imagine a world where everyone was given livable wages and no one was overworked, cheated on their bonuses, and actually got raises / benefits / health care.. do you still think the same amount of shoplifting would occur?

now consider your answer to that question. if the answer is “no,” then it’s not at fault of the shoplifter.

it’s at the fault of the corporations who decide that, even if their profits have skyrocketed within the last year, they will still let go of employees because that profit margin could always be higher. corporations will always find a way to deny you as much as they can. they only pay you minimum wage because it’s literally as little as they can legally get away with paying you.

At the start of my employment, my boss showed me videos of people stealing, and we both had a chuckle about it. How silly they were! There was a camera overhead, and it’s not to watch the shoppers. See, we can’t actually stop shoplifters. They get away with it maybe nine out of ten times. But we, who are watched and tallied and witnessed? We are always caught.

At first it was hard to hold one hundred dollars bills. An amount I had never seen before. An amount that didn’t exist in my household. It’s normal now. Here is something that is not for me.

“What the hell, I’ll take another,” says the man, pondering our 200 dollar watches. What the hell. Total comes to 580 and not even a flinch in his face. I have been working for 11 hours today and made only 110 dollars. It will go to my rent. Today I work for free, it feels. When I get my check, I will have 35 dollars left for food and saving.

The six hundreds he hands me go into the cash register. For a moment, I imagine having money. Then I put it away, counting out his change.

I know for a fact we sell our products for double what they are worth. That I could be making commission. That they could hand me those 580 dollars and change my life and not even mark the difference in their checkbooks. He’s not the only sale they make today, but I am the reason they made it. He’s not the only one spending 600 dollars, but if I hadn’t spent two hours with him telling me about his life, he wouldn’t have spent any. I go home. I don’t own a watch.

I have watched and rewatched a video on how to make salmon four ways. My shopping list is always the same. Pasta. Rice. Tuna. If I can afford butter it was a good week. I dream of the world I will never walk in, where I can throw the best fish fillet in the cart with a shrug. I hold hundreds in my hand and look up at the camera. I put them under the cash drawer.

I go to work. I scrap together my savings. I eat my bowl of rice slowly. My manager takes a paid week off from work just for his birthday. He owns a yacht. 

okay, so this is really embarrassing and i never thought i’d have to do this aha. so, my sister has had to have emergency surgery, an appendectomy to be specific and medical bills are, a lot. around $3,500. now my family isn’t well off with money. we come from a single income household and my mom is a waitress. i’ve been trying to boost things i have, and it’s not going super well. so, if any of you can donate anything, even like a dollar or something i would be so fucking grateful. you guys can message me for my paypal if you can donate. thank you so much.

PK’s Lifter Playlist

almost four months ago i made this playlist and never got around to posting it till now. it took some work but here it is, my lifter playlist. some of the songs might not fit the theme lyrically but they’re all songs that remind me of lifting or liftblr through the title or lyrics or some aspect of the song. i hope you guys enjoy it! 

listen here

tracklist - bad girls // m.i.a | million dollar bills // lorde | i can lift a car // walk the moon | shoplifters of the world unite // the smiths | dreaming // smallpools | everybody’s watching me (uh oh) // the neighbourhood | primadonna // marina and the diamonds | money power glory // lana del rey | female robbery // the neighbourhood | the morning // the weeknd | robbers // the 1975 | warrant // foster the people | bankrupt! // phoenix | ain’t it fun // paramore | rich girl // gwen stefani