Thursday, June 2, 2011

Minimum Wage Project

So I have heard fifty and sixty thousand dollars tossed around as starting salaries that new grads unrealistically expect to earn. I was thinking it might be interesting to try my hardest for six months or a year to earn that through making the CA minimum wage, which is $8/hour. I was thinking I could get hired at Taco Bell, McDonalds, Burger King, and Jack in the Box. But I guess it would be impossible because that is a bit over 120 hours per week, and even though that seems like it might be doable on my end for a few weeks, employees don't have input into which hours they work so coordinating that across companies would be impossible.

I went in to Taco Bell today to pick up an application and I ended up buying a meal because it was $2.63 and I was like, how can there be a meal for $2.63? Anyway, the man helping me, Matthew, was really confused, and rang me up wrong a couple times and couldn't fix it because only someone with a manager's card can make changes. So his shift leader, whose nametag said Anggie, sent him to the back and rang me up. And I felt terrible. I hoped he was high because if his current state was a fair representation of the toolkit life has provided him with he should not be left to fend for himself at a job. So that made me mad. I had time to read the English portion of the whole 6 page application while I waited for my meal, which was a carryout order because I felt sick and there was a strong astringent smell in the restaurant. Then I went next door to McDonalds- I felt a bit bad because I had a bag from their competitor, but at least I was otherwise well put together- and asked for an application, but I have to apply online.

Anyway, my dinner was tasty and I'm glad my project is logistically impossible because I did not like it in that Taco Bell and my reserves are really diminished. But I was excited for a while because reading the application made me realize the project would pretty much conduct itself once I set it in motion. Here are some highlights:
Listed under "PHYSICAL DEMANDS" is:
"communicating, tasting/smelling, tolerating extreme cold, tolerating noise."
Listed under "Mental/Emotional Aspects of the Team Member position" is:
"Percent of total job that is repetitive: 50"
and under "Education" it instructs me to,
"PLEASE LIST ALL JOB-RELATED ORGANIZATIONS, CLUBS, OR ACTIVITIES YOU ARE/WERE INVOLVED IN AT SCHOOL, EXCEPT THOSE THAT INDICATE RACE, RELIGION, COLOR, NATIONAL ORIGIN, ANCESTRY, SEX, OR AGE." Okay. I have never seen a poster for a student group that didn't include one of those explicitly, except coed intramural teams.

I guess I will keep thinking about how exactly this endurance peice should play out.

No comments: