A Living Wage

  Not much in life leaves me speechless. I'm a little jaded after a life seeing what humans are capable of doing to each other. Yet yesterday I heard in plain and simple words something that stopped me in my tracks. 

  "Some people are not meant to have a living wage". Read that again. "Some people are not meant to have a living wage". My first question to that is of course who gets to decide who those people are? Do I get a say? What're the criteria? Who makes that criteria? And most importantly who the hell would say that????

  I have heard various versions of that statement over the years. Coded but there. Usually, it is hidden in remarks about education or abilities. Those little comments we've all heard. People wanting to say it but knowing what kind of reaction they will receive if they do. So they hide it. Phrase it differently. The underlying truth is still there. They know it and you do too.

  Once someone I know was told, and I'm paraphrasing here, "Imagine what your life could have been like had you gone to university". For the record, the speaker knew the kind of life my friend had led. Filled with charity work, helping others, kindness, standing up for the underprivileged and too many other things for me to list. Yet the fact that they didn't have a degree or an important career, in their eyes, was a life wasted. 

  Years ago I worked with a lady named Joyce. She had worked her entire adult life serving food in a bar. She got a raise only when the minimum wage increased every few years. Unlike many people who go off to high paying jobs every morning, "real" careers, Joyce was happy. She loved her job. And the regulars loved her. They didn't care if she was slow or got their order wrong. She always had a smile and remembered names, birthdays and kids. When someone died, got married or had a baby she was included. She was a small ray of sunshine to those who came into the bar. Not a bad way to spend your life is it?

  I was informed I was wrong when I said lots of people who work at a gas station or a fast-food restaurant or a grocery store are the main earners in many families. No way could that be the way they pay their rent I was told. No that's how they pay their mortgage and put braces on their kids' teeth and food on the table was my reply. Do people honestly believe only high-income earners have anything? Seriously? I know lots of families who survive and thrive, on less than the average. It's done all the time.

  Like almost every crisis we have lived through, the healthcare providers shine. They are always there when we need them and en masse, we herald their unselfish and unwavering dedication to our health. Even at the risk of their own. But this time it truly is those who "don't deserve to make a living wage" that are stealing the spotlight. Just a few short months ago people were complaining about the minimum wage hike and how it would ruin the economy and raise prices. More than one of you said that an entire group of workers doesn't deserve more money in their paycheque. Do you feel bad now? You should.

  How many of us have waited in line to get into a grocery only to see the cashier standing behind plexiglass exhausted? Going to work every day so we can bear our distancing with a full stomach and snacks on hand. Yet six months ago we looked down upon them and wondered why they weren't in real professions. 

  Take some of this downtime to reflect on your bigotries. Reevaluate how you measure a person's worth. Or even if you have the right to do so. Look at who is keeping this country going and treat them with the dignity and respect you should have always been showing. 

  To the woman who said some people don't deserve a living wage...you are a disgrace to the human race. Knowing nothing about you I judge you as lacking in empathy, compassion, and kindness. Doesn't feel great, does it?

  Ang