Wal-Mart

When most people think of Wal-Mart they think of cheap prices and a place where they can get everything at one stop. I'm actually very surprised as to the things I've learned just by reading the article in "They Say I Say". Karen Olsson talks about the ways in which they make people work, making them work overtime and not get paid for it. They push people to their limits and see how much push it takes until they have to hire someone new.
Then their is the low wages that the employees are paid. "The way they pay you, you cannot make it by yourself without having a second job or someone to help you, unless you've been there 20 years or a manager," (607) explains McLaughlin who is a mother of one who lives with her boyfriend. I had no idea these employees were paid such low wages. I knew that no one could really live off minimum wage without help, but they can't even afford insurance from the company.
I don't think the trade off for low prices is fair to the low paid workers. It doesn't seem like the greatest job as it is and with the wages they are being paid it makes it that much worse. I do know a lot of people that shop there because of the low prices, but I however do not. As for Black Friday shopping I won't be there either. Why? I don't see the need to stand in lines for endless hours to get something at an extremely low price. I also know of the nutty people that don't care who is in front of someone and will just plow them over as soon as the store opens.
Since my brother is an employee I only hear the good things he says about it, which their are a lot, but you never hear about these negatives. I know he loves working there, but don't know how he expects to pay for everything on what they pay him alone. As for how they wait to see how much they can push people before they leave, I agree with that. All the time they ask my brother to work late even though he was only part time, and he would always agree to stay because he didn't mind and would get overtime since he only had limited hours at the time. Its hard to believe such a big store like Wal-Mart would treat its employees so poorly.

The American Dream

I do think that the American Dream is something real to think about. Everyone has a dream of what they want their life to be like in the future and some kind of plan on how to achieve that. The American Dream to most people is having a life where you don't have to worry about living paycheck to paycheck and worrying about how to pay your bills on time, providing a better life for your kids than you had, and living a happy life.

I think that the American Dream is still something everyone strives for even if they think it is just false hope that they will live the life of their dreams. If they work hard enough anything is possible. Everyone wants to create a better life for themselves and their family. Everyone is born with the opportunity to better themselves, its all about the effort that you put into what you really want. Hard work pays off when you least expect it. I think the American Dream is still alive, but different than how people in the past might have thought of the perfect life.

respect and pay in the work palce

I do think the education plays a role in the types of jobs people can get. However, my education level has never played into the types of jobs I have had. My first summer jobs were working a basketball camp for a couple weeks out of the year. This type of job didn’t have any special type of requirements education wise. The only type of education that was needed was how to play basketball and help the campers learn throughout the week how to better their skills. I was treated as well as the other employees and everyone got along which made it that much better. Everyone was also paid an equal salary because we all did the same amount of work during the week.

My first official job was and still is cleaning the offices of my Stepfathers company. This job didn’t have any special requirements education wise either. I feel like for only working once a week that I am treated as fairly as everyone else who works there all week long. I do think that education level should determine the pay of the worker because for jobs that require certain skills that you have to go to school for that it you should have the upper hand in getting paid more than someone who didn’t go to school at all. As far as respect goes, I don’t think that an education level should reflect how you should be respected in a company. Everyone should be treated with the same respect. It shouldn’t be different just because you went to school or went straight to the work force out of high school.

An experience in my family that I can relate this to is my mother. She is a secretary for an attorney who doesn’t always give her the same respect as she shows him. He will say hurtful things to her for not knowing exactly what he is talking about. It’s almost like he expects her to know what he is talking about when she didn’t go to law school. When she is doing work for him, if she is typing and he doesn’t think she is listening he will get mad and say something about it when she is just trying to get her work done for him. He has never shown the same respect for people that others show him. In a way he makes her education level make her seem like she has no idea what she is doing when she really does.

In a job atmosphere everyone should be treated with the same respect as everyone else. Education shouldn’t play into how you treat another employee. Education should reflect certain types of jobs because it is a harder task than other jobs.  

class interview

During our last class I met KayLa Allen, a 25 year old student studying Genetic Engineering, who is also interested in disease research. KayLa is originally from Houston, Texas and is currently renting a room off campus. She has one little brother named Bryan who is 11 years old.  Since December of this year, KayLa has been engaged and would like to get married on February 14th. Her favorite show, along with mine, is Under the Dome. During high school she was involved with the band, playing the clarinet and also being a flag girl.

            Over the summer KayLa spent it with her family before traveling up here for school. In her spare time she like to travel. Her favorite place to travel to is New York. However, she has traveled all over California and to Niagara Falls. Some of her favorite things to do are crochet and bake. Her favorite thing to bake is a cream cheese pound cake.  KayLa's favorite color is purple and she is a Curious George fan. Also like me, she has 2 tattoos. She has no pets too.

            It was nice to meet someone with some common interests as myself.