Reply to When I was a teen there was no shame in working at Roy Rogers, Pizza Hut, Burger King, Wendy's etc..

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I only see the stigma attached in this area, TBH.

People in this area love to put on airs and live beyond their means.

To quote my son's friend, whose mother would die of shame if she heard what he said, "I'm not allowed to have a job because my mom says it makes us look poor.  I think we are secretly poor or why else would our AMEX bill be $30k?  I saw it once and it said it's going to take them 25 years to pay it off.  That's insane!"

Even among my kid's friend's parents, fast food jobs are not acceptable.  Working at the fro yo shop or Coldstone?  Fine.  Working retail is fine as long as it's not Walmart.  The best jobs are those that can bolster the kid's academic resume.  My daughter's friend has an internship at her mom's law firm with some crazy title and bullet points for all of the impressive things she helps do, but all she really does is redact documents and shred.   [/quote]

It's not just this area. It's any well to do area. Here, [b]Westchester County NY;[/b] Bergen County NJ; Princeton NJ area, Main Line Pa. etc.

It's not about why is there shame to working now, it's -- why is there shame to working if you live in a wealthy area. And the answer is-- bc parents act like other parents who "make" their kids work can't properly provide.[/quote]

I grew up in Westchester, still live here. I was a teen in the late 80s/ early 90s. My best friends had jobs- retail, library, after-school babysitter (during which one friend was sexually assaulted, but I think that's a different thread). I wanted a job too, so I got a local retail job. I got fired for going on a (planned, with notice) vacation with my parents. 
There was no stigma here with working, but I don't know one person who ever worked in fast food (we didn't have much of it around, so that could be a factor). A girl two years ahead of me in school took a job in the grocery store, and everyone was surprised and sad for her, because it was interpreted as her being desperate. She was very nice, a great student, came from an excellent family, and was accepted at an excellent (expensive) college, with a partial scholarship. She took the grocery job to finance personal spending/ books, etc. My mother always made a point to go to her line and wish her well/ say how great she was doing, and mention to me afterwards that she was happy to see "Mary" was so motivated to do everything she could to excel in college. My mother was really proud of her, and probably secretly wanted me to get a job in the grocery store too. [/quote]

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