I know this sub is mostly for Americans but I don’t have anyone else to talk to about this so here it goes. I’m from Iran and I work in an electronics store. My boss is one of the most disgusting human beings I’ve ever met in my life. I’ve been taking fluoxetine just to deal with his behavior and how he treats us. The thing is I can’t quit. My parents passed away in an accident few years ago so it’s just me and my little brother. I have to make sure I make enough money to be able to provide for him and pay for his education. I used to work two jobs but I had to quit my second job because of what’s going on in my country.
For those of you who don’t know what’s currently happening in Iran, we have been fighting and protesting against the regime for over one hundred days. More than 500 people have been killed and over 14000 have been arrested, with many of them facing executions. The reason I’m telling you all this is because I’ve been going to protests almost every day since it started. That’s the reason I quit my second job. I wanted to do my part for my country and with working two jobs from 9 am to 11 pm, I didn’t have the time to do anything else besides work so I quit my second job knowing it would be difficult for us financially. It was difficult at first but I slowly learned to manage it but cutting back on a few things and doing part-time stuff like tutoring. Last week, I sold a very expensive camera and I was very happy because the my commission from the sale would be a lot of money. I was so excited and I wanted to do something nice for my brother so I decided to buy him a video game. He loves games but because of how fucked up our currency is, a 60 dollar video game for us is extremely expensive. I knew it would mean a lot to him so I told him to pick one game that he likes so I can buy it for him. He was so happy and it just felt great to see him like that. However, the next day when I asked my boss for the money, he said he’ll pay me at the end of the month. The thing is, according to HIS OWN RULE, salary is paid at the end of the month but commission is paid right after you make the sale. He specifically has this rule to motivate us to sell. So when I pointed this out to him, he started getting defensive and came up with some bs about businesses not doing well because of protests and strikes and I should be more understanding about that. We got into a huge argument and I thought he was gonna fire me but he did something worse. He blackmailed me! He said he knows I go to protests and he even has footage of me coming to work with bruises right after protests and if I want to “get smart” and disrespect him, he will make life very difficult for me. I was shocked. I always knew he was an asshole but to sink so fucking low to the point of threatening to turn me in and get the authorities involved because I simply asked for the money I’ve earned…I was speechless. I don’t really know what to do or say. Can’t quit because I need the job and idk if he’s gonna fire me anyway or if he has other ideas. My brother told me what game he wants and I don’t have the heart to tell him I can’t afford it and disappoint him because he was so excited. Life is so fucking annoying sometimes…