My partner (38m) and I (25f) recently went to our local Dairy Queen.
We have had a lot of rainfall in the past couple of days. A lot of our city’s storm drains/sewers have been overwhelmed.
1/3 of the Dairy Queen’s parking lot had been flooded.
I see this poor teenage girl, in the rain, clearly a Dairy Queen employee, knee deep in sewage water, in flip flops, with a broken broom, and what I found out in the next coming moments was her attempting to “clear” the parking lot’s storm drain.
I felt horrible and I was confused at first asking if she lost anything:
DQ employee: Nope, just trying to find the sewer.
Me: Did your boss ask you to do this?
DQ employee: Yeah…
Me: You know you have the right to refuse unsafe work right?
DQ employee: It’s fine.
Me. Girl, you’re knee deep in sewage water. It’s hazardous for your health. You don’t have any of the right equipment to take care of this. Get your boss to call the city and have them clear it for you.
DQ employee: It’s fine.
I understand being a girl coming of age and not feeling comfortable or even having the knowledge to challenge authorities/these types of workplace situations. When I was her age I would also have remained complacent and obedient.
We need to educate ourselves and weaponize our rights!!! We especially need to equip the younger generations with the necessary tools so they too may be more informed and mobilize for change!
I’ve learned to NEVER endanger your body to uphold these corporations establishments where you are an ever replaceable means to an end.