I am a Canadian. I left high school 1 year ago and have spent most of my time studying at a university. Now summer has rolled around and I have to work full-time to pay for my education, possibly even rent. I have worked a proper job as a butcher/deli worker for about 2 weeks after jumping between jobs and I don't understand how most people live this way.
When I was younger I did a good amount of charity work. I always came home after long hours with my legs sore but with a sense of pride and always slept amazingly afterwards. However, when I work the same long hours for a company I feel horrible. My legs and feet hurt so much that It feels like I am standing on hot coals for the entire shift and sometimes days after. The noise of the workplace always causes constant headaches. When I return home I find myself unable to relax at all and often feel like I have stopped breathing. I've even begun experiencing insomnia and vivid nightmares. Finally, I have lost all creative drive and can't seem to truly enjoy anything. Playing video games or D&D with my friends just isn't the same and I haven't been able to do the same things that I have done all my life. Working is killing me.
I used to think all of these were caused by different things such as a bad sleep schedule caused by early hours (~3 am) or stress from finding housing for my next year at university among other things but I feel these effects regardless of where or when I work and I only feel them when I work. The job that I have now is for a small local business with a nice atmosphere and hours that work well for me and yet I still feel awful.
What's worse is that I might be forced to work full-time throughout the year because I likely won't be able to afford university even with all of the grants and loans my government provides. If I don't go to university, my disabled mother permanently loses both the government benefit for housing a full-time student and my father's child support payments. If this happens, I'll have to start paying for my mother's rent and food regardless of my status as a student because her income will be too low to pay for subsidized housing even if I live somewhere else. Because of this, I will likely lose the opportunity to complete my education and be forced to work a dead-end job for the rest of my life.
So I must ask: How does anyone live like this? I've asked just about everyone I can and the only answer I get is either “You get used to it” or “It's impossible to get what you want”. Why is our society built on such strenuous exploitation of other people? Why is everyone so complaisant? How can we change things?
TL;DR Working a 9-5 is like poison. How can we change things?