Day 15 – Las Vegas

by Avi McGrady

 

In the morning, we visited the Culinary Union, which also trains hotel workers. We got a tour from the school and then we talked about unionizing workers and wages as a group. Unionizing workers means that the workers help each other to have a voice to the upper positions. I think it is very necessary for everyone in the business to have a voice to get better working conditions, better pay, etc. Wages have a very large impact on living conditions, and in different states, minimum wage varies. The federal minimum wage is $7.25, which is something you can’t live off of. Living wage, however is a wage that can support healthcare, a vehicle, shelter, and food. A living wage can be very poor quality, but will still be functional. I believe in better living conditions for hard work, such as fast food or warehouse work. I think this because these jobs are usually referred to as “no skill jobs” which is far from true. Of course, there are many issues with just instantly changing this system, but I think we definitely need change and more support for people who work in these areas.

 

After lunch, we talked to Niger Innis, a major representative of the MAGA (Make America Great Again) Republicans. I really thought a lot of his points were actually good. I think he was respectful for the most part, however, he tiptoed around some of the bad parts of Trump’s presidency. He made it evident that he was very conscious about some of the more controversial issues within MAGA, like climate change. Overall, I really enjoyed talking to Niger and I’m very glad we met with him.

To finish off the day, we went to Meow Wolf, an interactive art installation/museum. For me, this was a major highlight of the trip. The beginning of the museum was a grocery store that had all kinds of strange products and lead into the real part of the museum. There were 2 or 3 large rooms with a ton of interactive objects scattered around. the whole installation was actually a story that you can follow, except it’s very difficult to figure out. At the end of the museum, there were so many cool clothes and trinkets that you could buy. I would definitely go again if I could.