300 Words

Through personal experience, I have worked for minimum wage at a clothing store.  I went through the interview process and experienced the non-personal style of an interview where there are “no right or wrong answers” as Enrenreich notes in Nickle and Dimed (58).  I felt as though my true skills were not properly being assessed and I had the notion as if the manager already knew who he wanted to hire.  As long as interviewees possessed “soft skills” (Shipler 7) which include the ability to positively interact with people, stifle personal anger and follow orders.  Many of my fellow employees were working because they had to while conversely I was working as a means not to be bored over the summer.  Some of my friends and co-workers (primarily African-American individuals) would use their paychecks to help their family pay rent or pay for their education.  This may be relatable to Shipler’s reference to the “American Anti-Myth” which connects racial discrimination to the economy and the fact that some kids who have impoverished parents are employed and work in locations that are not leading them anywhere but exploit their labor (6).  As soon as I began working at the clothing store I felt a certain pressure to keep up with the standards of the store even I felt demoralized in doing so.  Schlosser comments on the pressure to maintain a fast work rate in order to generate a larger capital and in some instances higher authorities in the work place implement favors as incentive to generate more money.  At the clothing store employees would be granted gift cards if they sold the most body products on a particular day.  My experiences working as a minimum wage retailer provided me with insight to a particular lifestyle and way of living I would not have been exposed to if I had not been surrounded by the diverse nature of my fellow employees an the certain policies particular to clothing stores in today’s society.