Page:American Journal of Sociology Volume 4.djvu/755

 TIVO IVEEKS IN DEPARTMENT STORES 735

though, and very much in the way when we were moving around, waiting on customers. A hinged seat that could be swung under the counter w-ould be such a boon.

The hours were very long. We worked from eight in the morning till eleven at night, with the exception of Christmas eve, when we worked until twelve. Half an hour was the time allowed for each meal. The only extra pay given was thirty cents each night for supper money. There was a very good cheap restau- rant in the store, and there we bought our suppers for from twenty to thirty cents. Many of the clerks ate two cold lunches a day in order to save the money, while others were quite reck- less and bought what they considered dainties. One day a girl who had a very bad headache went to lunch with me, and this is what she ordered :

Plum pudding with wine sauce ... - So.io

Swiss cheese sandwiches -- .05

Chocolate ice cream .. .05

Strong coffee - - -oS

My astonishment was too great for words.

The work in this store was in many ways not so difficult as in the first. Our work was confined to one counter, and then we could sit down for a moment once in a while ; but the customers were just as hard to suit and equally regardless of our feelings. And how long the days were ! It seemed to me that my thoughts were always centered on my feet ! Our arms got tired, too ; we had to reach a good deal for stock. A man made me open and take the dolls from nineteen boxes to see if I could not find him one with black eyes and yellow hair. I told him they were all gone, at the price he desired, but he wanted me to verify my state- ment. As if it would matter to his two-year-old baby whether the doll had black or green eyes ! He was evidently buying one for his own delectation. That is only one instance of the many exacting customers we met.

There the sanitary conditions were good, lunch- and cloak- room accommodation ample, and the treatment kind and cour- teous ; but the wages were woefully insufficient. From four