Man: I can't decide between the poverty wage burger, the slave labor BLT and the nuggets of self-worth.
Fast Food Employee: Hurry up...I'm late for my third job!
(resubmitted with revision)There are too many people who seem unaware that the majority of those working at minimum wage are underemployed or underpaid in other jobs and instead of working a 40 hour week, are working sixty or more just to survive. Their children are unsupervised while parents are forced by our stagnant economy, poor educational foundations, and… let’s be fair, bad decisions made when they themselves were teens and young adults. In the meantime, CEOs in businesses across the board are getting record profits and bonuses and the stock market is well above where it was in 2008.Looking at the pay and bonuses received by executives in charge of these companies, it is hard to by sympathetic to their cries that giving workers a living wage will hurt their businesses. If anything, by raising prices, people may decide to go to a restaurant with a salad bar instead of a burger and fry place since, according to executives, they’d have to raise prices so much.If I have to pay a dollar more per sandwich in order for millions of my neighbors to get a living wage, then so be it. It is a small spirit, a harsh heart, and a narrow mind that begrudges their neighbors a better quality of life just so they can pay 15 to 20% less per item. The sales tax on fast food in my town is over 11%. In a town nearby me, it’s 5%. The prices for the food are all the same.Respectfully,C.
(resubmitted with revision)There are too many people who seem unaware that the majority of those working at minimum wage are underemployed or underpaid in other jobs and instead of working a 40 hour week, are working sixty or more just to survive. Their children are unsupervised while parents are forced by our stagnant economy, poor educational foundations, and… let’s be fair, bad decisions made when they themselves were teens and young adults. In the meantime, CEOs in businesses across the board are getting record profits and bonuses and the stock market is well above where it was in 2008.Looking at the pay and bonuses received by executives in charge of these companies, it is hard to by sympathetic to their cries that giving workers a living wage will hurt their businesses. If anything, by raising prices, people may decide to go to a restaurant with a salad bar instead of a burger and fry place since, according to executives, they’d have to raise prices so much.If I have to pay a dollar more per sandwich in order for millions of my neighbors to get a living wage, then so be it. It is a small spirit, a harsh heart, and a narrow mind that begrudges their neighbors a better quality of life just so they can pay 15 to 20% less per item. The sales tax on fast food in my town is over 11%. In a town nearby me, it’s 5%. The prices for the food are all the same.Respectfully,C.