Debunking The Myth That No One wants To Work
We Just Want Work/Life Balance and a Living Wage
Yesterday, I came across a video of two wealthy people discussing the less fortunate. The women stated that she thinks the unemployment should be cut and even mocked concepts like work/life balance and self-care. They seemed to think that poor people weren’t pushing themselves as hard as they could be, but that couldn’t be further from the truth.
At my last job, I witnessed one of my coworkers collapse on the sales floor while having a stroke. She had been talking to me a moment prior when she began having a pain in her chest, but she declined when I asked if she wanted me to get a manager. She told me she couldn’t she pulled all the trash bags from the area, so I stayed near her. Suddenly, she was on the ground clutching her chest. I ran to find a manager while a customer called for an ambulance, and then I cried as they carried her away on a stretcher.
I sent my coworker a text message a few days later to see how she was doing, and it surprised me when she said she was planning to return to work later that week. I knew nothing about strokes, but I doubted she was ready to return. When I voiced my concern, she told me how much she needed the money and that she had already missed so much work.
When she returned to work, she wasn’t herself. She was normally cheerful, and now she was a shell of the woman she’d been before. We had to put her in a wheelchair and bring her to the back of the store because she was feeling weak again. An ambulance took her away again, and they forced her to go on a leave of absence. Before she had her stroke, she was working two jobs that were about an hour’s drive from each other. She had gotten too busy working to take care of herself, and she confided in me she was feeling stressed and under appreciated at work.
I found I felt the same way. I would often become overwhelmed at work, but I felt trapped. I thought no one would pay me as much as I earned at that job, so I endured what I had to for a paycheck. I knew I would never be happy with the job and often wondered if I would always have to suffer for a paycheck.
Hustle culture is shoved in our faces daily, especially with the rise of apps like Door Dash. From the cute ‘girl boss’ planners to the business owners complaining that no one wants to work for them, we are expected to work multiple jobs to earn a living wage. If we don’t enjoy working multiple jobs, we’re told to go to school and ‘better’ ourselves. However, no one tells you how difficult it is to attend college while maintaining a job.
There was a time when I worked two jobs. They did not give me a day off, and whenever I asked for one, I was met with a negative attitude. If I hadn’t worked two jobs, I wouldn’t have been able to pay my bills, but I was becoming overwhelmed. Not only were my jobs draining me, but I also couldn’t afford to properly feed myself. I was buying spaghetti in bulk and eating it every day because I couldn’t afford anything else. I had no free time because I spent it sleeping or doing chores that had been neglected while I was working. I couldn’t even consider having a social life, and I became jealous of the people who could afford things I couldn’t.
We’re expected to hustle with a smile on our face, all while dealing with angry customers who throw temper tantrums and may even cause us physical harm. We’re forced to act as if we are thrilled to be at work, despite not making enough to cover rent, and we’re told not to complain. We’re reminded of how much ‘harder’ the older generations had it. We’re promised competitive pay and work/life balance, but those promises are broken the minute we get hired. We’re scolded for calling in when we’re sick, or when our cars break down. Many jobs don’t have sick pay or paid time off, which means we’ll be behind on our bills if we call in.
New now hiring signs seem to pop up everywhere, and business owners complain that no one wants to work. Despite all the negatives I listed above, I can’t help but disagree with the business owners. People do want to work, but they want to be paid a living wage and be able to take time off for themselves. They want to be treated like humans, and not reduced to ‘poor people who aren’t hustling hard enough’.
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