Let's Talk About It

Wages, Worth, And Work

• Derick

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A single letter can capture an entire system. Angie writes from Kansas, where she earns $7.25 an hour at Dollar Tree, and her questions cut to the bone: why do prices rise while pay stays stuck, and why do executives collect bonuses while stores struggle to keep staff? We take her story piece by piece, laying out the lived reality of short breaks, rotating schedules, and the feeling of being “just a number,” then stack it against the scale and profits of a national retailer.

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SPEAKER_02:

At it from the moment that I felt my first one never giving up the joke. I took the risk like a bullet proof. Shots in my heart, but it is the truth. Very little thing I do like a tattoo. Just like a tattoo. Just like a tattoo. I can have a be worth the game. Always like a dad. Like a battery every time. I let you get up on the most.

SPEAKER_00:

We're gonna get started in a minute, y'all. Let y'all be.

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If I am love, love is like I need you more than I would make. Please be kind of me, baby. Like a weapon, you slay me forever. Connected like a tattoo. Just like a tattoo. I'll always have you.

SPEAKER_00:

Alright.

SPEAKER_02:

Just like a tattoo. I'll always have you.

SPEAKER_00:

Alright, y'all. How's everybody doing out there? Y'all doing alright? Ooh, I ain't been back on here in a minute, but I've been trying to float around with some different platforms, but I'm back. Wanna welcome y'all to the show. I am Icon. The show is called Let's Talk About It. Hopefully everybody's doing good out there today. I'm doing fantastic. Oh, just been a long week, long work week, and you know, just trying to get my shit together. But it's all good. So I know that I have been posting shows on Buzzcast, but shows are still up on the site. Um, like I said, I've been experimenting with some different um platforms, but nobody treats me better than Buzzcast, so hey, I'm back. In any event, um we got uh show today. Um just a young lady complaining about the work life, you know. Seems like as an average person as myself, seems like the more money you make, like the more hold on, let me how can I say this? The more money you make, it seems like the cost of living is just definitely going up everywhere. So it's nothing that can be it can be controlled, but since we have this idiot of an asshole president in the White House, um, I guess things are gonna get any better because I remember back in my day, um things were a lot better. But as this world evolves and the need and demand for you know things that we just can't live without, like technology and everything else, so but my listener today wrote a letter, she goes by the name Angie, and not sure what I can touch on, but I'll just try to do my best with this one. So she's just experiencing, I mean, we all experience that part of corporate greed, and I really don't work for a lot of big name name companies. I the job that I work now is like a uh it's owned by a family, and that's the kind of work that I like to do because I think they pay more attention to you than a corporation will, because at a corporation, depending on what company that you work with, you're just a number. And sorry to say that, but and I haven't really worked in a lot of places where you're not considered a number that you can actually be considered family, but this place that I work at now, I mean, it's a small outfit, they treat their employees right and they treat their people right. So without further ado, we are going to get into this letter. This one is entitled So Much Greed, and it's coming from a listener by the name of Angie. Without further ado, let's get into it, shall we? Hello, icon. My name for this letter I will call myself Angie. Though I feel that you may or may not know me, but I hope that this letter or your show will reach someone in the corporate offices. You see, I work for a company that is not only a multi-billion dollar company, but I feel that it's just centered around corporate greed. And I feel that I could talk about it and maybe, just maybe, this will reach the powers that be. And hopefully they will take it into consideration what employees do for this company as well as others. But I work for Dollar Tree, though at times I feel that it's a good company to work for, but the pay is just horrible. I don't understand why locations in Kansas are still open because we are paid the minimum wage in Kansas, which is$7.25 an hour. Yes, make that make sense. This company can't afford to pay us better, but instead they choose to pay us this type of wage. I don't understand and I don't understand how and why they're allowed to operate like this. But as long as they do, this company will continue to have issues with employing people. At best, most of the companies I work for to give you 15 minutes. By the time you punch out and take a seat, then a minute later you're punching right back in. So I do like this company, but I feel like just I feel like But I feel that just like what happened to Lamar's can happen here as well as Hardy's. But I'm not suggesting anything like that. I'm not even organizing anything like that. But I have heard some that I've I've I've heard from some that have been that have been with this company talking about how this company doesn't appreciate their employees. So I while while I'm not business savvy, but I can tell you that from this company has that this company has a board, then why should the board get the full benefit of the company when hard people like me make this company turn every single day? Why is it that the work we do why why is it that the work we do is as but still get talked down like we're less than? Why is that when a DM comes to our store nothing ever positive, it's always negative? Why is that when we give our all to a company I feel so underappreciative? You know, Icon, I didn't graduate from high school, but that was my decision. Though my life isn't the best, I don't blame anyone for the way my life has turned out. Because I'm still working on me, I'm 25 years old with no kids, I'm not married, but I do have a boyfriend. And though DT is my side hustle, I also work for a competitor at the retail, well, it's a warehouse job. Because let's be really clear, DT has issues, and though also I also work for DG. DT is Dollar Tree, DG is Dollar G is Dollar General. I think by far, I think by far they're both the worst, but I don't understand how in the hell or why in the hell we are paid so low, but the CEO or the board gets bonuses, and most of them get a six-figure salary. What I also understand is that most of them don't even shop in a place like this because why? I guess they don't want to mingle with common folk like me. Sometimes I wish that they would res resurrect that show undercover boss. I'm not sure if it would do any good because there are a lot of companies that really cater to their employees and want to make sure their company is building is built is built, is holding true to its core values. I often wonder what would happen if one day employees have to show up because of this company's pay scale and what impact it would have on them. Before you ask, I have contacted the the CO, corporate office, and voiced my concerns about fair pay, and not only does it fall on deaf ears. Icon, I have called over three times and even shared what's my concern with my DM. But again, it seems like we won't be taken seriously. I'm not suggesting we do anything drastic, but what other way is there for us to be taken seriously? I'm not new to this company, I've been here for about a year, and though I really enjoy the work here is because of the customers I get to interact with. And for me it's just that the best part of being in this job. I definitely enjoy the people because I don't know, I just enjoy the social interaction with helping customers. Especially our regulars. Though most of them share my concerns, they say they're just talking. They say that that just talking to them first and then you have to take a drastic approach, whatever that is. But I get the feeling I understand what they're trying to say. Icon, do you think they'll listen? Do you think that do you think they'll listen if I continue to advocate for better pay? Not just with this location, but I understand that the minimum wage is statewide. But I also understand that some locations don't do the amount of money we do. Again, Icon, may I maybe know half of what goes in the cost of a business run. But I still feel like it's enough money for locations like this one to be paid a fair wage. Answer me this: why is it when prices increase our wages don't? Because to me that definitely sounds like corporate greed. You know, I'm not gonna say that that it's the it's the dumbass in the White House, but but I don't think that it's all because he's just an idiot. But I know that they're that they are trying to stay competitive with the other big box retail, and so far I understand that as well. The purpose of this email is to raise awareness and that companies should pay more attention to their employees and that they should um they should pay us better because we're the ones that really go through the fire, literally so. I'm not suggesting that DT is bad because there are some that are far worse. I just want to make sure that this doesn't fall on deaf ears. I don't know if this is a good or a bad thing, but I'm just looking for a solution. Signed underpaid Kansas. So this letter is just basically saying that Dollar Tree is a multi-billion dollar company. Multi-billion dollar companies not only Dollar Tree do this, but well, I don't know because this is the only company that I know that are paying these customers these kind of wages. So in Kansas and along with 19 under 19 or 18 other states, the minimum wage is literally$7.25 an hour. How can anybody make any money living off that kind of wage? And I know it's a side hustle, but hell, even the side hustle, you have to find another side hustle just to make ends meet. So not only do you have your main job, but you have to have like two side hustles to kind of balance things out. And I remember back in the day, it was never like this. It was never like this. We would work one job, and that one job would set us up. But as I said, as time goes on, as the world changes, you know, and corporate greed just kind of takes over. Because as we can see, is that you know, the idiot in the White House is basically enriching his friends. It's like the poor stay poor and the rich get richer. I don't consider my someone myself as being poor. I'm somewhere in the middle, but kind of leaning towards the poor side because let's just face it, it's hard. It's hard. You know, it's hard raising a family on my wage, and I'm just and I'm the single person income here because I don't like I said, I lost my wife, and um and it's just me. But I get it. I get what this person, I get what Angie is trying to say. I think that it's just that it's just bad. So I think that I appreciate the letter, and who knows, maybe there's somebody at that would listen to this, but I'm not gonna hold my breath because I've seen things like this time and time again, you know. These multi-b now that comes, and I'm I'm with me, I'm with Miss Angie on this. Why does a company have a board that gets so much bonuses when they don't really do the heavy lifting? Yeah, and I know what everybody's gonna say. Well, you know, there's they gotta go out and do this, they gotta go out and do that, they gotta go out and you know, they're scouting for new properties, but let's be really clear. We are the ones that make the company go around, we are the ones that is out here doing the hard job that they're not gonna do. And I know that people call them pencil pushers because that's pretty much what they do in the corporate world. And I'm not saying all companies are like this, I'm really not. You know, you have some companies that are really hands-on. I think the show Undercover Boss was a good show, it was a good premise, but I think that in the end, I think maybe half of them did what they said they were gonna do, and the other half kind of just did it for the the publicity of the show, you know, to drive business to the show, to say, oh, we're doing this, you know, come invest in us, come and make our product, I mean, come and buy our product because we know how to treat our employees right. Well, do you though? Do you? I mean back in my day, we worked a second job just to work a second job. It wasn't no side hustle money or nothing like that. We just did it because hell we can do it. I mean, times have changed so drastically now that it seems like the less money you make, the more problems you get. And let's be real clear about that, because the money that you're getting now is basically just not even enough to do anything with. I mean, I'm not even sure who's who could survive on$725 an hour, and it's a shame that some states and I get the states have to set the minimum, you know, wage for the for the people to be paid. But if you're a multi billion dollar company like Dollar Tree, who makes I think their revenue was like oh, I had their revenue here. Hold on, let me see if I can find it. And it's just bad, you know? Okay, so Dollar Tree is a Fortune 500 company that operates fifteen thousand one hundred and fifteen stores throughout forty-eight contingents continuous US and state United States and Canada. Now, this company which is valued at according to well shoot. I don't think these stats are good. We're gonna go with these stats anyways. Um 25.5 billion dollars. Make that make sense. So operating income is at 1.87 billion, net income is at 1.3 billion, total assets is at 20.6 billion. So I don't understand, even with it being in the billions and not the millions, it seems like there's a lot of room for a company to pay their employees a fair decent wage. I'm not saying they need to break the bank and we need to make four figures a week. I mean, though that would be nice, but let's be honest, this company is raising prices, so it's not really a Dollar Tree store anymore because prices are going up and they're trying to stay competitive with you know places like Walmart and Target, which I'm not even sure why, because they're not even in the same lane or the same league as Target or Walmart, because Dollar Tree was a store that you could go into, well, start off as a dollar, and we knew that um there were gonna be some price increases, so it started off as a dollar and then it went up to a dollar twenty-five. Well, dollar twenty-five is still manageable. Now, considering the fact that you can get everything there from food to housewares to cleaning supplies to storage containers, and you know, they were the they're they're the premier go-to store for when you need to get like you were in a gym. I mean, let's be honest. Now there's an increase of more people shopping at stores like this because not only is it cheaper, but you can get your money's worth out of it. And I'm not saying that that's a bad thing, but I don't really think they took a huge hit when it came to the price increase. I think business kind of slowed down some, but let's be real clear, they're still doing good because most locations that I know um have their food, and you can go in there and get like rice and tuna and stuff, and that's the thing, everything was the same set price, it was at a dollar twenty-five. So, give me a second, I gotta get my drink. So, you gotta wonder companies like this, what is the end game? Now, she said she touched on Lamar's. There was a donut store, a donut uh donut shop called Lamar's Donuts, and everybody was I think had enough of this company because Lamar's decided they wanted to pay their people like minimum wage too. Well, one weekend, and this was back in I think 2021, they employees had enough. They said, The hell with this, we're not doing this anymore. So corporate had to come down from I think it was Denver, Colorado. They came down and they got the store up and running, they got it up and running by Sunday. Now, to me, it's a hard lesson to learn, but I think that's what should happen. I think that's what should have happened because I think sometimes corporate is out of touch with their people. I think corporate when you're sitting behind a desk and you're not really in tune of what you're not really in tune with the people that make your company go round. I mean, anybody can sit back and point fingers and bark orders and tell somebody to do this or do that, but unless you're physically on the ground, meeting people, talking to people, you know, trying to make sure your your crew is okay, what good are you? What good is a company? And I get it. They can't ever not not not not not a CEO can't do that. I get that, I understand that. I get that, but and that's I think what the problem is, is when these companies get too damn big, there's too many chiefs and not enough Indians. So when companies get bigger and bigger, so of course a CEO can't go around and meet everybody at the store. I get it, because if he did something like that, he would probably never get anything done. I get it, I understand it. But I think that there has to be some kind of incentive, you know. When you give an employee an incentive and a motive or a good reason to come to work, then they're a happy worker. But if you give them a wage that they can't survive off of or they can't feed their family off of, then how are you gonna let your company how are you gonna let this this location thrive? How are you gonna keep telling people that oh well we're here to make we're here to make our company better, but we want to make sure our employees are treated fairly. Well, your employees are not treated fairly because they don't make a good wage. They make$7.25 an hour.$7.25 an hour. Who in the hell could live off of that? I don't even think my cat could live off that. Jeez, and the cat don't even pay rent. But I'm not discrediting Dollar Tree because I think Dollar Tree and companies like Dollar Tree, there's a lot of room to improve. And I think what this lady is trying to say is that even if they took off for one day, and I'm not saying that they're gonna strike or anything like that, but if they took off for one day, that would really hurt the company. Now, depending on what locations do it, but that would hurt nationwide. Because why? I mean, you can't let's say hypothetically that almost see they have 15,000 stores. Let's say half of that, and that half of them took off. Do you think they can actually fill those stores? Fill those fill those stores with employees and within a matter of within one day? No, they can't. They can't. So I think what Angie's trying to say is that she prays and hope that somebody's listening to this podcast because not only should there be an increase of pay, but you are a company that's worth billions, not millions, billions, billions, billions, billions, and billions of dollars. Now we won't see a dime of that money. Why? Because we're only gonna see like maybe two or three hundred of that, and that's not really much. But I think when you incentivize an employee to come to work and you give them a good reason to come to work, then they come to work happy. You know, my main job is hands down one of the best jobs I've worked for in a long time, and I've had some shitty ones, but I would say that I would say that this is by far the best job I've worked for because not only do this does this company I work for um take care of their employees, but they look out for us, you know. When we have snow days, when we have downtime, you know, there's compensation for that, and that's a good thing, that's the way it should be with companies. But then again, I'm in transportation, so I'm not you know in the retail aspect of it, so I get that, but they treat their they treat their employees really, really good, and that's all I can ask for. Now, as far as a side hustle, I've had some shitty side hustles. I I really have. You know, I worked at Dollar General, you know, Dollar General, which I thought was and it's funny because when you go to these jobs, you think these companies are like really invested in their employees, but it comes to find out that some of them are, and some really just don't give a damn. They only care about you filling that position and then you going in there and trying to make their company better. But when you make their company better, should there be some kind of war for that? I think there should, but is it always gonna be notice? It's not, it's gonna go unnoticed nine-tenths of the time. And it only goes notice if you know it's get put on TikTok or Facebook or Instagram or whatever, you know, and that's sad. That's sad. Why should it take somebody like that to get noticed when you have stars in your company already? I'm not saying it needs to be an everyday thing, but if you have good employees at your store that work at your store, you should take the time to invest in them. Take the time to understand and say, well, hey, what can we do that's different that you want to see us do to improve employee morale here? And I get it, you know, we can't all and they can't always go to these locations, but I think where they should start is that they should hold these meetings. And I think that they should that as employees, we should be able to voice our concerns, and the company should be taking a look at it. Because if it's falling on deaf ears, that's like the open door policy. Now, sometimes the open door policy is good, sometimes it just ain't really worth it, damn. Because I was with a company that had an open door policy, and they went right back and told the damn employee about themselves. And I was like, I thought you had an open door policy because I thought open door meant, you know, you come and you talk to us, and then we keep it here, and then we do our investigation, or we try to figure out how to make things better. Not you go tell this person, you go tell that person, then it gets back to them saying, Well, this person said this about you. It's not open door policy, that's just you being petty as hell. And I worked for a company like that. That was freaking ridiculous. Ridiculous. They start these companies with the intention of, you know, we're gonna do right by people. We're gonna do, we're gonna make this company one of the best companies in the world. And I'm not saying it's not the best company in the world, I'm saying that where the ball got dropped is that either, because you gotta figure when people, when the people that start these companies, they have the the they have the mindset of they want to make the world a better place, they want to make sure their employees are taken care of. Well, when the owner or somebody dies, then that sort of gets lost in translation because over time it gets distorted, it gets distorted over time and over years, and then we they kind of lose sight of the bigger picture. They say, Well, we're still at our core values. No, you're not, you're not. How are you at your core values when you're not doing what the original owner intended to for this company? Now, I was reading um about um the co-owner, Megan Brock, I think that's his name, but he started this company. Um the first Dollar Tree branded store opened in Jasmine Mall in Sumner, South Carolina in May of 1989. And this guy had a vision, a vision that he wanted to make, you know, change. He wanted to do something good in the world before he left the world, and I think he did that. But I think somewhere down the lines, his vision kind of like not really dwindled or phased out, but you know, when you have CEOs come in and they kind of change things up and doing this, that, and the other, well, they still want to hold true to his core values, and anybody can talk about anybody's core values, it's the fact that you're not living up to the core values, it's the fact that you're saying, Well, yes, we are, and like I said, there's no shade, there's no disrespect to nobody like that. Because as we see over time, that when you work for companies like this, and it started off good back in the day, it was a good company, but as time grows and grows and grows, it kind of gets lost in translation, it starts fading away. Though we say that the owner had this intention, but that's fine, but you're not living up to those intentions because if you were, surely if this owner was alive today, I think things would be a little bit more different. Now, here's the thing Walmart, um Walmart and Target seemed to jump the gun. They didn't really jump the gun, but they kind of figured when they seen all this stuff happening with other companies and people walking out and this, that, and the other. Well, they kind of got a handle on it, they got a handle on it, and they wanted to make sure that their employees are taken care of. Now, I do give Walmart credit where credit is due. I think Walmart is a good company, still kind of big for me. I think they're a good company, but I think they're just too big for the brand. And what I mean by that is that they're they're a conglomerate, they're they're a big brand. Well, I can't really say anything that bad about Walmart because even though I worked for them and I got fired by them, I think they're still a pretty good company. Now, and I know what I didn't touch on is that what Angie was saying is that stores in different areas of the world, your revenue is going to be different. So while I think that the pay should be I can't really say based off the revenue of the store, because then you probably wouldn't get you probably wouldn't get the kind of pay. But I think if there's wiggle room to do so, because as I understand it, is that the highest minimum wage is in Washington, it's at$17.13 an hour. New York is at$17. Jesus. But I'm not saying that these these companies actually pay that wage. I think that that's what the state set the minimum wage at. But just because they set it at the minimum wage doesn't necessarily mean you have to pay people like that. If you're a multi-billion dollar company, why should you not pay these people what they're worth? Why shouldn't you? It makes no sense to me. Really doesn't. But you save money, but you throw so much merchandise away on a daily basis. You know, Dollar General was notorious for this. They would um, like their seasonal stuff, they wouldn't sell it, they would discount some of it, but if they have an over if they had an overstock of it or an influx of it, they would just trash it, not donate it, not give it away to anybody or let the employees buy it, they would just trash it. That is ridiculous. But you're talking about you're trying to save money, you want to save money, but you go and do some shit like that. I don't understand that. I don't get it. That makes no sense to me. Why in God's name would you and I mean they were throwing away good shit, they were throwing away like blankets, uh seasonal blankets, like candy, toys, and you know, stuff like nothing like, and then here's the thing you couldn't go get a dumpster dive later because the the what they have was a compactor, so you couldn't even get into the compactor, so it didn't matter if you try to go and get it, it's already gone. And then the manager would be the one that has to lock it up, and you couldn't really get nothing out of it. So miss me with that because companies obviously say, Well, we're trying to save money, we're trying to do this and that. Now, I do understand that Walmart, um, Target, and probably some of the other stores that I've worked for, or not worked for, but work will deliver merchandise to, they would donate. Like, if the food was going to expire within about a week, then they would donate it. That's cool, that's good, that's good. But you can't tell me that you're trying to save money when you're throwing away good merchandise and you're not letting your employees either have first dibs on it or you're not really doing anything with it, you're just throwing the shit in the trash. And I know it's probably a big tax write-off, but I don't understand that neither. Here's the thing if places like Dollar Tree and Dollar General, and probably some of these other small places would just take the time to understand their employees, and I'm not saying that they all don't do that, but there are some that do, and there's some that don't. So I think if you take the time to understand your employees and try to get to understand them and try to make their jobs a little bit more better, I think it would go a lot further. Because let's be honest with you Dollar General, Dollar Tree, and probably some of these other small places, it's like a revolving door. When you bring people in the door and you tell them what the job is, yeah, they're excited to work. Oh, yeah, we're gonna do this, this, that, and the other. But then when they get the job, they're like, Well, wait a minute, this ain't nothing like the shit you just said, and then they're gone, they're gone. So I'm trying to think because I had an example for you, but I I lost it. In any event, I think that when these people come in the door and they're amped, and they're so excited to work for this company or your company, they're excited to be there to do the job. But they can't effectively do the job now, can you, if they don't get the right amount of pay? And most places now don't even make you wait the whole 90 days. If you come in the door, well, within 30 days, there's an evaluation, there's one raise, then you get another 30 days, there's another evaluation. So at the end of that 90 days, then if you're progressing and doing the work that is asked of you, then you're progressing, then you're getting the money that you deserve. So, while I understand, but then again, at the same time, I kind of don't understand why companies perform this way. I think it's all about American corporate greed. I think that's exactly what it is. And again, I'm not saying all companies do this because there's a lot of companies out there that really take care of their employees. There's a lot of companies out there that say, Well, we want to make sure our employees are happy. When they're happy, we're happy, and they're just not worried about the customer, they're wanting they want their employees to feel like they have a place they can work at and that they can just be proud of where they were. Because let's be honest. My main job, I love it. Oh my god, I love it. I freaking love this job. I was trying to figure out how come I hadn't been here long, how come I didn't know. About this job, but I love it. I mean, I wake up every morning, I'm so happy to go to work, and I love what I do, I really do. And that's a good feeling that you should have when you're going to work. Not going to work, oh you know, I'm not gonna get this or the money. And you and you know, like I said, it's a revolving door. What companies don't understand it costs more to hire people than to pay people. Why not pay the people that you that you already have working for you and keep them happy? And the relationship can be like a marriage, it can last forever. Well, some people's marriages. But I don't think in this letter that Andy's trying to say that something's going to happen. I think ultimately in the end, something quick is going to happen because we see that I don't know if any of you guys know about Hardy's. Hardy went belly up, they were here today and gone tomorrow. There's a location in Blue Springs, Missouri, that customers walked in there and there was nobody there. There was nobody there. Why is that? Because when these companies play these ridiculous wages, y'all don't understand. I've yet to see any corporate person, and I don't and I get it. Some people in the corporate world can say they started at a Dollar Tree, some can say that. But how do we know that? You can just be telling me that, and that's just something that we want to hear, or you could be taking somebody else's backstory and making it your own. I'm not saying that didn't happen, but the last time I worked for Walmart in the store manager that I worked for, which was cool at the time, but he was an asshole when he started off. But he had pictures to back his claim up. He said, I started at Walmart, and I mean he had the whole Polaroids. I mean, back then we didn't have digital phones, he had the whole Polaroids. It showed him in the truck. I was like, okay, yeah, so we can get behind this guy. Yeah, we can really do this, we can make this shit work. But he had the proof and evidence to back it up. When you do that, and you understand that this person has sacrificed something for your company, then you want to try to be like that person because you want to be invested in the company as much as the company's invested in you, and that's all I wanted. But companies today, and I know some people are like, well, why don't they owe union? Union doesn't always work in small companies like this, it really doesn't. Unions are good for auto workers, pipe fitting, or you know, construction jobs. That's a guaranteed contract, right there. That's guaranteed money. But a union in a place like this doesn't make any sense because not only you got to pay somebody to talk to you, but you got to pay union dues. I'm not with that. I was never a union guy. I'm not shading anybody for a union because union works in some of these big companies, like in the automotive industry, the pipe fitting, the um whatever. I don't really know that much about unions, but I think that in order for your companies to succeed, you should first pay attention to your employees. If you pay attention to your employees and understand that the needs and the wants they have and that they need to live better, they can't they're they're probably not gonna ever live like you, but they can get somewhere close to where you're at. And maybe put some incentives on it. Now, I'm not saying offer a discount or this, that, and the other. Offer something that's gonna be good to beneficial of your employees, you know, make your customers, make your employees feel wanted. I mean, we do everything for the customer, why not do everything for your employees? I mean, let's be honest. When I was working for a company, um, I used to run transportation for a school bus company, and when we would go bid and when they would go bid on these routes, well, they would say, Well, this is what they're gonna make, and I was like, I don't think that's gonna be a good fit. Because why? Well, they had to travel was like hella far to get to the first stop, and then they didn't get back, so they were guaranteed two hours a day, two and a half hours a day, which equivalent is equal to five hours a day. But the pay didn't match what the route they were doing. This was a new contract, and we were trying to trying to get the business of this the school in that I wanted the people to be paid fairly. I advocated for that. I did. I mean, I don't want no pat on the back, but I just want to make sure that everybody's getting paid fairly. So I advocated for that, and I said, Well, hey, this is what they're gonna pay you guys. Do you want this route? Do you guys want to take this route? Yeah, yeah, we'll do the route, we'll do the route. And I'm not saying it's gonna always work like that because it always doesn't work like that, and that's the bad thing about it. We try to do what we can for the people that we work for or that we work with. I think that if you have something that's working, if you have good employees, why not try to do any and everything to keep those good employees? Why lose somebody good to a competitor? Because then when you go see that first, like, oh well, you work here now. Yeah, well, I work here because you know they have incentives, they take care of me, they listen to what we as employees need from the company, and that's all anybody's ever asking for. But to keep hiring people, like let's say every week or every day, that gets tiresome. That puts a strain on the store manager, that puts a strain. I would say put a strain on the company, but then again, the company doesn't really know. And again, I know the CEO cannot be anywhere everywhere once. I know there are good DMs, there are bad DMs, there are good regionals, there are bad regionals. We just kind of got to get in where we fit in. That's all we gotta do. So I think, Miss Angie, I think that if you don't think that your needs are being met through this company, I would try to voice these concerns and put these concerns down on paper again. And if there's a lot of employees that feel the same way, maybe you guys try to have a meeting with the DM or the regional or whoever it is you guys need to have a meeting with and say, hey, listen, we like for working for the company, but if things don't change here, it's not gonna be pretty for you guys. And that's not a threat, that's just saying that we want change. You're not threatening with your job, you're you're not even threatening, you're just trying to talk to them and sit down and have a conversation. If they want to listen, they want to listen. If they don't, if it falls on deaf ears, well, I think you guys know what you guys gotta do. Now, I'm not saying walk out or stage a walkout or nothing like that, but I think in this day and age, people are getting fed up with a lot of these corporations because corporate company, corporate greed is getting the best of everybody, and the only people that's reaping the benefits are the higher-ups. It's not people like you, people like me, it's the higher-ups. Now, do we all want to be millionaires? Yeah, we do. Can we all be millionaires? No, we can't. Now, this is the life that I chose. I'm happy with my life. Do I wish I was making more money? I do. Do I want to make more money? I do. But this is the handle that I've been dealt. I don't stress about things that I can't control. And if I could control it, I'm still not gonna stress about it. Because putting that kind of stress on you just makes you get sicker, get weaker, and you have the mindset of every day that oh my god, what am I gonna do now? Listen, I'm like most of the people that I talk to or that I hear from, I'm an average person who has bills. Do I pay my bills on time? I try to. Do I always make them on time? Not really. Why? Because I have things that come up. Now I'm not on this podcast asking for money, or I don't even ask somebody to contribute to my cause. I do this because I like doing it. And though I see a lot of podcasts that are monetized, I don't really want to be monetized. I like doing what I do, I like being average, I like talking to normal people like your you, like like myself and yourself. But I'm not a guy that has everything together, I still struggle a lot. I have kids. I have a daughter that's getting ready to graduate, I have twins that's getting ready to graduate next year, and I'm trying to get them set up. I mean, thank God they don't have kids. Praise Jesus they don't have kids. But my kids understand how how hard life is, but I don't want them to experience that, but I know they're going to experience that. But in order for them to experience it, I need to prepare them for that. To say, hey, it's not gonna always go the way you think it's gonna go. It's gonna be tough, but remember, tough times don't last forever, tough people do. So now we gotta find our way. Now back in my day, I told you other story before. I invented surround sound, but nobody's ever gonna know that because at that time we didn't think the world was gonna turn out the way it's gonna turn out, so it was just an up-and-smoke dream. I had tinkered around with some stereo equipment and made the sound come through the stereo, through the from the TV to the stereo, and it was like epic. And my teacher, I remember my teacher, Mr. Leach, he's like, Man, you really got something here, you should pursue that. And I was thinking, like, yeah, right, whatever. You know, because I didn't think the world was gonna turn into this technology guru that we're in, you know. I never knew what surround sound was, but looking back on it now, I kind of wished I kind of followed up. But it's all good. It's all good. I had a lot of good ideas. Am I mad that those ideas are getting realized? No, I'm not. I'm not. I don't need to be bitter over something like that. You know, I wish the people well that discovered this technology and did this technology, but I just didn't follow through. You know, I've had so many good ideas, and I wanted to do so many great things, and I can still do those great things. And I'm gonna try one way or another to do them, but hey, it's what it is, you know. I'm not gonna be mad at the light that I have. And Miss Angie, I don't think you should be mad at the light that you have. But as I said before, if you feel that you're not gonna get anywhere with you know the corporate the corporate office of dollar tree, then you know what you have to do. I'm not suggesting you strike, I'm not suggesting you do anything out the ordinary that's gonna hurt you or the company. But that's just my opinion. Now, should you choose to listen to that? It's completely up to you. But you sound like a smart young lady, smart like a smart woman. Um you work for well a retail warehouse, so which really isn't a competitor, you're working in a warehouse, so it's not like you're servicing customers, you're servicing a retail brand, but not customers. So I think that I hope this letter finds you, this podcast finds you well, and I hope that I've answered the majority of your questions. But I know it's gonna be hard, and I'm not saying that just because a state minimum wage is what it is, they should be paying you that. I think they should be paying you guys a fair wage. I know in the crazy thing is um it's just ridiculous. But they go off that they go off of that because they feel that well, you know, and let's be honest with you. As I said before, Dollar Tree is a multi-billion dollar company. It's a multi-billion dollar company, it's a good company, but if they don't like get in touch with their employees of their stores, well, you're gonna always have problems. And if you continue to have these problems, then we've seen places close because they don't want to keep their employees happy. And nobody wants that. I don't even want that. I'm just saying, from my standpoint, from my opinion, but I just hope that this can go a lot better because like I said, when you when you work for a company, you want to represent that company well, you want to make sure that company's doing well, because when you go to work, you want to be proud of who you work for, you want to be happy in doing your work. Am I right or am I wrong? Because when I wake up every day and I put my pants on and I get ready to head up to my work, I get in my truck and I'm sitting like, Wow, man, this is amazing! Love this job, I love this company I work for. People are so nice, and that's a good feeling to have. How many of us want that feeling? How many of us want to have that feeling that you know you go to work and you feel appreciated, you feel valued, you feel like you bring something to the table to this company? I feel like that every single damn day that I go to my job, I do, I just feel good about that. And though I've had some shitty jobs, I still would go in and make the best of a worse situation. I don't give a damn if you're gonna try to come down me for anything or something that I didn't do that you want to just come down because you think you can. I'm still going to have a good day, and I'm going to shine having a good day. Because when I'm shining, I'm having a good day, can't nothing stop me, can't nobody hold me back, and can't nobody damn sure hold me down. Nothing like that. So, Miss Angie, my listeners, as we get ready to wrap the show up, I want to say thank you guys. Thank you guys for being uh loyal to my brand. Thank you for listening to the show. Um, I know this episode is a lot different from the ones we used to do that we normally do, but they're still coming. I mean, I feel like I can talk about anything because I've I haven't seen everything I've seen, but I've been through most of this stuff. And though my life is not a hard life, it's a good life, and I enjoy my life because I wake up every day thanking God that I'm allowed to see another good day. You know, I wake up to see my kids and my family, and I wake up and go to work, and that's all I can be thankful for. So I just want to say to my listeners, thank you guys for listening to the show. Thank you for sending me these letters. Um, most of them are good, there are some bad ones in there, which we'll get to those later. You know, it's not really a priority, but you know, you're not gonna always please everybody, as I keep telling you guys. When you wake up, you should wake up for you. Wake up with the mindset of this is gonna be a good day for me, and I'm gonna make the best of this day. Be glad, be joyful, be happy. So, I want to say thank you again for listening to the show. Um, more shows are on the way. These podcasts get they get posted, they're up and running every Wednesday, like clockwork. So, as you get ready to take it out, I want to say thank you again. Thank you for listening to the show. My name is Icon. The show is called Let's Talk About It. If you have any questions, concerns, or comments, feel free to email me, d6mpire five at gmail.com. I take anything you guys can throw at me. Um hopefully I'll get my co-host here working soon. I know I've been talking about it for the longest, but eventually it's gonna happen. If you want to be a guest on my show, please feel free. Chime in, say something, let's talk about it. Alright, so I'm gonna let you guys ride out with uh this track. It's called Grizzly Peak Road. I don't know, Tilden Park or something. But I'm gonna let y'all ride out with this until the next time. Y'all take care of yourself and each other's remember tough times last, don't last forever, but tough people do. Y'all take care now, and I don't know.