I don’t know why, but paper boys (yes we were all boys) were some sort of exception to child labour laws. I was selling newspapers when I was 12-13 for 5c ea.
The 80s was a wild place.
Comment on A literal child taking orders in a fast food restaurant in the US
saltesc@lemmy.world 5 months agoI’m Australian and this reminds me of working at the local fish and.chip store when I was 12. I asked the local general store, but they’d only pay me to do odd jobs, the local bakery said no,.and the local fish and.chip shop said I could help take orders and.package meals during their busy hours each evening.
My Lego collection grew, I got real good at Time Crisis 3, and I went to see a movie each Saturday. It was awesome. I didn’t see it any different to scoring cash for mowing lawns or washing cars, just stable and they appreciated my help so I felt good too.
If you’d told me I wasn’t allowed, I’d have done it behind your back and said I was going to friend’s houses.
Nath@aussie.zone 5 months ago
roscoe@startrek.website 5 months ago
And what about those assholes that never wanted to pay? I see your cars, your lights are on, I know you’re home motherfucker.
I identified so hard with that “I want my two dollars” kid from Better Off Dead.
Nath@aussie.zone 5 months ago
One of my customers went and died owing me 80c. I just took the loss. But it would have been hilarious to see some young kid chasing the estate for his debt!
RecallMadness@lemmy.nz 5 months ago
Amen.
Got money, bought a PC my parents couldn’t afford, learned to code, got a desk job.
Taught me life skills too, like dealing with dickhead managers and customers, time keeping, and just general responsibility.
Confused_Emus@lemmy.world 5 months ago
That’s all well and good, but the necessity of child labor laws are not for the few who are doing it voluntarily.
heyoni@lemm.ee 5 months ago
Honestly it’s the uniform for me. It implies so much like maybe that kids gotta punch in with a time card of has their pay docked.
Deceptichum@kbin.social 5 months ago
Cool story mate!
Lots of people are fine with bad things they grew up with because it didn’t personally affect them.
c0mbatbag3l@lemmy.world 5 months ago
Do you think kids shouldn’t be allowed to work in any capacity? What if they are self employed? Is that wrong even if they want to?
Deceptichum@kbin.social 5 months ago
Yes, and yes.
I think children should be free to focus on more important things than working.
Do you think we should send the kids back to the mines? Some of them might prefer to be out of school.
_cnt0@sh.itjust.works 5 months ago
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tillary@sh.itjust.works 5 months ago
I think there’s a line somewhere and for me the line is whether the job is suitable for children. Like, doing chores around the house or on your grandparents’ farm. Paper route riding a bike. I worked summers at a carnival, and at a pool when I was a bit older. Low physical labor, low responsibility, low customer interaction, family friendly environments. You’re right it should never interfere with education.
If I saw a kid at the register of a fast food place or a store, I would turn around immediately and never return. Just leaves a bad taste in one’s mouth.
grff@lemmy.world 5 months ago
Your example is very extreme. Having an after school part time job as you’re growing up will prepare you for quite a bit, and set us apart from our peers that didn’t work, and instead wasted their days after school or on the weekends. I take it you never worked growing up ? It’s building essential life skills, not inhaling noxious fumes working 16 hr days in mines, this isn’t the 1800’s. I loved flipping burgers and making a paycheck at 15
roscoe@startrek.website 5 months ago
I had a paper route when I was 12.
The work itself wasn’t important but learning responsibility and the value of money was important.
It was the first time I did anything completely on my own without being directed in some way by a parent, teacher, coach, etc. Without that job and after-school/summer jobs I had when I was older there is a good chance I would have made poor financial decisions in early adulthood.
With 18 year-olds getting credit cards shoved in their face the day they show up for orientation, after probably signing up for college loans, it’s probably a good idea for them to have earned money on their own for a while.
ElBarto@sh.itjust.works 5 months ago
Well, I’m not fucking going down there.
Soulg@lemmy.world 5 months ago
First of all, I generally agree with you that child labor such as in the OP is bad.
That being said, responding to people who had positive experiences with it in their own lives by jumping directly to sending then to the mines is absolutely fucking insane. They are not the same thing.
c0mbatbag3l@lemmy.world 5 months ago
“Freedom” to do what you want them to and nothing more, not even to earn it over summer break or learn the value of money.
Fuck 'em, just wait until they get out of highschool at 18 before they ever even see real money and have no idea how any of it works, who the predators are, and what the risk is.
saltesc@lemmy.world 5 months ago
Sometimes I read comments online and initially think they’re sarcastic but then realise the person’s serious and flexing way above their capacity, usually by straw manning. And here’s one of those moments…
favepalm
About as much as you think the police should be shutting down lemonade stands.