12mo ago

A literal child taking orders in a fast food restaurant in the US

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328 comments

I was stoked to have a job when I was 14 making smoothies. Legally I could only do 7 hours a week and I enjoyed it. It helped me learn about scheduling and being on time, and I saved up enough money to buy my own Xbox. People in this thread are idiots.
- If there's reasonable legal maximum hours and legal minimum age then sure, otherwise it's just opening the door to child labour and that's a real problem that exists even in first world countries.
- Yeah, minimum age in the US (most states) is 14 yrs old. I wanted a job so bad when I was a kid. I grew up super poor so I never had an allowance. I got a job as soon as a could and I could buy my own things.
  My own kid also got a job early, I told them they didn't have to but they wanted to earn their own money (I was super proud of the reason). They worked for a few years, took a year or so off, then after graduating high school, bought their own car. I'm actually so proud of my kid. Kind of a smart ass sometimes but like... That's because they're me too. So like.. 🤙
  
  I grew up super poor so I never had an allowance. I got a job as soon as a could and I could buy my own things.
  And there it is. Let's not fix poverty or anything.
  
  🤷🏽 Builds character and I make more money than what my goal was from a teenager. I wasn't forced into it. #NoRagrets
  
  unreal that SendMePhotos chose to get a job instead of storm into the white house and demand poverty be fixed OR ELSE
  
  Yeah, there’s nothing wrong with a 14 year old working a few hours a week if they want to. Lemmy hivemind is pretty fucking stupid sometimes
  
  I think the downvotes are because that kid looks a lot younger than 14, so this sentiment does not apply here.
  I also don't have a problem with kids working jobs, but it has to be under very controlled circumstances to avoid exploitation. It's important to remember that children can't enter contracts (which is a requirement of any employment), and for good reason.
  I think as well that the recent spike in news stories about kids being killed at jobs they shouldn't have been working in the first place is behind a lot of the sentiment here, so arguing that kids should be allowed to work while ignoring that context isn't going to be received well.
  
  That’s exactly how I looked at 14. Internet detectives don’t know jack shit
  
  You seem to have missed the part about children being killed at jobs they shouldn't be working in the first place. I agree there shouldn't be a blanket ban on children working if certain requirements are met for safety, but if you're going to ignore the problems with what's actually happening and why people are upset about it then there's nothing more to the discussion.
  
  Case in point ^
  
  No it isn’t. 14 is legal age to work in most US states
  
  Yeah I'm saying you're on the Internet and also don't know shit
- I started working at 15. The owner/manager of my first job would give the 15-17 year-old girls he hired drugs in exchange for sexual favors. Also had us work past legal hours and all the other normal exploitative shit people should expect.
  Second job I had also had pedo managers. Asking us questions like, "what was the craziest places you had sex at?" during group orientation. I also had to dispute the hours I was paid for on nearly every paycheck I got.
  I'm guessing experiences like this aren't universal, but the fact that my first 2 jobs as a child were very exploitative, it's probably not uncommon.
  I think scheduling and being on time could be picked up quickly by adults.
- I was stoked to have a job at 14 too!
  I was not stoked to find out they had no intention of paying me.
- i wish i had a job as a kid. i wouldnt have done anything smart like save it though i would have just bought dlc for rock band 😂
  
  I started at 15. First thing I purchased was a PS1 and Chrono Cross. I felt like I had everything. After that it became a steady stream of gas money and tossing in $10-$20 bucks with other friends to get some weed. I miss the easy days...

328 comments