Source: Reddit
When Covid 19 first started (I’m in the US) I was working a crappy minimum wage retail job that kept me working almost full time but not quite so I didn’t qualify for any benefits. When everything started shutting down, my store, deemed an essential business, remained open. My roommates were laid off from their jobs as the businesses they worked for closed and they immediately filed for unemployment. Every week, they are paid almost $1,000 (per week) to sit at home and do nothing. I make less than half of what they make on unemployment at my actual job.
Every day when I wake up I want to cry. My job has taken a severe toll on my mental health and anxiety since Covid began because the customers are more rude and unreasonable and there are extra rules and restrictions (more work) for me to deal with at my job.
I understand that the extra precautions are necessary but it is still a hassle to deal with. Don’t get me wrong, I am not mad or resentful toward my roommates for collecting unemployment. I am frustrated with my job for praising essential workers as heroes while showing no actual appreciation. I am frustrated with my government for overlooking exploited and underpaid essential workers who put themselves at risk every day but are not being offered any additional compensation for the risks they take.
I am frustrated that everyone acts like it’s normal for unemployment to pay 2 or 3 times more than what many people I know made when they were working actual jobs.
