Low Wage Life-Bri Cassara

Bri Cassara

CTW: Writing with New Media

2 November 2009

Living the Low Wage Life: Proposal

When I think about low wage work I don’t immediate associate myself with it. Sure, I’ve worked for minimum wage and for managers who treated my coworkers and I unfairly but in the grand scheme of things that doesn’t mean much in comparison to some of the treatment workers have received all over the globe. Since I turned 15, I’ve worked for three main jobs: at a local amusement park, at Nob Hill Foods grocery store, and at Starbucks. Of the three I enjoyed Starbucks the most. Making lattes and mochas in spite of the rude customers was a job that I genuinely took pleasure in doing. I worked there over a year and in that time witnessed a variety of business aspects of the company. Whether it was employee programs, promotional platforms, or benefits programs, there was always a flier up in the backroom with some new program to be launched. But even though Starbucks offers benefits to part-time partners and pays well over minimum wage the idea of “barely scraping by” is ever-present. Whether it was my 50 year old coworker who worked also at See’s Candy in order to put her children through college, or my 25 year old coworker whose dreams of beauty schools were hushed by the off balance of working irregular forty hour weeks, or my store manager whose unhappiness couldn’t have been more apparent if it was tattooed across her forehead, the idea of dissatisfaction in the workplace wasn’t non-existent. The difference between my situation and that of a struggling low-wage worker is that Starbucks is an ideal company to be a part of. It’s true that my coworkers had opportunities all around them to take advantage of. Making above minimum wage and receiving benefits help, of course, but the fight for security and happiness are still goals often out of reach.

It would be pathetic if I were to try and compare my experience with those whose situations are far more unacceptable than the ones I’ve faced. I am by no means trying to say that I understand the gravity of the concept of a “low wage life.” The greatest lessons in life, I’ve found, are when you are able to relate an idea with a real situation, and that is what I plan to do with this hypertext. I will write about what it is like to wear the “barista” apron and the difficulties workers face as they begin their career in a well-respected corporation known as “Starbucks.” I will not bash the corporation or its principles because I genuinely appreciate the options they give “partners” (workers) when their names are added to the Starbucks payroll. I will simply write on the negative aspects of the company in general, issues that are present at any corporation no matter how respected. Starbucks procedures are what I know, Starbucks partners are what I’ve witnessed, and Starbucks is what I’ll discuss.