so i moved to amsterdam from the bay area half a year ago. i work as a delivery guy for a big parcel delivery service on an electric assist bike, they gave us a ton of nice rain gear, free fruit and coffee in the warehouse, bonuses and benefits, etc, i'm already like, “this is really nice for a entry blue collar job”. i've worked in construction, as a bike mechanic and messenger, public schools, political campaigns, non-profits, this wins.
yesterday i sprain my ankle at work, i'm immediately like “i'm effed”. not even. i get a ride home, paid days off, and try to make a doctors appointment to get documentation and the assistant on the phone is like “we don't do that in the netherlands, if your employer wants documentation they need to send you to their own doctor”.
it's not perfect here, but it's nice to not be effed by a sprained ankle.