Minimum Wage

[alan1]

There are a few active threads on the board that are talking about minimum wage and the companies that pay minimum wage. I see good points coming from all sides of the discussion.

I'm curious, how many people here have worked for minimum wage at some point in their life? Please indicate in the poll and explain if you can.

I'll start.
I got my first job at 13 years of age. I was an independent contractor for KMart. I was the guy that assembled the bicycles, it was a job that paid by the piece and equated to much more than minimum wage. Great money around Christmas and spring, but people don't buy bikes all year long. At 14 I took an hourly job with KMart in order to have a more steady income. It also paid more than minimum wage.
I worked throughout my teen years and never once had a minimum wage job.

 

[Connery]

I had a job as a summer camp counselor when I was 14 the pay was garbage and I have opened up my first tax/bookkeeping type business to augment lousy pay. Turned out to be the best thing I have ever done in my life. I did books for gas stations and mom-and-pop stores and I got other clients from the bars they were not the most responsible people in the world. That experience taught me a great many things including perseverance, thinking outside the box and having a positive attitude looking towards success.

 

[Katzndogz]

At 13 I had a minimum wage job as a waitress. 75 cents an hour plus tips. In those days tips weren't taxed.

 

[Mr Natural]

In 1968, I got a job in the sporting goods department in TSS in Levittown for $1.25 an hour.

 

[HelenaHandbag]

Yes, I have worked for minimum wage.

Then, I worked hard, built a track record and resume, then got a better job.

Point being?

 

[Asclepias]

My first job I worked for a family member who was a oral surgeon and had his own practice. I made way more than minimum wage. When I was starting out in the real world I had 2 minimum wage part time jobs and went to school. By never quitting and working hard I became a senior level engineer. Since those days I have left the work force and now have my own business. I encourage people to open their own businesses even if its just for the tax write offs.

 

[alan1]

Yes, I have worked for minimum wage.

Then, I worked hard, built a track record and resume, then got a better job.

Point being?

Point being, most people don't remain in minimum wage jobs.
Maybe the poll should have included, "I still work a minimum wage job".

 

[oldfart]

I had a few jobs early in my career that were salaried and paid less than minimum wage because they required a lot of time. When starting businesses I often worked without compensation. I have six zero earning years in my SSA record but have never really been out of work. Self-employed people are not eligible for unemployment benefits.

Like a lot of small businesspeople, I often made considerably less than my highest paid employee. I had lots of failures, a couple of home runs, and ended up comfortably, but not rich. I also was deeply involved in my children's lives, supported a handful of hobbies and causes, and had a ball. And I never spent more than six months doing anything I decided I didn't like.

 

[alan1]

In 1968, I got a job in the sporting goods department in TSS in Levittown for $1.25 an hour.

How old were you?

 

[HelenaHandbag]

Yes, I have worked for minimum wage.

Then, I worked hard, built a track record and resume, then got a better job.

Point being?

Point being, most people don't remain in minimum wage jobs.
Maybe the poll should have included, "I still work a minimum wage job".

Which was my point as well.

The crap that liberal politicians spread about people trying to support their families ion the minimum wage is, you know, crap.

 

[hunarcy]

There are a few active threads on the board that are talking about minimum wage and the companies that pay minimum wage. I see good points coming from all sides of the discussion.

I'm curious, how many people here have worked for minimum wage at some point in their life? Please indicate in the poll and explain if you can.

I'll start.
I got my first job at 13 years of age. I was an independent contractor for KMart. I was the guy that assembled the bicycles, it was a job that paid by the piece and equated to much more than minimum wage. Great money around Christmas and spring, but people don't buy bikes all year long. At 14 I took an hourly job with KMart in order to have a more steady income. It also paid more than minimum wage.
I worked throughout my teen years and never once had a minimum wage job.

In high school, I worked for a gasoline station where I made the minimum wage of $1.00 an hour. It was enough for me to purchase a motorcycle to drive to work. I then went to college and worked in a restaurant for minimum wage. I received raises, but then the minimum wage was raised and I was back to minimum wage. Once I got into a management training program, I never worked for minimum wage again.

 

[HelenaHandbag]

In high school, I worked for a gasoline station where I made the minimum wage of $1.00 an hour. It was enough for me to purchase a motorcycle to drive to work. I then went to college and worked in a restaurant for minimum wage. I received raises, but then the minimum wage was raised and I was back to minimum wage. Once I got into a management training program, I never worked for minimum wage again.

ZOMGSTFUNOWAY!

 

[Mr. H.]

1971 working at Burger Chef for $1.10/hr. At age 15. Loaned a good chunk of it to mom so she could buy groceries.

 

[Shrimpbox]

I couldn't get a real job til I was 16 because of child labor laws, so I mowed a lot of lawns for 50 and 75 cents an hour. Living in the country didn't offer a lot of job opportunities. At 16 I got a job on grounds crew at a developing industrial park at 1.65 an hour and thought I was in hog heaven. Worked from 7 to 330 and then went home and baled hay or did farm chores til dark. Those were very happy times. No allowance and had my own car paid for by me at 16. The important point here is that then work ethic was more important than minimum wage and to be fair your money went a lot farther. This mwage fight today is a redred herring. The amount of seniors working part time skews the age averages and the the talk about living on minimum wage is laughable considering all the govt programs available to the poor. If we had any brains in Washington they would come up with a program to pay a minimum wage of say $10.00 an hour and waive any employer or employee taxes on these earnings for one year, that would be something that both parties could sign onto and that would help the so called poor

 

[Noomi]

I work for minimum wage, but for Americans, I would be working for a high wage.

 

[HenryBHough]

First job in broadcast paid 75-cents per hour - for an eight hour shift, one day a week. Almost immediately got a 33.3% raise 'cause the minimum wage was raised to $1.00 an hour. Job didn't last - at $1.00/hour labor was too expensive and automation was implemented.

 

[Connery]

I work for minimum wage, but for Americans, I would be working for a high wage.

You have to look at the tax structure when you say "high wage" as well as the cost of living and the standard by which you live.

 

[Noomi]

I work for minimum wage, but for Americans, I would be working for a high wage.

You have to look at the tax structure when you say "high wage" as well as the cost of living and the standard by which you live.

True - but from some comments here, it sounds like that some areas need a huge rise in minimum wage due to the high costs of rental properties.

 

[Politico]

Yes, I have worked for minimum wage.

Then, I worked hard, built a track record and resume, then got a better job.

Point being?

Point being, most people don't remain in minimum wage jobs.
Maybe the poll should have included, "I still work a minimum wage job".

Yes it should. Most people worked for minimum when they started out.

 

[Connery]

I work for minimum wage, but for Americans, I would be working for a high wage.

You have to look at the tax structure when you say "high wage" as well as the cost of living and the standard by which you live.

True - but from some comments here, it sounds like that some areas need a huge rise in minimum wage due to the high costs of rental properties.

I would not take a few comments as gospel. There are other measures available and the bottom line for me has always been, "necessity is the mother of invention" in other words create a market or get another job. I am not saying it is easy what I am saying it is doable. There is always a solution, may not be what a person may "like" but there is always a means to facilitate making ends meet.


There is also the concept of "champagne tastes and beer pockets" also known as living beyond one's means or attempting to.