Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

My Life as a Retail Worker: Nasty, Brutish, and Cheap

theatlantic.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

61–70 of 145 posts

Re: My Life as a Retail Worker: Nasty, Brutish, and Cheap

#61

Post by [deleted] »

bhauer wrote: post #39
danso wrote: post #31

I kind of did a double take at this: > Even though I was living rent-free in a guest bedroom, my every-other-Thursday paycheck couldn’t help me climb out of my hole, particularly after the state took half my pre-tax, $300 weekly salary for child support payments. > * got the opportunity to leave Sporting Goods Inc. for a temporary job as a communications director for a Capitol Hill nonprofit, a gig that paid twice as…

> twice as much per week as I’d earn in a month at the store 300 = retail pay per month. 300 * 2 = 600, which is twice the retail pay. 600 * 4 = 2,400, multiplying by four weeks to account for new job earning twice as much per week as per month in retail. 2,400 * 12 = 28,800, which is an estimate for the annual pay at his new job. Politico most certainly pays more than that.

[deleted]

Re: My Life as a Retail Worker: Nasty, Brutish, and Cheap

#62

Post by krstck »

mox1 wrote: post #51
krstck wrote: post #35

It seems to me that working retail has gotten a lot worse since the recession. I worked retail after high school before deciding to go to college, and then worked the same job on summers home from school. What was interesting was that between when I started that job in 2005 and when I left for the final time in 2010, my coworkers went from being mostly high school and college kids to all sorts of folks of varying age…

I'd like to point out that this story takes place in one of the highest cost of living areas in the country. $10 / hour goes a lot further in Kansas than it does D.C. I think a lot of people could live OK in the Midwest on $10 / hour. I wish more people would move away from the super high cost of living areas (California, New England, ...etc) and "vote with their feet" so to speak. If 10% of the populations of Cali a…

It's hard for people to move away from their kids. In many if not most of these cases, you'll find that that's a major reason why people don't move.

Re: My Life as a Retail Worker: Nasty, Brutish, and Cheap

#63

Post by [deleted] »

ufmace wrote: post #58

What struck me as really odd about his job was the obsession with anti-theft measures. How big is is this store that they have enough to hire a full-time loss prevention officer? I've never heard of any retail store giving employees bag-checks and pat-downs every time they entered and left the building either. It's been a long time since I've worked any job like that, but I've never heard of anything like that. From…

[deleted]

Re: My Life as a Retail Worker: Nasty, Brutish, and Cheap

#64

Post by ilaksh »

ufmace wrote: post #58

What struck me as really odd about his job was the obsession with anti-theft measures. How big is is this store that they have enough to hire a full-time loss prevention officer? I've never heard of any retail store giving employees bag-checks and pat-downs every time they entered and left the building either. It's been a long time since I've worked any job like that, but I've never heard of anything like that. From…

Doesn't surprise me. Many years ago my first job was retail security guard. One day I was assigned to a sporting goods store. I was the victim of a scam where some woman accused me of losing an expensive bag. Pretty sure the manager of the store was in on it. Another store I worked in sold baby clothes and was constantly being robbed regardless of which guard was on duty. I've heard that Target has its own crime lab. I imagine things have gotten worse since I had that job in 1998.

Re: My Life as a Retail Worker: Nasty, Brutish, and Cheap

#65

Post by ZanyProgrammer »

krstck wrote: post #35

It seems to me that working retail has gotten a lot worse since the recession. I worked retail after high school before deciding to go to college, and then worked the same job on summers home from school. What was interesting was that between when I started that job in 2005 and when I left for the final time in 2010, my coworkers went from being mostly high school and college kids to all sorts of folks of varying age…

I had the same experience at Whole Foods Palo Alto as a cashier, 2008-12. WF management can take asking about the Whole Planet foundation and shove it up their ass.

Re: My Life as a Retail Worker: Nasty, Brutish, and Cheap

#66

Post by mateo411 »

alistairSH wrote: post #19

"I guess [you] don’t care about hard work or loyalty." -- Stretch That's ripe. Pay your employees a low wage, treat them like shit, and then expect loyalty? Gimme a break. Loyalty is a two-way street and I don't see any reciprocation from corporate America (in this case, or in general).

"I guess we are going to end this on a petty note." -- Me in an alternate universe

Re: My Life as a Retail Worker: Nasty, Brutish, and Cheap

#67

Post by ZanyProgrammer »

ufmace wrote: post #58

What struck me as really odd about his job was the obsession with anti-theft measures. How big is is this store that they have enough to hire a full-time loss prevention officer? I've never heard of any retail store giving employees bag-checks and pat-downs every time they entered and left the building either. It's been a long time since I've worked any job like that, but I've never heard of anything like that. From…

Whole Foods Palo Alto had the entire downstairs recorded, so employees couldn't steal. No bag checks when I was there though.

Re: My Life as a Retail Worker: Nasty, Brutish, and Cheap

#68

Post by sliverstorm »

w1ntermute wrote: post #56
mox1 wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd like to point out that this story takes place in one of the highest cost of living areas in the country. $10 / hour goes a lot further in Kansas than it does D.C. I think a lot of people could live OK in the Midwest on $10 / hour. I wish more people would move away from the super high cost of living areas (California, New England, ...etc) and "vote with their feet" so to speak. If 10% of the populations of Cali a…

> I wish more people would move away from the super high cost of living areas (California, New England, ...etc) and "vote with their feet" so to speak. This is (and has been) happening for years now. Poorer people are reverse-migrating from the denser parts of the country to the Sun Belt. And it's a problem. The high cost of living in many of the "desirable" parts of the country is artificially created by government…

The crux of your argument is unconvincing. Service jobs have to be near the wealthy? What kind of myopia is that? Un-wealthy people go out to eat and get their car repaired just as much as Richie Rich.

Yes, if nobody but tech workers come to San Francisco, the city will collapse. But that doesn't mean everybody else has to live there too. It's also awful presumptuous to say, "Well I'm wealthy, this is where I want to live. You are poor, you don't get a choice, live near me"

Re: My Life as a Retail Worker: Nasty, Brutish, and Cheap

#70

Post by sliverstorm »

jackmaney wrote: post #59
mox1 wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd like to point out that this story takes place in one of the highest cost of living areas in the country. $10 / hour goes a lot further in Kansas than it does D.C. I think a lot of people could live OK in the Midwest on $10 / hour. I wish more people would move away from the super high cost of living areas (California, New England, ...etc) and "vote with their feet" so to speak. If 10% of the populations of Cali a…

> $10 / hour goes a lot further in Kansas than it does D.C. True. > I think a lot of people could live OK in the Midwest on $10 / hour. Ridiculously false. Yes, the cost of living is cheaper in the Midwest, but a lot of people seem to have the idea that it's this land lost in time where a loaf of bread still costs a nickel and where gas is 25 cents a gallon.

Actually, the (foolish) idea that I have in my head is that when the median house price is NOT one million dollars (I'm looking at you, San Francisco), people who make $10 / hour won't have to devote nearly as much of their income to housing, dramatically increasing their spending power.
Post reply on HN