In 2007 my freelance voice over business began to slow, by 2008 all my clients were quiescent and by July 2009 I had exhausted my savings, lost my property and after spending January thru June seeking ANY kind of employment, landed my first warehouse job paying minumum wage.
Having always worked in an office environment before striking ou…
In 2007 my freelance voice over business began to slow, by 2008 all my clients were quiescent and by July 2009 I had exhausted my savings, lost my property and after spending January thru June seeking ANY kind of employment, landed my first warehouse job paying minumum wage.
Having always worked in an office environment before striking out on my own, this order picking job was an eye-opening experience.
Was I exploited? Hell yeah. But you know what really stung? Being told that even though I was making minimum wage, I still made $50 per month too much for food stamps. But for an ex who let me stay with her, I would have been living in my car eating cat food and cardboard.
That was then. Since then I've acquired a new skill set and now make a good wage, but I will never forget those horrid & hope killing days. I have much love for/support for anyone going through the hell of the working poor.
Wow, Adam! That reminds me of Barbara Ehrenreich's "Nickle and Dimed" about her taking a number of low wage jobs, undercover, living only on the earnings...including a place to live. I wonder if any of these corporate geniuses (the kind Katie Porter confronts) ever read any of that very popular work (circa 2000ad). This woman had a PhD in cell biology, but did this service and then published it successfully, but I wonder if it made any dent in this horrid system.
In 2007 my freelance voice over business began to slow, by 2008 all my clients were quiescent and by July 2009 I had exhausted my savings, lost my property and after spending January thru June seeking ANY kind of employment, landed my first warehouse job paying minumum wage.
Having always worked in an office environment before striking out on my own, this order picking job was an eye-opening experience.
Was I exploited? Hell yeah. But you know what really stung? Being told that even though I was making minimum wage, I still made $50 per month too much for food stamps. But for an ex who let me stay with her, I would have been living in my car eating cat food and cardboard.
That was then. Since then I've acquired a new skill set and now make a good wage, but I will never forget those horrid & hope killing days. I have much love for/support for anyone going through the hell of the working poor.
But for the grace of God.
Wow, Adam! That reminds me of Barbara Ehrenreich's "Nickle and Dimed" about her taking a number of low wage jobs, undercover, living only on the earnings...including a place to live. I wonder if any of these corporate geniuses (the kind Katie Porter confronts) ever read any of that very popular work (circa 2000ad). This woman had a PhD in cell biology, but did this service and then published it successfully, but I wonder if it made any dent in this horrid system.
Exactly. Add the outrageous profits made by companies over covid that are still being made? Inflation my asterisk.