Saturday In The Park: Life Lessons I Learned From My Demeaning Below Minimum Wage Job
Watching the Republican debate on the night of the MLK Holiday, I cringed as I heard Juan Williams of Fox News ask Newt Gingrich if it was demeaning to suggest that students take low paid minimum wage jobs to get work experience. I did not cringe at by EJ Moosa
(libertarian)
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
Watching the Republican debate on the night of the MLK Holiday, I cringed as I heard Juan Williams of Fox News ask Newt Gingrich if it was demeaning to suggest that students take low paid minimum wage jobs to get work experience. I did not cringe at the answer Newt Gingrich offered. And while I know nothing of Juan Williams or how he rose to his level today, I am rather certain that he has not ever held one of those low wage, "demeaning" jobs he was referring to. And here's why.
I, along with thousands of others, have held those low wage jobs Juan Williams referenced. We loved those jobs. And thirty plus years later, many of us look back and acknowledge that those were the best jobs we were ever going to have.
They were not best jobs because of the money we were making, of course. Minimum wage in 1978 was barely more than $2 an hour. But that did not matter. When we needed more money, we could work another shift for someone else. We could volunteer to start early or stay late when needed. It was learned early that the amount of money in our check on Friday was directly correlated to the number of hours we put in the previous week.
These were not the best jobs because of the environment. It can be brutally hot in the summer inAtlanta. These jobs were mostly outdoors, and if you were indoors as I was in a grill room or kitchen, it was hot, greasy, and sticky. But that did not matter. We learned not to be afraid to get dirty while working. In fact, working hard meant getting dirty. We all survived.
These were not the best jobs because we had someone else to clean things up for us. We were the janitors for the entire park. We were expected to pick up cups and cigarette butts and food and other even more unpleasant items whenever we came across them. We did what we had to do.
Juan Williams should ask himself what makes a job actually demeaning to someone. Is it just the amount of pay earned to do it? Because there are some jobs that will always need to be done and as long as there are people, there will be people that need to do it. I'd suggest in this case it is demeaning because that is how Williams has chosen to see things. This view says more about Juan Williams than it does about the actual jobs he references.
Here are just some of Life's Lesson's I learned while working at Six Flags:
The most demeaning thing is to be paid for a job when you know what you are doing is not worth it. If the value I am adding to whatever job I am doing does not cover the cost of me working, then I am being overpaid. And if your idea of a great job is one where you are gaming the system, and that you are entitled to it merely because they can afford to pay it, then I feel for you. Working in the private sector is not a charity position. The fear of losing that position must be terrifying. And to live with that sort of fear is also very demeaning.
Life is sometimes not fair. Get over it and move on. Life at an amusement park is subject to many things beyond your control. Weather, rides breaking down, water pipes breaking, guests angry that the rides are down or the perceived prices too high.. These things can affect the hours you get to work and your opportunities for advancement.. So when life is not fair, you start looking ahead and repositioning yourself. You move to another area. You transfer to better opportunities. You work shifts that others do not want so you can get noticed. There will always be those that are unwilling to look ahead or pursue other opportunities. Their lack of initiative will make life better for you(and there will always be others that lack initiative-just make sure that is not you).
Sometimes you do get fired. And it could be for your own good. Actions have consequences. The sooner you learn that in life, the better your life can be. A job is a responsibility. Decide getting to work on time is not a priority, and there will be consequences. Decide that they will not miss some of that money in the register and there will be consequences. Ignore the guests and there will be consequences. It's a lot better to learn that lesson at an early age than later in life, when you have others depending on you. And sometimes you will get fired when it's not your fault. Get over it and move on.
Even if you are not the best employee, if you do the best you can, others will look out for you when they can. Watch those that are being successful and emulate them. Those I worked with came to the workplace with a wide range of skills. And when working side by side, you learn what others can do. None of us work exactly the same or have exactly the same insight as to what makes a grillroom flow so that the food keeps coming out on time.
It's free to learn by watching others. Do it. Make mental notes. Ask why this works and another way does not. Learning what not to do is just as valuable as learning what to do. Most of the best lessons in life are free, and do not come in a classroom. This used to be called the School of Hard Knocks. Student loans seem to have closed this method of learning down.
If you have the potential to be a great worker, and you do not put forth the effort, others will know, and they will resent you for it. In the end, it will cost you friendships and opportunities you will later wish you had.
Sometimes the payoff for your efforts put in today is not tomorrow or next week, but years down the road. Truthfully, it may never come. But if you do not put the effort in today, you can nearly guarantee there will be know payoff down the road.
Education is important, but it's not everything. My peers came for all Metro Atlanta schools, public and private, and from all counties. There were folks from nearly every university and college within 300 miles who worked summers at Six Flags. We had all walks of life and all socio-economic backgrounds. This did not define their success. It was their efforts on the job that made then successful.. They owned their own reputations. The sooner someone learns this, the better off they will be.
A sub-minimum wage job can be a gateway to better opportunities. No one went to work at Six Flags for less than minimum wage and thought that they had found their job for life. No one planned to buy a brand new car. Or to get married and have a family while working at or near minimum wage. Well, nearly no one. But for those I worked with and have maintained contact with throughout the following three decades, the level of success is exceptional because of what we learned on the job then. These "demeaning jobs" taught us what we needed to be succesful going forward.
Those I toiled with have gone on to get Master's Degrees, College Degrees, worked for major corporations, started their own successful businesses(and many are still starting new businesses today), raised families and so on. Their success will never end.
Did we think our jobs were demeaning? No.
Had someone told us that, we would have broken out laughing at them. We earned a check. We learned skills. We made friends. We got married and had children. We lived life. Those years were not demeaning. Those years had meaning. They had value.
Juan Williams is just flat out wrong. It's fortunate that Gingrich pointed it out. But even after hearing the truth, it was Juan Williams that just could not grasp what was being said. With that sort of attitude, I doubt he would have lasted a full shift at Six Flags. And that would have been ok. There were others more than willing to step up and do the job, even for less than minimum wage.
And to all those who are doing those jobs today that considered demeaning by Juan Williams, I apologize. His ignorance on this issue does not reflect the real value of what you are learning. Rest assured, there are millions of us who have been there before you, and we know better.
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