Month: February 2022

I work for a small county government and early in 2019 the head of our department got county commission to agree to department-wide raises because our required skills, heavy work load, and we are one of the only areas within the county that doesn't work mon-fri 7-4. No one was applying for open positions and our team with 9 positions only had 3 workers and a supervisor to cover 6 months of 24/7 work. So we got commissioners to agree to raises about the same time a new head of HR started. Coincidentally, there was also a move to vote for a union among county workers (laborers). We were told that when new hires came in at the new pay rate, our pay would be adjusted as well. We get new people and they come in making more than us. It's ok, we know our raise is coming. That was…

This should be good news. 5 days, 8 hour shifts, out before 5 every day. I'm in a kitchen and everyone is positive and good vibes all day. Everything is clean and organized. This shit never happens. But today I found out they don't allow people to go into overtime. I rely on overtime often. I don't 100% need it, but fuck did I really need it to not be drowning every week. I'm fairly good with my money, I don't go out, I gave up all my vices. But without overtime I def can't afford much else outside of “existing”. This should be good news, it should free me up to actually live my life, but what's the point if I can't hardly afford to do anything with my life. That time and a half was invaluable to me.

I've worked in this deli for almost 5 years now. Started as a dishwasher and made my way to manager. I've loved it for a long time, just an independently run shop in a small town but the owner paid decently and treated the staff well. He took care of us during covid as best he could. Recently I was replaced as manager. I understood why, I've never been a manager before and was really struggling to keep everything together. My wage did not change and I was meant to be included in any decisions the new boss might make. For a tiny bit of context, this is a small very conservative town in far north Idaho. However, the deli was an oasis for me, I'm a young trans guy and several of my crew are trans or nonbinary. A few of them use they/them pronouns and everyone respects that.…

So yesterday (Sunday, which is weird) I got a call from a dentist’s office I’d applied to for a receptionist position. He liked what he saw on my resume, and wanted to interview me. We talked for a bit, and set up an interview for today (Monday 2/28) at 10:30am. This morning I had a funny feeling about the interview. That nagging little voice whispering that something is wrong, don’t bother. I chose to ignore the little voice, figuring it was just pre-interview jitters. I got myself dressed nicely, and made the 30 minute drive to the dental office. Pulling into the parking lot, the office looked dark. Funny, but I guess they have tinted windows. I go in, and the office is dark. The nurse at the desk has no idea who I am, or why I’m there. The dentist (who was supposed to be interviewing me)was not in.…