Fuck man. I'm a cook, and 15$ per hour is the average wage here. 17$ an hour for a line cook- even an experienced one is pretty exceptional.
I've been doing this for a long time. My last job was as a chef and it burned me out after a year. I needed a break. Got a job working a cocktail bar kitchen. Started at 15, with promise of 16 if the season was good. It was! Asked for my raise, and turns out they changed their minds. My other coworkers who started at 14 all got raises to 15 because they wanted to keep everyone on the same page… but fuck that! I've been here longer, have more experience and if I dare to be a bit egotistical I carried this kitchen on many days during this summer kitchen. Frankly? I'm over qualified for this job. And maybe that's why they want us all at 15.
So fine, no raise but I'm going to act my wage then. 15$ an hour isn't minimum but it's a a piss poor wage. If I was actually learning stuff that'd be one thing- but I'm not. Now that the summer season is over it barely gets busy, so I'm bored as fuck making B grade bar food. My chef already told me we can just… stand around on our phones if we want and somehow that doesn't sound good to me. I want to be challenged, I just don't want a job like my last one that eats up my entire life and leaves me a dried out husk of a human being.
But yeah… looking for new work and until then I'm going to act my wage. I do my job and nothing else. I just knew where my niche is. I'm driven enough to want to be busy, and always be learning but I'm not driven enough to sacrifice myself for my job. I wish I didn't have to choose between the two.