[Kevin]

Originally Posted by kstar

I believe that you shouldn't be able to state that min. wage shouldn't be raised until you either have to live on it, or know people who do. You are so lucky that you don't have to sully your hands with us lower classed people. I don't know how in the world you went to a public school and didn't interact with people of a lower class than you.

Okay, I get it, here's where I argue my personal credentials. I went to Bishop McGuinness (in north-central OKC) for three years. I did go to public school for one year, however, at Edmond North, there really weren't any poor people, or if there were, I never knew any. I was in all of the AP type classes there for the year I went, and that was only for a half-day. The other half of the day I spent at the local University on concurrent enrollment.

That's where your assumptions stop being correct though.

Starting at age 16, I got my first job at RadioShack. I worked there all the way through HS and college. The pay there is minimum wage OR commission (whichever check was higher). I typically earned $10-$20/hr. The average wage there, however, was a lot lower. Some of my coworkers actually did make it on minimum wage. One of them had a family of 8 and worked 3 jobs. For most of my "career" there, I worked in Penn Square Mall (not too many poor people shop there). They closed that store though, and I ended up shifting between 23rd and Penn, 23rd and Meridian, and the Rockwell & NW Expressway stores. At those places, many of my customers were unemployed, many were physically/mentally impaired, many were low wage earners, etc. (we weren't in the best part of town). Most of my coworkers were college dropouts/burnouts, alcoholics, addicts, etc.

I look at those folks though, and I realize that they were what they were because they made stupid choices throughout life -- their worth at the time? Minimum wage or commission, whichever was higher. If they're anyone's victims, then they are their own victims.

So kstar, I appreciate the fact that you think I'm elite. Maybe I am. As for my experience with low-wage earners, it's not exactly non-existant. I just don't feel sorry for people who are lazy.

Wait staff in OK makes 2.13 an hour. Nice try though. Both Wal-Marts in Norman pay 5.15 and hour, plus the bare minimum of benefits. Again, nice try though. Norman Regional Hospital's kitchen positions and janitorial staff make 5.15 an hour. Again, nice try.

Waitstaff make $2.13 plus tips. I had dinner with my parents the other night. Our ticket was probably around $150-$200. Our waitress received a tip which ended up being a little over 50%. $2.13/hr? Maybe that's what her income taxes show, but it sure as heck ain't reality.

As far as Wal-Mart, Norman Regional, etc. go, people choose to work there. They can't work anywhere else, $5.15 is what they're worth. If they were paid more, prices at Wal-Mart and the hospital would be higher. Do they have a roof over their heads? Yup. Food on the table? Check. Plasma screen TV? Probably not.

How are these people supposed to improve their worth if they aren't even paid enough to live on?

People do it every day. They get a better job, they go back to school, take out student loans, they go to job corps, etc. A client we're representing right now operates a restaurant which netted him over $1million in receipts last year. He came to this country from Iran with about $2000 to his name, and no real job skills. The guy bussed tables, did manual labor, etc., and worked his way to the top. Many people who are successful today have similar stories. Being poor is not an excuse for staying poor. Being lazy or stupid is though.