30 year Disney employee can only afford cheese and crackers for dinner

[Demovictory9]

The report suggested that two-thirds of Disneyland Resort workers are food insecure, meaning they lack a sufficient quantity of affordable, nutritious food.

They include Glynndana Shevlin, a food and beverage concierge at one of the resort hotels, meaning she serves wine and appetizers to suite guests. She has worked for Disney for 30 years.

“Food-wise I try to spend under $60 a week, but that only gives me about one meal a day,” she said. She can’t touch the fancy appetizers she takes up to the suites – mushroom ratatouille, teriyaki beef kabobs – and she can’t afford the employee cafeteria.



Her full-time, hourly wages have gone up only $1.60, to $15.70 since 2008, and she struggles to pay for healthcare and cholesterol medication, a storage unit, the phone bill, and car insurance. She doesn’t have enough money to pay rent for March.


“For the last couple of weeks, I bought a packet of little individual cheese packets and crackers. And that’s what I’ll have for dinner when I get home.”

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/mar/01/disneyland-california-employees-poverty-homelessness-study

[JNelson6563]

1. I wish I made 15.70 an hour.

[Demovictory9]

3. thats not a livable wage in southern calif

[JI7]

13. Many people live on less than that in so cal

[Xolodno]

15. Worse than that...

...Orange County...the GOP stronghold in SoCal, is even worse.

[BigmanPigman]

30. S CA is soooooo expensive no one can afford to live here.

Teachers in San Diego didn't get a raise or COLA in over 5 years and were told to be happy we didn't get pink slips year after year. It is the 8th most expensive city in the US and we pay 30% more for everything! Try supporting yourself on a fixed income while too sick to work...I haven't been to more than 2 movies in 4 years and the last time I went to a restaurant was 3 years ago. I cut my own hair and haven't bought any new clothes, even underwear, in 3 years. I can go on and on.....too depressing!

[Blue_true]

48. Where do you live?

In Southern California, $15.70 is not a livable wage. Even people making $40.0 per hour there can't afford an apartment of their own.

[MichMan]

58. What should a living wage there be?

$40/hr?

[Blue_true]

70. I would say, whatever wage allows a person to put a roof over

his or her head and have two basic meals per day. Of course that wage would vary by location, that is the tricky part and a big reason why corporations fight the concept (not approving their action, just giving that reality). The concept of a guaranteed minimum income has a similar pitfall, that income target would be location dependent.

BTW, $40 per hour in Iowa would be an exceptional salary, but not is Silicon Valley or San Francisco.

[JI7]

67. Most people in so cal make less than that

[Blue_true]

71. I doubt that their living standard is good.

My line of work pay $50-$70 per hour, but I could not envision living in Southern California, Silicon Valley or San Francisco without a roommate or my housing costs paid by a company, for my living conditions standards.

[JI7]

72. People make it work. Housing is the biggest cost

But it's so cal so for a lot of people it's more about what is offered outside the home.

They will share or have long commutes and whatever else to cut down on housing costs.

But it all depends on what one wants. Many don't even think about buying a house here. To consider buying a house would mean moving which some people do.

In the end though i think the woman in the OP is better off where she is than if she were to move and look for something else. (Unless she had a gaurateed job offer).

I have my own business(And work jobs also). But if i can get to a point of doing well enough I'm seriously looking to buy a house in another state (or cheaper area of ca).

[Blue_true]

73. I am a space person. The idea of a roommate is bothersome.

Maybe that is why I am still single

So Cal and No Cal and even places like Santa Barbara offer a lot of life amenities, that is part of what cause eye popping housing prices. In the end, like you indicated, it boils down to what makes a person happy, once that is known, strategies can be developed to deal with the rest.

[madville]

78. I'm in the SF Bay Area

I rent a one bedroom condo on Alameda Island for $2000 a month including utilities.

I make $57 an hour though at a government job with decent benefits. Most single people around here have roommates, my girlfriend makes about $40 an hour and has always had a roommate of some sort. I would say $40 an hour is about the minimum to have a decent standard of living here, that's about what the garbagemen start at for the city.

[madinmaryland]

6. WTF? If you are in your 50's and have no cash reserves how in the fuck

are you supposed to move to a new job? It's a vicious cycle that a lot of people get sucked into.

[GP6971]

28. This!! n/t

[SammyWinstonJack]

61. Just move to get a job or a better paying job. Clueless.

[dixiegrrrrl]

11. You need to think this thru.

Moving is not always an option for everyone.

In the late 1980's, another recession period, I had to move to find work. I moved from Seattle to Fla.
But
I had free transportation, I had a place to stay when I landed, and I was able to find work here because of my college degree.
It also helped that I was white, and younger then, down here in the South.

However, If she cannot live adequately on her hourly pay, how can she fford to move somewhere and live, with not enough money for deposits for another house/utilities?
How can she afford to even look for another job out of the area? Even a higher outlay for gas is expensive, and all of the West Coast, and the South West is hideously expensive.
and she is not young unless she started work there when she was 5.

The OP is talking about someone who clearly does not have any of those advantages, and is being priced out of life, basically.

[NightWatcher]

14. Prices on the West Coast are insane. What else should people do?

There's no way possible that wages will go up for the service industry enough for people to survive.

I'm not heartless. I often take work out of town and sleep in my workvan for up to five nights a week. I get that you do what you've gotta do.

[Blue_true]

50. Sound like you have higher skills than she does.

Food service jobs work if a person has a good boss or is in management or owns a successful place, otherwise it sucks. I had plenty of those jobs while in college, backbreaking work for minimum wage.

If you have a skill like construction, plumbing, carpentry, you have transportation and can string jobs consistently enough to make a living that is a benefit. Also, if your permanent home is in a cheap place to live, that helps in a major way. The woman in the story likely takes public transportation and live somewhere where the transit lines run to.

[JI7]

56. she has a car

but even with the high cost of living in california there are still probably more opportunities than moving somewhere where it's cheaper.

[dawg day]

64. Also, income tracks cost of living

The job that pays better in California pays much worse in Iowa. You don't end up with much more if you move.

[BannonsLiver]

41. Yeah I mean she should have gone to college.

Just cut down to cabbage and water it might have been doable.

Weird to see GOP bootstraps twaddle here.

[Blue_true]

49. That sounds callous.

Even highly skilled people have problems changing jobs once they are over 45 years old. There are exceptions, they know someone or the job market is tight. A food server, while posing skills, don't fall in a category where they can walk into another job and make more. Her only option is a second job, preferably part time so that she won't be worn out.

[kacekwl]

4. Shameful that a company that has it's fingers in everything

can't pay a loyal 30 year employee a decent wage. Maybe a comp card at the cafeteria at the very least. I'm sure they throw away tons of food every day.

[Xolodno]

18. Worked the graveyard shift there once...a few decades ago..

...the guy who cleaned out coke corner would bring a sack of hot dogs from the closing staff. They were going to throw them out anyway, so they just gave it to him for the crew. He had to stop when a Supervisor told him to because they were technically obligated to pay for them. WTF?!

[No Vested Interest]

5. Anyone else wondering what's in that storage unit that takes precedence over eating regularly?

I do sympathize, as obviously costs are high in SoCal.
Perhaps a roommate or a second job, part-time maybe?

BTW, didn't Walt Disney hate labor unions?

[Initech]

8. That's the exact justification that the CEO criminals use for their ridiculous salaries.

You peasants will take your peanut salaries and like it! As long as we get the peanut farm!

[Ilsa]

9. I couldn't help but wonder the same thing.

Does she need to get rid of some stuff? Sell it? Give it to family members?

I wonder if there is a way that a sous chef can slip her a few bites of something from a "wrong order that was taken"?

[Merlot]

46. WTF? scraps from the kitchen as a life plan?

And how dare she have a storrage container? How dare she actually have something that she wants to keep? She should sell all her stuff until she has nothing.

Maybe she should just put her life up here on DU because there are so many smart people here who can tell her what to do and how to live her life.

[Demit]

53. The story says she doesnt have enough money to pay rent for March.

It doesn't say specifically that that is rent for an apartment, but I think it's fair to assume. Maybe she is living in her storage unit and the story left that out because it's illegal. Nobody's saying she doesn't have a right to have stuff. But if it's extra stuff, stuff that doesn't fit in her apartment so she has to rent a storage unit for it, and she's eating crackers for dinner to afford it and is actually short on rent for her apartment—well, that's her choice of course, but it seems a foolish choice.

[Ilsa]

66. I was just wondering why that is a priority, that's all.

I never said she had to do this or that. I'm just curious, that's all.

And yes, if I was claiming to be hungry, I'd accept those "scraps" as you call them. I've been poor, and I've accepted charity.

I had a family member that acted like she was food insecure, yet she spent $1000 on drapes. She couldn't offer a cup of coffee or glass of tea to a visiting family member, but had some great looking window coverings! I didn't tell she was wrong or to take them back. But that doesn't stop me from wondering why people make these decisions that put them in a bind.

As for me, yeah, I've sold stuff to pay off debt. I plan on downsizing further in a few years.

Screw it.

[Demit]

10. Yeah, I have a friend like that.

She's a dumpster diver, and is convinced that the things she hoards will fund her retirement. She lives in a studio apartment & has had a storage unit for YEARS. She doesn't understand that every month's rent subtracts from the value of her fabulous collection. Sad, really.

[JI7]

17. I know someone with it also but the crap has no value

It makes no sense to me for her to have it.

[Demit]

29. If you've ever watched Hoarders, you know that they are painfully attached to

their things. Each one has a story, a memory. Throughout the years I've watched my friend say she's going to sell these things she's collected (incomplete sets, things that are chipped, or stained, or dented). She's always on the verge of it, and never does it. When I was photographing her stuff to help her get ready to sell on ebay, she would recite the complete extended story of each item & how she had found it. I think the things represent a narrative of her life.

I've bought and sold on eBay. I can't get her to understand that the value of the items is NOT what other sellers are asking for similar items, but what those similar items have sold for. It's frustrating, b/c this woman is not stupid.

TL: DR: People like their delusions.

[JI7]

55. the thing is they probably don't even think of these items until or unless someone

mentions getting rid of it.

also the storage is really expensive. i was shocked when i found out how much some people were paying for it. i always thought it was much cheaper . it really isn't worth it.

[Demovictory9]

44. I have friend who has been storing her extra furniture for years

[dixiegrrrrl]

19. Storage units were ubiquitous all over the Bay area when I was there.

Plus garages were stuffed full of ...stuff, so people had to park by the curb but often had to move their car because of garbage/bus zone times, etc.
I never did understand about "stuff". but did know a woman who had THREE storage units in her yard, plus a garage full of other stuff,
and kept buying more stuff, but rejected the idea of a garage sale to help with her money problems.

[Demovictory9]

43. They are all over so. Cali

[GulfCoast66]

20. We have been so conditioned over the past 40 years to blame being poor on the poor,

That even good people here on DU do it. Maybe the storage unit holds all her worldly possessions. Maybe she lives in it.

She is not in the condition she is in because of a storage unit but the conspiracy of businesses to undervalue labor.

And BTW, Disneyland and Walt Disney World are both unionized. Unless an entire industry is unionized, a company holds a union at its mercy

[JustAnotherGen]

37. Thank you for this

I'm reading his thread and thinking - folks it's not that simple.

If she was in her 20's or 30's in good health - yeah - haul ass out of there. I did it.

But I did it with a skill set, some savings, and a good job on the horizon.

We travel a great deal - this is why we tip . . .

Every one. That $50 USD you leave a maid in DR for a five night stay means a lot to her.

[Merlot]

47. Thank you for saying that. The responses on this post range from stupid

to down right mean spirited. A lot of ignorance about poverty.

[No Vested Interest]

51. What good is the union then in this case if it's not procuring a living wage for its employees?

What has the Disneyland union done for its employees?
Does the Disneyland union have any power at all?

What is the monthly charge for a storage unit in SoCal? (I've never rented one, so can only guess.)

[MichMan]

59. I was wondering that as well

The union has the power to shut down the business until they get an appropriate living wage

According to a previous poster, you need $40 per hour to afford decent apartment.

[Demovictory9]

42. People drive me crazy with he storage habits. Sell it

If you need it again.. buy it. Don't pay several times the value for storage

[Initech]

7. Meanwhile Bob Iger is about to make as much as Disneyland's entire combined payroll.

God damn it.

[FakeNoose]

16. Yes the executive pay is sickening

A lot of times the salary number that gets printed in the papers isn't even the whole story. Corporate executives get tons of benefits that are extra, not included in the annual salary. The Executive Board doesn't want it to get out what they're really paying the CEO and other executives.

Meanwqhile the hourly employees have to beg for .10 per hour raises, and the top guys are making millions. "Yes boss, I'll be on call all weekend, just please don't cut my hours." All kinds of shit like that.

Doesn't Disney own a lot of property that isn't developed as the Disneyland park? I know they own several square miles in Orlando, but I'm not sure about the Anaheim property. So how difficult would it be for them to build low-cost housing for their full-time employees? I would think it would be no big deal for them to do that, if they have the vacant property anyway.

[Initech]

21. I live like 15 minutes from Disneyland.

And when you drive on CA-55 which takes you right to the park, the amount of people who are homeless or are living in tents is just absolutely staggering. And it seems like it continues to grow. And what's scary is the executives just don't care. They are making millions and even billions and it's all going completely untaxed. And of course we have a president now who is part of that class, and he doesn't give a shit either. Check out the local papers here - the Orange County Register and the Los Angeles Times. Both have been doing a great job of documenting the OC homeless problem. And it's just scary what is happening out there. If it can happen to these people it can happen to anybody.

[FakeNoose]

25. The homeless people are actually working for Disneyland?

They're already taking up space on the Disney property and it looks terrible. So put up low-cost housing and give these people somewhere decent to live! Yes I have seen the video where some guy goes around on a mo-ped and shows all the tent people who are parked everywhere. Anaheim has to put a stop to this.

[Initech]

31. They're attempting to.

I mean the thing is I live in this city and the homeless problem is beginning to be so extreme that the city just doesn't know what to do with them. And yes a lot of them have jobs. But those jobs just aren't paying enough to meet the ridiculous rising cost of rent here in this county. It's fucking nuts.

[smirkymonkey]

74. It's really frightening. It seems like the average working person is being

priced out of the housing market altogether. It's almost like you have to be rich these days to afford to have a roof over your head.

[Initech]

75. Income inequality is the 800 pound gorilla in the room.

No one wants to talk about it. Disney is a perfect example of this. One guy makes more than 10,000 employees combined. This shit ain't right. The first great depression happened because of the arrogance of the uber rich. And I feel like we're in a depression now because the rich are getting richer and we're getting poorer. And people don't seem to care. They've got theirs and that's all that matters. Go back to bed, America, Fox News is running the country.

[Demovictory9]

52. and there are all those rundown hotels that advertise that they are "drug free". many disney workers

live in those hotels, unable to get downpayment for apartmen

[dixiegrrrrl]

12. Something not discussed about high living expenses is debt.

Debt really screwed over a lot of people after crash in 2008.
They are facing higher costs in living, higher unemployment, esp. for a decent wage, and a financial millstone around their necks from the outset.
won't even go into the physical and mental strain being in debt creates.

[Initech]

23. Another thing too is extreme executive salaries.

I've been talking on this board and elsewhere about how Disney's CEO is going to make as much as his entire park's combined payroll - one person alone does not get to make as much as 10,000 people combined. That is absolutely fucking insane. Something has to be done about income inequality.

[american_ideals]

26. Yes. Totally free markets become VERY unequal

All the wealth goes to the top in a totally unregulated market. We must use the government to reduce income and wealth inequality.

[hfojvt]

22. her wages have not kept up with inflation

She made $14.10 per hour in 2008. She should be making at least $16.56 today.

That said a) why is she still paying rent? Cost wise, I think it is much smarter to buy a house. My own house has been fully paid for since October of 2005. As such, I am not spending the $12,000 a year for housing that she probably is (or more).

b) $60 only provides her with 7 meals? So she pays $8.57 per meal? Please. A gallon of milk is about $4 at most. So 16 eight ounce glasses, or more than two a day. A 20 pound bag of rice is less than $30. That should feed you for about 3 weeks. Same with about twenty pounds of pasta. Get ten cans of pasta and meat (and salt and HFCS) for less than $15. That's $51 so now you have $9 left for a bag of apples.

Of course, some people are religious about fresh fruits and veggies and freak out about carbs or something.

I suppose if my diet was evaluated by some I would be judged as "food insecure" because I am not eating enough sprouts.

I hope I live another fifteen years then I can laugh even harder at critics of my diet.

There are no guarantees though. The son of a friend just had a major stroke. He is 57. The older bother of a classmate recently died at age 59. The younger brother of a classmate died at 48. A girl my little brother once loved died of breast cancer at age 50. Like I said - no guarantees.

[Initech]

24. "Cost wise, I think it is much smarter to buy a house."

Really? Have you seen rent prices in California? That ain't happening.

[hfojvt]

34. I have not

and I understand it seems to be impossible to live in Cali what with a) the cost of houses and b) the cost of rent.

So it seems odd that so many people DO live there. I have not even visited. Once upon a time, back in 1986 I was applying for my dream job (statistician at the USDA). The job was in Iowa but they said that I had to move when they said move and that, in fact, in a year I was gonna be moved to California.

Suddenly I was no longer interested in the job.

I cannot even remember, though, where that job was in Iowa. Des Moines? I would not wanna live there either.

[Initech]

36. Yeah Des Moines is the middle of Trump country.

I wouldn't want to live there either!

[hfojvt]

84. well when I did live in Iowa

I was able to carry the state for Gore. Gore's victory margin - 4,143 votes. Victory margin of 7 northern counties that went for Gore and are in the readership of the Globe Gazette where my LTTE was published - over 4,200.

Of course, Obama took Iowa twice, so it may not have been ALL me.

So, I would NOT write Iowa off as Trump country.

I just don't like big cities. I understand California might have some of those too.

[Demovictory9]

45. One bedrooms rent for 1700 and up around disneyland

[JI7]

54. they rent and share spaces and other ways to save as much as they can. but many are not able to buy

house . even old little shacks that look cheap will be very expensive .

But i do agree about the food . if she is putting aside about 60 a week for food there are ways to make that work and pretty well also which is what a lot of people do in California to save money.

[SoCalNative]

79. Most people who live in So Cal

don't live by themselves. They have 3 or 4 roommates in a 1 or 2 bedroom apartment, and could not afford a single on their own. They may have 2-4 jobs just to make ends meet.

And buying a home? The median home price in So Cal as of December 2017 is $507k. That means that you would need to make a minimum of $200k a year to be able to afford a home here.

[OhioBlue]

57. No gurantees of course, but one's diet does directly affect one's longevity.

your post seems to belittle people who would include fresh fruits and vegetables in their diets while also pointing toward people who have lost their lives too young to diseases that can be linked to poor diets.

[hatrack]

62. Here's a link to Realtor.com for Anaheim;

27 pages of listings (I only hit the first page); the cheapest property on the first page is $425,000; the most expensive is $1,399,000.

Good luck "saving up" for a downpayment on $15.70/hour (which, btw, is $32,676 before taxes, assuming full-time 52 weeks per year).

https://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-search/Anaheim_CA

[MichMan]

63. What is the solution?

Price controls on home sales? Substantial Rent subsidies?

$40/hr minimum wage?

Neither is likely to occur.

[hatrack]

69. Maybe not . . .

And if not, bigger homeless tent cities and higher rates of geriatric suicide are more likely to occur.

Our choice.

[edhopper]

27. Do we know

if she even works 40 hours a week. Or do they keep her underemployed?

[pecosbob]

32. If you step back and look at the bigger picture it's an enormous problem

Most Walmart employees depend on some sort of public assistance. How many employees in the Amazon chain of sub-contractors do you think are also recieiving some sort of assistance? Because they're currently kicking Walmart in the ass so far as their bottom line and business model goes. I don't know which model is worse...they're both bad for most of us. So some joe schmoe employee who's sub-sub-sub-contracted by Amazon at a trans-shipment hub in Tracy California pretty much has to live in a clapped out mobile home and gets food stamps for his (or her) kids...no health insurance and workmans compensation claims likely to be fought tooth and nail. This is a model for the future if we keep sending rich white globalist a**holes to Washington.

[shanny]

33. Well shit she probably has a refrigerator so she can't be

like, poor.



I find a lot of the responses on this thread to be puke-worthy. Seriously people--15 bucks an hour does not approach a living wage, in SoCal particularly but also anywhere. Focus on that.

[JustAnotherGen]

39. I smacked my head at the

"Buy a house". *sigh*

[shanny]

40. +1

[yuiyoshida]

35. TRUMP! TRUMP TRUMP!

MAKING AMERICA FUCKING GREAT AGAIN!!

[Cha]

38. That's terrible..

how to even maintain ones' weight on that?

No nutrition whatsoever!

Not like Costco employees.

[MichMary]

60. She needed a plan

She didn't just wake up one morning and find herself in this situation. Probably 25 years ago she should have assessed her life, realized she was in a dead end job, and made a plan to change things. Disney, as I understand it, does have educational benefits, which she could have taken advantage of. In addition, college was much cheaper back then, and there were things like student loans, grants, and scholarships. Even if a bachelors degree wasn't for her, anything--anything at all--that would have improved her skills would have made a better job a reality.

Also, if she was a competent food server, she could have made way more money in tips at a high end restaurant.

I'm not unsympathetic to the situation she finds herself in, but I don't know what the solution should be. No company should be responsible for their employees' life decisions.

[lindysalsagal]

80. It's an amusement park, and unskilled labor. Not supposed to

Pay well.

This thread makes no sense. It's hourly work, with no future promises.

[wishstar]

65. She seems to be one of the higher paid Disney service employees, many make much less

based on my reading of the article where other lower paid workers are mentioned. She will never be able to retire since Social Security will be much less than her wages.

[Codeine]

68. What the actual fuck is wrong with you people?

“Buy a house”? Seriously, she couldn’t scrape together the kind of dosh necessary to make a down payment, mich less find someone to give her a loan at $15 bucks an hour income.

On the companion thread people were suggesting that she could live on Spaghetti-o’s and mocked people who felt fresh veg and fruit were part of a healthy diet.

“20 years ago she needed a plan”? Well so what?! That was twenty fucking years ago, you cretinous bastards. Now is now.

Seriously, some of you people are unredeemable assholes. Your rhetoric is indistinguishable from that found on FreeRepublic. I am ashamed that you’re part of this community.

[MichMary]

76. Do you think a food server

should be paid $80,000/year, based on, what exactly? Her age? If that were the case, it would be cost effective to can older employees and restock the work force with cheaper labor every year or two.

She put her story out there. I think it can be a cautionary tale regarding getting stuck vs. improving your own situation.

If commenting on a news story makes me a "cretinous bastard," okay.

[Codeine]

77. I think a person working for one of the most

profitable corporations on the planet should receive a decent living wage, and I don’t look down my nose at people in service industries.

People play the hands they’re dealt, and we aren’t all gifted with equal abilities and intellects. A failure to “improve your own situation” is rarely as simple as it looks to an outsider.

But hey, today I learned that poor people should just buy a house and that you can feed a family on $60 a month by living on a healthy diet of milk and Spaghetti-Os. Yay, DU.

[MichMan]

83. What hourly wage would be appropriate ?

In very high cost of living areas like Anaheim, San Francisco or Manhattan ? $40/hr ?

What about a food server working for a mom & pop restaurant instead of a major corporation?

Look, I sympathize with her situation, but don't think compensation for unskilled employees in very high cost of living areas can be provided to the level expected here. How would you expect small business to stay open if they were forced to pay employees that much?

While people may not want to move, something has to give

[tenderfoot]

81. I just stopped in to read all the heartless comments from bootstrappers...

you never disappoint.

Have a lousy day!

[Codeine]

82. I spend five dollars a month on food

and I move across country several times a year for better opportunities. She just needs to make Better Choices.”

Yeah, they’re out in force today.