Let’s Rip A Popular Anti-Minimum Wage Meme To Shreds, Shall We?

Once again, my fans, and a few of you are actual fans, this is one of those things that falls completely apart when you put it under the light of day.

Let's start at the beginning, okay?  First off, what does the pay have to do with the pay of an E-1 in the Army?  The answer is nothing. There is no reason to use the military as a way to try to shame minimum wage workers.  No reason.  But if you'd like, here goes....first off, there's no way they'd ever get 40 hours a week, 52 weeks a year. It's more like 15-25 a week if they're lucky. No they don't get shot at, but most of the military don't either (recent figures show less than 10% see action). So maybe you could at least compare a military cook to a fast food cook, but even then that's not fair. Active military have their food, housing and healthcare taken of and some get education benefits.  Now none of this is "anti-military", in fact I will be the first to say it's a shame that our military aren't treated better, especially when they come home.  I'm willing to have my taxes raised to benefit our service men and women, are you?

Next, were fast food jobs "designed for high school kids"?  Nope, ask your granddad.  Back in the day a man could make a decent living as a fry cook. Most people working fast food jobs are actually the working poor and I can't even remember the last time I saw a young kid doing the job. They have to put up with awful hours, extended periods over a hot grill or fryer (try it, it's far from easy) and customers with a shitty attitude. Oh, and they get fired if they don't smile and take it.

So is it unskilled work?  Well it's certainly not highly skilled work, but they have to know cleaning, cooking, service and other procedures. It's a bit of knowledge and it is indeed too much for some people to all keep straight.  Keeping customers form getting food poisoning is a noble goal.

Next on my list of truths, you do know that when these people can't make a living wage, you're paying for them to be on welfare too, right? Yep, you are actually subsidizing their employers low wages. So do would you rather have the option of paying a little more for a burger, if you choose to have a burger, or would you rather be forcibly taxed and have the government decide where your money goes?  The other part of this is some of you resent that a higher minimum wage would bring a fast food workers pay closer to your own. I kind of think that' something you just need to get over.  We're all out there fighting for a buck and someone else's fight shouldn't be any of your concern. Value is also determined by need. I've said it before, a doctor is worth more than a plumber, UNTIL your toilet is stopped up.  So a carpenter is worth more than a fast food cook, UNTIL you're hungry.

So did people who "chose" a career in food service "fail"?  Far from it. Some use it to move up the career ladder, some stay and move up to upper management and I even know a couple of guys who like the no stress lifestyle of just having fast food jobs and not having to worry about much.  It doesn't make them "goofy" that they chose this lifestyle, in fact if you can manage your bills there's a lot of upside to it (see the movie "American Beauty"). Let's also not forget the fact that many people do not have the means to seek higher education and/or want to take on the crushing debt of student loans.

When the minimum wage was put into effect in the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, it was indeed supposed to be a "living wage".  It's only over time that it became more of an "introductory" wage. Once again, any of you had grandpas who had jobs like bakers, doormen and even elevator operators that got a decent wage and led a fulfilling life. This again, brings up the fact that his woman made the most boneheaded assertion of all, that all minimum wage jobs are "easy fast food" jobs. I'll bet she doesn't work as hard as a janitor or a clerk at a convenience store.

Finally, the $15 wage was thrown out there in hopes of getting a compromise somewhere between that and the current wage. We can debate later what raising the minimum wage would do to the economy (not everything you've been told), but my main concern here is giving a whole class of people respect for getting off their asses and working.

And to the lady who likes to give cutesy names and hurl insults at fast food employees, enjoy your supersized bit of reality McBitch.