I Earn My Minimum Wage!

My full-time job is a little option on career lists called "Student". That means, as of August 2009, I am in college, pursuing a Bachelor's degree in English. Oh, and perhaps another one in Secondary Education. (Double major!) I also intend on pursuing my Master's degree in English. Unfortunately, my family does not have enough money to pay for all of the expenses that come with being a college student, and even the ones that came with being a high school student. So, I got a part-time job at Papa John's when I was 16. I've worked for various wages ranging from $6.50 to $7.25 an hour. The raises I received were legal raises of minimum wage. The tasks I am expected to complete are all different from one another, therefore, work is always exciting and I never know what to expect. These tasks include: talking to rude customers on the phone, making the orders of rude customers, cutting the pizza for the rude customers, talking to the rude customers in person, taking money from the rude customers, being yelled at by rude customers, and eventually, calling a manager to the front to handle said rude customers. Sometimes the customers don't even have to yell at me because I know what they're thinking: Look at this pothead pizza girl. She's going nowhere in life. She is probably stupider than the uniform she has to wear for minimum wage. I am better than her.


NEWS FLASH: If you're wearing your over-priced and ugly college class of 1980's ring, you own a 2000 or above model SUV, and you can afford to spend at least $50 on pizza alone, yet don't think you should tip deliver drivers, you are not better than me. You are actually an asshole. You have no consideration for the people who work for you.

There are always times that I hate working at a pizza place. It can get busy and customers and co-workers can be hard to handle. But when I can afford to buy a shit load of pizza or anything really expensive, I'm not going to be a bitch to the people working minimum wage. Granted, not everyone works hard at their job, especially when it's minimum wage, but I work for my money. And I expect the same respect I give to customers day in and out, no matter what kind of mood I am in.

Besides, haven't you seen the movie Waiting? ; )

ANIMALS!

The typical nuclear family consists of parents and their children. If you wanna be old fashioned, the "normal" family consists of Ma, Pop, Sis, and Bubba. My family is not "normal", although it could be construed as so today. It is nuclear in the sense that a "nuclear bomb", also known as cancer, separated us. Before the nuke hit, my family consisted of Ma (Brenda), Pop (Tim), Sis (Mary Beth), Bubba (Josh), and me. We had pets like Mr. Birdie and Mr. Jackson (both parakeets), but they were not substantial to the family unit. The first pet that truly became a part of our family, and is still with us today, is a tabby cat named Abby. She joined our family when Mary Beth left us in 1994. Though she does not replace a sister, she certainly does bridge the gap between us when leukemia tore our family in two. Since I've had a pet since I was just four years old, animals have become extremely important and close to my heart. Maybe Abby is so much more important to us because of what she symbolizes to my family and me, but I see it in other families, too; pets are just as significant. They play a huge role in the family and make a house more of a home. You can't deny enjoying being greeted with love and excitement when you walk in the door after a long day. I cannot, for the life of me, understand why animal cruelty still occurs, when this love is right in front of my eyes. Even if a domestic animal is not your pet, it is still innocent. It is still another living thing on Earth that deserves to be treated with kindness, especially since it is not as capable as humans are to survive. Help stop animal abuse because we need pets in our lives just as much as they need us.


Unless you're allergic. That's cool, too.

Abby & Me - Christmas 1994