Comments by "Alan Friesen" (@alanfriesen9837) on "See The Faces of Minimum Wage America" video.

  1. This thread is showcasing a few commentators who found themselves in a difficult situation, changed gears and succeeded in this economy. For those commentators That's fantastic for you. You deserve kudos for your resilience. However, your experience is not available to everybody. Not everyone has your talents, not everyone has your support and not everyone has your luck. And admittedly, not everyone has your drive, which I think that lack you are contemptuously projecting on to anyone struggling to succeed as you have. It's very easy to miss the mark repeatedly in this economy and it's also easy to get absorbed by your job and the personal problems in your life that even people with admirable ambition frequently never take off. The union organizers showcased here are at least gambling their energy on an ambition that may improve their lives and might even improve the lives of many others as well. Some people at the bottom are their because they are screw-ups. Some are at the bottom because their attempts to move forward have not succeeded, yet. Some of these folks have been beaten down to the point where they no longer have the energy to stand up. I'm glad you've succeeded. I wish you were less contemptuous of those less fortunate.
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  2. I'm 46
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  3. There are a few folks here that I was railing on. I really do mean it when I say that I'm glad you've found success and that you are deserving of admiration for making good decisions and applying yourself. I just don't feel like everyone who has crappy lives necessarily deserves it. Some do, but not everyone. I've put a few years in at McDonald's when things got tough. Some of my coworkers there were amazing. Some, not so much. Some of the best felt very trapped and I was very nervous about being trapped their myself. And McDonald's is about the best company you can work for in that industry. I can get a little butt-hurt when I feel low-wage workers being disrespected. A lot of them really work their asses off and the rest of us benefit from it.
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  4. Well, I assumed you were younger too. And thanks for the conversation. It's been fun.
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