I'm a working-class woman in America ...
Feb. 11th, 2024 02:54 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
just_cyd-- of course my income has not kept up with inflation
-- of course I have no savings whatsoever
-- of course the treatment of my multiple chronic illnesses is determined by whether or not I can afford them
-- of course I've skipped doses of meds, or delayed refills, because of the cost
-- of course I started my career as a secretary in places where I was considered "the help" by far too many other ridiculously-higher-paid people, who now can't see me as anything else than "the help"
-- of course I get passed over for jobs because I don't have a four year degree, despite ample evidence that I could dance circles around the degree-wielding young'uns
-- of course 20 years with the company doesn't mean shit
-- of course I'm too beaten down from years of being gaslit to scrape myself together and find a better job
-- of course I want to rage-quit my job on a daily, if not hourly, basis, but can't because (a) no savings and (b) healthcare is tied to my employer
-- of course the majority of my vacations have been thanks to the generosity of others
-- of course the trips I do manage to take are a short as humanly possible, where "free hot breakfast" is king, and the rest of my meals are made up of what I can cart with me in my cooler.
-- of course I have to turn down short-notice plans with friends because I don't have the money to leave the house
-- of course I panicked when the temps dropped to single-digit highs last month, worried about paying the electric bill, knowing my furnace was already as low as I could reasonable tolerate (66 degrees. 65 was somehow too cold?)
-- of course my Boomer* father has all manner of opinions on what this Gen Xer has done wrong to land herself in "this kind of trouble"
-- of course I'm expected to do it all, and when I can't get shamed for having physical and mental limitations, or needing to take time do deal with said limitations
-- of course I only have a mortgage/own a home because 20 years ago my bosses were friends with the mortgage guy and fudged things on paper to make it work, just before those same bosses let me go two months later
-- of course the current real estate market is such that I can't ever move, because although my mortgage company thinks I need to find "something more affordable," with rents 2x-3x my current mortgage payment, there is nothing even remotely "affordable" anywhere on this planet
-- of course I am one very minor incident away from catastrophe
-- of course I have medical debt in collections from the car crash and multiple surgeries/ER visits four years ago
-- of course red meat (or any meat), restaurant meals, regular haircuts, replacing/repairing shoes/clothing/bras are something I only dream of
-- of course basic home maintenance, or being prepared for the inevitable demise of my fridge/water heater/stove is out of the question
-- of course that dead dishwasher isn't getting replaced anytime soon
-- of course I paid far too much to have my furnace replaced because it died mid-winter during a ridiculous cold-snap
-------
* dad was actually born in 1944, making him a member of the Silent Generation. He's anything BUT silent, but the description fits. Mom was the official Boomer, born in Sept 1946.
-- of course I have no savings whatsoever
-- of course the treatment of my multiple chronic illnesses is determined by whether or not I can afford them
-- of course I've skipped doses of meds, or delayed refills, because of the cost
-- of course I started my career as a secretary in places where I was considered "the help" by far too many other ridiculously-higher-paid people, who now can't see me as anything else than "the help"
-- of course I get passed over for jobs because I don't have a four year degree, despite ample evidence that I could dance circles around the degree-wielding young'uns
-- of course 20 years with the company doesn't mean shit
-- of course I'm too beaten down from years of being gaslit to scrape myself together and find a better job
-- of course I want to rage-quit my job on a daily, if not hourly, basis, but can't because (a) no savings and (b) healthcare is tied to my employer
-- of course the majority of my vacations have been thanks to the generosity of others
-- of course the trips I do manage to take are a short as humanly possible, where "free hot breakfast" is king, and the rest of my meals are made up of what I can cart with me in my cooler.
-- of course I have to turn down short-notice plans with friends because I don't have the money to leave the house
-- of course I panicked when the temps dropped to single-digit highs last month, worried about paying the electric bill, knowing my furnace was already as low as I could reasonable tolerate (66 degrees. 65 was somehow too cold?)
-- of course my Boomer* father has all manner of opinions on what this Gen Xer has done wrong to land herself in "this kind of trouble"
-- of course I'm expected to do it all, and when I can't get shamed for having physical and mental limitations, or needing to take time do deal with said limitations
-- of course I only have a mortgage/own a home because 20 years ago my bosses were friends with the mortgage guy and fudged things on paper to make it work, just before those same bosses let me go two months later
-- of course the current real estate market is such that I can't ever move, because although my mortgage company thinks I need to find "something more affordable," with rents 2x-3x my current mortgage payment, there is nothing even remotely "affordable" anywhere on this planet
-- of course I am one very minor incident away from catastrophe
-- of course I have medical debt in collections from the car crash and multiple surgeries/ER visits four years ago
-- of course red meat (or any meat), restaurant meals, regular haircuts, replacing/repairing shoes/clothing/bras are something I only dream of
-- of course basic home maintenance, or being prepared for the inevitable demise of my fridge/water heater/stove is out of the question
-- of course that dead dishwasher isn't getting replaced anytime soon
-- of course I paid far too much to have my furnace replaced because it died mid-winter during a ridiculous cold-snap
-------
* dad was actually born in 1944, making him a member of the Silent Generation. He's anything BUT silent, but the description fits. Mom was the official Boomer, born in Sept 1946.
