Author: Olivia

For someone who grew up poor in the inner city US, I've basically done everything right. I managed to get through college without debt, got a good job as a Software Engineer working remotely, and bought a house in a small town the midwest. It's everything they say to do. “Get a better job! Move to a cheaper area.” And yet. I had a single mundane trip to the hospital. My car is on its last leg. My furnace needs to be replaced. My air conditioner will need to be soon. Tomorrow I start a new job where I'll be making a lot more than my previous job, and I'll hopefully have the extra income needed to pay off these things. But as it stands, I don't have any safety money. I am ridiculously lucky, and I'm still concerned about my retirement. I'm still concerned about having enough for emergencies.…

I am employed at a popular fast food chain and my night shift manager came in for her shift. I could immediately tell something was off about her because she had that thousand yard stare. I had asked her what was going on and she had told me her boyfriend had just shot himself in the head. She said her boyfriend had schizophrenia and he went crazy tonight. He had called her through video chat during one of his episodes and he believed someone was chasing him. After a 15 min video chat conversation of trying to calm her boyfriend down, he had ultimately committed suicide. She witnessed the entire event unfold through video chat including his untimely death. She had no idea where he was at the time, so she called the police to report the incident. Shortly after she came into work, police arrived to speak with her…