Monday, November 29, 2010

Critical Thinking

"Critical thinking is the formation of logical inferences."
Simon and Kapplan, 1989.

"Critical thinking is the development of cohesive and logical reasoning patterns." Stahl and Stahl, 1991.

"The purpose of critical thinking is, therefore, to achieve understanding, evaluate view points, and solve problems. Since all three areas involve the asking of questions, we can say that critical thinking is the questioning or inquiry we engage in when we seek to understand, evaluate, or resolve."
Maiorana, Victor P. Critical Thinking Across the Curriculum: Building the Analytical Classroom. 1992.

Homework

Critical thinking is careful and deliberate determination of whether to accept, reject, or suspend judgment.
Within the hypertexts we have chosen what standpoint and what opinion we either accept or reject. Within hypertexts you do not only choose but also establish exactly what you accept or reject with pictures and other visuals.

Critical thinking is "the examination and testing of suggested solutions to see whether they will work."
This references almost exactly our original contributions and how we are coming up with suggested solutions as to what we could possibly do to make a difference and change the issue at hand.

Critical thinking skills: understanding the meaning of a statement, judging ambiguity, judging whether an inductive conclusion is warranted, and judging whether statements made by authorities are acceptable.
When choosing sources, pictures, and statements for your personal hypertexts, you are forced to judge whether the options are correct, inductive, or even acceptable. When forming websites it is a complete judgment progress.

Sunday, November 28, 2010

Critical Thinking

"...purposeful, reasoned and goal directed..."
Halpern, Diane F. Thought and Knowledge: An Introduction to Critical Thinking. 199

"Critical thinking is careful and deliberate determination of whether to accept, reject, or suspend judgment."
Moore and Parker, 1994.


"...to achieve understanding, evaluate view points, and solve problems...questioning or inquiry we engage in when we seek to understand, evaluate, or resolve."
Maiorana, Victor P. Critical Thinking Across the Curriculum: Building the Analytical Classroom. 1992.

"...reason, intellectual honesty, and open-mindedness...considering all possibilities; relying on reason rather than emotion; being precise; considering a variety of possible viewpoints and explanations; weighing the effects of motives and biases; being concerned more with finding the truth than with being right; not rejecting unpopular views out of hand; being aware of one's own prejudices and biases, and not allowing them to sway one's judgment."
Kurland, Daniel J. I Know What It Says . . . What does it Mean? 1995.

"Critical thinking is "the art of thinking about your thinking while you are thinking in order to make your thinking better: more clear, more accurate, or more defensible."
Paul, Binker, Adamson, and Martin (1989)



The opinion and viewpoints examined in these definitions of critical thinking relate to my project in a few ways. The first one is the idea of approaching something new and foreign with an open mind. For me this means looking at the lives of a low wage group - migrant agricultural workers - in an open way. I have been suspending all judgement in my research thus far. It means I take the facts and opinions expressed in my sources and compile them and extrapolate in a non judgmental way. I also use the idea of thinking about my thinking in the writing process. I usually tend to write without thinking about where I'm going, but in this project I have forced myself to think about the result before beginning the writing process. It has been very helpful. Another way of using critical thinking is making sure that my project has a very direct purpose. I tend to be very general but with this project I have had to take a more direct and immediate standpoint.

Critical Thinking Exercise

“Critical thinking is deciding rationally what to or what not to believe."


With the vast amount of information that is available in the Internet, I believe that critical thinking is meticulously going through one’s chosen sources and filtering them, deciding which source would be useful or irrelevant to the writing of the hypertext. Information on almost any subject can be found online but a writer must always have a clear focus on what his topic is and at the same time, be open to different standpoints, approaches and opinions. The writer may have his own personal stand at the beginning, but as he researches, it is inevitable that he will find accounts or research that challenges his own beliefs. If he is truly a critical thinker, then he would analyze that piece of information instead of merely disregarding it and would find an effective way to integrate the two (or more) opposing viewpoints in his writing.


“Critical thinking is careful and deliberate determination of whether to accept, reject, or suspend judgment.”


In the writing of my hypertext, I found it invaluable to look for and include first person accounts in my hypertext. By presenting these stories in my hypertexts, I attempt to establish within the reader a more empathic connection with the topic of my hypertext. However, it is important to note that in these first person accounts, the opinion and the experience of the narrator must be respected. These people have bravely shared their stories and these stories must be used with utmost care and thought in enriching the reader’s learning experience in the hypertext. Critical thinking, in relation to hypertext writing, is also to know how to use the various research materials in the most effective way.

Critical Thinking

"...the kind of thinking involved in solving problems, formulating inferences, calculating likelihoods, and making decisions"
Halpern, Diane F. Thought and Knowledge: An Introduction to Critical Thinking. 1996.

"The purpose of critical thinking is, therefore, to achieve understanding, evaluate view points, and solve problems. Since all three areas involve the asking of questions, we can say that critical thinking is the questioning or inquiry we engage in when we seek to understand, evaluate, or resolve."
Maiorana, Victor P. Critical Thinking Across the Curriculum: Building the Analytical Classroom. 1992.

"...understanding the meaning of a statement, judging ambiguity, judging whether an inductive conclusion is warranted, and judging whether statements made by authorities are acceptable."
Smith, 1990.

"...the art of thinking about your thinking while you are thinking in order to make your thinking better: more clear, more accurate, or more defensible."

"...integrate information and see relationships; evaluate information, materials, and data by drawing inferences, arriving at reasonable and informed conclusions, applying understanding and knowledge to new and different problems, developing rational and reasonable interpretations, suspending beliefs and remaining open to new information, methods, cultural systems, values and beliefs and by assimilating information."
MCC General Education Initiatives


When I hear the words critical thinking, I usually associate the concept with "thinking outside the box." I used to associate it with a more linear approach, such as that depicted by the first quote by Halpren: solving problems, formulating inferences, calculating likelihoods, and making decisions. Now, however, I see it more as MCC General Education Initiatives' view: integratig information and seeing relationships - ultimately forming your own conclusions through a combination of evaluating new data as well as arriving at reasonable and informed interpretations of your own. I have ultimately come to define critical thinking as questioning the question and challenging the conclusion. It is taking a step back from the prompt, sifting through data, doubting findings, judging your own thoughts, understanding what is in front of you, and forming a conclusion. This is essential in writing a hypertext as it is essentially what your hypertext consists of: a collection of findings linked together - a map of your thoughts to some degree.

Wednesday, November 24, 2010

Critical Thinking

"The purpose of critical thinking is, therefore, to achieve understanding, evaluate view points, and solve problems. Since all three areas involve the asking of questions, we can say that critical thinking is the questioning or inquiry we engage in when we seek to understand, evaluate, or resolve."
Maiorana, Victor P. Critical Thinking Across the Curriculum: Building the Analytical Classroom. 1992.

"Critical thinking includes the ability to respond to material by distinguishing between facts and opinions or personal feelings, judgments and inferences, inductive and deductive arguments, and the objective and subjective. It also includes the ability to generate questions, construct, and recognize the structure of arguments, and adequately support arguments; define, analyze, and devise solutions for problems and issues; sort, organize, classify, correlate, and analyze materials and data; integrate information and see relationships; evaluate information, materials, and data by drawing inferences, arriving at reasonable and informed conclusions, applying understanding and knowledge to new and different problems, developing rational and reasonable interpretations, suspending beliefs and remaining open to new information, methods, cultural systems, values and beliefs and by assimilating information."
MCC General Education Initiatives

the first quote, to me, seems like an overview of the second quote, simply picking out the important information. The second quote goes more in depth and explains understand, view points, and provblems.

I think that when I write a hypertext i start by first attempt to understand the material, look at comflicting and supporting view points and then start writing. I did not fully connect with any of the other definations, however, these definations suffice. When i write in "hypertext mode" i start writing and my mind wanders, when i wander to a useful topic, i write the title of that topic then continue with my previous thought. hypertext writing feeds off my side thoughts that in linear writing are distracting and discouraged. When i have finally written all of my side thoughts i find connections between them and that is how i link them up. hypertext writing to me is freer and more creative than critical thinking, hypertexual writing could even be considered artistic.

Thursday, November 18, 2010

Critical Thinking Excersice

"Thus, critical thinking involves: following evidence where it leads; considering all possibilities; relying on reason rather than emotion; being precise; considering a variety of possible viewpoints and explanations; weighing the effects of motives and biases; being concerned more with finding the truth than with being right; not rejecting unpopular views out of hand; being aware of one's own prejudices and biases, and not allowing them to sway one's judgment."

This quote truly represents what I think about when creating hypertext. For all my hypertext projects, I had to represent people other than myself, tell their story, without being biased from what I already had known. I had to take a variety of viewpoints to make the hypertext successful. Rather then trying to be "correct" I had to find the truth. For the research hypertext, I'm trying to convey the truth of the matter, whether or not the truth is what I believe in doesn't matter. I can't let myself sway my judgment, I must just write what is true and that is all. And this critical thinking quote sums that up perfectly.

"Critical thinking is careful and deliberate determination of whether to accept, reject, or suspend judgment. "

I also found this quote to be helpful. When creating the hypertext, I needed to be able to know what information should be accepted and put into the project, and which should be disregarded. If I put everything I learned about the topic into one hypertext, it would be too wordy and too much of a summary. I had to find the perfect balance.

"Critical thinking is the formation of logical inferences. "

Lastly, I agree with this quote because while doing my research hypertext, I realized that much information on low-wage McDonald's workers applies to the research journals on low-wage jobs in general, or working at restaurants. I just had to use my logical inferences to connect the situations of people in other low-wage jobs to the situations of people at McDonald's.

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Critical Thinking

“Critical thinking is careful and deliberate determination of whether to accept, reject, or suspend judgment.”

This statement on critical thinking appeals to me because I can relate to the writing style when I am creating my hypertexts. While researching facts on the chocolate industry for our research hypertext, I found was continuously questioning some of the methods that people are using to fight child slavery on cocoa bean plantations; some government official and groups of people believe that implementing regulations like the Fair Trade law is the most helpful way to stop slave trafficking in places like Africa. Although there are other ways to ensure the fairness and safety of plantation workers, I chose to accept this particular regulation as the best way to regulate working on plantations in Africa.

“Critical thinking is "a process which stresses an attitude of suspended judgment, incorporates logical inquiry and problem solving, and leads to an evaluative decision or action."

This particular theory appeals to me because I aspire to think more like this. When I first started doing research on child slavery on cocoa plantations, the first articles I read talked about the unfairness of child slavery and how wrong it is. While this is a strong argument that I, and most, would agree with, it is important that I do not judge the system at which the cocoa industry operates before diving deeper into researching the facts about it.

Wednesday, November 3, 2010

Every day millions of people across the United States use cafeterias. Whether they are in schools, hospitals, or retirement homes, cafeterias are an essential part of this nations infrastructure. The people who work in these facilities work one of the most important jobs in the nation, yet their salaries are extremely low.

I want to research and do my low wage life project about cafeteria workers because every time I have ever ordered something from a cafeteria, I always wonder what the workers life is like. The first thought that comes to my head is that the workers must not make much money, and many of those employees have been working the same job for long periods of time.

My friend’s mother worked at the cafeteria at my old high school. His mom unlike most of the cafeteria employees at was working for extra money, and not for survival. However he told me stories about some of the workers there who were living in harsh conditions. They barely had enough money to buy groceries, and never had enough money buy things for entertainment. Another one of the employees had their daughter drop out of high school, and work in the cafeteria with the mother, just to make enough money to live comfortably

96% of cafeteria workers are female, and the average yearly pay is around $19,000. Most cafeteria workers do not have much more than a high school education, and all that is needed to become a cafeteria employees is some minor cooking skills, and minor mathematical operation skills if they are working a cash register. The hours of working in a cafeteria are not unbearable, but they are long enough to the point where it can cause physical health problems from standing all day. There are also medical risks while working the appliances needed to cook the foods, like ovens, and dough mixers.

I want to do more research to find more personal stories about working in the cafeterias, and why the work force is predominately women. I also would like to research the range of jobs within the cafeteria ,and whether they are all equal in pay. I also want to look at how cafeteria workers are viewed in society. I get the general feeling that most cafeteria workers are looked down upon because their job is to serve people. But with research I can strengthen that view, or see if it is even correct.

Research Hypertext Proposal

For my research hypertext, I wanted to go into detail about the hardships that McDonald employees have to go through every day. McDonald workers are low wage workers and end up working for much more than what they’re paid. I want to get an inside perspective from these McDonald workers and explore how hard it is for them to make a living of off McDonalds, as well as how strenuous low wage working at McDonalds really is. I want to get inside these worker’s lives and tell their stories. What got me interested in this topic was the fact that I used to get annoyed and complain harshly to McDonald workers, yet now I think differently. I used to get complain to employees and badmouth them with my friends if they messed up my order or were taking too long. Now, after learning about poverty and low wage worker struggles, I feel guilty and give them my sympathy. The main idea driving me is the fact that most customers look down upon or don’t even notice or care about the workers who work extremely hard for such low pay just to give you a cheap meal. Many low wage workers are forgotten, their existence and struggles unknown to society.


Low wage workers like McDonald employees who live off these wages have to constantly work each and every day just to buy enough food for the next day. If you miss one day of work, you might not have enough money to eat that day (Nickel and Dimed, Ehrenriech, pg.119). That also ties into the fact that low wage workers don’t have the money for emergency situations, creating much stress (The Working Poor, Shipler, pg.45). Schlosser talks about how McDonalds doesn’t care about their workers at all and can easily replace old workers, making it very stressful for people who depend on their job at McDonalds (Fast Food Nation, Schlosser, pg.77). Shipler brings out the point I was making, that we as the normal class look past the lower class that does all the hard work for us (The Working Poor, Shipler, pg.3). There’s still more hardship though, as the legal minimum wage is far below what is actually needed to have a decent life (The Working Poor, Shipler, pg.9). McDonald workers earn near the minimum wage, meaning that they cannot live a decently comfortable life unless they work two jobs or more. But then they’d have to spend all their time working (Nickel and Dimed, Ehrenriech, pg.28). It also seems like people without money seem to accumulate problems and trouble just keeps coming their way. That doesn’t help their situation one bit (The Working Poor, Shipler, pg.76). These are the major ideas I want to touch on. I want to research how these specific standpoints on poverty connect to the low wage workers of McDonalds. Once I accomplish that, I will have much knowledge on the topic of McDonald employees and will be able to create my splash page and add an original contribution.

Monday, November 1, 2010

Minimum Wage at the YMCA

Some of them wake up at 3:00 am to make their way to work for their 4:00 shift. They unlock the back doors, which are next to the dumpsters, and they go inside and begin to turn on the lights for the building. Each individual has his or her various tasks for the morning. And they all have to be ready for the opening of the building at 5:00 am. This time is when the businessmen and women of Tacoma, Washington come with their suits pressed in their gym bags and their Starbucks coffees in hand. This is the life of a YMCA employee.
For teenagers, working at the YMCA is a great way to gain job experience. The only issue is that very few positions at the Y are available to those under 18: lifeguarding, dance instruction, and volunteer work. The rest of the jobs – trainers, instructors, welcome desk workers, janitors, and all other positions – are reserved for adults. The problem with this? Most of these positions are minimum wage, and nearly all of the workers at the YMCA are part-time or hourly.
At the YMCA, being part time means only getting a certain amount of hours per day or per week. And because there are so many employees at the Y, hours are hard to come by, and they are always being changed or cut. One thing you’ll notice is that most of the workers do not have families to support and this is because it is impossible to support a family with the wages that the YMCA provides to its employees, not to mention, part-time employees do not receive health insurance or benefits.
The YMCA has a certain hierarchy that keeps its employees cycling through. There are only a few full-time positions available at the Y, and they are only given to current employees and the decisions are mainly based off of favoritism. For the rest of the workers, they are stuck in the same job for years and years in hopes of promotions, but without reprieve. And so when the young adults who have worked the same job since high school finally want to start a family they are forced to look for work elsewhere.
Or in many cases, they start a family unexpectedly. A huge problem with the young employees of the YMCA is teen pregnancy. In my two and a half years of working at the Y, I saw so many of my coworkers have this happen to them. One fellow lifeguard and swim instructor, Britany, got pregnant when she was 17. She came from a low-wage family to begin with, so she was already basically supporting herself. But then her parents asked her to leave their home. Britany had no other option but to drop out of the local Running Start program at her high school and take on more hours at the Y. Her boy friend then began looking for work and ended up getting a position as a lifeguard. So they both had minimum wage jobs, but then Britany had to stop working when her baby was born. The only option for two uneducated teens was to go on welfare. And that is where they are now. Unable to move up in position at the YMCA and unable to move up in life. They are stuck at the Y and probably will be for years. These are some of the examples of minimum wage work at the YMCA.

Not so Happy Summer Camp

Andrew Azzarello

Marc Bousquet

November 1, 2010

Not so Happy Summer Camp

Welcome to Camp Keystone! A small sign greats everyone as they enter through the giant metal gates towards a day of fun. As the campers show up they are greeted by the enthusiastic camp counselors who always have a smile on their face and are excited to be there. As the day goes on the campers continue through various activities from zip lining to water sliding down a two hundred and seventy four foot water slide. As the counselors take their campers from activity to activity they do so with happiness and smiles until the end of the day. When the end of the day approaches campers start to slowly leave through the gates which they entered to begin the day. All seems perfect as the campers leave for the night to dream of the adventures they will have at camp the following morning. As counselors start to leave for the day they sign out on their time card ready to go back to work tomorrow. But for some counselors signing their time card means more than just how much they will get paid. It means how short they will be on their mortgage payment or how little of food they can get at the grocery store. First reaction is what teenager working at a day camp has a mortgage payment but on second thought is it just teenagers working at Camp Keystone. Camp counselor Jewels will show the world that not just teenagers work at Camp Keystone. Educators needing a summer income and will do anything take a job at camp Keystone.

Jewels arguably had one of the hardest jobs at camp and dealt with the most pressure from the bosses but still received as much money as the teenager receiving minimum wage. The only way to receive higher than minimum wage at Camp Keystone was if you were CPR certified or first aid certified and that in itself cost money to do. Through myself experiencing receiving a low wage I continually think how anyone could even survive for just the summer on such a small salary. Jewels thought the same exact way. On the last day of camp counselors all received final paychecks and were sad that camp was over but were happy that our pockets were now full, in the mind of a teenager. Jewels did was not thinking about how full her pockets were. She was too busy thinking of ways in which she can cover the other part of her mortgage that she still had to pay.

When it comes to the point where you will work at a summer camp and receive the same payment as a teenager just so next month’s mortgage can be met is telling society something. Minimum wage is not universal. Minimum wage for one person is poverty for another. When determining minimum wage it should be determined by the age and situation of a certain person. If a single mother of three children walks in and needs a job her minimum wage should not be the same as the sixteen year old sophomore in high school looking for a simple job to hang with their friends. Who determines minimum? Should not it be the person its pertaining to?

Maid in Manila

Maid in Manila

Imagine having to leave your family, travel to a faraway city by boat, live with a family whom you have never met, heed to their every beck and call 24 hours a day and for all of your troubles and earn a mere 10,000 pesos (200 dollars) a month.

That is the life of a typical household helper, referred to hereon as a maid, in Manila. It is a life of detachment from one’s family, strenuous labor and submission to the order of a family one has never met, all for the continuous strife for the almighty peso.

Working as a maid is common in Manila. Maids usually hail from the provinces and more often than not, live within the borders of poverty. They are usually women, single mothers with about 4 to 5 children. Their highest educational achievement is a high school diploma and even with that, they have not obtained any clerical skills or experience that could earn them a job in the industrial workforce.

Seeking greener pastures, these women eventually turn to “recruiters”. These recruiters go to the provinces, enlist women in their maid hiring service, and after a few days, designate a maid to a certain family in the city. Demand for maids never run out. As long as people need help, and as long as marginalized women need jobs, there will always be a ready supply of maids. What these women must do then is to immediately pack up their belongings, take the first boat to Manila and as soon as they get there, start working as a maid for a family.

Maids are jack-of-all-trades and if they aren’t, they must learn to be. They must clean the house, wash the dishes, do laundry, clean the cars, cook the food and babysit among others. They live in a shoddy room, usually referred to as the “maid’s quarters”, in the house and must be ready and willing to comply to their employer’s every demand. To add to the physical intensity of their jobs, maids also have to put up with the attitudes of their employer and their employer’s families. Often would a maid be disrespected and be seen only as a servant, rather than a human being. Spoiled children would ask their maid to do the most menial of tasks and if the maid does not do her job well in the standards of her employer, it is reflected in the cut of her paycheck.

A lowly reputation is given to maids. This societal taint on their occupation, however, is something I passionately disagree with. My family and I have a maid back in my home in Manila and I have seen with my own eyes how hard she has to work and how much she had to sacrifice for the sake of earning money for her children. We treat her as part of the family and we treat her with the high respect that maids should always have.

A website about maids would make a great topic for my last hypertext. It is time for the maids’ story to be told. It is time for their dignity to be upheld. It is time for the great middle to upper class citizens to give them the high regard and respect that they deserve.

Retail Salespersons for clothing store

Over the past two summer, my parents decided they would no longer support my day to day needs such as gas, food, or entertainment. This meant it was time to get a job. Since I knew I wouldn't need much money to support myself over sumer I decided I would do something easy and part time for a low wage. After a few weeks job hunting I decided to become a caddie at Peninsula Country Club in San Mateo. This is where I met Darren.

Darren was also working as a caddie, but instead of just working three days a week at the same course like I did, he worked everyday, sometimes twice a day and at courses all around the Bay Area. Even working everyday of the week he only made about 15,000 dollars a year. It was quite intersting that what I was doing to make some money for everyday expenses, he was doing to make a living. What was even more interesting was his previous job at Macy's in the Women's Clothing Department.

As a retail salesperson in the Women's Department at Macy's, he spent most of his time in the shoe section. This job is quite demanding because it requires a great deal of patience and interpersonal skills. In Darren's world the worst part of his job was dealing with the customer. He recalls having to climb three flights of stairs to get down to where the shoes were stocked and back up as fast as he could only for the customer to throw them aside and ask to try a different pair. After repeating the process again he comes back up and no one is there.

This is just one of the many scenarios retail salespersons have to deal with. Most of the time customers will speak up, either directly to the employee or to their supervisor. As Darren unfortuantely knows, when you start getting complaints made to your supervisor you loose your job. Many customers can be over demanding of the employees. They expect what they want basically the moment they ask for it, and don't realize they aren't the only customer an employee is trying to help. Likewise, the employee is rarely appreciated as his job is seen as meaningless in some sense. Since the job is mostly part time has no educational requirements, the employee can be easily replaced. The result is that employees are hired and fired on a weekly basis. The only way to keep your job is to work hard and hope that no one complains about you. In the end, Darren did loose his job during one of the busiest times of the year. He lost it because he was overwhelmed with customers and some of them started to make complaints.

In conclusion, Macy's retail salespersons work for customers that require a lot of patience and interpersonal skills that are often unappreaciated by both the customer and management. All the while the employee is working for a salary that is flirting with the amount of money needed to survive.

Michael Creswell

My Low Wage Life

Every morning Latif wakes up and laments on the past. He prides himself on who he was, not who he is or who he will be. He’s out of bed at 6:15am every workday before the sun. He throws on his tattered jeans and shirt and catches a carpool to work. Slowly he and his coworkers start up the giant box manufacturing plant. Box by box he assembles cases of wine, all of which are more expensive that a full days pay. L’Ecole number 41 boxes, a pricey Washington wine are swiftly assembled. After that daunting task, Zenith Vineyard boxes are assembled. While the new type of boxes have given the other workers some problems, Latif quickly figures out how exactly to piece together the new style and he teaches his fellow coworkers in heavily accented version of English. Although he has spoken English for a mere six months, he one of the most articulate and bright in the factory. After completing the endless task of hand assembling anywhere from 500 to sometimes 10,000 boxes, Latif and his coworkers enjoy a 15-minute break, most of which is spent temporarily shutting down the factory. The remaining 7 or 8 minutes is often spent sucking on a cigarette or playing soccer or even a combination of both. The rest of his day entails the same pattern: boxes, break, boxes, break. After a full day of standing up next to a conveyor belt Latif’s knees are aching and his fingers are trebling. He returns home to take care of his sick mother and his three siblings who are unable to work due to both a lack of English and motivation. He earns 68 dollars a day.

Latif grew up in a rough neighborhood, although no one around him spoke English he heard it quite frequently as a kid from the soldiers around him, Latif grew up in Iraq. Despite growing up in a war-ridden country, he has an upbringing similar to an American. Latif went to elementary, middle, and high school. He then got a degree from a university in electrical engineering and starting working as a electrician shortly after. He was a part of the upper-middle class, was comfortably able to support his mother and his three younger siblings. His life changed forever when radical Muslims in his town found out he and his family are practicing Christians. He was in constant danger from that point on living in Iraq. He has cheated death time after time and is convinced that he has a guardian angel. Luckily he got in contact with a Christian group in Iraq who sends Iraqis who are Christians to America and sets them up with housing and a job. Latif and his family quickly moved to Auburn, Washington and started their new life. He said that it was nice to have a job right away as a safety cushion before he could start working as an electrician again. However, things didn’t go as planned. His degree and certifications were not valid in America; in order to be recertified he would have to take a class at the local community college in order to validate them. His mother’s health took a turn for the worse and Latif was forced to rely on his “safety cushion job”. He now is stuck in a cycle of work. He struggles to stay ahead and he is slowly dwindling his savings. Medical bill after medical bill pile up and he feels as if he is drowning. Latif is qualified to do much more, but he is stuck in a low-wage lifestyle and may never get out.

Latif is capable of so much more; he is a trained and certified electrician, a hard worker, and one of the most genuine and intelligent people I have ever worked with or met. He simply doesn’t have the means and time to care for his family, himself, and go to school. America’s low wage life style will dominate him for the rest of his life. He will always be a low-wage worker; his kids will be low-wage workers. Latif is working for needs rather than wants. Latif is a low-wage worker.

Looking at McDonalds in a Whole New Light

Fast food restaurants, where the food tastes okay and the prices are extremely low. My whole life, I’ve eaten at fast food restaurants. In fact, while I was still living in Hawaii, my family would always eat McDonalds on either Saturday or Sunday. I personally loved the food and loved that fact that it was so cheap. My parents also enjoyed this aspect, which is why we made it our ritual to eat that food every week. But maybe half the time, the workers would mess our orders up, and since we did drive through, we could never realize it until we were already back home. This really irritated us. It even down right made me angry when I was younger. Now after taking this English class, I think differently.

I’ve realized that the people working at McDonalds are low wage workers. And I now understand the hardships that they have to go through just to survive. Before this year, when my friends and I used to go to McDonalds, we’d always be so upset if our order was done wrong. We’d also complain a lot if our order wasn’t ready fast enough. I mean it was a fast food restaurant after all. Now, when I go to McDonalds, I have a different feeling. Every time I walk in and I see an older person working at McDonalds, I feel sorry for them. They’re not young students working part time; they’re people who probably live off of the money earned at McDonalds. So I talk slower when ordering to make it easier for them, and also don’t mind at all if the order is wrong or if it takes longer than expected. And whenever my friends still complain and get upset at the workers, I look at them with such disappointment.

My whole life used to revolve around McDonalds. I used to love eating there all the time, even though the food is bad for me. And it’s strange to me that I never cared about the people making my food, only that I get my food. It’s also strange to me that I actually worry about these workers now, even though I’ve never met them. But you do have to worry about the low wage McDonald workers, especially if that’s their full time job. There’s no way that they can live their life with that kind of money. On average, a McDonald’s employee earns around $8.00 an hour, the minimum wage. This would probably earn them about $24,000 a year or less. This is not a lot of money, especially to live off of. It would become increasingly difficult to maintain a car, home, taxes, clothing, and food, among other things. And if that person happens to be a single parent, that’s a whole other person depending on such a small wage.

We always treat McDonald workers badly, usually getting annoyed if they fail to serve us in some way. But now it really affects me; how badly these workers must have it. We only see them behind the counter, but imagine their lives outside of work. Many of them are probably living just to survive. When once I used to make fun of these low wage workers, I now give them my sympathy. My whole world has been turned upside down. It’s scary to think of, what if my life ends up like theirs?