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

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

#51

Post by mox1 »

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 and Massachusetts moved inward, I think that would drive house prices down and wages up. All the rich people are still around to buy stuff and no poor people left to work retail.

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

#52

Post by rayiner »

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.

He made $300 per week retail, or about $1330 per month. Twice as much as that is $2,660 per week = $140k per year.

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

#53

Post by nsxwolf »

raving-richard wrote: post #15
acheron wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The guy was a reporter who made racist jokes and comments about people he was supposed to be covering, and subsequently got fired for it. And then, surprise, no one else wanted to hire him to do reporting. [1] "deserves" is a strong word, but actions have consequences. [1] Until now, I guess?

Racist jokes? Can you please link or quote some of these racist jokes? In the article, he quotes himself saying: “Romney is very, very comfortable, it seems, with people who are like him. That’s one of the reasons why he seems so stiff and awkward in town hall settings … But when he comes on ‘Fox and Friends,’ they’re like him. They’re white folks who are very much relaxed in their own company.” Which I don't think i…

I don't think it's racist either, but imagine a white reporter saying "they're black folks who are very much relaxed in their own company". I don't think that's automatically racist, but the torches and pitchforks would be out in full force.

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

#54

Post by quasse »

morgante wrote: post #43
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…

I'm not surprised that a journalist managing an 80-person team was paid $200k+. What I am surprised by is how he ever ended up working retail with a salary like that. I'd expect him to have saved up enough to last a year or two of low expenses.

Seriously, I'm just consistently shocked at how many people making huge amounts of money don't even manage to put away $20k or so to survive if needed. Additionally, no one seems to be able to stomach cutting costs until they're already homeless and on the street. Every time I see one of these stories, it seems like the person tries to hold on to the exact standard of living they're at up until the moment they can't pay rent and are on the streets.

I make $15k annually as a student right now and I still have managed to save up enough that I could live for 3 or 4 months if I lost my job. It would just be a matter of being very careful with my spending.

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

#55

Post by dx4100 »

hershel wrote: post #38

Sweden offers a nice solution to this: responsible unions. In Sweden there are 2 unions, One for white collar workers and one for blue collar employees. The salary rates/hikes are industry wide.They are usually determined by the competitive part of the economy - the export sector and than applied to everybody. The unions understand their role as protectors of employees, but on the other hand, understand the need for…

I'd say this is easier in a society like Sweden, with a homogeneous culture and relatively small population.

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

#56

Post by w1ntermute »

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…

> 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 regulation of housing (as well as other markets, thanks to the propensity of densely populated municipalities to be run by liberals). But with the services sector growing, it makes more sense for poorer people to live near the wealthy people (who are going to be in the desirable parts of the country), since those are the people who can and will buy services. It's very different from, say, manufacturing, which is far more location-independent.

I firmly believe the problem of high cost of living can be solved through more sensible housing policies and efficient public transit (among other things). See this (quite short, at 64 pages) book for more details: http://www.amazon.com/The-Rent-Too-Damn-High-ebook/dp/B0078X...

It's the services sector that is and will continue to be the most difficult to replace with outsourcing and automation (see Moravec's paradox: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moravec's_paradox). It only makes sense that we try to create as many jobs as possible in this area. By lowering housing and transportation (and other) costs for people in the service industry, they can offer their services at a lower cost, allowing more people to purchase those services, which will drive down unemployment.

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

#57

Post by nilkn »

And this is why I desperately save money. Even though I've only been out of college for less than a year and I know my parents would graciously take me back in for as long as necessary should something catastrophic happen to my career, I'm paranoid about depending so much on a job for my livelihood.

My admittedly very lofty goal is to reach a point in my mid-30s where I don't need a job. By no means do I plan on actually retiring at that point, but I want the peace of mind knowing that my career could end and I could lead a humble, comfortable-enough life without working, probably in the midwest.

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

#58

Post by ufmace »

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 everything I've read, most major retailers have little to no protection against employee theft. Is the neighborhood they're in that bad that they have to go to these extremes, or is the owner/manager just nuts about this issue for some reason?

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

#59

Post by jackmaney »

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…

> $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.

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

#60

Post by nightski »

hershel wrote: post #38

Sweden offers a nice solution to this: responsible unions. In Sweden there are 2 unions, One for white collar workers and one for blue collar employees. The salary rates/hikes are industry wide.They are usually determined by the competitive part of the economy - the export sector and than applied to everybody. The unions understand their role as protectors of employees, but on the other hand, understand the need for…

I feel like this would remove all incentive.
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