If you ask anyone for his idea of a dead-end job， the chances are that hewill reply \"stacking supermarket shelves.\"

This occupation， indeed， has become a trope for the futility ofexistence at the lower end of the social spectrum. Not long ago， forexample， a columnist in the Guardian wrote that it was scarcely anywonder that teenage girls had babies when the only alternative open tothem was stacking supermarket shelves? As far as she was concerned，having a baby could prevent a worse fate.