I got let go from my warehouse gig that I actually enjoyed – driving a sit-down forklift – about three months back. My union’s in the ring, fighting for me to get my old job back, but that whole arbitration process could drag on for six months to a year, or even longer before a verdict is reached.
In the meantime, I landed another warehouse job in the area, but this time, it’s all about wrangling some heavy furniture with an order picker. The job usually means four long 10-hour shifts, but guess what? They throw in some mandatory extra days, which could easily be another full 10-hour shift. Oh, and they’re expecting us to show up and put in 5 hours of work on Thanksgiving!
As for the work itself, it’s pretty mindless stuff, like most warehouse gigs, but man, my body’s taking a beating from lugging around that bulky furniture. My feet are screaming in agony every day, and I can barely hobble over to punch out at the end of the shift. I desperately need new shoes or inserts, but my wallet’s not cooperating until I get paid.