shelf-stocker

That doesn't mean it isn't noble to be shelf-stocker, a janitor, or even a software engineer.

There are other problems, like she doesn't have the skills to even pass as a Walmart shelf-stocker.

If someone perfects a shelf-stocker, it doesn't matter that they needed the help of 1500 engineers...

So while the shelf-stocker might be earning $24/hr, their actual hard economic output is much less than this - $19/hr.

I did it fairly regularly at my first job as a shelf-stocker for a small local store in rural MO.

Worth noting that waitstaff would have a lower minimum wage than cashier or shelf-stocker, with expectation that they make it up in tips, so it's not just social norm.

That's more than many professionals made when they started their careers when I was a teenager, and it's more than double what I made starting as a shelf-stocker /inflation-adjusted/.

It's pretty clear to say that, say, a shelf-stocker at Tesco, while improving revenue at a single location by perhaps tens of thousands of dollars, doesn't even come close to providing that level of economic opportunity.

What's really funny is if i'd just worked any random job -- food service, shelf-stocker -- instead of getting all this "elite" education, my financial situation would be way better than it is now right now.