When classes were abruptly canceled, a mother who worked as a bank teller had taken her child in for day care, provided by nonunionized school employees. (Day care workers: even further down the ugly new caste lines than teachers.) “I understand they want to be safe, but I have to work,” the bank teller said of her child’s teachers. “I don’t understand why they are so special.” This kind of comparison can curdle people’s relationships to one another — and to their own jobs.
Essential or nonessential, remote or in person, almost no one I know likes work very much at the moment.
People flee the work place because they are supported in some other way, including SNAP, Medicaid and other government hand-outs. Many jobs are dangerous and difficult (cf. commercial fishing, mining, steel and chemical manufacturing, etc.). People do them to get paid and survive, not because they love working.
Intercst Essential or nonessential, remote or in person, almost no one I know likes work very much at the moment.
I’ve wondered how the “essential” people feel.
They HAD TO CONTINUE WORKING, EXPOSED TO THIS INVISIBLE “THING” THAT WAS LETHAL! While the “nonessential” got a vacay. A PAID vacay!
These “essential” workers did NOT lose their job(income) due to Covid-19, and therefore did not have covid $$ coming into their account every month. No free money for them!
Sure, there was Paycheck Protection … which was funneled through the employer… and distributed as normal wages… and the essential worker STILL HAD TO WORK for those $- no vacay.
They had to keep working for the same pay, AND be exposed to “deadly”, AND potentially expose their families, AND deal with their kids, etc.
Meanwhile they saw “nonessential” not only get regular unemployment, but also covid $$. And a covid vacay.
I NEVER encountered one of these essantial workers who was grumpy, angry, or anything less than professional.
My hat is off to them!
But, how are THEY feeling now?
Grocery store staff.
Walgreens/CVS staff.
Sanitation/garbage staff.
Convenience store staff?
Dollar Tree/General Dollar/ etc?
How about CAR WASH staff? I had a monthly sub for car wash. There are at least a half dozen stuff at any time and maybe a dozen at peak times.
The car wash was open all of 2020. And 2021. I asked one of the leadership guys what made them “essential”. He responded that the car wash had a city/police contract to keep police cars washed. Therefore the car wash was “essential”.
This is a chain, and all the locations were open.
Did any Salaried workers lose any pay?
Teachers, police, hospital?
Over half of the people who have ‘quit’ were over age 65.
Many had earned enough money to quit. Others simply said I am tire and done with it.
Many of those who ‘quit’ at age 65 and above have part time jobs to supplement their incomes and those jobs are not always counted. Nannying for money under the table etc…
Teachers are used to catching every cold the kids get. Cant blame them for worrying. Some parents have always said screw it my kid has the flu off to school he goes. Why? Because the “job” they have demands it. It is well know if wee johnny has a cold, wee johnny is not supposed to come to school.
Parents and lot of other people can be dam selfish.
Look at the vax debate, the dumbest anti vax arguments were made. It effected the health of over 1 million other Americans. But no one really comes out and says it, “having crap in your head is just self centered selfishness. Get the crap about the vaccine out of your damned head”.
So what are teaches supposed to think? How many parents wonder if wee johnny has something like covid will dump wee johnny off in the morning? Answer a hell of a lot of parents will.
If we are going to shame people lets properly assess who to start with…
