Just a thought...

Today's one of the days where I feel overwhelmed by the amount of reporting I have to do.

And I kept questioning myself, why did I have to choose such a challenging topic? Why did I have to exhaust myself in this way?

I ran into a few restaurants and got kicked out by some, when I expressed that I'm a student reporter and am working on a story about good restaurant models (in fact, wage theft is my focus).

I wanted to find out if restaurant workers earned above the minimum wage, got overtime pay... etc and verify that with the owner/ managers' responses.

Some managers were nice and allowed me to talk to their employees, but it's apparent that they're imposing pressure. From time to time, employees would exchange nervous glances with their bosses, or became so tensed up when their bosses walk over and 'listen.'

It's only normal to deflect responsibilities.
You might ask, who would confess that they exploited undocumented workers anyway? What's the point?

I know some of them are lying. But it's one way of raising consciousness. Customers should be able to distinguish which restaurants held their actions accountable, and that they're starting to think of the process behind a cheap meal.

So I really don't expect to go back to certain restaurants from now on. Some certainly hated me for asking such sensitive questions, but for the most part, I really don't want to eat something that's cooked by low-wage workers who have been exploited and isolated victims.