Things that make you think: Is working on wage with short hours good or bad?

It's common in the work world for someone to be excited when they have a day off coming up. Sometimes, they get more excited when they have more days off than what they expect. However, for someone working under a wage... is that really a good thing?

When you work with a wage, you get paid for the hours you are working and only for that. So those sudden days that your manager comes up to you and asks if you want to go home, since the day is too slow to have so many workers, it cuts into your pay. Some say no, knowing that it will cut into their pay, while others say yes because they just prefer not working at all. (Or for personal reasons)

So those sudden days that your workplace gets hit by a snowstorm, large or small, and it chooses to close down; there goes half your pay. Was the snow you were excited about really beneficial to you? In the end you might find your paycheck tumbling in the low digits. It isn't because your boss detests you (though maybe that can be the case sometimes) but because of all those cut hours.

Despite the negative points, there is at least a few small positive things towards working on wage. If you are a High school student, you don't have much to worry about with paying bills (unless your parents make you contribute). The 3 days you work (If you only choose to work weekends, instead of weekends and weekday nights) is still a benefit towards you. You might work little hours, but you have money to splurge on yourself come that day you hang with your friends. Or maybe you were working for college or something related to college. During your time in High School, your money would pile up nicely.

Come college, sometimes you have to force yourself into cut hours to work around your classes. This leads to some problems, but in the long run, if you still live with your parents... you really are only spending money towards books and classes (unless your parents chose to do this instead). However in reality, College students might understand the whole 'I only have $5 in my pocket... guess it's ramen tonight!'

Working on wage tends to create problems in which you might have to solve by getting a secondary job or just a whole new job that pays more for those same hours you worked. However, this isn't always the easy case. Most places run on minimum wage which tends to be $8.25 (Wage may vary depending on what state you live in, as most are still around $7). So with $8.25 an hour, working as a part-time... you might only make $49.50 a week if you only work 1 day for 6 hours. As a full-time, you normally work around 40 hours which is $330 a week, but also more days you have to come into work each week.

In most workplaces, there is already too many Full-Time workers, so the probability of you getting the hours you need to pay for the 'small' things in life... might be quite slim. You rarely see signs saying 'now hiring' and it only gets worse as the Minimum wage gets increased, as the company has to start paying the newer employees more. As we all know, most companies aren't willing to pay that much to their employees and might start letting people go, or just give workers less shifts.

 So when you think about it, is working on a wage a good thing or is it just a nightmare to workers?

Now note: Even a salary has negative effects so despite this topic, both sides have it hard. To further this note, not everyone will share the same view towards this topic. Some might feel it is a good thing, in which they are entitled to that, while others might view it as the reason they are in debt.

Things that make you think: Did we really make it?

Everyone makes goals in their life in which they hope to accomplish-- some manage, but do others? Dreams get crushed, hopes get shattered and in the end, many are left living off the supper they brought home from some party they went to.

Sometimes, no matter how hard you work, there are many who just don't notice. Pulling an all nighter just to get that report in before the deadline? Working 3 jobs just to get the money to pay for a class or to try to keep the dinner on the table? You pay to live and you even pay to die.

I understand how people feel during these times. Maybe you barely got to see your parents or guardians while growing up due to them constantly working in order to provide for you. Maybe you have siblings that you had to take care of, or they took care of you. Maybe there were times you went to school and had to sit at lunch watching kids eat homemade food or food they bought then waste most of it or complain about having it, while in front of you is your books for your next class. Maybe it is cold outside and you see someone complain about the big jacket or the warm sweater their relatives gave them, while you wear hand-me-downs or a very thin layer of clothes.

When you grow up in such hard times, you really do lose hope. Sometimes you think 'I want to be someone, I want to make it out there.' But... reality is, no matter what you do, the world just can't accept us.

Maybe your plan was to get a good grade in that Exam/Test so you can pass school with great grades... But then when you get the report back, all you see is lower grades than what you expected. All that time you studied, all of it meant nothing. You could have been correct, but maybe you missed the 'Show your work' on that math test or the 'Explain' at the end of a question.

Let's not forget those moments where you either spend a long time looking for a job or get those people who prefer to discriminate. Maybe you look younger than your age or maybe you look older in which they turn you down. In the end, you probably had to deal with a job that was well below your expectations, and even your family's. Maybe they harassed you for that 'low class' job, but do they realize that even the economy is so bad, that people should respect having even the littlest job?

We strive so far just to live... but even our petty attempts get us nowhere and we soon realize this. Yet, we do try and make the most of our lives despite this. We try to please people, but we just can't do that, can we? We tire ourselves out but we have to in order to get what we need just to survive. Yet, in the end we realize that all that time we were working to save money... it was more like working to save for our retirement.

Growing up in different generations, kids went from enjoying the fact that they got clothes for a present, to just wanting toys and electronics. Those families that still appreciate the clothes for a gift, may not have enough money to keep themselves warm during the cold season. Sometimes the kids in those families say to themselves 'I don't want to live like this anymore, I want to change this' but even for some of these children, it just can't happen.

You really can't make it for being an honest person. You can try, but high chance is that people will walk all over you and leave you with nothing. So ask yourself, did you really make it? Did you make the right choices to get where you are now?

Many can't say yes to those questions. One choice we make can change everything we do. It could be just one small thing that either turns for the better, or for the worse. There isn't much one could do to point someone into the right direct, because in reality... is either direction the right direction?

Not everyone lives through the same life, some 'make it' but only to their expectations, others try to strive higher. Some people may come up to you and say 'at least you have a job' or 'at least you have a warm home' but do they really know how your life is going in the end? No... you may have a job, but you may not have a warm home to go to. Or you may have a warm home, but maybe you don't have the food or a job to keep it like that. They really don't know.

So do we really make it?