Braum's

[gjl]

I car hopped at Coits on 39th and Penn in 1968 at age 13 for 35 cents an hour plus tips and if you came up short from making change at the end of your shift it came out of your pay. And back them a typical tip might be about 10 cents. And many didn't tip at all.

[jn1780]

On an extended timeline, A minimum wage will never be enough and its because Everyone is greedy. 99% of the time its unintentional. Just people living their lives the best they can.

Our economic system is built on the concept of inflation.

[Pete]

I car hopped at Coits on 39th and Penn in 1968 at age 13 for 35 cents an hour plus tips and if you came up short from making change at the end of your shift it came out of your pay. And back them a typical tip might be about 10 cents. And many didn't tip at all.

My family used to buy our Christmas tree from the Coits lot just to the north, and then we'd all get a frosty mug of Coit's rootbeer afterward. You may have served us in our family's yellow Impala wagon!

Thanks for jogging that great childhood memory.

[bamarsha]

This is such a lazy stereotype. There is a HUGE disparity in real pay and has been widening for decades now. Your take is that people are lazy if they don't wish to work for poverty level wages. People like to cast groups of others as lazy to make themselves feel inherently superior.

Part of people's reliability is the ability to have reliable transportation, to have good healthcare to stay healthy and available, to afford childcare on days their kids have to be at home, to be able to miss days to see their kid's teachers, to take time off to take their sick kids to the doctor (assuming they could afford one at those wages), and on, and on, and on.

Then there is the issue of training. Working adults have been passed through a flawed educational system and wind up not having adequate skills to do many basic jobs, and employers regularly fail to give them more than the very basic training to do the job. There is a reason why Chick-fi-a does better than most... because they train better than most, and pay better than most. Training for customer service falls somewhere behind training where the mop is to clean the bathrooms.

If businesses can't pay a living wage and make a profit, then they either are bad business people or the buying public doesn't value their product enough to pay a fair price with it. Being able to eat out is not a RIGHT. If you can't sell a product that makes a profit, think about the business you are in and the product's value.

Not exactly. My take is that you can’t expect to have no skills and expect to make over $50k or whatever you think everyone should make. If you don’t work hard, learn skills, and move up (rather that be into fast food management, outside of the industry, or whatever). Don’t expect to barely contribute to society and make bank, especially from the start. The entire point of working hard and being reliable is to move up and make more money. You shouldn’t get rewarded for being lazy and not trying, as the expectation is today.

I have a lot more to say on this issue, but it is diverging even further off the topic of Braum’s (at least Braum’s is relevant to fast food workers). Is there another thread for the living wage and/or minimum wage topic itself?

[kukblue1]

I just guess I'm too old to understand all this. Back in my day fast food jobs were just for people looking to make a little income during the day. Mom's would work the morning or lunch shift when kids were in school and than the kids would come in at night looking for money for a car and to hang with friends. Somehow these jobs have now become a career choice and people are expected to live a good live off fast food jobs. Back in 2019 the Bruam's I worked at started people at $10 an hour.

[The]

Not exactly. My take is that you can’t expect to have no skills and expect to make over $50k or whatever you think everyone should make. If you don’t work hard, learn skills, and move up (rather that be into fast food management, outside of the industry, or whatever). Don’t expect to barely contribute to society and make bank, especially from the start. The entire point of working hard and being reliable is to move up and make more money. You shouldn’t get rewarded for being lazy and not trying, as the expectation is today.

I have a lot more to say on this issue, but it is diverging even further off the topic of Braum’s (at least Braum’s is relevant to fast food workers). Is there another thread for the living wage and/or minimum wage topic itself?

Your other post said don't expect to be living large like a movie star and then you're trashing the expectation to earn $50,000/year. You'll get no argument from me that hard work should be rewarded and laziness should not, but please be serious. Expecting to earn a wage you can live off should be the bare minimum.

[gjl]

A minimum wage job should never be expected to be a livable wage for a single person.

[Plutonic Panda]

A minimum wage job should never be expected to be a livable wage for a single person.

Lol yes it should.

[Rover]

A minimum wage job should never be expected to be a livable wage for a single person.

Working full time at a job should provide a livable wage… period. At least when a commercial venture is employing them with the purpose of making profits off their labor.

[gjl]

I'm still waiting for someone to give me a verifiable commercial venture that is starting someone at minimum wage (7.25/hr) in OKC for full time employment.

[bison34]

I'm still waiting for someone to give me a verifiable commercial venture that is starting someone at minimum wage (7.25/hr) in OKC for full time employment.

You won't find it, because I highly doubt it happens. Too much competition for $7.25/hr in OKC for full-time work.

[barrettd]

My family used to buy our Christmas tree from the Coits lot just to the north, and then we'd all get a frosty mug of Coit's rootbeer afterward. You may have served us in our family's yellow Impala wagon!

Thanks for jogging that great childhood memory.

Same here, we always got our tree at Coit's. Also, I miss their root beer whips. Those were amazing. But those frosty mugs of root beer were such a treat.

[Jeepnokc]

Working full time at a job should provide a livable wage… period. At least when a commercial venture is employing them with the purpose of making profits off their labor.

What is a livable wage? Does that include a car? A cell phone? Living without roommates in your own apartment versus renting a room? Living downtown versus a cheaper area of town? The ability to support 2 kids and a stay at home wife? Does it change if you continue to procreate? A livable wage will different for different locations. It is an elusive target.

[gjl]

To get this somewhat back on topic. I already said Indeed has the average Braums hourly rate at $15.46/hr. That is more than twice the minimum. Is that a livable wage? Is that enough to get conscientious employers that show up for work on time every day and do their job and maybe help keep the dining area clean?

[zefferoni]

A minimum wage job should never be expected to be a livable wage for a single person.

You're technically right, in that it - by definition - is supposed to be better than a livable wage. at least based on FDR's intention when he called for a minimum wage to be created in the United States.

In my Inaugural, I laid down the simple proposition that nobody is going to starve in this country. It seems to me to be equally plain that no business which depends for existence on paying less than living wages to its workers has any right to continue in this country. By "business" I mean the whole of commerce as well as the whole of industry; by workers I mean all workers, the white collar class as well as the men in overalls; and by living wages, I mean more than a bare subsistence level-I mean the wages of decent living. Throughout industry, the change from starvation wages and starvation employment to living wages and sustained employment can, in large part, be made by an industrial covenant to which all employers shall subscribe.

[BoulderSooner]

What is a livable wage? Does that include a car? A cell phone? Living without roommates in your own apartment versus renting a room? Living downtown versus a cheaper area of town? The ability to support 2 kids and a stay at home wife? Does it change if you continue to procreate? A livable wage will different for different locations. It is an elusive target.

and that is by design ...

all in the name of equity .... lol

[bamarsha]

Your other post said don't expect to be living large like a movie star and then you're trashing the expectation to earn $50,000/year. You'll get no argument from me that hard work should be rewarded and laziness should not, but please be serious. Expecting to earn a wage you can live off should be the bare minimum.

What do you even mean by "please be serious"? I said one can't expect to live large like a movie star when you are not willing to even work hard enough to make $50k. Everyone can't live the movie star lifestyle, even if you work hard and make over $100k... that takes $millions. People need to chill their expectations on what a "livable wage" is... it is NOT a movie star life style. Even the more moderates can't seriously expect a no skill fast food worker to make the same as doctors and lawyers (or be able to live the same lifestyle). If you don't think that is serious, then please explain what serious is.

[oklip955]

I just guess I'm too old to understand all this. Back in my day fast food jobs were just for people looking to make a little income during the day. Mom's would work the morning or lunch shift when kids were in school and than the kids would come in at night looking for money for a car and to hang with friends. Somehow these jobs have now become a career choice and people are expected to live a good live off fast food jobs. Back in 2019 the Bruam's I worked at started people at $10 an hour.

Agree, they were for folks trying to make some extra money, never intended to support a person. They were for high school/college kids, stay at home moms that wanted some extra money/get out of the house for a few hours a day, retired folks that wanted/needed some extra money. How the world has changed.

[citywokchinesefood]

What do you even mean by "please be serious"? I said one can't expect to live large like a movie star when you are not willing to even work hard enough to make $50k. Everyone can't live the movie star lifestyle, even if you work hard and make over $100k... that takes $millions. People need to chill their expectations on what a "livable wage" is... it is NOT a movie star life style. Even the more moderates can't seriously expect a no skill fast food worker to make the same as doctors and lawyers (or be able to live the same lifestyle). If you don't think that is serious, then please explain what serious is.

Implying that people that make less than 50k a year don't work hard is perhaps the most ignorant thing I have ever seen written on this forum. How much you make does not imply how hard you work at all. Go work ag on a farm and tell me that they aren't working hard enough and that's why they aren't making more. Arguing against the expectation someone working 40 hours a week in a job can make a living and get by is despicable. You should honestly be ashamed of yourself and seriously reconsider how you value the work of others. Nobody here is arguing that they should live "the movie star lifestyle." The expectation they can house themselves, are food secure, and have access to health care and education opportunities is a bridge too far for you apparently.

[TheTravellers]

Agree, they were for folks trying to make some extra money, never intended to support a person. They were for high school/college kids, stay at home moms that wanted some extra money/get out of the house for a few hours a day, retired folks that wanted/needed some extra money. How the world has changed.

Capitalism on steroids, run amok.

[OkieBerto]

Not exactly. My take is that you can’t expect to have no skills and expect to make over $50k or whatever you think everyone should make. If you don’t work hard, learn skills, and move up (rather that be into fast food management, outside of the industry, or whatever). Don’t expect to barely contribute to society and make bank, especially from the start. The entire point of working hard and being reliable is to move up and make more money. You shouldn’t get rewarded for being lazy and not trying, as the expectation is today.

I have a lot more to say on this issue, but it is diverging even further off the topic of Braum’s (at least Braum’s is relevant to fast food workers). Is there another thread for the living wage and/or minimum wage topic itself?

Here is a new thread for this issue if you all want to continue the conversation!

[Dob Hooligan]

To get this somewhat back on topic. I already said Indeed has the average Braums hourly rate at $15.46/hr. That is more than twice the minimum. Is that a livable wage? Is that enough to get conscientious employers that show up for work on time every day and do their job and maybe help keep the dining area clean?

Not really. Looks like it equals about $3.50 in 1980, when the minimum wage was $3.10.

People aren't lazy and entitled today. I don't believe that for a minute.

And I don't believe Braum's dining areas are filth filled wastelands. There might be times when they are busy and not every table has been immediately cleaned, but they are not ignoring tables on a regular basis.

I have started comparing the age of fast food restaurants I visit within the last week. Grandy's are ancient and worn out. Burger King and Carl's Jr. aren't far behind. Sonic, McDonald's, Wendy's and Arby's are usually updated and clean enough, even when they aren't less than 5 years old. Braum's Seem to be generally less than 20 years old, and they all appear to be kept up. Chick-Fil-A are well kept, but I don't think we have any in the area that are over 20-25 years old?

[Dob Hooligan]

To get this somewhat back on topic. I already said Indeed has the average Braums hourly rate at $15.46/hr. That is more than twice the minimum. Is that a livable wage? Is that enough to get conscientious employers that show up for work on time every day and do their job and maybe help keep the dining area clean?

Not really. Looks like it equals about $3.50 in 1980, when the minimum wage was $3.10.

People aren't lazy and entitled today. I don't believe that for a minute.

And I don't believe Braum's dining areas are filth filled wastelands. There might be times when they are busy and not every table has been immediately cleaned, but they are not ignoring tables on a regular basis.

I have started comparing the age of fast food restaurants I visit within the last week. Grandy's are ancient and worn out. Burger King and Carl's Jr. aren't far behind. Sonic, McDonald's, Wendy's and Arby's are usually updated and clean enough, even when they aren't less than 5 years old. Braum's Seem to be generally less than 20 years old, and they all appear to be kept up. Chick-Fil-A are well kept, but I don't think we have any in the area that are over 20-25 years old?

[OkieBerto]

Implying that people that make less than 50k a year don't work hard is perhaps the most ignorant thing I have ever seen written on this forum. How much you make does not imply how hard you work at all. Go work ag on a farm and tell me that they aren't working hard enough and that's why they aren't making more. Arguing against the expectation someone working 40 hours a week in a job can make a living and get by is despicable. You should honestly be ashamed of yourself and seriously reconsider how you value the work of others. Nobody here is arguing that they should live "the movie star lifestyle." The expectation they can house themselves, are food secure, and have access to health care and education opportunities is a bridge too far for you apparently.

Exactly! There is a lot of ignorant statements on this thread. The people they are speaking of literally keep Americans fed. Regardless of it being fast food, these people work really hard and rarely get treated with kindness.

[OkieBerto]

Getting back to Braums. My Co-worker took some friends from out of town to the Braums on Memorial and MacArthur. His God son had never been. They all loved it and said the place was busy at 830pm in the evening and it was clean with good service.