And
I am ecstatic.
I
have held my fair share of jobs in the past and many of which I have held at
the same time. At the most I have held four jobs at once while being an editor
of my college's newspaper and to be honest it's not that bad. I like being
busy and giving myself something to do and it only totaled about 25-30 hours a
week. I genuinely like working.
Having
a minimum wage paying job is part of being a teenager. But getting a minimum
wage paying job is hard for a teenager. It really is. I know way too many
people who have worked as hostesses at restaurants, at fast food places and retail
jobs at the mall that actually had trouble receiving those jobs. I am part of
that.
First
of all, it is extremely hard to find a minimum wage paying job as a teenager at
all because if you have no experience you will be overlooked. I have filled out
close to 20 job applications and it is hard writing “N/A” on “Past Employment”
when I first started looking for a job. I am eternally grateful
for my first job which was at a foot doctor and it has honestly paved my way
for minimum wage paying employment. People always thinking it's impressive that
at age 18 I was doing secretarial work at a doctor's office (it was something
like that). Minimum wage jobs are not willing to hire kids who have not held
jobs before and that is the problem.
The
minimum wage in Massachusetts is currently $9 per hour and will increase
one dollar for every new year. In New York State it is $8.75 but will not
increase within the year. The raise is based on the expected raising economy
but should be based on basic human rights and how much money we need
to survive. One of my favorite Kanye West lyrics is from the song
"Heard 'Em Say" and goes: "Before you asked me to get a job
today/Can I least get a raise on the minimum wage?"
It's
impossible to live off of minimum wage. There have been a million studies that
say so. By law, in the United States, according to the U.S. Department of
Labor, a person cannot work more than 40 hours per week without being paid for
overtime and cannot work for more than six hours at a time without
at least a half hour break and without being paid at least minimum wage.
The
only reason I even got my first job at the foot doctor is because my mom works
at the office and the office manager loves me (I can’t blame her). The second
job I had was because my former roommate’s mother owns the childcare business I
worked for for a year and a half and her mom loves me (again, can’t blame her).
The third job I got is at the library and I feel like I only got that job
because I am eligible for work study and I know what people want to hear in an
interview (I am pretty sure the supervisor who hired me loves me too actually).
But
I got my first REAL job at Gymboree a year ago-ish. No one got me the job, no
one saw that I needed money to go to college (even though I do). But like I
said, I know what people want to hear and I know how to be friendly. Which is
good because I like coming off as friendly. And I actually do rock this job. I
also worked at Janie & Jack, a higher-end retailer, for eight months and
loved it. I have loved every job I ever had. Is it because I'm grateful to have
these jobs?
One
of my many (I really need to stress the word many) applications
was for Starbucks. And what I really really really liked about
Starbucks was that they let you check off “no former employment” on their
online application and that made me feel happy (even though I did have former
employment at the time of applying). It meant they are willing to hire 16 year
olds who have no idea what a mocha caramel frappuccino is (one of my best
friend's worked at Starbucks for a while and I still don't know?) and I find
that beautiful and inspiring (I really don't even know what a frappuccino is so
maybe I should apply again).
A
few weeks ago I walked into a Brazilian steakhouse asking them if
they were hiring for the summer and I walked out with a job. I am a
hostess and I make more than minimum wage. I absolutely adore this job and
all of the different people that I have met and encountered here. I feel as
though fate weirdly brought my vegetarian ass to a steakhouse where
the servers walk around with meat on sticks.
I know it is hard finding a job in this day and age. Of course I am worried about the future and finding a real, adult job as a journalist. When I got home this summer I was worried about finding a second job but now that is one less thing on my plate. I am thankful for this opportunity from the job gods. I feel like I succeeded (for now).