Zach and Whitney: The Constable and the Carhop

[cereality]

2 hours ago, Spazamanaz said:

I agree with everything you've said in both posts. The entire horde of them are irresponsible and disgusting. Can you imagine being the doctor and explaining Jadon's health issues to those two stupid, clueless blank faces?! You know, it might have to take one of them to die from covid before they do anything responsible. (I know Kelly's mothers husband passed from it, I was thinking one of the younger family members) not that I wish it on anyone!  

I don't have kids but I always though parents (and certainly what I've seen in my friend group w/ people who are parents) were SCARED.TO.DEATH regarding the health of their infants esp if that infant is at all vulnerable. Like I've seen people who are otherwise chill absolutely lay down the law with their own parents (i.e. baby's grandparents) that they are not visiting for X weeks/months bc the dr. has said the baby is not to be around people (esp heard this with premature babies w/ NICU stays esp in flu season) OR if the grandparents don't get vaccinated for certain things (maybe TDap?) they are not visiting etc. These are people who are otherwise normal, rational, and have good family relations but when it comes to their vulnerable infant they follow drs. orders or even "suggestions" to the letter -- knowing full well that if a vulnerable infant gets so much as a sniffle in the first 2-3 months, it means back to the hospital, spinal tap etc.

I know people tend to relax with later kids but I've never seen a relaxed parent with a NICU infant -- even if that kid was no. 3 or 4 or whatever. 

Both Bates grandkids are/were in the same NICU - and likely have some or all of the same drs. The drs. must be beside themselves at 2 related families who are just SO STUPID!? One seems to think -- masks nah; visitors that's just a suggestion, it's FAMILY not strangers at the mall holding him. The other seems to think her blood and her baby's blood are at war in some super rare complication that the drs have never seen before -- when it's an Rh issue that every pregnant woman is tested for routinely!?

Is it possible that they said ok Jadon can go live his life -- with no other NICU instructions? IDK what hospitals are telling people on discharge right now with the pandemic. It would seem far fetched with the pandemic not over esp in low vaccine states like Tenn + with widespread RSV in Tenn. Like I would think they said SOMETHING about visitors etc.!?

[emmawoodhouse]

I don't think Hazel's condition is Rh related. There are other issues that are seen much less often. I think Josie's claim that doctors had never seen it before is a wee bit of an exaggeration.

Edited June 18, 2021 by emmawoodhouse

[Absolom]

I don't think they would have mistyped Josie's blood during the first pregnancy and thus neglected Rhogam.  There are many other lesser known blood incompatibilities. 

[Spazamanaz]

26 minutes ago, cereality said:

I don't have kids but I always though parents (and certainly what I've seen in my friend group w/ people who are parents) were SCARED.TO.DEATH regarding the health of their infants esp if that infant is at all vulnerable. Like I've seen people who are otherwise chill absolutely lay down the law with their own parents (i.e. baby's grandparents) that they are not visiting for X weeks/months bc the dr. has said the baby is not to be around people (esp heard this with premature babies w/ NICU stays esp in flu season) OR if the grandparents don't get vaccinated for certain things (maybe TDap?) they are not visiting etc. These are people who are otherwise normal, rational, and have good family relations but when it comes to their vulnerable infant they follow drs. orders or even "suggestions" to the letter -- knowing full well that if a vulnerable infant gets so much as a sniffle in the first 2-3 months, it means back to the hospital, spinal tap etc.

I know people tend to relax with later kids but I've never seen a relaxed parent with a NICU infant -- even if that kid was no. 3 or 4 or whatever. 

Both Bates grandkids are/were in the same NICU - and likely have some or all of the same drs. The drs. must be beside themselves at 2 related families who are just SO STUPID!? One seems to think -- masks nah; visitors that's just a suggestion, it's FAMILY not strangers at the mall holding him. The other seems to think her blood and her baby's blood are at war in some super rare complication that the drs have never seen before -- when it's an Rh issue that every pregnant woman is tested for routinely!?

Is it possible that they said ok Jadon can go live his life -- with no other NICU instructions? IDK what hospitals are telling people on discharge right now with the pandemic. It would seem far fetched with the pandemic not over esp in low vaccine states like Tenn + with widespread RSV in Tenn. Like I would think they said SOMETHING about visitors etc.!?

Agreed! You said it so well. I know the fear of having a baby in the NICU. My second son was in the NICU for a week when he was born due to heart issues. He's fine now. But it was scary and nerve wracking, especially when we brought him home. I was so afraid of him even catching the everyday common cold. I couldn't imagine going through it with covid and all the variants going around. They can pray all they want, but they still need to have common sense. 

[cereality]

1 hour ago, Spazamanaz said:

Agreed! You said it so well. I know the fear of having a baby in the NICU. My second son was in the NICU for a week when he was born due to heart issues. He's fine now. But it was scary and nerve wracking, especially when we brought him home. I was so afraid of him even catching the everyday common cold. I couldn't imagine going through it with covid and all the variants going around. They can pray all they want, but they still need to have common sense. 

And we now have a pic of the kid with Uncle Law. Lord knows where he's been this week - Cali probably.

Thing is they are ALL dumbasses. Usually if the parents are naive or inexperienced and are like -- woohoo home from the NICU time to show off the baby and get pics of everyone with the baby on insta, there's a mom/dad/grandparent/sibling who pulls them back and tells them -- are you sure, it's a pandemic, everyone has been going out daily to Target and salons and job sites, I really don't think you should, just give it another couple weeks. 

Here though it's Kelly and Gil -- if Z&W were to say sorry no guests for a few weeks, you know G&K would be the first to accuse them of not having enough faith, needing to turn back to God and pray blah blah. Like they wouldn't without commentary say -- I think you're right to be careful, we'll put the word out to the family that everyone can see Jadon when you all give an invite so that people aren't texting and asking you every day.

[emmawoodhouse]

That pic with Lawson made me irrationally angry. As you said, where's he been? I really fear for poor baby Jadon. 

[SheTV]

Last night on the show, Whitney and Josie were painting wooden name plaques for the upcoming babies (both were still pregnant), and the name Whitney put on hers was very clearly "Jayden" not "Jadon."  I wonder why they changed the spelling?

[IndianPaintbrush]

I noticed that too. I figured they are either honoring someone named Don or they just wanted a unique spelling - in which case, FAIL.

[Absolom]

Someone they know probably named a kid Jayden in between the painting and the delivery.

[BitterApple]

I was browsing BatesSnark on Reddit the other day, and someone posted screenshots of the boutique. There was one of Zach working at a computer, and wow, he's developed quite a gut since quitting the force. Kind of strange for someone who's allegedly climbing up and down trees all day. It makes me wonder if he's really working full time at the dress business and they're too embarrassed to admit it. A Fundie guy working for his wife doesn't exactly jibe with their belief system.

[Dehumidifier]

16 minutes ago, BitterApple said:

I was browsing BatesSnark on Reddit the other day, and someone posted screenshots of the boutique. There was one of Zach working at a computer, and wow, he's developed quite a gut since quitting the force. Kind of strange for someone who's allegedly climbing up and down trees all day. It makes me wonder if he's really working full time at the dress business and they're too embarrassed to admit it. A Fundie guy working for his wife doesn't exactly jibe with their belief system.

I wondered if he was put on some kind of involuntary leave to get in shape. He wasn't exactly skinny when he was still on the force.

[emmawoodhouse]

54 minutes ago, Dehumidifier said:

I wondered if he was put on some kind of involuntary leave to get in shape. He wasn't exactly skinny when he was still on the force.

Zach is built like Gil. The term used to be husky. Not sure what you'd call it nowadays. Solid? 

[Dehumidifier]

1 minute ago, emmawoodhouse said:

Zach is built like Gil. The term used to be husky. Not sure what you'd call it nowadays. Solid? 

Yes, he would never be skinny. I was hyperbolating (making my own word here.)

[Spazamanaz]

Just now, emmawoodhouse said:

Zach is built like Gil. The term used to be husky. Not sure what you'd call it nowadays. Solid? 

Thick?

[emmawoodhouse]

Tree trunks? 😀

[Dehumidifier]

19 minutes ago, emmawoodhouse said:

Tree trunks? 😀

Oh no! He might get cut down by accident!

[emmawoodhouse]

Hee, I couldn't resist a tree joke. 😀

[Kiss my mutt]

TIMBER!!!!

[zenme]

He’s “big boned,” or as Tamar Braxton would say, he’s “thickums.” I’m not surprised he’s gained lbs. since leaving the force. When my husband retired from the Army, he gained weight as well! No more required PT!

Edited June 26, 2021 by zenme

[cereality]

I too saw that IG video from I think Carlin where she was walking all over the store showing what was going on. I actually didn't notice Z's weight but I noticed him sitting in the corner on a computer and my first reaction -- you quit a full time job on the police force WITH BENEFITS to do THIS?!

We all know Gil's tree business isn't a 40 hr/wk operation. It wasn't suddenly going to become 40 hrs/wk with Z joining unless Z is the one who decides to get super aggressive and starts soliciting business all over the state, rather than just waiting for a sweet friend to call bc they need a tree removed or just a random job here or there bc someone googled tree services and found the Bates. Clearly Z is not doing that. And the reason we know he isn't doing that + it isn't a full time gig for anyone is bc it doesn't seem like Gil does jobs alone. He schedules jobs for when at least 2 of Trace, Law, Nathan and now Z are available to go with him to do the work. Well Trace and Law are both social media obsessed. Anytime they have a tree job -- which is rare -- they MUST put up videos all day long about how great it is to be able to work with the bros blah blah. Based on that alone, Z doesn't have tree jobs except once every so often. 

And what exactly does the dress shop need from Z!? He was sitting on a computer so I assumed he was maybe doing something with purchase orders, inventory, or invoicing. But seriously between Whit; Erin; and Carlin, they really can't divide up that work!? And if it's needing him to lift heavy boxes or whatever - sorry but most families' primary bread earners don't quit their job to do that. You either hire a high school kid (or teen brother) to stop by the day shipments come to unload OR you have your husbands come that night to unload after work.

Reality is I don't think he's really working now - not consistently. But he's a man - he needs to feel like he's working when for 3 weeks in a row he has no tree jobs. So at least by coming and sitting at the store, Z&W can both feel like oh MY MAN is SUCH a hard worker blah blah. I'm actually surprised we haven't seen him picking up jobs with Chad's business because he apparently has experience with concrete/foundation work and is generally pretty handy. But it looks like Chad has pretty much taken on Trace and Jackson full time or nearly full time and on bigger jobs he seems to call in Warden and Isiah for help too. He probably just can't take on a 5th Bates and still have $$ coming in for him and Erin; I guess on a really big job - like not just renovating a kitchen or bathroom - but an entire house, he could probably call in Z in addition to Warden and Isiah.

But a 32 year old man with FOUR kids probably needs a better steadier income plan than his 16 and 18 yr old brothers who live at home and if they make $ from Chad this week, it goes towards saving for their truck or newest iPhone and if they don't, oh well there's always next week.

Edited June 27, 2021 by cereality

[65mickey]

I can't see a family tree business supporting  3 or 4 families. A few years ago maybe after their first child Whitney was working in real estate and Zack was with the county sheriff's department. I mistakenly thought at least these two have thier priorities in order. Didn't take more than a few more kids for Zack to suddenly need to be at home rather than at a full time job with insurance and pension benefits.  When this show ends and it will some day they are all going to be hurting. At least Kelton,  Bobby and  Carlin's husband, his name escapes me, haven't fallen into this mindset. 

[cereality]

15 minutes ago, 65mickey said:

I can't see a family tree business supporting  3 or 4 families. A few years ago maybe after their first child Whitney was working in real estate and Zack was with the county sheriff's department. I mistakenly thought at least these two have thier priorities in order. Didn't take more than a few more kids for Zack to suddenly need to be at home rather than at a full time job with insurance and pension benefits.  When this show ends and it will some day they are all going to be hurting. At least Kelton,  Bobby and  Carlin's husband, his name escapes me, haven't fallen into this mindset. 

Dumbest move ever by Z&W for Z to leave the police force (or county gov't generally) to stay and home "invest in his kids' lives like Gil did."

Uh morons this tree business needs to support - Gil's family which still has 9-10 kids at home and now Z's family and 4 kids too?? And BTW in case Z&W hasn't notice Trace, Jackson, Warden, Isiah all seem like they're staying local in Knox and all have no real career plan. Sure they pick up work from Chad but when Chad doesn't have enough and these guys are all married with 5 kids each - guess what they're looking to for $$$, Gil's tree business. And then there's Law and Nathan. They haven't yet said where they'll settle but I'm skeptical that Law can afford to marry Tiff and live in Cali and I'm skeptical that Nathan will be spending as much time piloting once he's married with a few kids - so if they end up in Knox, there's 2 more families looking to supplement whatever their income is with tree income. So yeah brilliant idea Zach, tie your future to a small business that could ultimately be supporting 7 families PLUS yours. Good luck with that.

If they're really decided he can't be a cop anymore/can't work for the man blah blah, then he better jump on the trade school road like Kelton, Evan, and John. That's the only thing that'll afford him a decent lifestyle w/o relying on a fledgling small business supporting 85 people. But these people are so old fashioned. I'm sure they'd be thinking school at 32 -- nooooo -- he's married father of 4, he can't be sitting home studying for exams he has to invest in his kids blah blah.

Evan married at 24 and IIRC correctly had already been in electrician school for 6 months to a year then; he's 26 now and recently said on IG that he has 1 yr of school left (I imagine this is school + apprenticeship so that when you're done you can go straight to a job). So that means he was in school from ages 23-27 - 4 yrs. Yeah it'd be a commitment for Z to do that from ages 32-36 but sacrifice 4 yrs now for your life to be settled for the next 40+ yrs. And FWIW Evan does not seem THAT busy with school. He spends plenty of time dicking around on IG, editing YouTube videos, going away to his parents' house 2-3 times/mo, playing with Layla in the evenings, going to the Bates house in the evenings and playing handball/basketball etc., and in an IG last week just said he's on "summer break." So yeah I think in normal non fundie world - you go to this type of school + work at least 20 hrs/wk to support your family + still have some time to see your family. It's not impossible.

[ozziemom]

And neither Zack or Whit seem to have a SM hustle, so no extra $$ from YouTube or Instagram. It’s hard to understand their logic.

[floridamom]

I still believe that it was one of the dumbest things that Zach has done to leave benefitted full time employment like the sheriffs' department. There could have been a number of other positions he could have applied to in the county or local government as a deputy already on the pay roll. He could have applied for a transfer to courthouse security/ bailiff in the courtroom, etc. Courts and trials are not usually all night long, holidays, weekends, etc. I don't believe for one moment that he quit to 'invest' in his children. I bet he quit due to the hostile climate regarding law enforcement officers in this country right now. I also believe that his action is a slap in the face to all real-job holding fathers who leave the house every day, 9-5, to support their families. His attitude reeks of those dads as not investing in their children and not being able to be with them 24/7. Isn't providing for one's family by working a real job with a steady "can count on paycheck' and medical insurance one great way for fathers to INVEST in their childrens' lives and well-being? A FATHER IS A PROVIDER. JOBS PROVIDE FOR THE FAMILY. ( I would like to clarify that yes,  mothers provide too by holding down real jobs  but for this conversation, I am referring specifically to Zach, being a father and providing.) Thanks for letting me vent a bit.

[Kiss my mutt]

Investing in your children usually includes being gainfully employed but I know that’s just non-fundie “crazy talk”!

[cereality]

Just shows how short sighted they are + how they were raised with NO planning abilities + how they've developed NO planning abilities. Though they'd prob tell you that planning is going against God's will, God will provide, what else do you need to know, if you're laying elaborate career/financial plans it's bc you don't trust God enough and need to find your faith.

I mean maybe he could not or did not want to be a cop anymore; maybe they were worried that 10 yrs or whatever on the force was enough and he was taking chances by going out on patrol with the weapons that are floating on the streets getting worse and worse. Fine whatever. But a normal adult with FOUR kids doesn't just up and quit to do nothing while spouting BS about investing in his kids. He then says ok I'm a county/city employee already with great benefits and only 10 yrs away from a full pension, I have preference for county/city jobs being an internal applicant, time to start working that network and apply to EVERY city/county/state gov't job I can and keep doing that until I get one.

He could have applied for everything from bailiff and court security officer to more desk type jobs in the city -- everything from pushing paper for the police department to working in the city office that grants permits every time someone wants to put a pool in their backyard. Eventually something would have opened up - sure it may be 12-24 months of looking but show me one adult who hasn't hung in there with a job they didn't like for a year or 2 because of income and health insurance!?

And yeah if I'm John, Kelton, Bobby, or Chad - I'm kind of annoyed that my oldest BIL the one we are all supposed to look up to - is straight up saying that going to work 40 hrs/wk to provide = NOT investing in your kids bc you don't care enough to be home with them playing games all day!?

[andromeda331]

It was really dumb. I can't figure out why he did it. Zach always seemed liked the one who didn't like how they lived, with a father who barely worked while his kids worked hard. He went out and got a real job. Went through the training and seemed happy with his job. He and Whitney were doing real good. They were able to buy a new house, Whitney changed how she dressed, they had that vow renewal where she wore a definitely un-fundie dress and seemed to support both. I don't what happened with real estate thing but getting involved with the dress business Whitney seemed to do a lot of work and seemed to like it. Zach seemed to be the one advising his younger brothers to get a real job. It was steady work with benefits. 

He suddenly quits his job, returns to the tree service job but doesn't really seem to be working it as hard as he could while working at the dress shop. Neither job can possibly bring in that much money. The tree service still has Gil and ten Bates while the dress shop has Erin and Carlin plus their employees. Same with UP TV. What happened? Why did he make such a dumb decision? It makes no sense.     

[3 is enough]

I still don't understand why he would give up a job he obviously enjoyed, not to mention the financial insecurity that comes with that choice.

I wonder if the events of last summer made Whitney and probably Kelly more than a little squirrelly.  Given that Zach is a D-list celebrity if he had been involved in any incidents it would have been splashed all over the news. Something like that could potentially affect all family members, the fate of the tv show, and his siblings' social media earning potentials.  

I could totally see Whitney and Kelly hounding him relentlessly until he gave in. The family managed to whitewash Lawson and Trace being in DC on January 6th, but maybe they would not have been so lucky a second time.

 

[cereality]

I wonder if Z will ultimately regret his decision + resent Whit and G&K for "forcing" his hand or nagging him relentlessly until he quit and/or be mad at himself for NOT being the headship here and saying sorry you don't like it but I'm not quitting until I hit 20 yrs with the city or whatever.

Z more than any of the other kids has expressed "resentment" re how he was raised. Sure the girls like Alyssa and Josie have modernized in clothing and don't seem to want to hang with the family as much, but ultimately they don't have any provider or financial responsibilities for their families; they just need to squat down and give birth every year and it's not like your parents can prep you for that when you're growing up.

Z OTOH COULD HAVE been prepped better (or at all) by Gil for being a provider - whether that meant going to trade school or college or joining the police force right out of high school. Instead I think he was left to figure it out on his own and somehow landed a job with the city and from there thought hmm the sheriff's office would be great, maybe I can get accepted at the academy and then did it.

When Trace was planning to marry that girl from Dallas he was talking to Z about money/career and Z was the one who said -- go full time with the sheriff's office, you do long shifts so you'll only be working 3-4 days/wk and then use your downtime to pick up extra work with Chad to make more $$ and do this for as many years as you can when you're still young to save up. Trace asked - is that what you did when you were planning to marry W and Z directly said - no it's what I WISH I had done. To mean that screamed -- there was no one there to tell me to make/save a lot of $$$ pre marriage, but I'm telling you to do it bc you'll need it, it'll only help with down payments, dr bills when babies start coming etc. In in the last episode Nathan said something about sitting down and thinking about finances and how he'll pay the bills when married/will he have enough etc. I don't think him and Z are particularly close but ultimately I feel like if he wants concrete guidance in that area beyond "oh God will provide," I think he'd still go to Z not Gil.

So having gotten into a full time job with great insurance + a retirement with like a 7-10% match he now gives it up -- no doubt bc Kelly was putting it in W's ear how awful it is that HER HUSBAND is the ONLY ONE who spends so much time away from the kids; works on the Lord's day blah blah -- W decided hmm that's right, no fair. All the other BILs work for themselves or work from home full time (Brandon) or are in school with long summer breaks (Evan) -- hmm my man is away too much, how is going to teach Bradley to be a man blah blah. Bc you know dads who work outside the home 40-50 hrs/wk totally mess up their sons for life [eyeroll]. W's done the song and dance before about how Bradley cries for Z when he's gone blah blah -- really a 6 yr old doesn't get that daddy works to provide!? Maybe you're not teaching him the right things about a man's role in the family. You know between that + Gil regaling him with stories of how it was great to work for himself bc he'd just bring his sons to work just like Z can do now (well maybe when they're old enough to dodge trees) -- you KNOW Z just gave up and went with what G&K and Whit wanted.

And yet I wouldn't be shocked at all if in 2-3 yrs we start hearing sarcasm about it from Z, esp if say some brother in law starts working a ton (don't see that happening) OR say Nathan gets married and has kids and is still flying to small towns to give pilot lessons and the family acts like that's a-ok. I can see Z being jealous if he is forced to give up his good job but Nathan isn't. Same way he's been sarcastic about oh dancing USED to call up the devil but now it's classy -- LOL. Except this isn't stupid dancing, it's about providing for his family and chances are assuming they don't have issues getting pregnant, there are going to be a few more mouths to feed beyond the 4 he has.

Edited July 2, 2021 by cereality

[Dehumidifier]

I don't believe he quit the police force voluntarily. 

[BitterApple]

29 minutes ago, Dehumidifier said:

I don't believe he quit the police force voluntarily. 

Ooooh, interesting. What's your theory if it wasn't voluntary?

[Dehumidifier]

6 minutes ago, BitterApple said:

Ooooh, interesting. What's your theory if it wasn't voluntary?

I don't have a theory, Quitting just doesn't make sense at all. Unless they won the lottery.

Edited July 2, 2021 by Dehumidifier

[curbcrusher]

There's a lot of certainty in the comments here that Zach made a mistake, his family is doomed to the poor house if he has a tree trimming career and running your own business means you don't have benefits and all the advantages of working for a big company or the government.

In my experience, people leave public safety jobs before retirement for a number of reasons. I once a knew a guy that had quite the local fire department after 13 years. He quit the month after the department suffered it's worse day in history when it lost 2 guys in a building fire when the roof collapsed. He said he had loved being a fireman, but after that day he just could not go to work without thinking about leaving his kids without a father. I had a neighbor that I knew for about 10 years before I found out he had been a local cop for 10 years before becoming the manager of a local family's retail establishment. When I said, wow you could be retired now, he said he might be retired, but he would have lost his soul. In his experience, as a cop he was dealing with the worst of society on a daily basis and it caused him to look at everyone and think the worst. He said he had to get out. I've encountered many others with similar types of stories in public safety jobs, so when someone leaves one of those jobs I tend to give them the benefit of the doubt that maybe, just maybe its the decision they need to make to keep their sanity.

As to tree trimmers. I remember when my daughter was in preschool 20 years aog, she was invited to another student's birthday party. We showed up at the address, and it was a huge lakefront home on a very desirable chain of lakes in Central Florida. It belonged to the grandfather of the student, and he had just acquired it. Parked out front, the trucks that belonged to his tree trimming business. A small family business that he had run for years, and had less than 10 employees. I mean they were in a $600,000 house in the 90's and trimming trees bought that house. I know of another tree trimmer that started in a pickup truck with a chain saw, and after a few years he had a well established business that had created wealth for him and his crew. Tree trimming is not a dead end job.

Finally, there's a lot of disparagement of Zach wanting to work for himself. I've worked for big companies, local government and myself. If you work for yourself, you can decided what kind of benefits you get, and you have all the control over what jobs you take and which ones you turn down, and you get set your priorities for time off and work-life balance. There are some stresses, like will you make payroll, and such, but for me it's a far superior to the guaranteed job/benefits of a large company/government.

In short, the choices these folks have made will play out over time. There are good chances that they will work out for them. There's a chance they won't. But constantly presenting the choices as bad, leaves the reader thinking there is a real lack of life experience in the judgements.

 

[Dehumidifier]

Getting paid in tax-free cash can be very lucrative.

[zenme]

On 6/25/2021 at 1:12 PM, Dehumidifier said:

I wondered if he was put on some kind of involuntary leave to get in shape. He wasn't exactly skinny when he was still on the force.

In the army they call it the “fat boy program.” 😹

[emmawoodhouse]

56 minutes ago, zenme said:

In the army they call it the “fat boy program.” 😹

Zach wasn't even fat. He inherited Gil's stocky body frame. However, since he started cutting down trees, he's gained at least 20 lbs.

[65mickey]

18 hours ago, Dehumidifier said:

Getting paid in tax-free cash can be very lucrative.

That is unless one becomes disabled and guess what no Social Security benefits. All those years enjoying money paid under the table and nothing paid into Social Security comes back to haunt. Not saying that the Bates do this but I know someone who did and it had a very sad ending. 

[Dehumidifier]

8 minutes ago, 65mickey said:

That is unless one becomes disabled and guess what no Social Security benefits. All those years enjoying money paid under the table and nothing paid into Social Security comes back to haunt. Not saying that the Bates do this but I know someone who did and it had a very sad ending. 

I was actually thinking of the tree trimmers with the $600,000 house mentioned above...Don't most of the these construction types report the big jobs and do the side jobs for cash? 

1 minute ago, Dehumidifier said:

Oopsie

 

Edited July 10, 2021 by Dehumidifier

[cereality]

So I guess Z officially works for his wife at a dress shop. Way to be the manly headship dude. This is the 2nd time that Carlin has posted a video of a regular weekday afternoon and she and Whit are there folding clothes/stacking shelves etc. and Z is seen sitting there at a laptop working and grabbing from a pile of peaches someone had brought in as a snack. This does not seem to be a random - oh the husbands drop by to say hi when they're in the area for their work or the husbands come over to help unload the truck when shipments arrive - type of thing. This seems like a Z reports to his wife's work and his wife/sisters have likely given him some business/computer tasks like invoices or ordering goods or something along those lines, while W probably gushes to him about how they could NEVER do it without him, he's the BRAINS (ala Josie and Kelton).

Good move leaving (or getting pushed out of) city employment for daddy's business which has 12+ mouths to feed in Gil's home and yet brings in business a few days a month max. Sure we believe it was to "invest in your kids," I mean it's not like it takes money to raise kids or anything and way to teach those 2 sons of yours how to be the provider.

[3 is enough]

Yeah, I saw that too.  No evidence of any of their kids there, but it seems Carlin always brings Layla along unless Evan is home.  I guess Addallee is babysitting. Maybe the baby was asleep somewhere off camera. 
 

My theory is that Gil is finally making a decent salary on the IBLP board and the tree business kind of fell to the wayside until Zach left the force.  The boys who used to help mostly work for Chad now.  Maybe Zach picks up a few days a month, but works at the boutique the rest of the time.  I know it was mentioned upthread that tree trimming can be lucrative, but that was Florida where palms that need regular trimming and HOA’s with strict rules abound.  I don’t think Knoxville is quite the same.  Sure, they probably get busy periods after storms, but I doubt they have regular customers.

[cereality]

It's not that a tree business CAN'T be successful, it's that no one appears to work at this tree business full time to bring in the business, put up some ads, get some contracts either with city/state for repeated work or HOAs (there may not be tons in their area but there probably are nice suburbs someplace driveable). It very much seems like a business that gets jobs here and there bc some "sweet friend" needs some tree trimming, that's the kind of thing that brings in additional income not the kind of thing that'll feed 12 mouths at G&K's house and 6 mouths at Z&W's house, not to mention all the other brothers they pull in to help when they do get a job.

Reason I think this is I feel like MANY of their jobs are documented on social media - at least the sizeable ones - bc Trace goes along to help (sometimes in addition to Jackson/Warden/Isiah and maybe even Law/Nathan if they're around). Trace puts EVERYTHING on IG with the #blessed omg I LOVE working with pops and my bros . . . . If they're gonna feed that many mouths with a single business it can't just be tiny jobs that Gil and Z may be doing alone sometimes, they need many of these other bigger jobs which require the brotherly man power. Those seem rare, like 1 every month or two . . . . Hence Z is peddling dresses now, hanging out with the ladies all day.

They're such hypocrites. They're all about OMG MEN, manly, we're tradesmen, we work with our hands, during covid - all the sons in law were crowing about being essential workers (at least Kelton/Bobby/John were). If any other guy was selling dresses at his WIFE's business, G&K would be the first to mock him, yet for Z it's a-ok.

[MargeGunderson]

When it was Gil and a couple of the then teenage sons, the business wasn’t enough to pay the family’s bills, was it? Didn’t Gil have to borrow money from one of the boys for groceries at one point? Landscaping and tree businesses can be successful, but there are signs that it’s not successful enough to pay all of the relatives a wage that would support their own families. I can’t imagine the money from the show is that good either, considering it’s on Up and the money has to be distributed to so many people.

Edited July 28, 2021 by MargeGunderson

[cereality]

And there he is again in today's video, at the Bates Sisters Boutique brain storming session, chilling with the ladies and holding a baby. Z is a regular momtrepreneur. FWIW Evan is there too but at least we know he goes to school/works 40 hrs/wk in an actual trade, he may just have had a day or afternoon off so he decided to goof off and grandstand in front of an audience, his favorite thing ever.

How is Whit not embarrassed? I know she didn't want him holding down a real job with an actual schedule, but I assume she thought he'd be out working up a sweat like a man chopping down trees, only to have him at her business daily talking about dresses? I mean she's got the least manly husband of them all if this continues and given how comparative these girls are, you know she's noticed . . . . I guess they all think of Brandon as the outcast but IDK he works for a fundie org doing video/computer work, that's still manlier than ordering dresses all day and talking about whether the cap sleeve ones will sell better than the short sleeve ones and if we need to order more of those!?

Edited July 28, 2021 by cereality

[YupItsMe]

I say good on the ladies if their business is successful enough that Z can quit his outside job and work with them. My husband would love that, and working at a computer is much safer than law enforcement.

[SongbirdHollow]

I thought I heard her say that Zach does their website maintenance now. 

[cereality]

In normal world sure, nothing wrong with a woman starting a business and it grows so successful that her husband or other men can work there too. But in fundie world - come on??! These people have preached since day 1 that the man is the provider and head of his family, and wife is there is be his helper/encourager/bearer and raiser of his kids/and his cook and maid. Kinda reversing gender roles aren’t we Z&W? Isn’t the Bible against that sort of thing? If he’s neither the one that can provide financially nor squat down and birth the kids, what exactly is his (Biblical) role in this family? Not much of a headship if you ask me.

[emmawoodhouse]

6 minutes ago, SongbirdHollow said:

I thought I heard her say that Zach does their website maintenance now. 

Well, I just checked it out for the first time, and it needs work. Bios need to be updated. They haven't been touched in over a year. No mention of Jadon, Whitney still works in real estate, etc.

[SongbirdHollow]

53 minutes ago, emmawoodhouse said:

Well, I just checked it out for the first time, and it needs work. Bios need to be updated. They haven't been touched in over a year. No mention of Jadon, Whitney still works in real estate, etc.

I think she meant the boutique website though. 

[emmawoodhouse]

1 minute ago, SongbirdHollow said:

I think she meant the boutique website though. 

Yes, so was I. The bios are hopelessly out of date.

[3 is enough]

So with all the talk about the boutique and all of Carlin’s postings it just occurred to me that one of the partners is MIA.  Erin was not even at the strategy meeting.  I wonder if she is still struggling with long COVID. No posts on her Instagram since mid July either.