Friday, September 13, 2013
Class And Education.
My family arrived in America approximately 14 years ago. At the time I was only six years
old. Both of my parents worked very difficult jobs. Back in those day's the economy was very
different, and jobs were a lot easier to get. Both of my parents had a college education in Yugoslavia,
but did it matter to the employers here? Not one, bit did it matter. Actually going back all those years
people would find work even without a G.E.D. Nonetheless my mother worked in a very busy
gas station in Texas, without any type of education obtained in America. She described her dead end job as being a living nightmare.
If you are being interviewed for a dead end job employers don't seem to care if you have any
post-secondary training. Unless it is relevant to the job you applied to. All the restaurants I've
worked in, only wanted to know if I was capable to do the job. Sure I would need my H.S. Diploma
or the employer made sure I was still in school. Employers want to know if you have common sense. As I got older the economy became tougher and almost most places required a H.S. Diploma or equivalent. Stressful is the word that describes the places I worked. The manager constantly yelling, foul-mouthed, and disrespectful. And most of the times it wasn't even the employees fault, about the food being bad, customer's complaining etc... In reality I worked as a horse, and had to deal with that type of nonsense everyday. This was (1) establishment I worked in and as you can tell I wasn't treated nicely whatsoever. But all of the employers working their were treated the same. It was the manager who ran his business his way. Didn't matter much about the employee's working, or their education level.
Same thing with my parents. All of the hard working labor they endured for minimum wage or
more, they described it as being treated horribly, regardless of how good of a worker you were.
Lastly, I don't believe that education should determine level of pay and/or respect. Let me make it
more clear. If someone receives a masters degree, and applies to a minimum. wage job, why should they be treated differently then anyone else working their? If you have that type of education you shouldn't be applying to a minimum wage job in the first place. The employer might be suspicious of that person. If they want a good salary, and better benefits, their is plenty of jobs out their, you just need the right schooling.
On the other hand someone might have received a college degree, yet they can't find work in their chosen field. They might apply to a low - paying job and work their way up. Again all employees should be treated equally. If someone doesn't do the job correct, or is a nuisance, just simply get rid of them. Vice -versa their can be a promotion for good workers. Going of topic a little bit I really liked the article " Work Smart. Not Hard". Actually their will always be a need for hard- working individuals. Similarly, not everyone is for college. Some people just like to work with their hands. What would America be like without, Plumbers, Construction. workers, roofers, welders, etc... I agree with Mike Rowe on, " We should work smarter and harder." It doesn't make sense for everyone to work only smarter.
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Fisnik,
ReplyDeleteI really liked your post. You have some great experiences to share with the class on this topic.
Eileen
Nik,
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading your post. You made a lot of interesting points, especially the struggle your parents had to deal with coming to America and the last paragraph where you mentioned the need of Plumbers, Construction, workers, roofers, welders, etc. I Think you have an advantage over the average 20 year old. Your life experiences opened your eyes to the "real world" and that alone would get you places in life.
Mike