A Costco worker has sparked a heated discussion on social media after revealing that she gets paid nearly $30 per hour "just to draw smiley faces on receipts".
The viral video was posted last week to TikTok by a Costco employee by the name of Natalie (@natnatt21). The short clip shows her dancing with a fellow employee in a Costco branch, along with the words: "When you make $29.50 an hour just to draw smiley faces on receipts." (For non Costco customers, it is somewhat of a store tradition for staff to draw smiley faces on the customer receipts.)
Natalie added in the caption: "And it’s union.. gotta love Costco....
Watch Natalie's viral video below:In just under a week, the post has already amassed over 16.5 million views, with many TikTokers taking to the comments section to share their thoughts on Natalie's pay for her job.
Some people were quick to praise Costco for looking after their staff, with one person writing: "Reasons why you [barely] see Costco hiring cause they treat and pay their employees very well,"
Another Costco employee of 11 years added: "Costco employee here [...] Love my job. We're definitely taken care of."
However, some people - especially some who worked in healthcare - took umbrage with Natalie's video, with one TikTok user commenting: "Y'all make more than me and I went to school for 4 years."
"I really played myself going to college to save lives," a second added.
A third critic wrote: "I'm out here saving lives and you're putting smiley faces on paper [...] AND we have the same pay... Make it make sense."
But another TikTok user under the handle @lilyleia jumped to Natalie's defense and called those out who were criticizing her video and pay.
"What's crazy to me is this happens so often, where people in certain fields think that they should be making way more money than people working 'easier jobs' like retail or food service or whatever. They always b**ch about how these people should be making less instead of how they should be making more," she said.
"If you think it's unfair, that you and this person make the same pay, maybe you should be upset with your employer, instead of another working-class person."
Minimum wages differ from state to state, with the federal minimum wage being set at $7.25 per hour, per US News. For example, as of 2021, large employers in California must pay their workers a minimum wage of $14 per hour.
Now, it is understandable that those with student loans and other debts are going to be irked that those without those debts are earning "more" or "the same", but @lilyleia's point here is that people shouldn't shame other hard-working citizens for that fact.
Another argument is that different people will struggle with different roles. As one person commented: "The whole 'easy job' thing p***es me off. People struggle and 'easy' things and tasks can be extremely difficult."
Either way, nobody should be discounted for earning good money for a day's work. People shouldn't have to struggle.
It's certainly an interesting discussion, so let us know your thoughts in the comments section!
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