"My Life as a Retail Worker: Nasty, Brutish, and Poor"

Joseph Williams, a once very successful veteran reporter, writes about the daily struggles that he was encountered with at his job in a sporting-goods retail store in the article, "My Life as a Retail Worker: Nasty, Brutish, and Poor." After being fired from his job and undergoing a series of unfortunate events, Williams finally found employment in a retail store called Sporting Goods Inc. At the time, Williams was basically homeless and living off food stamps, so any sort of paying job was much needed. To his surprise, Williams discovered that working in retail was far worse than he originally expected. For a mere $10 an hour, Williams had to do many unpleasant tasks that were unforeseen when he first got the job, all while losing whatever bit of dignity and freedom he had left. In his article Williams writes, "Of course, I had no idea what a modern retail job demanded. I didn't realize the stamina that would be necessary, the extra, unpaid duties that would be tacked on, or the required disregard for one's own self esteem." He goes on to mention that while working at the store he received little to no respect and he could not even stand up for himself because of fear for losing his job which was barely supporting him. Finally, after spending much time and dedication to a job that was hardly worth it, Williams quit and found a job much more suited for him. Overall, life in the retail world is far worse than one would imagine and yet there is little we can do about it due to today's dire need of employment,