History Main / HappinessInMinimumWage

* In ''WesternAnimation/ToyStory3'', it's revealed that Sid became a garbage man in between the events of ''WesternAnimation/ToyStory1 1'' and ''3''. He takes on his job with newfound enthusiasm, listening to music, scatting to himself and drumming on the garbage cans while dumping the garbage. It just goes to show how much CharacterDevelopment he's gone through after being scared straight by Woody (and, if one interprets the ''WesternAnimation/MonstersInc'' comics as canon, Mike and Sulley).

* ''WesternAnimation/GravityFalls'': Despite Stan being a MeanBoss who never listens to his ideas, Soos loves working at the Mystery Shack, as he's a perpetually cheerful ManChild with an overly worshipful view of his boss. [[spoiler: And in the GrandFinale, he's Stan's first pick to become the new boss of the Mystery Shack when Stan retires to go on adventures with his brother.]]

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* In ''WesternAnimation/MonstersUniversity'', after Mike and Sulley are [[spoiler:expelled from Monsters University and lose any chance of achieving their dream of being Scarers at Monsters Inc., Mike reminds Sulley that [[IronicEcho they're always hiring in the mail room.]] They wholeheartedly enjoy their jobs sorting mail at the mail room and even earn a "most mail delivered" award, and perform various other jobs such as "can wrangling" and serving food at the cafeteria. Eventually, they fulfill their dream of becoming Scarers when the company hosts scare tryouts.]]

* In ''Film/{{Brazil}}'' Sam Lowry is perfectly content with working on Information Adjustment as a lowly drone (that his boss Mr. Kurtzman is friendly and trusty to), daydreaming away. His mother insists on trying to use her influences to place him in a higher position to his constant protesting. The only reason he accepts a transfer to a higher office is because it's the only way he will get the security clearance [[StalkerWithACrush to read Jill's file.]]
* At the end of ''Film/OfficeSpace'', Peter quits his SoulCrushingDeskJob so he can spend his days as a construction worker just like his neighbor Lawrence. He appreciates the physical exercise and being outdoors all day. [[spoiler:A DeletedScene that expands the epilogue subverts this, though, by showcasing that Peter's boss at the construction company [[MeetTheNewBoss is a perfect clone of Peter's previous and highly annoying boss Bill Lumbergh, down to the exact same way of talking]]. [[HereWeGoAgain Meaning Peter traded his old white-collar hell for a similar blue-collar hell]]. The scene cuts just as Peter starts to feel depressed again as he processes this revelation.]] Granted, construction jobs generally do pay a fair bit more than minimum wage (Lawrence, after all, rents at the same kind of apartment as Peter).
* A running theme in ''Film/{{Clerks}}'' and ''Film/ClerksII'' with the character Randal, who thinks his cashier job at the video store is perfect "if it weren't for the fucking customers", unlike his friend Dante who feels like he should be doing more with his life. Though he seems less happy with his fry cook job in ''II'', especially when he finds out Dante is going to move to Florida. It reaches a head at the climax of ''II'' [[spoiler: when Randal admits he'd want to buy the video store he used to work at so he could go back to that job.]]
* In ''Film/ShangChiAndTheLegendOfTheTenRings'', Shang-Chi and Katy live modest lives as hotel valets in small living conditions. Katy gets chastised by her mother for [[BrilliantButLazy her seeming lack of ambition despite being a Berkeley valedictorian who can speak many languages]], though she seems perfectly content coasting through the days driving fancy cars and singing karaoke at night. As for Shang-Chi, he's revealed to have [[DefectorFromDecadence abandoned his past life as a trained assassin as part of his father's crime syndicate]], [[IJustWantToBeNormal voluntarily choosing a quiet, comfortable, "normal" life away from his baggage]].
* In ''Film/TheMenu'' [[spoiler:Margot comes across a picture of Chef Slowik smiling while working as a fry cook at a burger joint and realizes this was the last time Slowik was genuinely happy in his life. She manages to temporarily reignite his love of cooking by asking him for a simple cheeseburger instead of the haute cuisine Slowik came to despise. After taking a single bite and asking to take the rest "to go", Slowik lets her leave in gratitude, making her the only survivor of the night's massive MurderSuicide pact.]]
* In "Film/BruceAlmighty" God brings up that there's a purpose and freedom to manual labour, saying the happiest people on Earth go home "smelling to high heaven". In fact, God often presents himself in positions as "lowly" as a janitor or technician in addition to high ranking roles like a corporate leader, showing how He understands the importance between both levels of employ, and how His role as the Almighty can fit into either one.

* Creator/IsaacAsimov's ''Literature/ForwardTheFoundation'': Mandel Gruber, one of the royal gardeners, loves his job on the palace grounds. When Emperor Cleon promotes him to Chief Gardener in "Cleon I", he tries to [[DecliningPromotion decline it]], not wanting to be [[DeskJockey indoors, and out of the weather/work]]. When this doesn't work, [[spoiler:he takes advantage of an AssassinationAttempt and [[TheKingslayer kills Emperor Cleon]]. Gruber has a [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone moment of shock]] once he sees the dead body, and freezes]].
* A brief scene in ''Literature/GoodOmens'' mentions a cook in one of [[HorsemenOfTheApocalypse Famine's]] fast food restaurants. (Famine sells food that have been scientifically stripped of all real nutrients, to the point that eating too much of it could cause someone to die from malnutrition while gaining weight, an irony that Famine finds delightful.) Said cook happily whistles and sings while he works, blissfully unaware that simply taking pleasure in doing his job is annoying Famine enough to plan on firing him. Between the physical description of the cook and some other tidbits in the book, it's strongly hinted that the man is [[ElvisLives Elvis Presley]].
* ''{{Literature/Discworld}}'':
** ''Literature/ThiefOfTime'': Lu-Tze the Sweeper is a supremely powerful [[TimeMaster History Monk]] who once beats down [[spoiler:Time itself]]. Despite being a textbook AlmightyJanitor, he also remains a sweeper (the lowest level in the hierarchy short of novices) with only the Abbot and some higher-ups knowing just how strong he is, and once describes his salary as "two pence and all the kicks I can't dodge".
** ''Literature/UnseenAcademicals'': Mr. Nutt is a brilliant {{Polymath}} who's quite happy to work in the [[WizardingSchool Unseen University]] candle vats for modest room and board. It's still a huge step up from a childhood spent chained to an anvil in a dark forge. [[spoiler:InternalizedCategorism due to being a TokenHeroicOrc might also have something to do with it.]]
** A ... meta-example of sorts. Rincewind ''used'' to be a main character, and constantly the target of all TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt plots. However, he's managed to figure out a way that he's not attached to them anyway. Seeing as the Discworld runs on Narrativum, ie, the plot makes the world goes round, he's happier just being an attending wizard at the unseen university.
* ''Literature/NineteenEightyFour'': While the Proles are materially worse off than Outer Party members like [[TheHero Winston]], they enjoy far more freedom since the government doesn't believe they are smart enough to rebel against their power and doesn't devote time and resources to spying on them.
* Keiko of ''Literature/ConvenienceStoreWoman'' loves working at a convenience store to the point where she considers it her life's purpose.
* In ''Literature/{{Rubbernecker}}'', Patrick gets a job washing dishes at a pub. He loves the work and is so fast and efficient that the chef cooks him a free meal once a shift to thank him for reducing the number of customer complaints. He likes his job so much that [[spoiler:when Professor Madoc and Mick Jarvis offer him a job as a trainee lab technician, he turns them down]].

** Invoked at the end of Season Eight's "Worst Nightmare", when a preppy college intern admits that he's impressed by the Major Crime Team's skills, but feels compelled to point out that ''"you guys could make a killing in the private sector."''

* Music/LanaDelRey has a song called "White Dress," in which the singer looks back fondly on the days when she and her friends were waitresses at a restaurant. She even muses that [[CelebrityIsOverrated that life might be better than being famous.]]

* In the video to Music/ReelBigFish's "Sell Out," the band appear very fond of their jobs in a greasy spoon hamburger joint and laugh off a record executive's offer of a recording contract... until he brings out the obligatory BriefcaseFullOfMoney. They wind up back in the greasy spoon at the end of the video.

** Blake seems to enjoy waiting tables, and tells the protagonist (when the latter takes Heidi on a date to his new workplace) that it was “an honor” to have worked for him, if only for a short time.

* ''WesternAnimation/BojackHorseman'': Out of the many jobs that fall into his lap in season 2, Mr. Peanutbutter takes the one with the lowest payment in his career: Lady Footwear as a clerk. Surprisingly, Mr. Peanutbutter's content there doing his own thing and attracting people by juggling shoe boxes and dishing out compliments. This only reinforces what he likes the most: [[AttentionWhore attention]]. [[DeconstructedTrope It also shows what he lacks]]: [[DidntThinkThisThrough foresight]]. If Princess Carolyn hadn’t seen him, it’s unlikely he and Diane would have been able to maintain their lifestyle, something that hadn’t quite dawned on him.

* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'', working on Planet Express's interstellar delivery crew is a bottom-of-the-rung situation not far up from Fry's previous job of delivering pizzas. Fry being a FishOutOfTemporalWater though is thrilled to have a job that affords him everyday access to space travel beyond the wildest dreams of his 21st-century self, as well as allowing him to spend his days with his TrueCompanions. When he briefly has ownership in the company and its stock rises enormously, his fellow employees, who all own shares, urge him to sell so that they can all be rich, but he's actually relieved when the stock plunges again, since he prefers to live simply if it means he can work with them. This eventually creates conflict in his relationship with Leela, since she dreams of moving forward while he doesn't want to change a thing, though she eventually comes back to work because she misses him. By the end of "Zapp Gets Cancelled," it seems Leela has likewise (albeit begrudgingly) accepted her place at Planet Express, because the more high-power careers (i.e. captain of DOOP) don't line up with her moral standards and she prefers working with people who support her.

* ''WesternAnimation/OKKOLetsBeHeroes:''
** K.O. loves working at Gar's Bodega, mostly because he's a CheerfulChild who loves being helpful. Enid and Rad are a more [[DownplayedTrope downplayed]] version; they can find the work tedious (Enid especially, since she deals with {{Unsatisfiable Customer}}s constantly), but still like each other and find Mr. Gar enough of a BenevolentBoss to look up to. It helps that part of the job is fighting the robots that periodically attack the store.

* In ''Manga/DemonSlayerKimetsuNoYaiba'', several characters in the series came from humble working lives before becoming Demon Slayers and they loved every aspect of it, no matter how poor they were since they had such loving families before tragedy came knocking. Tanjiro in particular reflects upon himself that living as a coal seller wasn't bad at all, supporting his big family just to see the smiles of his younger siblings and mother was all that he needed to honor his late father, who was the family's coal seller prior his death one year before the story began; the tragedy of losing almost his entire family in a demon attack steered Tanjiro towards becoming a demon slayer, said job is actually revealed to be extremely well paying even amongst the lowest ranked slayers, with the salary only increasing the more promotions are to be had, but Tanjiro not once comments on how much more money he makes now, it just isn't better than working for pennies while still having a living family around.

* ''Film/FlamingBrothers'' revolves around a pair of BloodBrothers who joins the mob and becomes highly-ranked killers, but the younger of the two (played by Creator/ChowYunFat) decides to bail, where he went from a wealthy triad mobster to a simple convenience store attendant. Nevertheless, he's actually ''happy'' to leave his killing days behind.