Why your job sucks: Sub shop employees fired two days before Christmas.

The company claims it wasn’t retaliation. Yeah, right. Most of the Snarf’s Subs employees who got s***-canned were among those who were out advocating for an increased minimum wage a few weeks ago. And in response, they got fired by email, right before Christmas Eve.

Here’s a bit of the email:

1. Due to increased competition and losses, ownership has decided to consider remodeling and reconcepting the store at 600 West Chicago Ave.

2. The store is closing, effective tomorrow, December 23, 2013 for an unknown period of time for this remodeling and reconcepting.

3. All staff is terminated, effective Monday, December 23, 2013.

Notice the words “consider remodeling and reconcepting”. They aren’t even sure they will do anything , or what they would do if they did. Nobody in business axes an entire location with less than 24 hours’ notice and no plan for the future. This is not a normal part of a long-term business plan; this is a bitch-slap to the workers who asked for a raise, and a warning to anyone else who is thinking about making a similar request.

And that is why your job sucks, fellow Americans. Because your employer can do whatever they want to you, whenever they want, and for any reason they dream up. We have no protection, very few rights, and no one to stand up for us.

And even if you don’t get fired, you get to pay via your tax dollars for the few remaining social safety-net items for the workers who DID get fired. The employer pays almost nothing. We pay almost everything.

All of our jobs suck. We have let them suck, by electing politicians who enable the increased suck. We have turned our backs on the unions and other agents who helped to decrease the suck.

And we now must re-fight the battles of old, to decrease the suck once again. Unless we all want our jobs to be Snarfed up.

Mr. Blunt and Cranky

Want lower taxes? Support higher wages.

That is the deal, Cranky Nation: for years, places like McDonald’s, Walmart and suchlike have been paying such low wages, even their best workers are obliged to use taxpayer-funded services like food stamps, HEAP, and medical cards to keep a roof over their heads. It’s gotten to be so common, even bank workers are frequently on public assistance. Banks. Where the money is. Even they won’t pay their people a living wage.

That means, in short, these businesses are making we, the taxpayers, pay their bills, while they pad their bank accounts. Your tax dollars, being stolen to pay the bills that businesses are too greedy to pay themselves. That means higher taxes for all of us, meaning less money in our pockets.

The issue of low wages isn’t one that only affects the workers: it hits almost every American taxpayer in the wallet, too. Tired of having your pocket picked? Tired of politicos and nabobs transferring your hard-earned to their offshore bank accounts?

Then support an increase in the minimum wage. Even if you don’t give a s*** about your fellow man, it’s in your own best interest.

Lower taxes. Higher wages. It’s a win-win. Support it.

Mr. Blunt and Cranky