Tag: Knoxville

I never thought it was possible to make less than minimum wage, that the word “minimum” truly meant what it said and I would be guaranteed at least that wage or higher. By the way, minimum wage in 1999 was $4.85 an hour, but in that same year I got a job that paid me $2.13 an hour, and I was happy to have it. For a number of reasons.

When I first arrived in Tennessee, I knew I would have to find a job, but I had absolutely no real experience, no real schooling, and no idea what the job market was like. I know, that sounds like a recipe for success, but after three months of living in Knoxville I still hadn’t found anything suitable for me. I had applied to office buildings, to mall stores, and even to a hotel in the area, but nothing panned out. The office buildings weren’t actually hiring, the mall stores weren’t in the middle of the holiday rush so they weren’t hiring either, and the hotel wanted me to have some business experience.

Finally, I just got up one day, walked down to “The Strip,” and was hired straightaway — without interview, mind you — at O’Charley’s Sports Grille and Bar as a server. I hadn’t even expected to get a job after so much failure, but I guess I should have recognized what it meant that they hired me right away and wanted me to start the very next day. After I accepted the job they told me that I would be making $2.13 an hour — and, oh yeah, plus tips. What they didn’t say was that tips were split equally between each server on the same shift, so even if I got a $100 dollar tip I wouldn’t pocket $100 dollars. Ouch. Continue reading “I Did What?: My Sordid Job History, Volume 3”