Retail Hell Underground was (and probably still is) a really cool site that lets you share your experiences of working the minimum wage jobs that make up the backbone of the American commercial retail empire in various stores. There are other vital aspects of course, like shipping and delivering and stocking shelves, but the people who have to actively sell items to the public are the focus. Because we are usually underpaid, overworked, and often abused verbally as well as taken advantage of in any way the usually less than scrupulous bosses of the corporations see fit. We are often unionless, and without Human Resources departments to offer help when needed. It can feel like being lower than working class, at the bottom of the food chain, when you can barely pay rent and need food stamps to survive. Not to mention always having to work weekends and holidays.
It was a supportive community I was thrilled to discover. It reminded me of one of the first blogs I read faithfully, in the early-mid aughts, called "Waiterrant" (or Waiter Rant), which talked in engaging prose about the experiences of being a server in a high-end fine dining restaurant, and about the interactions with the customers. I have worked so many similar jobs in retail and restaurants (though never anything that fancy) that I felt heard and seen and connected to the stories I was reading. I have often felt that because of the jobs I did as a teenager, I became stuck in the service industry field, when what I really wanted to do was totally different.
It's easy to take "any" job to make the essential earnings you need to get by, when it's not even related to what you might excel at or enjoy. I think that's one of the deep issues with the modern system of public education and employment tracks, and I can only speak for what I know in my own geographical location, so I don't even know if it's an American thing only, or not. We don't have enough trade schools, and we don't have enough counseling and career guidance as youths to know how to find out what we are good at, and how to target a path to the education and jobs in those fields.
The Works Project Administration (WPA) comes to mind as something that actually helped people to work in fields that they were interested in, as well as make living wages. And the G.I. bill post WWII that helped returning military service persons to procure schooling and housing that would help them to thrive in the future. I don't know if either of those programs included women, as the jobs for women historically have focused on nursing, teaching, childcare motherhood, administrative assistance, and other more menial labor positions. But the ethical ideal and moral goal of those programs was admirable and highly successful. The actions of implementing training and education so that people do have a choice and don't have to be stuck in dead-end jobs if they don't want to made a massive difference for an entire generation.
I was thinking about this topic again because I (gratefully and most appreciatively) am finally not constrained to that type of job anymore. But I have two related topics I want to explore even further, over the next couple of weeks, like how I began working in schools, when I thought (mistakenly) one needed a master's degree to do so, and how I tried to keep my mind active when confined to a cashier station (thankfully a thing in the past, but the miserable memories resurface when I recall those times). I also might share some of my strange (not that strange, but not great either) memories of the gig jobs I have "had" to do, like temporary catering staff, and delivery driver.
Keep calm and carry on, it gets better, be kind to yourself. P&L.
P.S. It looks like they have social media pages, but I don't see their main website page, but if you're interested: RHU
P.P.S. I had no idea that the Waiterrant author was still in business, as it were, because I stopped reading years ago; but they are still active and that's pretty cool!!
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