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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think those who take low paid job are looked down on _or thought to be thick !

106 replies

Blossum123 · 15/06/2014 21:21

Said on another thread how I was thinking of taking a supermarket Job rather than use my qualification . Reason being stress and the supermarket job fits round my family .
Have taken the job .saw sister as Father's Day . She said she was shocked i was waisting my education and that I should want more status !
Surely finding something that fits well with our young children is reason enough ?! Since saying I'm taking a supermarket job people are presuming I'm stupid ! Is this just my family or have others in simular jobs had this - ?

OP posts:
Fideliney · 15/06/2014 22:21

Interesting.

restandpeace · 15/06/2014 22:24

I lovey stint working in a supermarket

QueenofLouisiana · 15/06/2014 22:26

Over the years I have worked on checkouts, build truck headlights, prepped food in industrial kitchens, been a Body Shop rep....

I am a qualified teacher with a degree and a PGDE, but at various times I have needed to work outside of teaching and these jobs have suited me well. I have never regretted doing them and I enjoyed doing them well nd being paid for it.

I respect anyone who is working and doing their job well, what they do isn't a huge concern as long as it is moral and legal.

Original poster
Blossum123 · 15/06/2014 22:30

For me it's been able to pick kids up and take them to school . Was offered a office job but hours meant I be worse off with childcare .

Out of intrest would u view cleaners , barmaids waitresses on the same level as shop work .? Hadn't realised there was such a ranking !

OP posts:
ThePinkOcelot · 15/06/2014 22:33

Am I the only person who doesn't rank cleaners, barmaids etc? I honestly never give a thought to what salary these workers are on, and consider myself better than them. Not that my wage is that great though tbh.

TSSDNCOP · 15/06/2014 22:35

I have a degree and I'm in retail which is a short commute and gives me plenty of time with DS. Most of the time it's ok, even satisfying. And then there's the Customers that not infrequently treat me like utter shit, you'd be staggered by the spite. It makes my hands shake just retaining control. I spend all my spare time applying for jobs so I can leave this soul sucking penury behind.

Fideliney · 15/06/2014 22:36

I honestly never give a thought to what salary these workers are on, and consider myself better than them

Nice.

Original poster
Blossum123 · 15/06/2014 22:37

Add message | Report | Message poster Figster Sun 15-Jun-14 22:15:05
I don't think anything other than how do they afford to live on a retail wage
My husband is the main wage earner mines a extra

OP posts:
TSSDNCOP · 15/06/2014 22:37

I don't think that post meant to type "and"

Original poster
Blossum123 · 15/06/2014 22:38

Add message | Report | Message poster ThePinkOcelot Sun 15-Jun-14 22:33:13
Am I the only person who doesn't rank cleaners, barmaids etc? I honestly never give a thought to what salary these workers are on, and consider myself better than them. Not that my wage is that great though tbh.
Why do u think ur better ?

OP posts:
Fideliney · 15/06/2014 22:38

Maybe 'or'? Hmm

TSSDNCOP · 15/06/2014 22:39

Blossum me too.

No one could live on a retail assistants salary. You need to be a store manager before that's a reality.

williaminajetfighter · 15/06/2014 22:42

OP people will judge you whatever you do - don't worry. It's your life. However I do think loads of women make decisions about jobs to 'work around the children' and end up taking poorly paid but flexible jobs. So men do this? Not often. One of re reasons for the pay divide between men and women. I just hate to see women's careers and opportunities compromised because THEY are making the sacrifices and taking on the brunt of childcare.

Uptheairymountain · 15/06/2014 22:43

YANBU and, despite the rubbish some people spout about how working hard means you earn more money, there are many low-paid but essential jobs that someone has to do.

I would never ever think of myself as being better than eg a cleaner, especially because what she/he does is probably a darn sight more vital to society than what I do.

williaminajetfighter · 15/06/2014 22:43

Meant to write 'Do men do this'... Not So men...

MissingDietCoke · 15/06/2014 22:44

I was made redundant from a well paid, high status job when I was 6 months pregnant. After a year off I've taken a low paid admin type job. The other day a colleague commented on my mulberry handbag, commenting that I must have a lovely husband to buy me such a bag. There was no concept that I was capable of doing something that earned me enough to buy my own nice bag. Most of the time I keep my head down knowing that I'm doing whats necessary and works for my family but I admit I found that really, really hard. People are judgemental.

TerraNotSoFirma2 · 15/06/2014 22:44

I once left a management position and went to work cleaning timeshare houses/apartments.
My auntie was horrified and said '' you're better than that'' I told her that was an appalling attitude and that at £25 per lodge I was earning the same in two days as my seventy hour per week management job. She shut up then. :-)

kippersmum · 15/06/2014 23:02

I gave up a high flying career in the chemical industry, my wages didnt cover 2 lots of childcare. I now have 3 part time jobs as shop assistant, dinner lady & cleaner. I am financially better off as I have no childcare costs & don't miss a second of my kids sports days etc.

I actually feel sorry for people who look down on me & spend all their days being a wage slave and missing their kids childhood, I wouldn't change what I have for anything.

slightlyglitterstained · 15/06/2014 23:13

The biggest problem with low paid customer facing work is the very small percentage of customers who feel the need to "put you in your place", I.e. throw their weight around on a mini power trip. Unfortunately if you talk to 998 lovely customers in a day and two utter shits, guess which ones tend to stick in your mind?

This is why I consider a lot of jobs as tough, not just because the low salary makes life harder, but because of the crap you get. And that's without considering that a lot of employers treat lower paid staff as disposable, so aren't that bothered about decent working conditions etc. I was shocked when I moved jobs within the same employer (sideways but into a "bloke's" job, with much higher scope to progress) how utterly different my colleagues' expectations were - eventually I realised they weren't unrealistic, just expected to be treated like real human beings.

littledrummergirl · 15/06/2014 23:13

No one could live on a retail assistants salary. You need to be a store manager before that's a reality.

Dh and I are both retail assistants. We seem to get along ok.

Of course our salaries are topped up with tax credits so every time we earn more we receive less. There is really no point in us taking on more stress by being promoted.

We both get good time with our dc which never happened in dh old job.

elvisola · 15/06/2014 23:17

I was a high level Account Director in a well known advertising agency for 15 years before I went on maternity leave to have DD.

I decided not to go back as the hours didn't suit the family life we wanted and DH is the main breadwinner but I still wanted to earn my own money so my friend got me a job working nights in a residential home.

I have been there 6 years now, I like the work but even my own colleagues assume I'm a bit thick and I struggle with how I'm perceived to the point where only a few people know what I'm doing and I don't freely disclose it.

However my children are in bed when I leave and just waking up when I return, I get to see every school play/sports day etc and earn more money than I did before (once I had taken 2x full time childcare out.

I never judge anybody on the job they do now or assume anything of them because of it.

mswibble · 15/06/2014 23:18

Agree wholeheartedly with uptheairymountain
I am a pointless paper shuffler. If I had my time again I would have done an apprenticeship or learnt a trade. Something that when you go home of a night you can actually say you have done something.
Those further up the greasy pole where I work cant even communicate with the cleaners or 'handy men'. Its cringeworthy. I've got more in common with those hoovering the offices than I have the suited and booted peacocks who are supposedly my peers.

shockinglybadteacher · 15/06/2014 23:25

I've got a decent degree from a Russell Group uni, I left university and worked as a security guard ;) Now if you have a thing for being patronised, that's the job to get. I don't and I found it incredibly irritating to be treated as if I was too thick to tie my own shoelaces by members of the public.

Learnt my lesson from that - never assume. The person cleaning the toilet could have a PhD and many people are promoted well above their ability...

KindofGreen · 15/06/2014 23:25

I've got two degrees, went to a very famous university and I'm working a few hours a week in an office (school hours). I have never had a high flying career, even before DC. I'm very academic and love learning but I could never really find a job for me in a sector I enjoyed. I used to be conscious about it but now I have DC I have the perfect excuse.

Of course I do occasionally get very bored but I try to do lots of reading/ research into things that interest in my free time.

KindofGreen · 15/06/2014 23:30

"Learnt my lesson from that - never assume"

I agree. I once worked with this guy who was completely obsessed with his job title and status, always going on about how hard he'd worked (degree etc) to get where he was. He was invited to a christmas meal and was outraged to hear that the managers would be having a joint meal with the office staff. "Whatever will we have to talk about?", he said. I sat there thinking I may be the office assistant who makes the tea but I've still got one more degree than you.