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Shutdown Rant
I debated for quite a while about what section to post this in. I finally decided this isn't about politics (I don't usually share any opinions I have about politics, so why should I do that now?), and it doesn't fit the tone of Social Woes, so I'm putting it here. If it doesn't belong here, I'm sorry. I needed to get this out, and I felt it would quickly cause Fratching to even bring the topic up on CS.
I thought of putting on caps lock, but I would just look like a dumbass, so please read the following in a tone of disbelief, sadness, and most of all, rage at the utter batshit pointlessness of it all.
I work for a company contracted to provide services for tourists in a national park, one of the handful that are open year-round. Obviously, we're not providing services, so everyone but a certain class of management is laid off indefinitely. They're the only ones getting paid until the mess in Washington is sorted.
My fiance and I are a lot better off than a lot of people. We have savings accounts. A lot of people here haven't even gotten to that point, let alone managed to actually keep money in them. Many of them drink and smoke their paychecks away (in addition to spending them at the super-expensive store in town instead of finding a way into the city for groceries). I suspect these are mostly the same people who are getting out of Dodge; moving into a relative's house or crashing on a friend's couch while they find a different job.
The company has had someone go door-to-door posting notices with a list of meal times, and we're getting free meals for three weeks, starting yesterday. One of my coworkers (who is typically an utter drama queen) says that after that, we're on our own for food. I'm taking that with a large dose of salt, since it's coming from her. I work for a pretty rich corporation. It's impossible for me to believe that that's all the more funding they can scrape together. I also feel like if they do stop feeding us (I don't personally care if they start charging us again, and in fact would prefer to purchase my food - I'm talking about food being unavailable), I'm gone. I have very few options for places to go, especially with two of us, but I will find somewhere to piss off to at that point.
The dining room where they're feeding us...I just...I went there for dinner tonight and scarfed my food and pretty quickly split. I'm very sensitive to energy, especially emotional energy, and while there wasn't anyone audibly grumbling or kvetching, the atmosphere in there was really depressing. I told my fiance later that I had to leave because it was reminding me so much of my time in the mental hospital, and of being in jail.
Many people are effectively trapped here, without enough money to buy a plane ticket. Feel free to say that that's their own lookout, and to some degree, I'll agree with you. On the other hand, I've managed to save up only enough to last me about two months over the entire summer (we are so dead in the winter we work about 2-3 days a week), so it's not easy. True, I spent $80 a month on books and music this summer, and ate out occasionally, but like everyone else in town, I didn't see this coming. That savings was to get me through the winter.
The store in town is selling goods at a slightly better discount to locals than usual, but (again, the same dramatic coworker [along with other employees on Facebook] claims that) they're not getting any more supply trucks in.
On the up side (from a purely selfish perspective), I think the mass exodus will make a lot of jobs available, and I have been gunning for nearly *any* job other than front desk for a long time. Now I think I finally have a chance.
I thought of putting on caps lock, but I would just look like a dumbass, so please read the following in a tone of disbelief, sadness, and most of all, rage at the utter batshit pointlessness of it all.
I work for a company contracted to provide services for tourists in a national park, one of the handful that are open year-round. Obviously, we're not providing services, so everyone but a certain class of management is laid off indefinitely. They're the only ones getting paid until the mess in Washington is sorted.
My fiance and I are a lot better off than a lot of people. We have savings accounts. A lot of people here haven't even gotten to that point, let alone managed to actually keep money in them. Many of them drink and smoke their paychecks away (in addition to spending them at the super-expensive store in town instead of finding a way into the city for groceries). I suspect these are mostly the same people who are getting out of Dodge; moving into a relative's house or crashing on a friend's couch while they find a different job.
The company has had someone go door-to-door posting notices with a list of meal times, and we're getting free meals for three weeks, starting yesterday. One of my coworkers (who is typically an utter drama queen) says that after that, we're on our own for food. I'm taking that with a large dose of salt, since it's coming from her. I work for a pretty rich corporation. It's impossible for me to believe that that's all the more funding they can scrape together. I also feel like if they do stop feeding us (I don't personally care if they start charging us again, and in fact would prefer to purchase my food - I'm talking about food being unavailable), I'm gone. I have very few options for places to go, especially with two of us, but I will find somewhere to piss off to at that point.
The dining room where they're feeding us...I just...I went there for dinner tonight and scarfed my food and pretty quickly split. I'm very sensitive to energy, especially emotional energy, and while there wasn't anyone audibly grumbling or kvetching, the atmosphere in there was really depressing. I told my fiance later that I had to leave because it was reminding me so much of my time in the mental hospital, and of being in jail.
Many people are effectively trapped here, without enough money to buy a plane ticket. Feel free to say that that's their own lookout, and to some degree, I'll agree with you. On the other hand, I've managed to save up only enough to last me about two months over the entire summer (we are so dead in the winter we work about 2-3 days a week), so it's not easy. True, I spent $80 a month on books and music this summer, and ate out occasionally, but like everyone else in town, I didn't see this coming. That savings was to get me through the winter.
The store in town is selling goods at a slightly better discount to locals than usual, but (again, the same dramatic coworker [along with other employees on Facebook] claims that) they're not getting any more supply trucks in.
On the up side (from a purely selfish perspective), I think the mass exodus will make a lot of jobs available, and I have been gunning for nearly *any* job other than front desk for a long time. Now I think I finally have a chance.
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