They took away everything that was supposed to make working life comfortable. They took away paid vacation, sick leave, bereavement leave, and retirement and told us that it was okay because that just meant we had to be extra hard working and extra creative. It meant we had to be the kind of people who made it happen. It meant we had to be industrious and full of grit and determination and optimism. It meant hustling and grinding and no days off. They took away our training wheels and it would make us become the best versions of ourselves.
And when you're young and full of energy it's so easy to believe it. But then you do it for like 10 years, and you start to see the cracks in you. You start to break down. And then your mother-in-law dies and you realize that on top of working your ass off to pay the bills and using all your free time to maintain the house, you have to emotionally support everyone around you, but you don't have any energy left. You had to give all of your energy to your boss, and your side hustle, and your landlord. You have nothing left to give yourself or anyone you love. Life can never stop, no matter what kind of disaster there is or who dies, cuz you have to keep going. You have to keep working. There is no pause button. There's only start and stop. And stop is permanent.
What happens when you can't keep hustling? What happens when you be the person they want you to be at work? Where does the broken down work equipment end up after it breaks?