Minimum Wage, Maximum Rage

Conservatives are up in arms about President Joe Biden seeking to install a $15 hourly national minimum wage. One commentator complained that McDonalds — one of the wealthiest, more profitable companies in the world — raised prices on their over-salted, unhealthy selections to compensate their lowest-tier workers. To which I respond, “I haven’t eaten at MacDonalds in nearly one year and neither should anyone who cares about their dietary habits.”

I worked a series of minimum wage jobs from my teenage years through college. My first full-time job paid $5.76 per hour in 1989. Two hours later, I started working in a corporate environment, where my starting salary averaged a little more than $12 per hour. Based on those figures, I made less than the sought minimum wage for 2021 until I was 30 years old. Now think about the single parents with no health benefits, college-aged workers with student debt, or migrant workers who currently make vastly less than $15. It’s pathetic, unfair, and more suited to a third-world country than the United States.

When my family moved to Long Island in 1978, I looked for ways to make extra money. I applied for a position at the Great Neck Library and was told my name went to the bottom of an extensive waiting list. That was an option, but fell under “don’t call us, we’ll call you.”