General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Retail Workers Bear Brunt Of Sluggish Holiday Sales [View all]DearHeart
(692 posts)who work in retail. We get treated like crap by people who believe that we're all uneducated, lazy people. It's obvious that you have never had to work full-time in retail, probably not part-time either. Good for you...I don't wish retail on anyone!
The reason why we have thousands in credit card debt is because this is the only way that we can live on our crappy wages! With rent, car payments (buses don't run in certain areas of our state), car insurance, and utilities, how do you think that people can afford to eat, pay for gasoline, clothing??
It's not always a "choice" to go thousands of dollars into debt...it is a necessity to live at the lowest level of basic comfort in life. As compared to someone who can go spend their vacations and holidays at beach resorts, and ski resorts; live in nice neighborhoods, in nice houses or condos, and drive nice, dependable cars.
I'm glad you seem to have a nice life and I'm happy for you, but don't make assumptions about people who have different life circumstances from yours. You do not know what has happened in these people's lives that they got stuck in retail (may have had to quit college to help out their family, parents). Once in retail, it's almost impossible to break out of it and into another field, even with a degree or certification for other jobs; hiring managers see years of retail and throw your resume in the garbage. That is what has happened to me and several people I know.
We're not lazy (don't know how many could do the job we do...physically and dealing with a wide variety of customers' temperaments)and we deserve to have a modicum of comfort in our lives.