When You’re Poor, You Physically Have To Work Harder.

To start, I’m a 16-year-old, working a part-time, minimum wage job at a pizza place. Ever since the minimum wage increased, we can’t afford to hire new people. On the contrary, we had to fire a few. We went from 15 insiders (the people making the pizzas) to 6. It feels like family, and no one is considered a “newbie” anymore. Our boss started this business. He works his ass off to run three stores in this area, and he gave us some valuable insight.

“You guys are all learning a very valuable lesson. You’re learning how hard it is to work at minimum wage. When you’re poor, uneducated, working for low wages, you have to physically work harder to keep yourself afloat, whether it’s military or minimum wage.”

I can confirm this. Often, it’s 5 solid hours of being on my feet before I can sit down. I’ve gone through 4 different pairs of shoes because I’ve ruined the soles of all of them from running around all day. I have to make food through the heat and noise of the oven and am on the verge of collapse every night when I get home.

It makes me wonder, though. If I’m this tired, working one minimum wage, part-time job, what are the people who work two jobs feeling?

That quote shows a powerful point to those in high school or college. Educate yourself, fight for a good job. Because if you don’t, you’ll physically have to exhaust yourself, just so you can live.