A Few Words on the Minimum Wage

From the New York Times (12/7):

Republicans in the State Senate forced through a measure on Monday that will gradually raise the minimum wage in New York State by $2 to $7.15 an hour by January 2007, overriding Gov. George E. Pataki's veto of the proposal.

. . .

Of the roughly eight million workers in New York, more than 700,000 earn $5.15 to $7.10 an hour, working mostly in retail and in the leisure and hospitality industries, say those on both sides of the issue.

Here's the thing: I'm all for helping the working poor in theory, but when it's in your own backyard, it's a different matter altogether. You see, right now, I'm better than all of those people. At least now when I wake up, often in a pool of my own creation, I can pull the needle out of my arm and know I'm better than some asshole pulling in $5.35 an hour. Ha ha! Good luck with that, sucker!

But now, come 2007, 700,000 nouveau [whatever's French for just above the poverty line] are going to be running around the streets of Manhattan waving their fat $7.10-an-hour checks in my face like the Park Avenue snobs they actually are deep down in their greedy hearts. They're going to parade down Broadway past the Strand in their handsome cabs, blaring Robert Palmer and tossing out handfuls of cash to onlookers.

They'll look in through the window of the store as they pass, lock eyes with me, and I'll know. And they'll know. Everyone will know. That I suck. Hard.