Minimum Rage: College Grads in the Service Industry

[Viva_La_Revolution]

Behind the bar of a fancy New York restaurant, a 27-year-old bartender tidies her olive-and-cherry box. She attempts to look distracted while a middle-aged financial analyst holds her captive with small talk.

“So what else do you do?” he slurs, four Manhattans deep.

“Nothing,” she says. “I just do this.”

“Oh!” he answers. “That’s cool. Did you go to college?”

http://www.utne.com/politics/college-grads-service-industry-zm0z12jazwar.aspx#ixzz1z2GdaU6G

[Po_d Mainiac]

1. May 1974 redux

I was standing beside my wife as she was lined up out in a hallway ready to do the march and get her BS.

A kid a few feet ahead opened a door beside him....It was one of the janitors closets.

He pulled out a broom, raised it above his head, and hollered out "Hey, I got a job!"

The groans and laughs cancelled each other out.

True Story.

[xchrom]

2. Du rec. Nt

[KansDem]

3. It's a chance we all take...

After securing graduate degrees, I worked for two years at three part-time jobs. I had to be somewhere everyday of the week and did this while I applied to every position I was remotely qualified for.

I had two interviews but no offers. A full-time position opened up at one of the part-time jobs and I'm now working in a field that I never envisioned I would be doing when I was in school.

It's a crapshoot. Some of us "win" and some of us "lose."

I didn't "win" but I sure as hell didn't "lose" like some grads I've been reading about lately.

And "yes": If I knew then what I know now I would have made some very different choices...

[Agony]

4. Rec. . . . "organize “the worker, not the job.” "

[Egalitarian Thug]

5. Good article. I wish them better luck than we've had. n/t