I have a direct link to the low wage workers, as I have worked for low wages before. Approximately two years ago, I decided it was time for me to get a job. I didn't need a job desperately, but all my friends had jobs, and I wanted something to keep myself occupied during the summer time. I finally got a job at Hollister, which is a retail store. I don't wear their clothes often, but I figured it would be a fun place to work.
Working at Hollister was a good experience, but not a fun job at all. In fact, I was so surprised by how draining of a job that it was that I seriously considered quitting. To add insult to injury, I was paid minimum wage and often times did not receive the number of hours that I would've liked. In short, it was not a pleasant place to work. It was very dark with incredibly loud music. I had to practically shout to communicate with customers, many of whom were quite irritated with the shopping conditions. I had to apologize for the volume and lighting at least three times a day to customers, even though those two things were obviously out of my control. Also, new employees go through very little training, and therefore do not usually know where a particular piece of clothing is shortly after a floor set change. I felt like I was at liberty to complain about all of this, especially due to the fact that I was being paid 8 dollars an hour, before taxes are taken into account. However, I quickly learned that there were other workers that had it tougher than I did.
One of the first people I met was a young man named Ryan. He was very nice to me and helped me tremendously when I first started working and didn't know much. While talking to him, I learned a great deal about his financial background. He informed me that he was working numerous jobs including Hollister. He was also working at Starbucks and Block Buster simultaneously. When I asked him why he worked so many jobs, he replied that he needed the money to pay the majority of his college tuition. Granted, he attends a junior college, which is much much cheaper than a four year university, such as Santa Clara University. Even so, I can't imagine paying my way through college, even if it is a community college. Ryan later went on to say that he would have attended a four year college if he was financially able. I suddenly felt sorry for Ryan. here I was, complaining about rude customers and darkness and volume, and then I see Ryan taking on triple of what I do just so he can get an education.
While it took time for me to realize that I was lucky, I still did not like working at Hollister. Minimum wage was not nearly enough to compensate for what employees at this store had to deal with every day, in my opinion. Here is a list of some instances where I felt like quitting:
-A mother and her daughter once came in to return a pair of shorts. Why? The leg lengths of each individual leg were not equal. Now let me take a moment to explain something. Shorts at Hollister for girls are different. I will just say this: they are not the kind of shorts that their grandmother would approve of. Anyways, I took a close look at the shorts, and there may have been a half of a centimeter difference. Regardless, the mother and daughter demanded that it be exchanged.
-A large family came up to the counter with maybe five or six pieces of clothing. I had to ring them up and take the sensor off of every single piece of clothing. When I told the family the total, they tried to use a gift card, but it had expired. The family protested that the card had been issued to them a few months ago and had not been used. I understood what happened. The card was given to the family as a holiday deal. However, in extremely small font, it says on the card that this particular type of card is only valid for thirty days. Soon after, I had about ten people in my face and complaining about the situation. I understood their rage, but what they were upset about was out of my control.
-I had an early morning shift one day beginning at 7 in the morning. My job was to construct closets and tables for the clothes to be put in. After spending all morning working on them, I was sweating from the heat of the room and ready to take a nap. My boss examined my work and said that I did about half of the closets incorrectly. I had to take them apart and do them all over again.
These are a few of many examples of why working at Hollister was pretty miserable. As unpleasant as it was, I was able to make some decent spending money, even if it was minimum wage. In addition, after hearing Ryan's story, I felt like I was lucky to be working there just to make spending money. Minimum wage working is difficult regardless of people's reasons for choosing to work in such a job, but I learned that some individuals work multiple minimum wage jobs to support themselves.
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