Guest Post by Kurt Schlichter
Trump’s selection of Andy Puzder, the CEO of CKE Restaurants, Inc. (which owns Carl’s, Jr., and Hardee’s), is great news to those of us who think that, to the extent it should exist at all (which is zero), the Department of Labor should be concerned with getting more people laboring. Instead, under Obama, it seems focused on ensuring that as few people as possible actually work. The liberals’ whinefest about Puzder – as opposed to the liberals’ whinefest about every other Trump appointee – is based on the fact that Puzder’s career has been centered on the kind of jobs that provide the foundation for careers: entry-level, minimum wage gigs that teach you the basics of how to be employed. Puzder endangers the liberal’s scheme to turn those jobs into permanent gigs for people who don’t want to improve their skills and subsidize them with mandated artificially high wages, confident that these serfs will forever vote Democrat.
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It’s particularly relevant to me because my first job was at the Carl’s, Jr., store in Foster City, California, in 1981 making $3.10 an hour. See, I had a 1973 Mustang with a 302 cubic inch engine that guzzled 79? per gallon gas while pumping out a wheezy 150 horsepower, and I had to fill it up as well as cart my annoying brother around since my mom was off prosecuting scumbags. Hideously monstrous due to their mid-Pennsylvania upbringing, they refused to give me free money. No worky, no drivey.
Was I flipping burgers? I wish. I started out on lot, which meant I walked around with one of those long handled dustpans and little brooms cleaning up after you slobs. I also hauled garbage out to the dumpster, cleaned tables, and mopped out the toilets, an experience that gave rise to a mystery that has haunted me ever since: How does a woman miss?
I eventually graduated to making burgers – I can still whip up a mouthwatering Famous Star with cheese in my sleep. I also ran the register, learning how to deal with all manner of people, from lonely old folks to frazzled moms to angry jerks to bewildered stoners rolling in five minutes before closing wanting everything on the menu, and all as special orders.
I later worked at Denny’s as a busboy; one night my seventh grade math teacher stumbled out of the bar (they had bars back then) smelling of cheap booze and ruined dreams. Then there was a gig at Marine World frying chicken, a long time slaving away at McDonald’s, and then an interesting period at Dollar-Rent-A-Car at San Francisco International. It was all college kids on break and convicts on parole; my pal Clyde, who looked a little like Manson, taught me how to make a shiv.
I can’t say they were great jobs or particularly fulfilling, but they made me some spending money while teaching me not only how to work but introducing a fairly sheltered suburban kid to all sorts of interesting people. I also worked under many female supervisors. Bluestocking “Well, I never!” liberals like Big Chief Margaret Dumont Warren are all in a tizzy because Puzder’s company uses hot models to sell burgers in an unrepentant celebration of male heterosexuality. But, like all liberal pearl-clutching spasms, it’s a lie – Puzder’s company has given leadership opportunities and management training to tens of thousands of women.
I don’t think Andy Puzder will be too upset with me when I say both that I didn’t particularly like my job at Carl’s , Jr., and that I am intensely grateful for the experience. First jobs aren’t supposed to be fun. They aren’t supposed to fulfill you. They are supposed to teach you how to work and put a few bucks in your pocket while allowing businesses to provide their products. I got paid minimum wage only because the government required it; I wasn’t worth $3.10 an hour, just as someone not being paid $15 an hour already isn’t worth $15 an hour. Puzder is right to oppose an artificially high minimum wage. Crummy first jobs are supposed to be just that – first jobs. If you are trying to feed a family on minimum wage, you frankly shouldn’t have a family yet because you can’t afford one yet.
Especially in California, where the idiots in Sacramento seem determined to substitute their bizarre ideology for the economic truths of the market, you go to a fast food place and you often see adults working. That’s terrible. Where are the young people? Probably off doing “activities” designed to impress admissions officers but foregoing the lessons they need after they leave their college safe spaces. Let me tell you about one Ivy League law student wanting a clerk position at my law firm. She showed up late for her initial interview, but got a pass because we had just moved offices. When she showed up late for the second, one of my partners met her at the reception area and told her that her interview, and her clerkship, were canceled. In a business where failure has real consequences, I don’t have time to teach grown women the lessons they should have learned as a fry cook at Burger King.
I didn’t start out a name partner and trial lawyer, or an Amazon top-selling thriller novelist, or a colonel. I started out a lot kid, a joke writer for bar trivia games, and as a private. I am glad I did, and I am equally glad I no longer have to be any of those things. The great thing about Andy Puzder is that he realizes the proper role of entry level jobs – and it isn’t to let people tread water forever by taking advantage of an artificially inflated minimum wage that forces employers to pay them more than they are worth.
Sometimes my crummy jobs were fun, but most of the time they were just … work. And that’s a huge and vital life lesson. Sadly, it’s one most spoiled millennials won’t learn. Hopefully, Andy Puzder can help change that because everyone should be able to look back on a crummy job from a better one, and smile.
Agreed….. I too had my share of Crummy jobs… but they all taught me that very valuable lesson…. You want better pay? Get better educated and wait your turn! Lucky for me, I was in the right place at the right time, to get that really good paying job.
Pretty good, but remember, Kurt, we have no shortage of crummy, entry level jobs, paying minimum wage. What’s missing is the next level of employment, ripped out by the roots and shipped off to Mexico and India and China. What’s missing in our country is a path for young americans that don’t aspire to be government drones to get a job, get married, buy a home, and raise a family. That’s what Trump appears to be working on, let’s hope Mr. Putzder is truly on board.
It’s a great article. But I will repeat it again. The root of the problem is our corrupted money supply courtesy of the Federal Reserve.
End the Fed.
I agree with the premise of this article, BUT there is a reason many older people are taking these jobs. Offshoring American jobs has put a lot of older workers in the situation of having to take ANY job, just to survive. So, when you see an older worker working at a minimum-wage job, don’t automatically assume that he is a convict or someone living at the edge of society.
The truth is, many of these places LOVE older workers, as are punctual, and in general do a good job.
Kurt….really enjoyed this article
This summer I wanted help to take down a shed. A neighbor kid about to enter the 9th grade wanted $15/hour. I told him no and gave him $10/hr. The 1st Saturday he worked 3 hours and left to go ride his motorized bike. During the work, I had to continually correct what he was doing (for example, I didn’t want nails on the grass where I mow).
Never saw him again. He wasn’t worth the $10/hr – he is going to have a severe wake up call.
Sounds like a kid raising himself with no parental guidance whatsoever.
I have a friend who found out how not to succeed. He smoked some pot and drank a couple beers at lunch and then hit and killed a motorcyclist. That’s a felony that prevents him from getting anything but manual labor. Lost his license (not even a motorcycle) for 5 years. Was sued and lost everything he had. Could have gone to prison for 5 years but got probation. He’s still alive but the other guy ain’t.
Kurt… Must say I enjoyed article as well.
Most of us started at low entry level job and learned the “ROPES” and moved on . Many went to college others to industry . The college is still there but the job in industry for hands on and college educated people are gone !
I served a 4 year apprenticeship recieved my journeymans papers and proceeded to work as an industrial mechanic , attended night school classes to keep up when computer controls hit the scene and then watched it all get flushed down the drain !
I was excited when I heard Trump speak about Making America Great Again , then I paused and thought with what ? I had worked for the third largest steel company in the world at the second largest plant in the world and had a hand in building a series of oil tankers and frozen food container ships , the largest ever built in the world and it all gone , leveled and scraped ! They called us “STEEL MEN” tough men doing tough work for good pay ! Pay scales that by today’s dollars would be $60 to $70 dollars per hour considering the fact you now purchase your own health insurance and retirement ! That wage was taxed and that base gave us fire an police protection and schools that were studied and copied across the country and now they cannot keep the water fountains working !
One of the first things coming from the Trump camp is The Davis Bacon Wage Act that forces government contracts to pay a prevailing union scale wage something that our patriotic American companies fled all over the world to avoid and now you wonder why streets and bridges crumble and water and sewer systems fail nationwide ! Any body that wonders is a blind fool , you are not going to make America Great Again worrying about how much not to pay people with training and skills , entry level sure , completely understandable but entry level wages are the bulk of the jobs now ! And that $10 buck burger is a bull shit argument because that’s what it cost for a descent burger fries and a coke now so try another excuse !
I will always respect folks who work,no matter what they do.Yes,while fast food joints ect. usually just stepping stone jobs they can lead to manager/perhaps buying a franchise ect.I knew a woman who managed 2 franchises fast food for owner,she did very well finacially and said once she had good systems in place was not too hard to keep up and running.
I would say a lot of older folks doing it to say perhaps mother/father hours to help out the household/semi retired folks who just want to keep busy,and yes,some who are happy enough and do not have the drive to do better,which is fine also,at least they are working.
As a contractor am always helping folks in big box stores make tool purchases as they look with a confused expression as to which is the best for their task(give em credit,they are trying!0 and ask for advice,have been offered a job a couple times because of this and employee notices am good at it.Some day when the body too tired to do construction may take em up on it,see it a lot and tis good (and at times rare!)to have knowledgeable staff ,helped me out a few times as excellent guy who was master plumber works in me local big box store,talked me thru a few things when regular plumber out.
I hope we can get this country going to a point where more opportunity for folks who want to try and move up skills/reward ect.,till then,they are at least working they have my respect.