When Renee Smith, 43, comes into work at Burger King every day, she takes pride in working her way up from getting paid $8.50 an hour to $11 an hour.

As a mother of four children and one grandchild all under the same roof, Smith said her and her husband have struggled to make ends meet for years.

“I’ve been working here for four years,” she said. “When you’re in a place long enough, you get comfortable and it’s hard to leave.”

Smith’s husband is a farmer, and she said they have to rely on their oldest daughter to help support them.

“We are surviving,” she said. We are nowhere near where I want to be.”

When it comes to budgeting, Smith and her family focus on putting food on the table.

“I wish we got coupons or something working on here, that would be a life saver,” she said. “But food is what we got to use our paychecks for first. I’ll get my hair and nails done when I can to look nice or splurge on the girls and buy them a new pair of shoes, but that’s about it.”

Smith has been working at Burger King for four years and said the increase in pay is not cutting it.

“They say that they’ve increased the minimum wage ‘this’ much percent every year, but it does not make a difference,” Smith said. “I’ve worked here four years and have barely made a three dollar increase. It is by no means a liveable wage.”

Phillip Sais stands outside dueling piano bar Willy D’s on March 27. Credit: Andrew Epperson (crop photo to bring Sais in closer)

Financial support from parents is a key element of many UofA students’ educational and professional success. For one former student, a fight resulted in an introduction to self–reliance and a realization of needed frugality to make ends meet.

Phillip Sais, 21, was born in India before he was adopted by parents in Arkansas when he was 1 1/2 years old. Shortly after he began attending college, he and his parents got into an argument that resulted in an agreement that seemed simple at the time: he’d pay for his own responsibilities, including rent, utilities, food, school and lifestyle. Essentially, he was off his parents’ payroll.

An avid musician from a young age, something he picked up from his mother, Sais turned to searching for a job in one of the many scenes in Fayetteville to make ends meet. He searched “dueling piano bars” and found an establishment named Willy D’s. He was worried about potentially being turned down because his age was under the drinking limit at the time, he said. Despite his doubts, he was offered a tryout and ultimately a role as a runner and pianist.

“It was scary going around on Dickson Street and asking for a job,” Sais said. He was under the legal drinking age, and the prospect of playing music around intoxicated patrons frightened him. “It was so scary, but I did it, and I absolutely love the job.”

As Sais continued to become more comfortable to his role, a problem with his handling of student loans put him in a situation where he needed to take out more loans to pay off old ones, so he was left with no choice but to drop out of college with less than a year remaining before he’d get his degree. Still, he’s paying off student loans in an attempt to open up his budget to take on the expenses of more loans once he enrolls again.

As of March 28, Sais’ weekly schedule goes from 8 p.m. to 2 a.m. Thursday, Friday and Saturday. The hourly salary for a musician in an employer listed under “Drinking Places (Alcoholic Beverages)” on the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ employment data was $24.09 in 2016.  (SHOW THIS TO ME) Based of his schedule, when calculated on a yearly scale, his yearly salary is around $22,548.24, which hovers around the median income for workers of much-less specialized jobs.

–Question for Epperson on the Sais graphic – bar musicians. where did you find that data?

Sais purchased a motorized scooter to get from place to place in the area, as gas prices and car insurance made it unfeasible for him to purchase a four-wheeled vehicle. He pays a “roadie fee” to his friends who have cars and can help him transfer his equipment from gig to gig.

Phillip Sais poses behind his piano at Willie D’s. Credit: Phillip Sais

During football season, business booms and Sais sees an increased number of tips. During the summer, on the other hand, the lack of students and fans coming to Dickson Street makes business a little tougher to come by. During a really tight period, Sais was forced to resort to asking his family for money, he said.

“[To stay afloat,] you have to be willing to do what it takes to make ends meet, even asking family for money sometimes,” Sais said. “The important thing is to never stop, never stop working, and make sure you’re willing to do what it takes to earn an adequate living.”

In the future, Sais plans to enroll in school again to finish his bachelors degree in music performance, he said. If everything works out economically, he will continue working at Willy D’s while attending classes.

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark .— Chris Pfaff, 38 years old, is a clerk at the EZ Mart in the Shell gas station on Martin Luther King Blvd. Pfaff is working but he is currently homeless. He grew up in Pennsylvania and moved to Arkansas after dropping out of high school his senior year Pfaff is aware that he does not need a high school diploma or a GED to get a job, but he is actively trying to complete his GED test by utilizing the internet and practicing test-like questions in his spare time.

Chris Pfaff is currently living out of a tent, and has been for nearly two months. “It’s not easy. You have to fight everyday to try to get a shower, you have to fight every day to try to get your laundry done, along with everything else,” Pfaff said. He made it clear that he does not let the current quality of his life affect his mood or attitude about life when he comes into work on a daily or nightly basis. “I come in every day with my head up high,” he said.

He makes an hourly wage of $8.50 and his responsibilities include stocking the coolers, making sure the coffee is hot and fresh for the customers, keeping the floors are cleaned and mopped, working the cash register, and making sure the bathrooms are cleaned. Although he does not have a problem going to work with a smile on his face, he admitted that sometimes the light at the end of the tunnel, representing stability and peace, is further away some days even if it seemed easy to reach the day before. “Some days it feels like a long stretch to get to the end of that tunnel,” he said.

This graph shows that cashier and clerk wages vary very little on average, no matter where one works in the United States. Occupational employees, specifically clerk and cashier workers, have hourly wages that rise $3 above minimum wage on average in the United States. This puts and keeps workers, like Chris Pfaff, below the poverty line if they depend on this single job for income.

Pfaff gets to and from his job by driving his truck. “I slept in my truck for over a month one time. It’s not very comfortable,” he said. Prior to working at the EZ Mart, he worked at McDonalds as a griller and at Tyson but had to stop after developing Carpal Tunnel Syndrome in his right wrist. This resulted in him seeking a less physically demanding job at the EZ Mart.

Pfaff believes that Fayetteville could improve the living conditions for the homeless community by providing more subsidized housing that does not include an extra utility bill to pay. “Not everyone can afford to pay the electric bill on top of our other living expenses,” Pfaff said.

Pfaff and his coworker have been passing out flyers for Walk a Mile in My Shoes, which is a “march to bring awareness to the rising cost of living and individuals experiencing homelessness in Northwest Arkansas”, taking place on April 8th. Attached to this flyer is a questionnaire asking the participants to answer seven questions about their opinions and experience on observing or being part of the homeless community.

Chris Pfaff’s contact information:

(240) 452-2215

devilman0979@gmail.com