Reply #8: I made less than twenty grand last year, and my wife made zero. [View All]

She's in grad school, living off student loans, and I'm working full-time and pursuing my BA. Several times in the last year we've had to postpone paying rent for a month or more. We've had the phone shut off several times and went a few days without electricity. When my car broke down, I sold it for scrap metal and rode my bike everywhere. When my bike broke down, I waited until I had saved up enough money to get the chain and cassette replaced. I'm 32 years old. Thankfully, I work full-time as a cook, so I can bring home leftovers.

We're poor, but there's a LOT of people a lot worse off than us. Having said that, it's still goddamned insulting that I - nor any of those worse off than me - can't get paid a living wage in America, supposedly the greatest, most advanced country in the world.