So I recently read Nickel and Dimed, which is a book where Barbara Ehrenreich trys to live on a minimum wage, or essentially, to see if it’s feasible for those “less fortunate” to survive. It made me think about this summer. I moved down to Philadelphia, and I applied for a few different jobs, and nothing was coming through. I was starting to get in rough shape so finally I just put out applications everywhere for any place that was hiring. I got a job at Salad Works. I made $6 an hour, and I worked there for 3 (2?) days. The reason I wasn’t there long is because someone finally got back to me about one of my other applications. I was hired by a marketing company to play guitar and sing children’s songs, for a ridiculous amount per hour.

I went to Salad Works one last time because I was scheduled, and I told them I had another job so I was going to quit. They said I could just go instead of working the scheduled shift. I’m not sure what’s wrong with me but I felt bad for saying I would take the job and then wasting their time training me, so I said I was sorry for leaving, and that I wouldn’t be doing it except this new job was paying me x amount of dollars. One of the workers looked up when I said that, and I felt like an idiot. Whether he believed me or thought I was full of shit, I still feel bad. Because there are people there who could never land the kind of job I had. They just aren’t in that position. So I had my “rock bottom” experience and worked a crappy job, but went on to work 5 weeks that paid off my entire summer+. I don’t know what to say about it.