Every once in awhile in the midst of a tutoring session, I will either read something the student has written, or the student will say something while clarifying his or her point, that renders me utterly speechless. Leaving me speechless is an extremely difficult thing to accomplish because I have never had a filter and, for better or worse, almost always have a response to something that has been said. One such episode happened this week, and I have not been able to get it out of my head.

The topic of the essay being reviewed was the student’s job at a local hamburger joint. The central idea appeared to be the total ineptness of the managers, which in turn resulted in the employees having a poor attitude towards their job and their duties, often resulting in them taking out their frustration on the customers. During a one-on-one session, I often vocalize my attempts to correct sentence structure and grammar since this not only helps me figure things out, but clarifies my thought process to the student which helps them to understand why I make certain suggestions or edits. In the middle of trying to organize this particular student’s jumbled heap of concepts, she stated candidly and as a matter-of-fact, “Someone once told me, ‘minimum effort for minimum wage.'” Say WHAT??? I was stunned.

My initial thought was, “Who in the hell gave you this advice?” but, being in a environment of higher education, I calmly asked, “How do you ever expect to earn anything BUT minimum wage if only minimum effort is exerted?” Thankfully, my students respect my opinion–or at least they seem to–so instead of the tutoring session going rapidly downhill, the student and I began to have a spirited debate about minimum wage, work ethics, and making the best of her current situation. Our conversation ended when she made her corrections and left the Writing Center, but I haven’t been able to completely let go of what seems to be a pervasive attitude these days, particularly with the under-30 crowd.

Don’t get me wrong, I have nothing against the younger generation; but it seems that somewhere along the way, notions of “entitlement” have insidiously become synonymous with compensation. Upon one’s hiring for a job, specific duties are expected in return for a certain amount of pay that both employer and employee have agreed to, and since an agreement has been made between the two parties, there should be no scruples, right?

Apparently, a disconnect has happened that has resulted in a shift in the attitude some have towards that four-lettered word known as W-O-R-K. And, for some reason, this is reflected in the fast food industry more than any other. I’ve never given it much thought, but this may have very well contributed to why I’ve chosen not to patronize any fast food restaurant in almost two years.

If you’re completely unhappy in what you’re doing and feel you’re not being rightfully compensation, then by all means, do something that will net you the pay you feel you deserve. But for goodness sake, spare the rest of us who simply expect you to do that for which YOU applied. Just do your job. What a concept!