Never even a contender!

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You have to understand the world I live in and my social status to understand the way I feel about working at all for wages. I say wages because they will never be fair. In my world, I can make all the sales for the month at company, do all the ordering and restocking, work the register, and clean the store. Then watch as my “supervisior” drives off in the company car. On his way to the Airports to board his flight to Hawaii, which was given to him for the store with the most sales that month. He spent maybe an hour in the store that month total. he made 7$ more on the hour, had a gas card, and insurance. I stayed at the store usually worked through my lunch and barely sqeacked out minimum wage. Or how about the time I worked four different positions, in an elderly assistant living facility. The nurses here liked to call in a lot, so I made sure to be available to them for help should they need it. On really pretty days I would get the residents that were able to go outside, so they could get some fresh air and listen to the birds. One day, the administer announces a new program that allows us to vote on who we think employee of the month is the previous month. After a year, he would decide who would be the employee of the year. The title came with an almost fully paid trip to Branson, Missouri, for four days and three night’s. I was being congratulated all day by other employees the day the winner was going to be announced. Understand that had there not been a contest created by the company I worked for that pitted workers against each other I would have never been affected. I would have simply continued to do what I do. But there I was, and I was actually a contender in it. When the winner was announced. No one paused to look at the winner. All eyes were on me. Shrugging my shoulders at them all. I watched as the head nurses baby sister, who worked 15 hours a week, stood up to retrieve her certificate. I wasn’t in the least bit surprised. I was a dietary/housekeeper/nurses aide/laundry personel. The company would look a little off if the best employee did something as mundane as mopping the floors and washing clothes. I can’t forget my years working in a bakery that served lunch and catered to the upper class in town. A lot of days all during the year, I worked overtime, which the owner did not pay. Per contract. I was also required to sign a non-disclosure for her recipes she stole from her mother when her mother was an owner in the Dumpling franchise. Ok lady I’ll just forget every recipe I’ve made in this kitchen for the last five years. That’s just the tip of this iceberge. During the holiday seasons the place would go crazy. Valentines day every one and their brother wanted some of Susie’s chocolate covered strawberries or cherries. Maybe they’d get a dozen cookies or my favorite the caramel apple upside down cake/pie… …wait that’s not the favorite. Either the chocolate majesty cake or the breakfast coffee cheese cake. Yummy. I miss them. We also made fruit and meat and desserts trays. People all over town would rush the place one week before the big V day. I would work from 7- whenever I got done with the last order and set up the next days orders to be made. At Thanksgiving and Christmas, I believed I was the only person to cook homemade meals these days. Sometimes, I worked till midnight to get Christmas baskets ready. Missed cooking for my family on more than one occasion. The restaurant also had five waitresses that would bag the items once they were ready. Do you know how bad it sucks to see someone come into work two hours after you start then turn and leave five to six hours before you? It didn’t suck nearly as bad as the day I was told not to leave until the waitresses got their work done. She wanted me to do their job. They had never stayed to help me. After season, the store would close, and as we were handed our checks, we were greeted with thank you. Happy holidays. The the waitrwss would go get theirs and with theirs came a yearly bonus. Yep, cooks and dishwashers, as well as bakers, were left out of the Christmas bonus. I was left out for every year except for the last and final year. She gave me $50, and then she hugged me, whispering in my ear don’t tell your coworkers. What the hell. Lady, you call yourself a Christian. All these instances have one thing in common the only people that got ups were already up. Since I wasn’t they didn’t and do not care what I have to say about it. A few examples of how the rich keep it in or close to their own. So to say that my career has made me Jaded. I don’t care. Because you’d be correct. What do these people think? That I’m just here to serve. That may be. I may be here to serve the people. The ages of negotiating for our real worth is for sure over. If that was ever a real thing. Thanks for reading the end of the story The End