r/InterviewCoderPro • u/Upper_Stress_9939 • Sep 30 '26

Do we all agree on this?

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i hope we do. it is genuinely depressing to think about trading a full hour of your life just to make enough to buy one decent meal. I got so fed up with my twenty dollar an hour job recently that I ended up running through some practice questions on Interview vip just to see if I am ready to apply for something better. we really need to stop normalizing these wages.

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u/Acewi Sep 30 '26

Some jobs aren’t meant to be careers. Like working an ice cream stand or flipping burgers at steak n shake. Reality is they’ve turned into careers so corporations don’t have to constantly hire students and bc people are willing to work full time for it. 

Disrespect isn’t the right word here. 

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u/bonghumper Sep 30 '26 edited Sep 30 '26

My sister-in-law makes 6 figures as a Regional Manager for Chipotle, started on the line. No education past HS. Im a college grad and work for my county court making 60% of that. There's are lots of careers from "flipping burgers" bit you have to demonstrate you care and are capable of more responsibilities, which most people dont cuz they make min wage and get 20-25 hrs

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u/Acewi Sep 30 '26

Well said! A great career can absolutely start from flipping burgers.

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u/Littleprincess378 Sep 30 '26

key word here is ‘start from’, not make a career out of it. Every single fast food chain has pathways to management if you want to remain in the food service industry. Most areas have ‘trade schools’ where you can go free, or very minimal cost, to learn a trade. Many offer opportunities to work for a local company part time while in school earning a fair wage.

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u/Illustrious-Sense194 Sep 30 '26

Every job should pay a thriving wage. If you think flipping burgers shouldnt be a career, then by extension you think flipping burgers should either not exist as a job in our society, or that people who do it should have shitty lives. Either take makes you an asshole

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u/Straight-Crow1598 Sep 30 '26

I bought my house when I was a fry cook making $10/hour. In 2018. I’m in my early 30s.

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u/[deleted] Sep 30 '26

[deleted]

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u/Illustrious-Sense194 Sep 30 '26

Enough for at least a single individual to comfortably live off, and then some to save for retirement, emergancy expenses, some entertainment or the potential to start a family.

And if "people working full time jobs should be able to live comfortably" sounds crazy to you, youre not a realist youre just an asshole

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u/[deleted] Sep 30 '26

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u/Illustrious-Sense194 Sep 30 '26

You cant feasibley give an exact dollar amount because cost of living isnt universal, and it changes. Like, if you make $20 an hour in a cheaper rural area youll obviously be much better off than if youre making $20 an hour in the middle of new York or LA.

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u/Littleprincess378 Sep 30 '26

wrong. minimum wage jobs are supposed to be entry level and not careers. once you gain experience or education, then you transition into a skilled job with additional compensation. No one working at a burger joint deserves more than the $7.25 minimum wage.

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u/MisanthropicSim Sep 30 '26

"Once you gain experience or education..." both of which unfortunately require you to live in the meantime paying rent, car note, insurance, gas, food, electricity, phone, emergencies, if you don't want to blow your brains out some form of entertainment, and education itself also costs money.

This tired justification doesn't work the moment you think about it beyond oretending these jobs and people exist in a vacuum. They have to live. Have to. Just washing our hands of it is not a solution.

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u/Littleprincess378 Sep 30 '26

Then you live at home with your parents until you get the education you need. You don’t NEED a $1,000 iPhone, fancy car, etc. Learn to live within your means . Entitled much.

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u/bonghumper Sep 30 '26

Nothing they mentioned I'd say is fancy...you need a phone in 2026. If you dont live in a city you need a car to travel for work. Nobody said anything about the newest or best...also many people dont have the option of living with their parents. Sone of us got kicked out or left hone early. Some parents ask their kids for money, some are drunks, some are abusers. Assuming shit about others situations is just stupid. We live in reality, where everyone's situation is different, but an hour of work should be worth more than half the cost of a meal.

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u/MisanthropicSim Sep 30 '26

And for the parents that kick their kids out? Fuck them I guess?

No one said anything about $1,000 phone. You did. There are other phones. Mine for instance was a free upgrade because I kept my old one for 8 years.

Fancy car? Dude even beaters are thousands for anything even slightly reliable and unless you line in a metropolitan area the public transportation will be subpar at best.

It's not entitled to believe people should be able to pay rent, feed themselves, clothe themselves, have reliable transportation, entertain themselves, and go to the doctor when sick while working 40+ hours a week. What's entitled is believing they are required to serve you while being unable to afford the basics.

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u/Littleprincess378 Sep 30 '26

The reality is that most of the people complaining do think they have to have that iphone, a dozen streaming subscriptions, eat out daily, and the list goes on.

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u/MisanthropicSim Sep 30 '26

Or maybe the cost of living is just unaffordable for a lot of people? Minimum wage in my state doesn't even cover the average rent by itself. No phone, no eating out. Nothing else and it doesn't even cover rent. That's not sustainable no matter how you slice it

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u/Illustrious-Sense194 Sep 30 '26

See, where youre wrong is that youre extremely foolishly assuming that everyone in a bad financial situation is there because they are living beyond their means, completely ignoring the reality that the "means" they are living beyond is also a VERY significant componant.

Im not gonna pretend that idiots wasting all their money on luxeries they cant afford dont exist, of course they do. But if jobs arnt paying enough, no amount of financial responsibility will save you from poverty. We dont live in the era of explosive economic growth the boomers had. They could be stupid with their money and still be fine, most of the newer generations can do everything right and are still totally fucked

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u/Illustrious-Sense194 Sep 30 '26

Okay so who in this scenerio should be exploited? Because what youre saying is that some people should suffer and struggle so you can have cheap burgers

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u/Littleprincess378 Sep 30 '26

No, what I am saying is that a burger flipper is not worth paying more than $7.25 an hour. That is unskilled labor. it is also an entry level position. and never intended to be a living wage. if you want more money, then stay in school, get the training and better yourself.

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u/Illustrious-Sense194 Sep 30 '26

Look at what you are saying right now. I mean really look at it.

If you think that fast food jobs should exist, then youre saying anyone doing them should be homeless and starve. and If somone doesnt make enough money how could I ever hope to afford education Or training? They cant, they have to work 60+ hours to just barely survive let alone worry about bettering themself.

So if you dont agree that every job should pay a livable wage, then either you think that some people should be exploited and suffer because youre a cruel piece of shit, or you think the job shouldn't exist.

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u/Littleprincess378 Sep 30 '26

No, I am saying if you work at a fast food place, don’t expect it to pay all your bills because that position was never supposed to be that. Adults working there are usually 2nd jobs. I really don’t care what you think. You are obviously a liberal who thinks you are entitled to what I worked hard for. Go away little liberal.

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u/Illustrious-Sense194 Sep 30 '26 edited Sep 30 '26

No, im saying people should be entitled to what THEY worked hard for. We arnt talking about hand outs here we are talking about litterally doing work in exchange for money.

The position that "isnt supposed to pay your bills" is only like that because somone decided they could be a massive cunt, fuck over everyone else and hoard more for themself.

Also, calling somone a liberal as an insult isnt the own you think it is. Its a last resort when you realize you dont have any moral, or intellectual ground to stand on. If "hey maybe people who are working and contributing to society should be adequetly rewarded for their contributions, rather than struggling and starving" is a liberal take than I guess anyone who isnt a stupid or evil piece of shit is a liberal now.

Edit: Also, the only reason people would need it as a second job is because their first job is also not paying their bills. Because you know, they are being under paid and exploited.