I work at Auburn Oaks Garden Nursery. It's a good job that pays well for my age. It is a physically demanding job, lifting and loading plants, watering, etc. One thing about my job is that there is a lot of down time. Since there is so much down time, I am usually assigned to do busy work like raking, cleaning, weeding, and re-stocking. While during this busy work I sometimes get bored. When I get bored a go on my phone, which is not allowed while on the job. Sometimes my boss likes to walk around. As I see my boss get closer I quickly put my phone away and look busy. Mostly because if I am caught slacking off i'll just get stuck doing even more odd jobs. 

Reading the essay "Serving in Florida" it becomes obvious that the conditions in which those in the service industry face are less than adequate. It reveals the harsh conditions they face and what they have to do in order to survive. Society views waitresses as mindless workers who have no other hope for their lives'. This isn't far from the truth. The conditions they work in force them to shut down their minds and just go through the motions of work. They do this day in and day out with little to show for it. They do this because they have no choice. This is all work and no play.

What I learned from this is to give respect to everybody, no matter who they are. There might be people who work at jobs who are worse than cleaning houses, and cleaning houses is not that bad, but I should respect all of them, and not look down at someone just cause they work minimum wage or below minimum wage.

During the spring of last year, a few upperclassmen friends invited me to go to the zoo. I thought "sure that sounds like fun!" Then I realized that it was a Sunday afternoon and I had a ton of homework and a few tests to prepare for the upcoming week. I felt bad for rejecting their offer, however, I have to keep my job as a student - I do not want to be demoted or even unemployed if I slip up. As I was deep into my studies, my phone kept buzzing with pictures from the zoo. I opened each picture and a smile immediately plastered on my face. I need to take breaks every once in a while and appreciate the little things, or else I would experience a mental breakdown and I would not be able to function properly. 

I've had my fair share of minimum wage shit jobs, including 3 Leos coney islands as well as, just about every other coney slinging joint around. I understand where Ehrenreich is writing from, how the respect for lower-wage, low-experience employees is very lacking by not only the employers but the customer. I hopped from restaurant to restaurant searching for an employer who didn't under pay me, who didn't talk down to me and who respected me. Short story, I ended up leaving the restaurant business and began working at a grocery store. I would have to work 4-8 hour hour long shifts, with no sitting time, and then when there wasn't a soul within a 10 mile radius I still wasn't given a break. I would walk home with $6 dollars in my pocket, not even enough for the gas to get out there. I've had my phone confiscated and kept in a box with the other waitresses. Not to mention the AMAZING single mother waitresses who would nag and complain before slipping out for a cig or two or four, then bitch when you don't tell them that the last table that came in was actually theirs in rotation. Lousy tippers is an understatement. I've had people complain about how well the INSIDE of their omelette was cooked. Do you know what it's like to be blamed for something you have no control of? And then get scolded by a manager for that same issue. What about tipping-out the buss boy out who spent the majority of his shift smoking a cig in the back and not doing his job, you know, bussing the tables and what not. Try having needy customers, like the woman who ordered a diet coke with 3 cubes of ice. Yes 3. Specific right? I had a manager who literally was sucking money out of my paycheck so his salary wouldn't be affected. I made $8/week paychecks, while they claimed to keep deducting money for uniform pieces I never received. I was scammed, played, treated disrespectfully, and I was always expected to have a smile, look my best and be the sweetest most loving server. Even to the teenage douchebags who came in 3 minutes before close, asking for omelettes well done, with not a sign of a tip on the table. And DO NOT get me started on those saganakis... I have to shave my arms so I don't catch them on fire lighting a tray of cheese to a scorch. So please, have respect for your waitresses, hair-dressers, taxi-drivers and bartenders. You never know how much money they might be going home with that day. Peace out

Once, when I was bagging an Indian lady's groceries, she started talking to me about the evolution of the human race. She mentioned something about caveman and Homo Sapien Sapiens. I tried to keep conversation for as long as I could and she could tell I was stalling. She slapped me on my shoulder in a scolding manner and I became very irritated. I focused all my attention on the next customer and tried to ignore her. Due to me being an employee, I was unable to walk away or tell her how my body is made up of 157 lbs of matter, which in those pounds consists 2512 ounces; where not even a single one of those ounces cared for what she was saying.