General Discussion

Have known my bartender for over a decade, really nice lady. The conversation turned to minimum wage, she knows I'm a lefty so she asks, "What do you think minimu wage should be?" I said, I'm not sure, but at least enough for entry level workers to do as well as I did wokring my first jobs in the 80s." My guess is $15 or $16 here in Michigan. Then some people strarted talking about how much fast food costs these days, "The bartender says to me, so you're willing to pay a buck more per item so the workers there can make $16 or $16 an hour." She said it like a "gotcha." The irony of what she said ws completely lost on her until I answered, "Well, i am literally paying you a buck more per beer so you can get by and earn a living, so I guess the answer to that is yes." She's not a righty or anything, just one of the people who believes what she hears on TV. She was really worried about the tipped minimum wage going up in Michigan, I said to her, "You're still getting the same buck or two per beer tip from me regardless of what your hourly rate is and even if the base price of the beer goes up."

And don't get me wrong, I respect bartending as a profession, I've bartended, if you're competent at it, you can make a living doing it. But I go to a dive bar, this isn't some mixologist, she wroks at a dive bar during the day. She knows how to mix a hand full of drinks, pour beers, and wash the counter, it's not rocket surgery, but I and the rest of the regulars are more than happy to tip her well so she can take care of herself and her kid. But apparently fastfood workers don't deserve the same dignity as bartenders do.

And this is what Cons have done for 50 years now, they get working people to think other working people getting a little more are the problem. Look at the disdain you hear from non union workers towards union workers. Every good union contract gets met with jeers. Ford or Stelantis laying off laying off a thousand or so people and you hear, "See, that fatcat union contract cost people their jobs." All of the people working to make ends meet target other working people. And it goes to every profession. People will say teacher's get too good of benefits. People get mad college professors are making 6 figures. I even see it in my own building where production is jealous of us in engineering. Like we in engineering aren't a lot closer to the people on the shop floor in values and work ethic than we are to the guys in the corner offices at corporate headquarters or the board room. We're all just working stiffs, hoping to save enough to retire with a little bit of dignity.