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.