When we hire babysitters, we've been paying $10/hr to high school kid and $15 to college kids. Paying them all $15 isn't a big deal.

If I'm going to eat fast food, I'll go out of my way to eat at a local joint rather than a nationwide chain. Yes, that basic cheeseburger will probably cost $6 rather than $3, but it's not going to suck. Higher paid jobs attract better employees who actually care.

Supposedly, Walmart's been having problems where their low-paid employees just don't care about things like keeping the shelves stocked, while Costco's higher paid employees maintain a tight ship. I don't shop enough at either one to have personal experience here.

I suppose the core question is whether a higher minimum wage will have an impact on the people-who-don't-care. Perhaps they'll be less likely to work 60+ hours a week, to make ends meet, and will instead work less and put more effort into it.

One thing somebody posted on Facebook, perhaps with an ironic intent, is that raising wages would lead to the replacement of supermarket checkout people with automated self-checkout systems. This was intended as a reason against raising minimum wage, but I see it as a plus. I'd rather have more employees around the store to give me meaningful advice (e.g., these beets looks neat, how would you prepare them?). I can swipe my own groceries by a scanner.