Whit's End Wages

[Tarol]

I now this is a rather pointless study, since I doubt most writers wouldn't think about it... but Fans are supposed to be nitty gritty and picky. (I think ) ...

Anyway, so the thing is, in the episodes The One About Trust Part 1 & 2, we are told that Whit pays Eugene "three times more than you pay Connie." We also learn that Eugene's 'salary' is actually "the daily tally for Whit's End." So, from this episode we learn that: Connie earns about 1/3 of Whit's End's daily totals. Payday is usually every two weeks, so we can also assume that Connie is also paid for every 2 weeks of work.

Now, let's move on to the episode Suspicious Minds. In this episode, we are told two daily totals. The first is $186.69 and the other total is $153.12. The average would be about $170. So yes, I am going to use this total for finding Connie's wage. But, there is a 7 year difference between these two episodes, so, I'll just say the total for The One About Trust is $200-300, or just $250.

Now, let's figure out Connie's wage using assumed hours and wage. Connie was 17/18 years old during The One About Trust (she was graduating), so her work hours would not have to be limited by age. Let's say Connie works... 4/5 hours a day. So, let's say... she works 25 hours a week. The minimum wage during 1997 (when The One About Trust came out) was $5.15. Whit is nice, so let's round up to $6.00 an hour.

Now, for the math:


So, using my wage calculations, Connie should be paid around $300. According to The One About Trust, she was paid $85. That's a $200 difference! Of course, my calculations are rounded up and mostly assumed, but it's still interesting to research these things.

So, what do you think? Are my calculations wrong? Am I assuming incorrectly? Do I not understand wages and working hours properly? I honestly don't know a whole lot about salary/hours, so it could be very possible.

[Miss Friendship]

I'll buy into this theory. I mean, it's totally important we know how much Connie is paid.

[Pound Foolish]

Well done! My only nitpick is it's impossible to know when Connie's hours are or how long she works. It seems she's there every morning and still there every evening. Late evening most likely, considering there's evidence it's night when they close. But taking that into account would be useless as there's no way to work it in.

[Tarol]

Haha, it's not much of a theory MF. Except, I could have turned it into a rant about how underpaid Connie is.

Why, thank you Sir PF. I was wondering the exact same. However, she was in school during this time, so she could not work work in the morning (I wouldn't think...), and probably couldn't arrive at work until 3:30-4:00. (Actually, would Whit's End even be open during school hours? 0_o I guess for the homeschoolers...) The hours for Whit's End I am unsure of, but I'm pretty sure it closes at 9:00 PM (according to Nick and Twisting Pathways). So, from Monday-Friday, Connie would only work the 4-5 hours, but on weekends it would be different. She probably could work, I don't know, 12 hours on a Saturday, but for some reason I doubt she would... maybe just half the day? Which is 6 hours. I don't know about Sunday.... is Whit's End a "good Christian store", and is closed Sundays? An average of all those hours (25 hours on weekdays, and 6 hours on weekends) is a little over 5 hours, which is still close to my estimate of 4-5.

I did just remember that Tom tells Connie that Whit is saving money for her. So, her pay check would be missing some money... Would Whit take save 2/3 of Connie's paycheck for her college fund? 0_o (that might actually be a good idea xP)

[AIOrocks101]

Whit's End is closed Sunday's. They mention this in Best Intentions. Considering the great, Godly man that Whit is, I would be shocked if Whit's End was open on Sunday.

[Blitz]

Interesting, but her wages could vary based on how much she can work. Like for example, during vacation, she could get work early.

[SirWhit]

On another topic, Ed Washington got paid $120 for two days of work, as per Switch. Assuming he works eight hour days, as is the approximate average for workers in the US, that's $120 for sixteen hours of work.

120/16 = 7.5

Ed Washington appears to be paid $7.50 an hour, which is barely above minimum wage. To make things worse, the average Restaurant Manager salary is $24 an hour. One could argue that Ed has more responsibility than the Restaurant Manager, since he appears to be in charge of the appliances and the displays at the Whit's End Connelsville.

I think it's time that Connie, Eugene, and Ed unionize and demand fair wages and employment benefits.

[Connie G.]

Yes, and in one episode, Ed mentions something to the effect of "Whit, I'm probably the best-paid ice cream server in the state!"

Which "Barely above minimum wage" is not what I'd call well-paid (at least not best in the state).

[The Old Judge]

You must also think, Switch aired in 2006, and the federal minimum wage at the time was $5.15. As such, he was making $2.35 per hour more than the average soda jerk at the time. Given the eight hours a day, Ed made $18.40 more per day than some other guy that worked at Whit's End, Connellsville. Five days a week, he has made $92 more dollars than his imaginary subordinate. In 2006, the average annual income was $38,651.41. Not counting overtime, time-and-a-half, or anything like that; just a strict 40 hour work week, Ed was only making $15,600. The last year that was considered average salary was 1983. Hopefully Whit gives the Washingtons employee benefits...

Judy Garland's wistful solo in the 1944 musical Meet Me in St. Louis. (1944)

[Connie G.]

You must also think, Switch aired in 2006, and the federal minimum wage at the time was $5.15. As such, he was making $2.35 per hour more than the average soda jerk at the time. Given the eight hours a day, Ed made $18.40 more per day than some other guy that worked at Whit's End, Connellsville. Five days a week, he has made $92 more dollars than his imaginary subordinate. In 2006, the average annual income was $38,651.41. Not counting overtime, time-and-a-half, or anything like that; just a strict 40 hour work week, Ed was only making $15,600. The last year that was considered average salary was 1983. Hopefully Whit gives the Washingtons employee benefits...

Judy Garland's wistful solo in the 1944 musical Meet Me in St. Louis. (1944)

Benefits that don't include free ice cream, apparently.

[AIOrocks101]

If you are getting $120 from how much Whit gave Marvin in advance for working at Whit's End for two days, the amount was actually $150. Also, that was just the amount Marvin got for their experiment. This in no way means that is how much Ed gets paid for two days of work. It is not stated how much Ed get's paid, but I'm sure it would be way more than $75 a day.

[Tarol]

That's what I basically thought... @AIOrocks Maybe Whit just randomly had $150 (which is rather odd in the first place 0_o) in his wallet, and just gave Marvin all of it. It doesn't have to be the official wage, although it's possible.

And, there have been several jokes that Whit doesn't pay very well. In one older episode (that I can think of at the moment) Whit mentions Tom working for him and Tom replies: "With the wages you pay? No way!" In joke of course, but it could be possible it's true.

[snubs]

Whit's End is closed on Sunday. And from evidence of a few different episodes, Whit's End opens at 9am and closes at 9pm.. whether Whit's End closes later on Friday and opens earlier on Saturday is uncertain.

As for the wages theory, (as most everyone has said) we do have to take into account the year these episodes were made. The writers do a pretty good job at trying to keep the show timeless.. but it's little details likes these that make the show dated (but hey, the writers can't predict the future. )

We should also note that maybe even the writers themselves aren't doing the math for the figures they come up with, =p which would make things seem a little odd and inconsistent. I mean, there is the whole ageless Connie thing that happened. Haha.

BUT, nonetheless, these are very interesting observations Ox. And it is fun to dissect all the little details of Odyssey.

[Tarol]

Actually, I did take into account the year the episode was made, hence the reference to "The minimum wage during 1997", etc.

But, yes, I know it's a rather ridiculous study since I doubt the writers paid that much attention to it. But as you said, dissections are fun for bored fans that like using Excel. xD (paraphrasing of course )

[snubs]

Yeah, I know you accounted for the year. I was just kinda affirming you and everyone else's comments on the fact. =p