To Walk in Someone Else’s Shoes

We all know how hard it is to make a living. I complain about making enough money to support myself and I only have to support myself. I can’t imagine throwing a family and kids into the mix. Diapers, food, doctors, clothes, rent, and gas. That list could run down this whole page. Minimum wage in the United States is barely enough to support a single person. It is nearly impossible to support a family on it. How is our country blind to the millions of people working for minimum wage and living below the poverty level?

“30 Days” a documentary by Morgan Spurlock, the same genius behind “Super Size Me”, left New York City with his girlfriend to see if it was possible to live on minimum wage for thirty days. The results were mind blowing. Spurlock did random landscaping and labor jobs here and there which would usually last him eleven hours a day. By waiting for the bus to save money he would wind up committing to a thirteen hour day away from home. A day of hard labor and physical pain would produce $46. $46 a day won’t even fill up your tank of gas nowadays. If he got hurt on the job he had no health care and would have to pay bills topping hundreds of dollars. The situation was bleak and eye opening. Not only was it basically impossible for him and his girlfriend to buy food, furniture, and pay rent, but leisure activities were out of the picture. Can you imagine not being able to go see a movie or go out to dinner for a friend’s birthday because that extra ten dollars needs to go towards rent?

People making minimum wage usually average $10,000 - $11,000 a year. If you have to pay $500 a month for an apartment, which is $6,000 a year, then you have already exceeded more than half of your year’s income. Since 1997 the cost of living has gone up but there has been no increase in minimum wage. How do these people do it?

It is hard to imagine that the world is split between so many luxuries and such a high poverty rate. How can some people make hundreds of dollars a day while others aren’t even close to $50 a day? A change needs to be made to help the people who are behind such important operations such as waste management, security guards, farm workers, construction, general labor, and janitors. Thank you Mr. Spurlock for shedding light on the situation most of us overlook. Now we need to act on it.