So, my husband and I are in different fields, like most couples. I'm an admin, he's in a more specialized field in IT. My field is underpaid, more than most people know, I actually saw postings for $14 a few years ago, joke wages and managers rarely realize the skill level required to keep everything running smoothly. I've taken lower wages, you kinda have to sometimes as the secondary income earner. Husband makes 4 times as much as I do pretty consistently. There have been a few times where my living standard has broken the brains of management. I realized how freaking classist our society still is based on a few experiences. Now, my family isn't wealthy, we are middle class.
I had one manager who constantly referred to my apartment, it was weird, but I couldn't put my finger on why. I lived in a house, but he just kept saying apartment because how could his lowest payed employee live in a bigger house than him? He knew I was in a house because he's ask odd questions regarding and specific about my apartment, I'd say, it's a house, no parking space, no apartment number, no gate code(weird ass questions). When one of my coworkers came over to pick something up, he told everyone I lived in a giant house, my manager and supervisor were weirdly rude to me over it. I don't live in a giant house, but it is sizable and has an open floorplan and the common area feels massive. I don't think there's anything wrong with apartments, I've seen apartments that cost more than my house. But this dude, I realized, was doing it on purpose. It was bizarre.
The second, I was working at an assisted living facility, one of those places that pays minimum wage for skilled work. I wore a uniform and was chained to a desk, weird for admin work, but fine. A new manager was hired, she was terrible. This was a facility where every employee was over 18 and most had certs and skills, the uniforms management didn't have to wear probably gave the impression that there was some magical difference between the management and staff, there wasn't. This crazy manager comes in and Karens all over everyone. She made rules about cell phones having to be left at home in our cars in the employee parking lot with a history of break ins as if we were teenagers in school. She made employees cater the employee appreciation lunches, she was downright disrespectful when speaking to employees and half of her management team quit. Well, I live in a nice, middle-class area, there is a nice grocery store where many of my neighbors shop, including myself. I was in there on a day off, doing normal things in the deli, she was there, lol. The look of disgust on her face when she realized that I was one of her neighbors, one of her equals is something I will cherish for the rest of my life. She didn't actually hate me, which is why I know what that disgust was about. She was very into being above everyone, but seeing me looking like everyone else at that store, in a not “poor” part of town, living in the same neighborhood as her was amazing.
These people are all about their status, their minimum wage shit is just to keep us in a place where they can feel superior. Not all managers…bla bla bla, but yeah, all managers who pay shit. Don't get me wrong, if I wasn't married to my husband, I would be in dire straights, I never forget that fact, but this low wage thing is so much about classism and keeping us out of their neighborhoods. Apparently, living well is the best revenge, and it actually pisses them off. I haven't experienced this issue at places that did pay fair wages. Maybe they were thrown by the fact that I'm equal to everyone, absolutely everyone, including them.