Four young people share their stories of working in low-wage jobs, from Party City to McDonald's to coffee shops and groceries
"Here, put your ear right here," Caroline Albanese says, pointing at her wrist. As you get closer, you can hear the bones in her wrist make a strange click, click, click as she turns her hand. "That happened while I was blowing balloons at Party City one day," she explains, sounding proud of the old battle wound. The injury, which happened when her hand got stuck between two helium tanks, included a broken finger and caused her to miss over a week of work. "I didn't know you could get workers' compensation back then. No one told me," she says.
Yet regrets about her time at Party City are few and far between. It was her first job and while it was not exactly a dream job, it helped her pay for college. Not all 16-year-olds are as lucky anymore, with many low wage jobs being filled with college students, graduates and those who have found themselves out of a job due to bad economy.
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