I guess my thought process is different than those “people” on the left. In the mid-80s, when I started college, I quickly ran out of money so, not wanting to be a financial burden on my parents, I got a job working during the day and took classes at night. The first job that I could find was moving and setting up house trailers. To this day, I don’t know how much I was making per hour. I just knew that they had a job opening and that I needed a job AND, most importantly, getting any amount per hour was better than the $0 per hour than I was getting without a job.
After a few months of that, I got a job that was a temporary/seasonal job with a large company. When I did that interview, since it was such a large company, I did ask the supervisor who was interviewing me how much the job paid per hour. He said that he didn’t know and asked if it mattered. I told him “no”, and he told me to be there the next morning to go to work. I worked there for about 2 months, and then the job ran out. If I remember correctly, based on what was shown on my check stub, that job paid about $7.50 per hour.
After that, in the latter part of 1986, I quickly got a job with a small company. I didn’t ask about that pay, but it turned out to be $3.50 per hour which was a little over the minimum wage. I didn’t complain or scream “living wage” or pout. Instead, I worked my behind off to show the owner that I was a valuable employee who deserved more money. Within a few years, I was making $17 per hour with insurance and a company truck. That may not sound like a lot now, but in my little rural area, at that time, it was pretty good money.
I say all of that to say this... I never expected the government to demand anyone to pay me a certain wage. I just wanted the government to stay out of the way so jobs would be available so that I could show my worth and, if the situation required it, look for the next job opening.
