Story by G. Melesaine // Design by Angel Luna

or my entire life I've never had a real job. I always made money in other ways, which made me feel like the biggest hypocrite ever. I always tried to balance out the good and bad: the good being education, and the bad being crime. I'd always emphasize to my younger brothers how important it was to be educated and live good, which was bullsh*^ because I was still doing illegal things. Those illegal things caught on to my younger brother, and I played catalyst because I was there supporting him. To change both our thinking, I thought I should show him the concept of hard work and finally decided to enter the economy not as a consumer. Plus, I was broke.

            Entering the economy wasn't as easy as I thought because I had no prior experience except in community organizing and non-profit work. Most corporations could really give a damn about you organizing a community. I went to Wal-Mart because a friend told me they hire anyone. I soon found out she was right because my brother and I both got jobs even though we both had criminal backgrounds, probably had the worst interviews in Wal-Mart history, and we dressed like sh*&. We were hired within two days. Because this was our first job ever, my brother and I were mad happy, my brother especially. He would chant frequently and proudly "I got a job" or "I have to go to work," even wearing his vest and nametag when it wasn't necessary. Getting hired was only a short prelude though, as we soon found out. This job would completely change my thinking about entering the economy ever again.

            The training was mostly done on computers, tests that could easily be passed by an elementary student. They even had a video that bad-mouthed unions. Our first day was fairly easy. We mistakenly came to work on the dayshift, which was very slow. We walked around the store for six hours just touching things and pretending to look concerned at merchandise. The following day we soon realized what this corporation was all about.

            We came in as nightshift stockers and were introduced as new booties at the beginning meeting that was held everyday for stock purposes. At the end of the meeting, not that it matters, but there's a really corny cheer they have the employees do called "the squiggly wiggly," which I thought was ridicule at its height.

            Our first night, they worked us to see where we were at with our health. Being that it was our first real job and our first night, my brother and I purposely kissed ass like mad crazy. We worked fast and clean, and we did it with the most kiss-ass smiles. That was the wrong thing to do because the supervisors saw how fast and hard we were able to work, and placed us in our own departments. My brother was placed in Chemicals and Paper Goods, and I was placed in Pets. Our departments were clear across from each other, and we always talked smack to each other. They would have me stack 50 lb. bags of dog food while I watched my brother stack napkins. The smell in my department was unbearable, but I got used to it.

            I usually finished before my brother, so I always went to help him in his department because by this time he was going mad crazy over his job. Our supervisor gave him a warning that he was working too slowly, and if he couldn't do the job fast enough, they could easily find someone who could. These kinds of threats were made often to all employees who didn't meet their working standards. I never really got mad because I knew that they were only threatening us because they were given threats from someone in a higher position. Wal-Mart is pretty much like society: low positions have to screw over other low positions to move up only with the result of being nowhere near the top.

After a month of modern slavery and getting treated horribly, my brother and I became the worst employees ever. This is why you should never hire former criminals who hate to get messed over. We completely lost all our morals of trying to be good. We'd place merchandise wherever we pleased, ate and drank whatever we wanted, started stealing DVD's and watching them on our breaks in my car. I slept on the job because I found out that my department was actually the best department in that store. Pets were the only department without security cameras. The stock slots for the pet food bags could easily hide you if you were to lie there. Bagged pet food is a hard flat surface but the good thing about that is they make very large bedding for pets that was more comfortable than a lot of human bedding. I'd make my own bed, and either read or fall asleep. I even started to read tabloids and got deep into that “Brangelina” bullsh*&. After four months, my brother finally quit. He couldn't handle the work no more because they completely took advantage of us for being young new booties.

When school began, my schedule interfered with everything. I would go to work from 10pm to 8am and head straight to school from 9am to 2pm. Redbull and I became very close during this time. For two more months, I tried to keep my job and go to school to be somewhat of a good example. That soon changed after I got a new supervisor named Daniel.

Daniel was an assh*&^. If they had a new visual dictionary, his picture would be found next to it. I always sensed he had something against me because he always boasted about me being a student who worked. He would have me finish my department before everyone else just so I could pick up after the other employees who were slacking. One night, I worked four departments, and for a new booty, everyone knew I was one of the fastest workers. My checks were usually spent on my family.   Since my work schedule conflicted with my weekends, I had no social life. There was no point of me spending money.

Still going to school, my professor showed me a documentary on Wal-Mart's corporation called "The Cost of the Low Price." She hated Wal-Mart with a passion (she had no idea I worked there). After watching half of the documentary, I quit, but I quit in the right way. I waited to leave on a day they needed mad help.

Looking back and thinking this out thoroughly, Wal-Mart was the worst place to began my working life. It made me never want a nine to five job ever again.  

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