Vox Populi
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Tony Gloeggler: Minimum Wages
For some reason, a line
from a poem written by
a long ago former friend
popped into my mind
about all work being noble,
the simple act of showing up,
day after day, doing whatever
you do, earning your way.
He’d talk about the summer
he worked behind a counter,
slicing meat, creating fully
loaded heroes like works of art.
I doubt he’d feel the same,
if he ended up spending his life
swaddling those sandwiches
in plastic wrap, making small
talk, smiling as he handed them
to customers, thinking about
finding a second job in case
he ever wanted to move out
of his mother’s basement
like my nephew working
in Key Food’s Deli department.
Or would he be like my father
asking about my new job
at the group home over Sunday
dinner, thinking I wasted
four years in college bringing
home minimum wages for wiping
the asses of retarded guys
while stubbing his after dinner
cigarette in the dish for my mom
to carry to the sink, wash, dry?
~~~~
Copyright 2025 Tony Gloegger. First published in San Pedro River Review
Tony Gloeggler is a life-long resident of NYC where he ran a group home for developmentally disabled folks. His new book, Here On Earth, will be published by NYQ Books January, 2026.
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Man oh man…he got that right…
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Always glad to see a Tony poem. There is so much truth in them
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Ouch. This ‘noble’ stuff has been the propaganda for the wage slaves forever. We are chained by the greed of the few.
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you are so right. Not all jobs are noble, including being a mob boss, dictator, a billionaire denying workers rights. A corporation that the Supreme Court has granted the rights of a human, but yet has the power to screw over its employees, consumers, and the planet.
But, as I am reminded by Tony and earlier by Philip Levine, wages should be fair, and sustain life for all who work for them. As of today, many full time workers in the U.S. are homeless, many living in vehicles or on friends couches, because they cannot survive in a normal state of being. Perhaps all people are noble, depending on how we define noble, but not all work situations are.
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Spot on, Jim.
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I missed you Tony, your warm, sure voice in a poem, and I didn’t realize how much until I opened the VP site today to your words. The nobility is in place among us: what you pay out when you decide to speak to us, that confidence in a friendship that runs in two directions. How glad I am to have lived in your time.
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It remains true that “all work is noble” but such nobility should be entitled to pay and benefits that enable a noble life style, meaning that in which the basic necessities of life should be guaranteed to all. There is no job too demeaning as to not deserve credit and the right to live in comfort.
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I completely agree, Mel. The fact that the CEO of McDonald’s makes tens of millions of dollars while a line cook makes $8 an hour is morally indefensible.
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I look forward to owning Here On Earth — Tony’s new collection out in January. You can pre-order it at NQ Books: http://www.nyq.org. Especially today when so many small presses have lost grants, it’s essential we support them by buying books directly from them. David Kirby said this about the book: “These poems are a lot of Springsteen, a little Bukowski, 100% Tony Gloeggler”
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I agree, Laure-Anne. We need to support each other because no one else will.
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Amen good friend(s)
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