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Antiwork

None of them care, not one. if I could magic away my illness, I would.

About a year ago I got sick and was diagnosed with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease. My lungs went from normal to suddenly super bad. If working in retail wasn't bad enough… I've been struggling very hard. With the lungs and asthma, I can barely stand up normally for more than an hour or so. On bad occasions, I've collapsed. I preferred working in the backroom for many reasons, but eventually I was unable to handle the work. On top of that, the store manager changed our shift, one which I couldn't work. I asked him to let me stay with the same schedule, since, you know, seven years is a long time and at least they could do that for me. He said yes! Well, until a few weeks later, until he changed his mind. Nice. So they transferred me to a job I didn't want, for less pay, all…


About a year ago I got sick and was diagnosed with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease. My lungs went from normal to suddenly super bad. If working in retail wasn't bad enough… I've been struggling very hard. With the lungs and asthma, I can barely stand up normally for more than an hour or so. On bad occasions, I've collapsed. I preferred working in the backroom for many reasons, but eventually I was unable to handle the work. On top of that, the store manager changed our shift, one which I couldn't work. I asked him to let me stay with the same schedule, since, you know, seven years is a long time and at least they could do that for me. He said yes! Well, until a few weeks later, until he changed his mind. Nice. So they transferred me to a job I didn't want, for less pay, all in the promise it would be easier on my suddenly deteriorated body (side note, I'm not overweight and I've never smoked. I have had a relatively healthy body until it suddenly just went to shit). Turns out, it doesn't matter, since I can't do a whole lot of anything that requires me to work on my feet for that long. So the store manager knows about my condition. My assistant manager knows about my condition. My supervisors know about my condition. So what do they do? Constantly complain we're not doing enough work. one of them bitched on my first week I needed to go faster. I shut that shit down immediately and explained to her why that wasn't going to happen.

Enter this week. I'm still having asthma attacks fairly regularly. Normally I quietly stumble somewhere to sit down for a bit. But this time, my supervisor caught me struggling to breathe. Came over, and showed her concern. Oh, not for me. She started complaining that there was a lot of work to be done. In my limited breaths, I explained I just needed to go sit down for a bit. So I did. When I felt better and got up back to the salesfloor, she didn't ask me if I was ok. She asked me if I would be able to complete the work.

These are the same idiots who didn't train me, and then complain that things aren't being done their way. I've had other department's supervisors, other managers, and customers show concern for me. But not them. It doesn't matter how low on the pole you are. There are still plenty of people just incapable of showing even the slightest bit of decency. What am I supposed to do? Wave a magic wand? Because if I could, why would I still be here?

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