Still chilly outside.
Work is going okay. We have been told both days how pleased they are at our work. It amazes me that the number they were so excited about yesterday would be considered a low number with the old company. Today, the supervisor came around and started collecting our work. She told us to stop work and start cleaning up. At 8 minutes before quitting time! Unheard of. You didn't want to be caught cleaning up until 5 minutes before you left. I was also chastised for not getting out the door quickly enough to suit that supervisor, which surprised me. I was punched out. I didn't know it mattered.
So the pressure is greatly reduced. You do not have to worry about standards. You just go in there and get it done. They've got a month's backlog of work and they need to get all this stuff done before they can shut the doors. We're working 10 hour days.
The remainder of the company will relocate to Georgia, where the minimum wage is $5.15 an hour, $2.10 less that my state's minimum wage. Privately, I believe that this is the reason for the shift, although I cannot say that for sure. All I know is that I don't understand how anyone can live on such a small amount of money.
Today the woman behind me went on and on about the south. She believes the company will be sorry they decided to downsize and relocate the smaller operation. Everyone who lives down south is lazy, according to her. It doesn't matter what their race is, they are all lazy people who don't want to work and will do anything to avoid it. She went on and on and on about how they all take advantage of the system and that there should be no such thing as unemployment.
I was tempted to say something, but there's no sense to it. None. She drives to Florida regularly, and will only stop to eat at Waffle Houses. (What that has to do with anything, I couldn't tell you.) She rambled on and on, and she was very certain of her opinions BECAUSE SHE HAS SEEN IT WITH HER OWN TWO EYES. She knows.
I found myself wondering if I had ever been as sure of anything in my life as this woman is.
Speaking as a person in the South (Alabama), I would say we are a mixed bag, much as anywhere else. Some are hard workers and some are not. I’ve seen it with my own eyes -😊
ReplyDeleteI used to love people and was a "people person." Now, not so much. I'm glad that work is going well. Like you mentioned, it's difficult to believe that anyone could survive on that meager wage.
ReplyDeleteAll workers should be paid a fair and liveable wage.
ReplyDeleteI am amazed at such a low level set for the minimum wage. How could anyone live on that?
ReplyDeleteI also believe in a fair and liveable wage. I believe that when you work 40 hours a week, you should be able to live off that. This crazy bullshit of working multiple jobs just to make ends meet is soul sucking. The same people who blithely say "If they don't like it, it should be motivation to better yourself" are the same people who complain about parents having their kids in day care.
ReplyDeleteI don't think much of corporations whose shareholders make huge dollars while their workers make low wages and are worked 38 hours a week so that they don't have to pay for health care.
Pudge, of course you are right. Just amazed me to hear her going on and on and on. It amazed me that anyone was responding to such inanity, but they were. Maybe it is just the bitterness of losing their jobs. I volunteered for layoff over a year ago (found out it was permanent, which I hadn't been expecting). Most of the people have been gone longer than that. I think there is 10 of us.
How on earth can people live on such a low minimum wage? I just worked out what the minimum wage here (UK) is US$ and it is over $12 per hour. Everyone willing to work should be paid a fair wage.
ReplyDeleteSuch assuredness on her part.
ReplyDeleteI hope you are not as sure - but then you'd be in good company, for it was Socrates who reportedly (by Plato) said ' I know only that I know nothing.'
ReplyDeleteOh dear. It hurts my heart that this antiquated opinion of Southerners still exists. But stereotyping and all other forms of it will always exist, I suppose. I am from Mt. Airy, NC. Both of my Grandmothers were the hardest working women I have ever known. What work ethic I have, came from them, via my parents. My heart aches to move back to the South (I live in IL) for the warm, connected, loving way they take care of everyone, even if you're not family. You're a very good person that you didn't turn and just slap her. I might have.
ReplyDeleteIn answer to your question at the end: No, and she is not either.
ReplyDeleteMinimum wage in GA is $7.25 per hour. If no one worked in Georgia what would happen? Bigoted people like this tick me off to no end. She needs to do some statistic googling. I live in GA. The GA unemployment rate as of March was 4.5%....current US is 6%. So her misinformation shows her ignorance to the nth degree.
ReplyDeleteI've always admired people who are so sure of their beliefs. I've always lived a life where I see both sides and feel the truth lies somewhere in the middle. I have always wanted to believe something so absolutely.
ReplyDeleteWell, I'm sure glad to know I'm "lazy"!
ReplyDeleteOnce upon a time minimum wage jobs weren't meant to support a family. They were part-time or entry level positions. Times have changed.
Well, it seems pretty presumptuous for her to think that what she's seen exclusively at Waffle House is emblematic of the southern work ethic. (And I don't mean to insult Waffle House workers by saying that because I'm sure they work their dogs off.) Minimum wages in the South are ridiculously cheap but it's also true that the cost of living is generally lower there, for what that's worth.
ReplyDeleteI know I've commented before on the sadness and trauma of closing a plant down and out. It probably will only get worse as the weeks count down.
ReplyDelete