Final paper

Lauren Szurley

November 25, 2009

Comm. 111

Final Paper

“Would you like fries with that?” “Can I help you find anything?” “Debit or credit?” These are the commonly heard questions we hear as we walk into chain businesses such as McDonalds and CVS and Dunkin’ Donuts and Stop and Shop. We are so used to being on the receiving end of these transactions. But what about those on the other side of the fence?

Some may say, “this individual looks about 40 years old, what is she doing working as a cashier in Walmart?” Or maybe even, “that little punk could have been a little more polite, how did he get hired?” Though they may not be presidents of large corporations they still have their reasons for being there. Their stories may be far more complex than you ever imagined or maybe they are exactly what you think.

“I mean I’ve been here for a while. I’m comfortable here and I’ve moved up somewhat since I started, so it’s working out,” said 20-year-old Ashley Emerson about her shift manager position at Dunkin’ Donuts. Prior to her year at Dunkin’ Donuts, she worked at Circuit City, “I’m used to these kinds of jobs and dealing with customers.”

Emerson is in her second year at Tunxis Community College in Connecticut. She relies on her paychecks and babysits on the side, as well as the child support that her grandmother [her primary caregiver for most of her life] receives from her father to pay for her education. “I’m not completely alone when it comes to paying for college but a big chunk of my paychecks go into the apartment.” She is engaged and has an apartment with her fiancé. “It’s not bad, small one bedroom and one bathroom apartment. We’re trying to save up and look for a better place but we’ve been saying that for a while,” she laughs. Emerson doesn’t want to be at Dunkin’ Donuts forever, but for now, until she has a degree in child education, it is what gets her by.

Then there is the case of workers who are proud of themselves and how far they’ve come. Take Stephen Blanco, 29 years old. He has been working for CVS since he was. This wasn’t always his intention however. “I went to a community college in Jersey where my fathers lives, turned out it just wasn’t for me.”

Stephen moved from Connecticut to New Jersey and then back to Connecticut where he currently resides. He tried college for two semesters and “hated every second of it.” So Blanco decided to move back up to Connecticut and live with his mother. He reached out to his old manager at CVS and she happily rehired him. He did not even think about trying another school, he figured he would just work from there on out, though he never expected to be at CVS forever.

He started out as a typical cashier. “I did regular stuff, like ring people out and stock shelves and clean up.” After a few years, Blanco’s manager was transferred to a brand new store and she asked him if he’d like to go with her as a shift leader, entailing more responsibilities and larger paycheck. “I of course said yes and have been there ever since.”

Blanco started as a shift B which allows you to open and close and have keys to the store but was once again promoted to shift A which gives him a little more leadership and responsibilities like taking the deposits to the bank. There are rumors about a possible assistant manager position opening up at his current CVS and Stephen has high hopes. He’d like to continue climbing the CVS corporate ladder and manage his own CVS one day; with his experience and seniority it is definitely in the cards.

Emerson and Blanco have these jobs because it is how they live. They have bills to pay and are working to live, which is unlike someone like Marc Teal, age 18, a freshman in college. He comes from a family who is in the upper middle class and has never really had to worry about money, so getting a job was more about instilling values and a learning experience.

“I got a job as soon as I could, shortly after my 16^th birthday, my dad really encouraged me to and now I’m thankful he did.” I used to work after school about three days a week [at The Market Basket] and now I work when I come home during winter break and summer break.

“I’m not paying for my college tuition or anything but it’s nice to have my own money that I can spend on whatever.” Teal says that his manager will continue to hire him back over his breaks for as long as he’d like. He is majoring in business and has no future plans in The Market Basket but for now, it keeps money in his pocket and gives him something to do when he’s home. “It’s not my favorite place to be but it’s familiar and they keep taking me back during breaks, so why go anywhere else?”

Then there are those like Sarah Patrell. At 55, she has two full-time jobs that she has to juggle. By day, she works as a clerk at JC Penny’s and by night she is a shift leader at McDonalds. She came here from Puerto Rico in the early 1970’s with her aunt and cousin. They moved to Hartford, Connecticut where she attended where high school but was held back a year because her English was poor.

After high school, she had a slew of jobs, working anywhere that was in walking distance from her one bedroom apartment with her aunt and cousin. “I have bounced back and fourth between many convenience store and grocery stores and clothing stores.” She is currently between her two jobs, McDonalds who she’s been with for some time now and JC Penny’s a recent second job [prior to that it was CVS] “I believe living this way has made me a strong woman, but I am not so young anymore and it is exhausting.”

She shyly admitted that she does live paycheck to pay check and her and her boyfriend George are able to get by.

“Then, I did not know how important college would be, I was never told I needed to go to college, I get by okay now but I tell everyone young person I work with to go while they can.”