[StBernard] Expanding higher ed access for low income students

[Westley Annis]

Wendy,

Don't confuse the perceived requirements for a job with the actual job
requirements or the amount of effort that the employee puts into it.

Fast food can be a demanding job, but it isn't.  That is one of reasons the
pay scale is so low for fast food.

I can only speak for Popeyes of twenty years ago, but it took me less than
three months to become the highest paid crew member at the stores I worked
at, and I started at the minimum wage.  In just thirty days I was making
more than people who had been there for 2-3 years.

Why?  Simply because I took the initiative to do what was needed to give
myself a raise. At the time, the first fifty cents of a raise from the
minimum wage rested squarely on the shoulders of the employee.  Popeyes had
five duty stations.  As you were trained on each station, you took a simple
10-20 question multiple choice test.  Past the test, you got a 10 cent
raise.

As I said, there were people who had worked there for several years, never
bothered to take any test.  When I asked why, they told me, "I'm not going
to working here forever."  That line of thought is what prevails and what is
preventing people from moving themselves up the pay scale.

Some of the best paid people in any industry are paid better simply because
they asked for more money.  If they couldn't get it where they were, they
changed jobs.  I know I did.  I moved from Popeyes to Rallys for more money.

I am not going to deny that there are employers who will try to take
advantage of employees and pay them as little as possible, but that is when
an employee needs to learn to walk away from that job and find another one.

As an old co-worker of mine used to say about government employees, "If you
don't like the job, remember, you have one extra benefit that a member of
the military doesn't have, you can quit."

Westley

-----Original Message-----
Laurie, 
 
  My question to you is this....are people from modest backgrounds who say
work in the service industry- such as fast food, not hard workers. Before
answering that, when was the last time you worked a drive thru at lunch
rush? Second, with all of that hardwork,how are they achieving the American
dream on $6-$8 per hour with no health insurance? There generally isn't sick
leave or vacations thanks to franchising. AT any point at anytime, you are
ready to prove me wrong, Burger King on Gauze (my best friend runs) is
currently running the entire restaurant on 10 people an 2 managers (50,000
in sales per week)...the drive thru is always available. Just give it one
week of rude, crass, self inflated "professionals." Then after working that
10 hour shift on their feet the whole time, how are they suppose to go to
school and take care of their families? Are they not working hard enough? Is
that the dream you speak of? When is your next vacation, I can set it up
now... No matter what people say, not everyone starts out equally. My
parents started on modest backgrounds, my grandparents too- more modest than
most thanks to the depression, but they instilled a work ethic. Now how do
you punish a kid, who maybe didn't grow up with that same ethic, and ask him
to have the same drive as those who did? How do you compare an inner city
education, to that which we had in St. Bernard, where less slipped through
the cracks? No you are right, we will have to disagree, but if you want to
prove me wrong, the job's waiting....by the way, the longest shift I ever
pulled in fast food was at Taco bell in Meraux- 21 hours with no break other
than the three times I went to the bathroom, and the 10 minutes I took to
eat. Imagine trying to college the next morning....
 
 
Wendy