Archived Is there a "class divide" at your store?

[redeye58]

My kith & kin hail from the "don't have everything you want but do have everything you need" group.
I stifle a laugh when I see kids I work with lamenting not being able to afford the latest & greatest in gadgetry. Half these kids still live at home, others live with so many roommates it's like a flippin' commune in a 3-BR.
There are a few young & old that are shrewd with a buck & I admire their resourcefulness.

Edit: the kids who can't afford their toys are the same ones who refuse to pick up shifts or work weekend nights

 

[sher]

What about living on your own? Isn't that an adventure? It teaches you to be responsible and frugal. Living with family puts you in a comfort zone and in a way makes you somewhat dependent.

Depends on your family. I lived on my own and now, I don't and I'm less dependent now. I'm actually rent burdened lol. Though my mom didn't give a concrete number on my rent, I know that the amount I went with is enough of a help that we won't get evicted. I buy my own groceries (and get food stamps but its less than $20 because 4th quarter hours were too bomb), I pay my cell bill (mom and brothers were added to the account recently), part of cable, and our Netflix and Hulu.

Buuuut, I also paid for my cell phone outright ($400 nexus 5 which is technically a midrange price)... because I saved. I set my direct deposit to drop 10% straight into savings every pay and I add extra in when I can. I got an iPad mini retina last year and used my income taxes to put a deposit down on it (LTE version for T-Mobile).

Oh and my mom hasn't done my laundry or cleaned after me or anything dependent-y like that since I was at least 8. Been cooking since 9 or 10 too . I clean after her more often lol. I think when people hear you live with parents they assume you have the kind of parents who coddle you.

 

[sher]

OP here:

I definitely didn't make it apparent from my post, but I am definitely a "have" at my store. I am living at home rent free, and with the money I've earned working here I have bought a new iPad, a Nikon 3200D DSLR camera w/bag and lenses, a new laptop, and an upcoming overseas trip. I also go out all the time. Because many of my fellow TMs are following me on social media, they know all about my lifestyle.

My curiosity about "class divides" stemmed from a "have not" TM saying to me after I got back from a recent vacation in a lovely, judgmental tone, "You don't pay rent, do you? You just do whatever you want!"

Your list for the haves sounded judgy at first, but then the last bullet point you said "us" and I figured it out then.

My store isn't like that, though. We have a mixture of haves and have nots, but there's no drama over it. I honestly couldn't say what anyone does on social media, though. Other than the etls and stl and their target tweets

 

[Guest]

I just think it's good for people to live on their own. If you are over 30 and have never lived alone, it just sends a wrong message. You have to experience things on your own and experience some alone time and having to depend on yourself to step up to the plate.
I'm not saying people that live with their parents are 100 percent lazy but there is a level of dependence in that situation. My brother is older than me and he's never truly lived on his own. I'm basically the only one in my family that has lived alone. My parents married right after high school. My sisters have never lived alone nor has my brother. I lived alone in college and from 2010 to 2013, I was alone. I miss it to be honest. Living with my family has too much drama. That is why I am nutting up and taking steps to finally move far far away.

 

[sher]

I lived alone for 2.5 years in college. But I know a bunch of people who likely will never have lived alone. It's not uncommon. A friend if mine just bought a house on his own, but he has multiple bedrooms so one of his friends is renting a room from him. Before that he lived at home and before that with roommates in college.
Honestly I'm just too uppity at this point in my life to move to the hood just to say I don't live with my mom. My mom's cool as shit, though and everyone loves her.

And I doubt op is over 30.

 

[AdItemOnly]

its an investment to me, live with parents now, pay a third of the bills that come with it, get a house later on mortgage free

 

[thatcashierdude]

$400 nexus 5 which is technically a midrange price

Good choice. You had any issues where the phone suddenly shuts off with a lot of battery, and when it turns back on it has less than 5%? I got one of those cheapo $5 extended batteries from one spot to fix it.

 

[jenna]

I do have concerns over those who can't pay their bills or feed their family on so few hours.

No judgement here, but I have seen a few tm's check out using a food stamp type of card to pay.

IDGAF about how people spend their money or what gadgets they buy. I don't really hear other tm's talking about it, either.

ETA: I have had tm's confide in me when payroll gets tight, and hours are slashed. I am not making assumptions.

 

[tgtguy]

OP here:

I definitely didn't make it apparent from my post, but I am definitely a "have" at my store. I am living at home rent free, and with the money I've earned working here I have bought a new iPad, a Nikon 3200D DSLR camera w/bag and lenses, a new laptop, and an upcoming overseas trip. I also go out all the time. Because many of my fellow TMs are following me on social media, they know all about my lifestyle.

My curiosity about "class divides" stemmed from a "have not" TM saying to me after I got back from a recent vacation in a lovely, judgmental tone, "You don't pay rent, do you? You just do whatever you want!"

How you spend your money is your business and is none of any ones concern. However, if you go around and broadcast how you are splurging ( like you did on here with your recent purchases) you kinda open yourself up to comments like your "have not" co worker made. To some it may come off like you are bragging etc and that may be why they asked you that.
"

 

[jenna]

How you spend your money is your business and is none of any ones concern. However, if you go around and broadcast how you are splurging ( like you did on here with your recent purchases) you kinda open yourself up to comments like your "have not" co worker made. To some it may come off like you are bragging etc and that may be why they asked you that.
"

Yep. I also am not the type to post shit on Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Twitter et. al. You set yourself up for judgement or scrutiny when you declare your entire life to the world.

 

[commiecorvus]

My issue with the divide has nothing to do with the folks who still live with their folks and have a few extra buck for toys.

People from completely different backgrounds can work together successfully and even find common ground.
I worked carny for a season and you have never met a stranger assortment of folks but we all got the work done.

The problem is when management is exclusively one class.
Except for the small handful of folks who come from the military, the ones left from the old days, and those magic beans that sprouted through the company just about all of the ETLs are from one class.
Sure there are people working for them who are the same as them but that doesn't help all that much because they have to protect their place and those TMs need to be controlled.
The biggest problem is they will never relate to the rest of the people they are supposed to be managing.
Those TMs who have to use SNAP because they can't get enough hours?
That's not a world these ETLs can understand.
A former gang member who walked away from his gang to take care of kids and is having problems with daycare.
Way out of their wheelhouse.
A woman who is juggling three jobs, so she needs a regular schedule so she get them all to balance and get 4 hours of sleep.
Yeah, not a chance.

If Spot was willing to promote people who were actually on the ground there wouldn't be this kind of divide and I, for one, think the stores would be better for it.

 

[thatcashierdude]

If Spot was willing to promote people who were actually on the ground there wouldn't be this kind of divide and I, for one, think the stores would be better for it.

No one in store management should ever be hired at anything but a team member position, and then have the opportunity to move up. It creates problems when management is hired from outside the company. Sure in some specific circumstances it could be OK but for the most part all TLs, ETLs, STLs, DTLs, etc should have at one point been a TM.

 

[commiecorvus]

No one in store management should ever be hired at anything but a team member position, and then have the opportunity to move up. It creates problems when management is hired from outside the company. Sure in some specific circumstances it could be OK but for the most part all TLs, ETLs, STLs, DTLs, etc should have at one point been a TM.

I'm not totally against hiring from outside the company.
If someone has worked their way up in other retail stores that's fine, military experience is also good, and I don't even have a problem with preferring people with degrees.
What I object to is putting someone straight out of college with minimal life and work experience in a management position.

 

[tgtguy]

No one in store management should ever be hired at anything but a team member position, and then have the opportunity to move up. It creates problems when management is hired from outside the company. Sure in some specific circumstances it could be OK but for the most part all TLs, ETLs, STLs, DTLs, etc should have at one point been a TM.

I agree...and if they are going to be a etl/log they should have to work in the log process as a normal team member for at three- six months if not longer. Salesfloor etl....they should have to work on the salesfloor etc etc.

 

[thetargetman]

I don't care at all about the lifestyles of other TMs who don't have much responsibility. I care more about their attitude and their ability to get work done.

I totally agree. as long as they get their job done and are not snooty little shits all is good. I am definitely a "have not" and so I need to be very careful with my money, not only do I pay rent and car insurance, and all my other expenses but I am also a yeshiva student (a Jewish religious school).

 

[sher]

Good choice. You had any issues where the phone suddenly shuts off with a lot of battery, and when it turns back on it has less than 5%? I got one of those cheapo $5 extended batteries from one spot to fix it.

Thanks, after having a moto g for a year, I knew when I finally got out of budget phone range that I had to have vanilla android. I'm over all the rooting and tweaking. No on the battery thing, but I've seen on reddit that lots of people had that problem. Mine has shut off a few times since lollipop but without a decrease in battery. I'm hoping/assuming the 5.1 update fixes all this stuff whenever they release it.

 

[NeoDarikona]

Oregon is incredibly white so racial divide is hard to see but with this states history I wouldn't be surprised if it was there.

As far as class, all of the ETLs I see now are very upper-middle class and wasp-ish, and everyone else is either middle (rare) or lower echelon (most of the time).

 

[daninnj]

My TM makeup is probably 95% black, TLs around 85%-90%, ETLs 50-60%. Most TMs rely on the bus, TLs less so, and definitely no ETLs. I'm in the 5% minority (mainly white [me], some Asian and Latino). Most TMs I work with don't care but there are a select few that won't say hi to me for their own reasons even though they talk to most everyone else. I always get new TMs thinking I'm leadership. I do get the occasional white person who will ignore people not their color and ask me.