This mostly goes for people who are over the age of 25... But people under 25 should read as well.
But seriously, if you are so constrained in your skill set and social networking that you are forced to take a minimum wage job after you get laid off (and here in 2014 it is ~when~ not if, there are no longer lifetime jobs) then you need to grow and develop yourself. You need to be a professional at work, and learn to figure out when this job is ending so you can have an exit plan. All jobs end, and good jobs do not fall out of the sky. Those contacts and skills take years to develop, and if you ask yourself the question "What would I do if my workplace burned down this evening" and you don't have two or three backup plans ready to go, you are screwed, and you are doing it to your self. It is no ones fault but yours.
Forget minimum wage. It is not enough to live off of, and was never designed that way. It is a minimum standard to business (not you the employees) to conduct business. It says to the business community, if your employees can't make at least this much money, take your business to a different venue.
Yes, as I business owner I could put people to work at $3 an hour, and I there would be plenty of takers at that rate even here in the midwest. But I don't think I would make any money off of employees who work for $3 an hour. I would needs dozens if not hundred of employees to match my compensation at that rate. (I figure I could make $3 an hour off of an employee that I paid $3 an hour) No instead, I wan't to spend my time making $30 an hour off of a guy that I pay $30 an hour. The problem I have as a business person is the pool of people who are worth $30 an hour is much smaller than the pool of people who are worth $10 an hour. But if you have a skill that I can utilize and are worth $30 an hour, I will be happy to pay it.
That guy who I pay $30 an hour, he is worth more to me that three guys at $10 an hour, or ten guys at $3.
End this minimum wage entitlement welfare s***, it is dragging you down.