I thought I did, but I guess I don't?
So, I'm a healthcare worker; graduated literally months before the pandemic. After licensing and getting my first job, the US went on lockdown right as I finished my 6 week orientation. Then I was thrust into the thick of it with no protection, warning, or idea what the actual fuck was going on. But recently graduated and feeling a calling for healthcare, I soldiered on through the pandemic for very little pay considering the exhausting and – quite frankly – terrifying work. I worked non-stop for two years putting in crazy hours because hey, “Heroes work here.” Sure, the hazard overtime pay was nice, but goddamn did putting in all those hours burn me the fuck out. This isn't about that.
This is about how after starting what many HCWs are doing – travel work – I finally have what I consider “adequate pay” for the work I do. Yet despite that, I do not want to play ball with the way this capitalist society hammers us down and makes it increasingly harder and harder for people to live a comfortable life while still being able to save for their future. And I'm one of the lucky ones.
Don't get me wrong, I don't regret starting travel work. It was a necessary move because my fiancée graduated with her master's in December, and her student loan money that she was using to chip in for cost of living dried up mid-January. Plus she's neck deep in student debt, and we have a fucking wedding to save up for. Also, today's working environment makes it almost impossible for her to find a job after finishing her goddamn master's thesis. Without making this change, I wouldn't be able to afford rent + cost of living on my own. And I emphasize this again, I'm one of the lucky ones. But man, does this arrangement make me so angry.
To be absolutely clear I am not at all saying that money doesn't solve all your problems. Because goddamn would we be up the creek if I didn't start getting paid what I deserve. I'm able to afford a comfortable lifestyle, save for a wedding, save for my future, start putting a dent in my fiancée's student loans, and yes – spoil the everliving fuck out of the woman I plan on making my wife. I'm angry at my boss, and my boss's boss, and the board of administrators above him that make 7 figures while the rest of us made scraps. I'm angry that I had to go to outside sources like this in order to get adequate pay. I'm angry that a not insignificant part of my job involves chasing the money on top of the mentally and emotionally taxing work that I admittedly still love so much. I'm angry that I had to leave my home, my life, my brother – one of my closest friends on this planet, and my family. More than anything, I'm angry that my old coworkers don't have this opportunity. The people I formed genuine bonds with and had my back in the most intense clinical situations. Because if I'm this stressed about how to navigate this capitalist hellhole, then I can't imagine what they're going through. Because again, I'm one of the lucky ones.