>From: Michael Lorrey <mlorrey@datamann.com>
>As a 15 year old boy, I worked for the laundry company owned by a
>neighbor. Not a cushy job either, I worked night shift, for
>minimum wage, loading and emptying huge dryers capable of holding
>300 lbs of laundry at a time. Hot work, no air conditioning. Not
>a fun job. Not once did I feel 'exlpoited', outside of being
>miffed at not being allowed to work more than 8 hours a day...
15 is not a child, it's a teenager who needs to learn the value of
hard work. Had plenty of tough jobs myself.
>As for abuse, while the neighbor was a freind of my parents, and
>I went to school with his kids, he was a real pain in the butt.
>Late in the summer, I wanted to take a week off to vacation with
>the family. He said no, so I quit on him.
Not exactly beaten is it.
>My next employer owned a farmers market. The sign on his door
>said,"We'd like to pay you what you are worth, but minimum wage
>laws make us pay you more."
That was a warning sign.
>So in the two cases above of my first two jobs, was I 'exploited'?
>Was it unethical for people to buy the product of my labor?
As I pointed out you were a teenager, and holding these jobs wasn't
the difference between living or dying was it?
>So if I bought produce from the same farmer's market that
>'exploited' me, does that make me unethical?
As I've pointed out you were a teenager, not a child.
Brian
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