tend to be less risky � there's less discretionary driving."

"In the past, tough economic times have brought similar declines in roadway deaths. Fatalities fell more than 16 percent from 1973 to 1974 as the nation dealt with the oil crisis and inflation. Highway deaths dropped nearly 11 percent from 1981 to 1982 as President Ronald Reagan battled a recession."

more cars, more driving, more accidents. if England started paying half as much for gas this year, traffic accidents would go up accordingly, regardless of what side of the road they drive on.

just to throw another one out there to drive home the point of endless variability........how many accidents in those statistics occured on one way streets

[Harry from NWE]