The issue is that you're not so much talking about a corporate ladder as a corporate stepstool. You go from fry cook to front register to maybe assistant manager and then that needs to be parlayed into something better somewhere else. We're talking about a person who has worked entry-level jobs for fourteen years. Which sucks. No doubt. Steve's argument - which I agree with - is that there needs to be a compassionate plan for people who are never going to rise above entry-level. I mean, yeah - she didn't get promoted to assistant manager in 2015 but that was 10 years into her food service career. For all we know, the past four years she's been the Maitre'd at Spago (but probably not). You're right - it's unsettling knowing people are forced to live like that and there are lots of them, and there are plenty who are doing worse, and we need to do something about it.