As a teenager I worked multiple jobs within the food industry and retail, as many do. Each of these jobs had their ups and downs, but I want to talk about one in particular: my very first job. I was freshly sixteen years old, and had landed a job with a business that sold carnival food (think elephant ears, corn dogs, cotton candy, and cheese burgers). I was excited to be making my own money, and to be learning a new skill.
It was only a matter of weeks before I started taking on extra responsibilities at this job. It started with working opening and closing shifts by myself, which led to writing the schedules, taking Sysco and Pepsi orders, and many other things that were listed in the job description of a manager. The problem was- I was not receiving management pay, training, or even simply the title. Although I was rather naive, I had a lot of questions. I was only sixteen, was that why they were not willing to promote me as a manager? Why were the managers around me able to have the title and the raise, when I was the one doing their work? Will I lose my job if I confront them? Will they eventually promote me?
Well, I did ask for a raise, and they told me no. So, I left for a company that would better compensate me for my time (and my job description). The monetary compensation that I was receiving at this job wasn’t horrible for a young teenager, but it wasn’t enough for the amount of work that I was putting into the business. In other words, the output/input ratio of my colleagues was greater than mine- almost as if they knew I would do the work regardless.
Ultimately, the presence of negative inequities, and lack of compensation, was what led me to leave my first-ever job, and I would do it again.
