The Fee Hand of the Market, Union Yes Dept. 0

On the way down the road, I stopped at a convenience store to pick up a soda (pop if you are west of the Mississippi) and a newspaper. The store was not a corporate outlet, but one of the gas company travelmart franchise type thingees.

The clerk was a very pleasant young lady (and by young I mean she looked high school age) who helped me find where they hid the paper I was looking for. When we got back to the checkout, she noticed her time slip lying on the counter and mentioned that she was working clocked out. Though speaking lightly, she was clearly disturbed.

I said, “You mean you aren’t being paid?”

She said, “No, we’ve been so busy the manager has been holding me over after I clock out. This is the third time since Wednesday.”

I said, “That’s illegal. Call your Congressman and find out where to report it.” We talked a little more, but that was the substance of the conversation.

We need regulations (and unions), because, left unregulated, American business will even take advantage of children to pad its pockets.

(Her Congressman is, unfortunately, a Republican in the pocket of big business, but that’s another story.)