“We never close.”
So, as most of you probably know, a huge swath of the US is facing a brutal Winter storm right now. In my area, we're expecting 2-5″ of snow, light ice underneath, wind gusts up to 50moh, and most of all, wind chills down to -20° below 0° F.
I work in fast food, for…well, let's just say, a company run by a clown. And I mean that both literly AND figuratively. Corporate says we're not allowed to close. Ever. Even during a state of emergency. (Even if there's not enough staff to actually run the store, the ones who are there, are supposed to stay, and clean.)
I cannot afford to call in.
So I will be stuck there tomorrow night, during the storm. I will have to work a drive-through window with snow and sub-zero winds blowing in on me (yes, we have a space heater, but those things can't touch temperatures below 20°F, much less way colder). I will have to walk orders out to curbside in that mess (while the customers wait in their warm cars). I will have to risk frostbite to scrape and de-ice my car, or waste gas that I can't afford, to let it run and melt. I will have to drive home on ice-covered roads. My family will worry about me dealing with all that.
I have to work.
Even though all the other fast food places, and indeed everything else, will be closed.
We'll be open.
Of course we will! We gotta sell those burgers! Even though very few people will be out tomorrow night, SOME will, and corporate can't miss a single penny of profit!
And if that means putting the safety of employees at risk, well so be it! Just collateral damage, to them.
After all, what are we grunt workers anyway, but replaceable, disposable cogs, in the giant machine that buys the bigwigs' mansions, yachts, and multiple vacations?
The exploitation of the workforce in this country is infuriating. And yet, we are (sometimes) forced to take it.
I have bills. And this job, believe it or not, is great about working with my issues (I'm neurodivergent).
But it still ticks me off…