I (19M) have worked for a year in retail for £4.55 an hour, the min wage in my country at the time. i would come home from work in excruciating pain, writing on the floor in agony due to the strain on my back despite it just being a standing cashier position, and i only worked for 4-5 hours roughly a shift.
i am in university, studying an art course, it’s the only thing i’m remotely good at but jobs for creatives in my country are virtually non existent. i am absolutely terrified of the fact that i will have to work at LEAST 40 hours a week working minimum wage (£9 an hour ish) just so i can afford a roof over my head in buttfuck nowhere because big cities rent is far too high. i am mentally disabled with having several mental illnesses and a debilitating personality disorder, as well as autism. my physical health is extremely poor too though not debilitating unless my back is pushed to its limits.
sorry for the rant i’m just terrified to leave uni with a degree and go to work in a supermarket, just to come home to a single room that i can barely afford, eating the cheapest food possible and getting a few hours of rest before doing it all over again day in day out for the next 50 years. that’s not living, that’s surviving barely.
for those who don’t want to or aren’t able to get married and have children, we are only able to live as wage slaves with no other purpose in life and i hate it. i am a very talented photographer, i’m extremely creative but unfortunately also disabled and autistic in a society that is exclusively focused on industrial profit and doesn’t care about the quality of life of its citizens, even if i found out of the three art jobs in this country they pay WAY below minimum wage absolutely wouldn’t be able to survive on that salary, if you could find a property in this country for less than £500-600 a month that isn’t in the middle of fucking nowhere you’d be striking gold. i hate that there’s no choice. you’re FORCED to work at least 40 hours a week just to be able to have a food over your head and warm food to eat. i don’t have a dream job, i don’t dream of labour and exploitation i dream of being able to create my art whenever i want, not live off rice and grains and generally just be able to enjoy my life despite my limitations. work scares me so much because i am physically unable to stand for more than an hour or so without being in severe pain and the mental toll customer facing roles take is a risky game considering my already extremely poor health and i’m terrified because i’ll have to turn in to a shel of myself with a crippled body just to keep myself off the streets . fuck capitalism
i’ve considered buying a car just so i can live in it, i can’t drive nor can i afford drivers lessons , recently i had to quit my anti depressants cold turkey because i couldn’t afford it and i have to fork out over £1000 a year for lifesaving medication. right now i do enjoy my life considering the circumstances, i’m a wholesome and kind person but i am absolutely dreading my future because i just don’t have one under capitalism and i’ll be resigned to a life of wage slavery, due to my circumstances i only have a life expectancy of 30-35 but still. it’s evil and i’m terrfied
TLDR in poor and disabled and terrified of destroying my body just to keep myself off the streets