Princess Joanna

It astounds me how many low-paid jobs there are out there.  I live in Los Angeles, where a shit-hole apartment in a not-so-great part of town runs monthly from $600 (for a bachelor) to $1000 (for a one bedroom).  There is an abundance of jobs that pay between $8-12/hour, or $12-15 for skilled, experienced workers.  Assuming you work 40 hours a week, that is approximately $20,800 - $29,120/year.  Before taxes.  Your take-home each month would range from $1213 - $1698 a month.  Let's say you want something extravagant, like a stove or a kitchen sink, your rent is conceivably EIGHTY PERCENT (80%) of your total income.   And don't get me started if you actually wanted to live in a decent part of town.

I am by no means a princess (although my father would disagree), but I will NOT work for these low wages.  Unemployment pays more than most of these jobs!

editor's note: Alice in Wonderland, not a princess

And if I'm being perfectly honest, some of these jobs paying $unlivable-wage/hour I wouldn't even qualify for!! I mean, I'm college educated, have held positions of management, ran offices, run the seating for one of the busiest restaurants in Manhattan, and played mommy for multiple children.  I'm not exactly skill-less. Buuuuut I don't know HTML, don't have any kind of teaching credential, I'm not bilingual, can't say I have past experience doing "extensive script coverage," graphic editing skills, and the list goes on and on... all for under $15/hour.  Puh-leeeeeze!

Just to give an example (and I know it was NYC, but still), 10+ years ago I was making $15/hour as a hostess at a nice restaurant. I just quickly surfed CL and found three similar positions.  One was $9/hr, one $10/hr and one for $12/hr.  Not that I would want these jobs, but my restaurant experience was so long ago I probably wouldn't even get hired anyway!

This job-hunting business is one of the most painful, grueling processes ever.  Like, worse than braces.  And I wore headgear.

Not actually me.  Some poor wretch from google images. 

Is it so much to ask that I can have a job that doesn't suck horribly, pays my bills and then some, and is flexible enough that I can audition whenever they come up and I get to sleep late some days? Or do I have to suck it up like most Americans and live a life of mediocrity and squashed dreams?

Maybe one day (a long time from now) I'll give up the dream and marry for money. You know, because there's tons of guys looking for a trophy wife over 30...

yeah... she's really into him. 

*to be fair, there are jobs out there that I would qualify for that would pay in the $60-100K range, but I would have to sell my soul to some gawd-awful company that would bleed my dry emotionally.  And I just don't like crying on the way to work.  It smears my mascara.