What Are People Worth?

This blog is a tool for me to sort out how I feel about my move from Silicon Valley to our Great American Midwest.  I also will be writing about the people I meet, my impressions of the culture and economy, and my dismay that although, intellectually I realized I grew up my entire life in a bubble, I am now where opportunity and job growth are not a given.  It has all given me a lot to think about.

I saw an interesting thread on Facebook recently that talked about raising the minimum wage and specifically referencing fast food chains.
Some of the comments were, "Working at McDonald's wasn't meant to be a career." and "You only get minimum wage? Get a better skill set."

I was at the Mason City branch of my preschool/care center.  I had a roomful of 2 1/2 to 3 year olds and I came in from noon to 5pm.  On a Saturday, this is no specialty art class, or music enrichment, or social play club like I would be doing in Palo Alto, Ca.  Some of these kids had been there hours earlier than me and we will call it what it is, daycare for working parents.

A mom came in with some sort of uniform to pick up her kids and at first glance I thought she was a lab technician, only to realize the uniform was for a fast-food outlet.  The thought that went through my head was, "omg. How can she raise kids on that salary?"

Job economy in Silicon Valley is separated along racial lines.  Typical of my upbringing, the unsaid thought process was, "No self-respecting white person would work at McDonald's." and a whole slew of other jobs that seemed beneath everyone there.  But here, the jobs and opportunities of Silicon Valley don't exist.  Here, there is no Hispanic population looking to better their lives by taking the lesser jobs.  Here, people live their entire lives working in restaurants and stores, doing things like yard work and house cleaning as their "career."

It is a whole different mind set.  There is a small amount of tech jobs here.  There is no movie and television industry.  I am beginning to realize that these jobs, these American jobs, should support these people here who are working so hard.