“Just work harder.”
“Stop being lazy.”
“Just get a better/different job.”
Sound familiar? Perhaps your little internal voice made it sound like someone you know. A friend, a lover, maybe a parent, or a teacher. It doesn't matter WHO told you, the premise is always the same: “It's YOUR fault you are poor/suffering/broke.” O don't know about you guys, but I've always been an overachiever. After my family gave up on me, and decided I wasn't worth keeping around, I dove into my adult responsibilities. My own phone plan, my own insurance, health and auto. My own place, my own rent, my own bills. Now, I had been paying my phone and auto for years, so that was nothing new.
I was out of my family's house with $3,000 in the bank. After being forced to get a new phone, and start paying for rent, groceries, anything and everything, that disappeared in a year. No, I was not out of a job at this time. In fact, I worked 2 jobs, but it wasn't enough.
I am now at 5 jobs, one full time at a gas station, one part time as a landscaper, one part time as a manager at a pizza place, and 2 different part time delivery services for 2 different companies.
All in all? I bring in approximately $1,000 a week.
The problem arises when you realize a few things:
1) my roommate has taken nearly $500 from me under the now exposed guise of paying me back.
2) my car was a rebuilt title, and was not built correctly. I am currently dishing out about $2,000 a month to keep it running.
3) my phone broke, and while I did have insurance, it cost me $100 to repair.
4) my car goes through far too much gas due to the errors in the engine/lines.
5) I had to pay the entirety of the rent (2 bed, 1 bath, $1,700 after utilities) for 2 months, not getting any help from my roommate.
6) I was out of work for about a week due to the mental stress of not being able to sleep at a regular schedule.
7) I have only bought groceries once in 4 months, I've had to use food banks or steal food from work the rest of the time.
Tell me why someone working 5 JOBS (ALL pay $14 per hour or more) is barely able to put anything in savings or even afford food?
What happens to everyone who physically CANT do this? What happens when I break and no longer can? The rich don't care. They want us to slave away until we die,and they don't care about the reasons we do. All of my bills total to just about $3,000 a month. Not including gas. I'm so sick of this broken system using and ABUSING us.
But they've perfected it to their taste. And there is no way to 'just quit' or 'go on strike'. When your whole life revolves around the hell of your finances, you can't just walk away from even an extra $5.
I am SICK.
I am TIRED.
And I am not going to go UNHEARD.