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Since we're locked down under pandemic quarantine, healthcare & economics under the hot light, I guess it's time for the "Trash Mule" origin story...
I used to get paid $15/hour to remove contaminated sharps & Rx waste from hospital floors, and had to pass background check, health exam & drug UA for this magnificent trust. Once I qualified for family health insurance, 3 months into the gig, premiums ate 1/4 of my take-home pay
The low rate of compensation was an issue up front -- which I didn't beat around the bush about, talking w the unit supervisor -- but at the time I was desperate for steady work. But taking the job perversely increased my desperation; it became a trap I couldn't see my way out of
One of my coworkers, a woman, needed EBT to make sure she & her family had enough to eat. Others either needed 2nd gigs or relied on family members with better compensation to keep their households afloat. This was a "good," stable, full-time, vital service job! No layabout poets
I kinda left this thread hanging bc it got no engagement so who care. There's more but anyway I wanted to die almost every day on that job and was never more glad to quit one.
It's not enough to "honor" and "respect" healthcare & essential support service workers; the bottom line is the bottom's been falling out of this country for my entire life, ppl need to be paid what they're rly worth. Back to "normal," even if it were possible, is not good enough
