detrea:

The premise of minimum wage, when it was introduced, was that a single wage earner should be able to own a home and support a family.  That was what it was based on; a full time job, any job, should be able to accomplish this.

The fact people scoff at this idea if presented nowadays, as though the people that ring up your groceries or hand you your burgers don’t deserve the luxury of a home and a family, is disgusting.

This.  These people work hard, real hard, and really don’t get the pay that they deserve.  Being paid to deal with customers, trying to give them want they want, being yelled at if they mess up (on BOTH sides, customer and corporate) and being worried about losing their job if they make a mistake?  Or getting their hours cut because they might not perform as well as another employee.  I worked retail for six years and it just got worse along the way.  If you walk into a store and wonder why an employee is trying so hard to get you to sign up for something, nine times out of ten it’s because they HAVE to.  Like, literally.  Their job depends on numbers and performance, and surveys, and things like that.  It’s little pay for a lot of work, and they need more love than they actually get.