So, I got an unpaid promotion (ugh) and have been doing team trainings at breakneck pace at my current job. Had a coaching online meeting with one of the new people, and at the end, they mentioned in passing that they had worked with Employee X for years and that it wasn't public knowledge, but the reason that she was skipping so many days was that they have Stage IV cancer and aren't expected to make it through the year, and she had to go to chemo and also a few emergency doc visits. They're not even 40 yet. I asked my colleague why they didn't just say “fuck it” and quit to be with their partner. Answer: She needs the insurance to cover not just her chemo but hospice, so that when she CAN'T work anymore she can at least get morphine etc at the end. Not in a right to die state here so hospice it's gonna be for her. I feel so terrible. I am NOT squealing on X; it's her business and I don't want her to get fired. PS the person I had this meeting with was also on the job just to pay for their insulin and a few other meds for chronic disorders. I'm telling you, if the US of A every pulled its head out of its collective rectum and joined the rest of the civilized world in having SOME KIND of universal healthcare (it's not monolithic; every country that has it has its own version), then the people who would actively say “fuck it” and do something else with their lives. I swear, X should have the ability to walk away from her job without the prospect of dying in agony in a pile of their own shit, and to have whatever time left she has with her partner. Take that last vacation. Do that last fancy dinner at the outrageously expensive bougie place in town. Hell, finish that video game that you want the platinum trophy for. I swear, I've been kind of useless for the rest of today after that online meeting, knowing what I know. It's fucking horrible. This country sucks absolute total dead moose balls.