Things I learned from the Lower Middle Class

Here are some little factoids I have learned so far in my sojourn from a comfy upper middle class lifestyle to a high-stress, depressing lower middle class lifestyle.

If you don't want to be laid off from your retail job, DON'T:

-take a job as seasonal staff and then call in sick on Thanksgiving Day, even if you really are sick
-sit down for any reason while on the clock
-linger for too long in any one place; keep moving and looking busy
-refuse overtime or you will be perceived as not sharing in the "company vision" (or at the least, be persecuted by your supervisors)
-spend too much time in the bathroom, or go to the bathroom more than once in the span of fours hours, unless you want your managers to start asking questions


If you want to get a good recommendation from your employers, DON'T:

-be late for any reason, even if your train was burning up in the subway
-call off of work unless you're passing out from fever or limping, or bleeding internally, or possibly throwing up
-allow your job status/title and the mind-numbing boredom set in to your psyche, lest you be perceived as sluggish

Also, DON'T:

-bother caring about the way you dress or your appearance in general. The people you serve, as well as your supervisors, look at you so rarely that there's a good chance no one will notice that you haven't washed your uniform in weeks
-even dream of buying new clothes. Nobody cares what you wear because nobody is looking at you to see what you are wearing, and why invest in new clothes when you wear the same bedraggled uniform day in and day out, the same exact uniform that three former employees of the company wore before you?
-spend money on anything other than survival, unless you want to be begging from people by the end of the month
-let on that you have more education than your managers
-expect to be treated equally as a female in the male dominated workforce

...this is just the beginning. More to come.