Kathy Garcia hopes to one day see her son go to college. Her son, Landever Jr., is named after his father. (Vanessa Gomez)

This story is part of a Neon Tommy series exploring the lives of low-wage workers in South Los Angeles. In his State of the Union address this February, President Obama unveiled a plan for the minimum wage to be raised to $9 an hour from its current level at $7.25.

The issue of minimum wage became one of renewed pivotal importance in the final weeks of the L.A. mayoral election, with candidate Wendy Greuel pledging to support an increase in the wages of hotel workers to $15 an hour. Workers featured in this series earn wages below, at, or slightly above the California minimum wage rate, which currently stands at $8 an hour. These are the workers who would be affected by a new policy.

It was an hour before her shift was over. She had been there since 6:30 in the morning. A customer approached the counter, handing over a bill for a chili burger and fries. "Muchas gracias.”

For eight years, this has been the routine for Kathy Garcia, who works as a cashier at Pete's Burgers on Hoover Street. She started out at minimum wage, $6.75 at the time before getting a raise to $9 an hour six months later. Today, she earns the same hourly rate, working five days a week, from Wednesday through Sunday. She goes in at six in the morning and doesn't get off until three in the afternoon. When she does have time off, she says, she prefers to stay home and relax.

Garcia moved to the States from El Salvador 25 years ago. "My mom brought me here," she said. She later finished high school in California and received her diploma. She didn't go to college but had a son, Rudy, at 17 years old. Eight years later, she had her second son, Landever, who is 13 years old. He is named after her husband, Landever Sr. Garcia. 

The family of four lives in a one-bedroom house off of Vermont and Washington, close to her work. Rent is $900 a month. The house gets even more crowded on weekends, she says, when Rudy's son comes to stay with them. 

Garcia takes home around $1,100 a month. Her husband works as a general manager of a local pizzeria chain, La Pizza Loco, earning close to $2,000 a month, bringing their monthly total to approximately $3,100. Despite getting paid only a dollar over minimum wage, she said she didn’t find it difficult to make ends meet. 

"I'm already used to it," said Garcia.

Together, the Garcias make around $37,000 a year. Because they are both always working, she said they “don't do much.” One of her favorite pastimes, she said, was watching scary movies with her family. "We work, we go home and relax," said Garcia.

The cashier said she was genuinely happy at the place she was at in her life, adding that if there were anything she would want, it would be for her sons and not herself. She said she especially wanted to see Rudy, now 21, go back and finish high school. But he had plans to join the Army. 

Garcia said she and her husband were saving up and hoped to someday see the younger Landever Jr. go to college. Currently in elementary school, Landever Jr. is already thinking about where he’d like to go. "He's actually thinking about UCLA or USC, I think," said Garcia. 

Despite these long-term plans, however, Garcia said she tends to just live in the moment. When asked where she would like to be in 15 years, she laughed. "I don't know,” she said. “I don't think about that.”

For more stories from this series, click here.

Reach Staff Reporter Vanessa Gomez here.