When you live paycheck to paycheck… there is no style nor life to your lifestyle. I am a student of life, and I wanted to experience first hand what life was like for far too many people on this planet.
Background
Business was slow over the holidays last year and so I figure I might as well use this opportunity to find out what it’s like to work at minimum wage for a change. I tried 3 different jobs, all though different job agencies. I substantially dumbed down my resume, removing anything that would show that I had achieved anything in life, otherwise there is no way I would have ever been considered. People are given minimum wage jobs because the employer knows they need the job, as soon as they are not needed – their power is gone. I wanted to guarantee I got the job, and I got one within 5 minutes of stepping into the first recruiting agency. They needed manpower for a quick project, I was at the right place at the right time… $8.25 was the wage without any negotiations!
The three jobs from hell (Canada)
I worked at 3 different spots, the first was through a temp agency, essentially working in a heavy metal stamping plant. I was paid 9$ per hour, I am sure the agency was sub-contracting me at about 14-15$ per hour based on what the others told me they where getting paid. The other was helping to cap wine bottles, yes, putting on one cap at a time after bottles where filled up with their expensive wine. The last job was doing inventory control with a Wizard.
Observations
- minimum wage jobs seem to be generational, I talked to many of the employees and it wasn’t rare when they stated their father, mother, brother or even husband was doing similar work
- minimum wage jobs are exploitive to the tilt! These job agencies where making a living off my efforts, day in and day out, taking away much needed money and putting it in their pocket. I met people working these jobs that where far smarter then the agencies but due to circumstances, stuck in the minimum wage rut
- people fear loosing their minimum wage jobs, this was the most surprising of discoveries, I told one boss I was heading to the bathrooms (it was a factory) and he told me to wait till break time, I told him “I don’t think so” after a lengthy discussion that was going nowhere then proceeded to the bathroom. When I got back, the employees who overheard me where shocked that I talked back to the boss and where worried my job was on the line as a result (???)
- there is a heck of a lot of turnover in these jobs, even during the short term I was working there, those who where smart where taking studies to get out and others where looking elsewhere
- you don’t know monotony until you have done the same damn thing like a robot day in and out, I don’t know how these people do this for years, after a week I felt myself loosing my sanity
- minimum wage people are among the toughest jobs out there and the people are tough both physically and mentally
- I never saw so many smokers in my life! Seems the rates of obesity, ill health and alcoholism are rampant within this segment of the population.
- I never saw such a bunch of unhappy people, who have lost hope in their lives, you see it in their eyes, they want more but are exploited from ever achieving any worthwhile goal in their lives
- you are not appreciated for your work or your creativity, you are but a body that must perform X task over and over and over again, without complaint, without thought and without hope of getting out as you are easily replaced
After doing the above for a little over a month, I proceeded to walk away from each job without even giving them notice, what is there to say when you no longer need to work for a slave master?
One Great Job from Hell (Australia)
In the above jobs, my average pay rate was $8.25 an hour and then there where government deductions so maybe I was lucky to net $7.00 an hour. Australia… wow… most minimum wage jobs started at $9.00 an hour but I was lucky enough to net a job that was union based for a large printing company. My minimum wage job? $23.00 an hour! I was doing the same monotonous jobs, saw just as many smokers and people who gave up on life but wow… $23.00 an hour was nothing to complain about. This job was incredibly boring, the company (other employees) where, for the most part, quite dull with substance abuse problems but I kept my mouth shut most of the time. Unlike the minimum wage jobs in Canada, this job actually had a way out if you worked long enough. During my short few months there, I received forklift training, was managing production for my manager and was becoming a valued member of the staff. I heard a few people complain behind my back, who had been there for YEARS (some 20+) who where not happy that I leapfrogged over them within the first month there!
Overall Observations
As a person who has no lack of self-esteem and self-confidence, minimum wage jobs and my personality just don’t jive. I have no problem telling somebody that they are wrong, standing my ground and even telling them off if needed. I have a very direct managing method, no bullshit, no stories, good or bad, just tell me what is going on. Office politics aside, if somebody stands in front of me, like they did in the factory in Canada, trying to tell me to go to the bathroom just for their own power trip, the best get out of the way. One more thing I noticed that came to me a few months later, just about everybody who worked minimum wage jobs had HORRIBLE ORAL HYGENE. I don’t mean bad, I mean HORRIBLE. Broken and missing teeth, gingivitis was rampant, my only guess is that alcohol, tobacco and poor diet along with a completely loss of hope of every achieving something in life had been made representational in their mouth. These people where branded for life, good luck getting a corporate job with a mouth that looks like it belongs in that of a wild animal!
The Bottom Line
There are many Hells on this Earth… minimum wage jobs is probably among the worst.
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