My wife works part-time in a customer service job in the US that invovles cleaning and food prep. Not going to name her employer or role because she still works there. But anyone in the US should know what min-wage cleaning /food prep/customer service is like.
She gets shitted on left and right by customers. Some of the stories she's told me … I told her I would have rage quit if a customer or manager ever treated me that way.
I've told her many times she does not need to work, but for reasons that elude me, she's insisted on sticking it through.
She makes around 10K working part-time customer service and I make 180-200K as a senior software developer. We're in a low cost-of-living area, and the house is paid off.
If she needed to quit, I have side consulting work where I could make up the difference and more. I'm just lazy and we don't need the money.
Today her manager had been harrassing her all day to work faster (she's like the fastest person on the floor already). Clean this, prepare that food, handle these customers, etc.
Wife said everyone else was standing around and hanging out and the manager was riding her, trying to get her to do everything, trying to carry everyone else's weight.
She said she looked the manager in the eye, said “F- you I'm going home!” and just left. She's not sure what the reprecussions are going to be, but she said she 100% does not care.
*sniff* 🤧 brought a tear to my eye, so proud of her.
I really do feel that if people had universal basic income, they would still work.
My wife is a great example of it.
Again, even with a high household income (and despite my numerous pleas for her to quit) my wife still works a crappy customer service job because she likes to feel productive and like she's contributing to society (or something).
She works very hard, and will smile for good or even decent customers and coworkers, but the only difference is she is totally not afraid to cuss out her manager (or even a racist customer, she ended up screaming and cussing at one once, but trust me it was well-deserved).