How Is A Girl Supposed To Live?

I've been working for the same store for approximately six months. I originally applied at the location near me, only to be asked to work twenty miles away, in a different position than what I applied for. They also didn't meet my minimum salary request. I took the job in spite of these things, because I was told I would be able to transfer closer after 90 days.

I put in my request a few weeks before my 90 days so that I'd get transfered as soon as possible. Using the bus system made it hard for me to get rides home when we closed and to work on time when I opened the store. My manager kept reassuring me I'd be transfered. Finally, I started at the store closest to me three days ago.

They cut my hours in half and pay me almost a whole dollar less than what I was making.

This brings me to my topic: In this economy, how is a single girl supposed to survive on an almost minimum wage job with part-time employment? One of the requirements is that I have an open schedule and that I have no outside employment that is a conflict of interest. I had an interview at another retail location, but it also was only part-time, and I could not work there because my current employer also sells music. Although they are two completely different types of retail stores, they made me choose.

This happens with most employers. It is, in fact, called a conflict of interest when a person works for two separate companies that sell similar items. I completely understand why this is in place in contract with most employers. They don't want one employee working with another competing company, say Barnes and Noble vs. Borders. That would be reasonable.

However, that is not the case. The company I work for is a clothing retail store. We mainly sell current fashion trends and pop culture items. We also carry a limited amount of CDs. I'm talking, one hundred to two hundred titles, at most. I applied at Best Buy, which is known for electronics and home appliances, but they also carry CDs. Therefore, I wasn't able to take the job.

Because most of my working experience has been in clothing retail, it is where I prefer to stay. I do love the company I work for, for the most part, but how do they expect their employees who are past high school levels and working on their degrees to live if they are cutting our hours and pay because we ask very little of them? I was transfered to one of the largest stores in the chain, yet they can't afford to give me more than ten hours a week, plus they cut my pay. They also demoted me. It's almost as if the corporate world stands to punish the people that want to push ahead.

Currently I am behind on my electric bill and will not make all of rent. My cable will be getting turned off, and I'm not quite sure what to do about it. I have applied at close to fifty different places in the last week, literally, and have not received one callback. I'm beginning to become desperate. It makes me wonder how people with families to feed are making it. It also makes me wonder how we are expected to live if there are all of these conflicts within employment but no one will hire full-time. The reason behind this is so that the company doesn't have to pay for insurance for the employee, because only full-time employees are granted opportunity for insurance. So most places hire for under 32 hours a week, just to get around having to pay for insurance.

It seems like a crummy way to run businesses. I wonder what would happen if employees started outing their employers for the scum bags they really are. What would happen? Is it fair to stop employees from getting second jobs because of a conflict of interest? Is it right to withhold full-time employment to avoid having to pay for insurance?

How is everyone else surviving these days?