work problems - 2

How do I respond to the naysayers about enjoying my minimum-wage job?

I am in my early 30s working full-tilme and making just above minimum wage in the hospitality industry. I think I am articulate and professional. My family feels I am squandering my talents and intellect in a "dead-end job". I explain that I am thankful just to have university degrees and only get part-time hours at their fast-food jobs. While I sometimes wish I'd gone on to post-secondary education, I'm pleased to not be in debt like my friends

The quandary comes when customers at work tell me I am wasting my time at this job. It makes me feel uncomfortable and I never know how to respond. They ofter tell me I am too keenly intellective or "too charismatic" to be here, and ofter offer me suggestions of what types of jobs I should be doing instead. On more than one occation a customer has actually tried to hire me

How should I go about replying to these people without offending them, or seeming ungrateful?

Jeremy says

I'm pretty certain that the reason you feel uncomfortable when you're asked such questions is that you've spent a few years trying not to ask them of yourself

As someone in their early 30s, obviously intelligent and articulate and with an easy and attractive manner, you might have expected by now to be doing something that made more use of your qualities, and paid quite a lot more than the minimum wage. That you're not has almost nothing to do with your lack of further education

Maybe it's time you faced those questions and actually tried to answer them. Are you truly happy doing what you're doing? If you are - and for the foreseeable future - there's nothing to be ashamed of. Lucky you. But if you claim to be happy mainly because you're a little scared of trying to do anything more ambitious, then you should take a deep breath, cross your fingers and fo go for it.

Luckily, you work in an industry which, while it respects qualifications, also rewards experience. If you make it known, either at your current place of work or elsewhere, that you're ready to take on more responsibility - and seize every small opportunity to do exactly that - you could surprise yourself.

Readers say

1. Do you enjoy your job? Are you happy with  your colleagues? Is the salary sufficient to meet your financial aspirations? If you can say "yes" to all of those I'd say you're doing better than most

2. You don't say that you explicitly love or even like your job; just you're thankful to have one. Next time a customer tried to hire you, ask them more about the job, find out if it's something you're interested in. Go for an interview or whatever. You don't have to accept it if it's offered, but at least you start to have a better idea of what's out there

3. You need to better articulate why you keep this job if you are being offered other options, because I am not getting it from your letter. Once you can do that you're sorted - the easiest ways to reply are, "Actually I like serving customers all day/It gives me a lot of satisfaction/The pay is not as bad as you'd think and I get very regular hours/Don't knock it until you've tried it/It's better exercise than the gym my friends in the rat race keep moaning they've no time to get to / I am learning the ropes so I can open my own establishment someday"