I always get a little more introspective during the holidays because the year is winding down and I strive to welcome the end and the beginning with comfort and joy.
This year, I am more comfortable than ever before as an adult, and do you want to know what that looks like in this house? The answer might surprise you. I am more comfortable than I’ve ever been because I have a new gas furnace. Never before have I been the owner of a gas furnace. The apartment I lived in for half my life had electric heat, and if you know anything about electric heat, you know that it’s never really quite warm, especially when your house is old and not insulated. Winter, to us, meant that we would put plastic on the windows, blankets over the doors, and put on extra clothes. You can only plug in so many electric heaters to get warm, you know, before that causes other problems, not to mention the cost it takes to run them.
We had to dry our hair immediately after getting out of the tub or shower because it was too cold to run around with a wet head. We never dreamed of wearing shorts and t-shirts in the house during the winter months. I was thankful for the heat we did have, but I was always concerned that someone was cold and not telling me, driving myself and everyone else in the house crazy with “Are you warm enough? Are you sure?”
But this year? Well, the furnace is whirring right now; I’m wearing shorts and a t-shirt, and I can’t stop myself from smiling. I have officially reached, if you listen to the politician’s views on what poverty looks like, financial success because I no longer qualify for any type of assistance and haven’t for a while. Too bad those folks don’t spend a West Virginia winter in a drafty old house with electric wall heaters.
The thing is, the way people are forced to live due to lack of financial resources should make us all mad, and it probably would if we knew it was going on. I am using the furnace story as one example of doing what you have to do to get by. Dry your hair, wear hoodies, put plastic on the windows and doors, use a heavier blanket … do what you have to do to get by. Don’t have enough to eat? Eat just enough for your belly to stop rumbling so you can sleep and forget about it. Don’t have enough money to put gas in your car? Have your kid skip a practice or two during the week or until you make enough tips in one shift to get them there.
Living like that isn’t sustainable. We’re doing the best we can without proper nutrition, no health insurance, which, in turn, means not receiving health care, and the thing is that we’re working for $10 and $11 an hour, which translates to “good money,” although gas is creeping back up and you get about four gallons for an hour of work.
I’m used to hustling and know who I can pay and when before everything starts to crash down on my head. This week, I had mentally done the math so many times that my brain automatically said, “Now go to sleep because this check and this check are going to drop soon and you’ll be able to cover that bill and take care of Christmas next pay.” And then the phone rang, telling me that there was a money oversight that needed to be corrected in two days. I quickly assured them that it would be, knowing full good and well that I had just bent myself backward far enough to kiss my own ass. When you’re living paycheck to paycheck, there’s literally no safety net. Life is like a game of Jenga and you’re always holding your breath while waiting for someone to remove the one piece.
Doing whatever it takes to get by isn’t sustainable, ya’ll. We can grind, working with no sick days and low wages, and we still won’t have retirement savings or enough going into Social Security so that we will be able to survive when we retire. I’m having conversations with folks who want to push for a better quality of life. What does that look like? Affordable and accessible childcare? Higher wages? Paid sick days? Health insurance that’s affordable?
We can work to change this, but it’s going to take our honesty and all of us. We can stay bitter or we can demand better. Let’s rattle the windows before they make us pay for the plastic to cover them to keep them warm.
Onward,
Amy Jo
