Dear Working Class:
I see you.
I see you working the cash registers and stocking the shelves. I see you answering the questions from people as they ask repeatedly where the toilet paper is and if you are going to get anymore. I see you, touching money from hundreds of pockets and purses and credit cards. I see you gathering the buggies (shopping carts) which hundreds of people have touched. I see people yelling at you, as if it’s your fault their neighbor is hoarding toilet paper and baby wipes.
I see you, smiling and telling folks thank you and to have a good day.
I see you mopping the floors and cleaning the counters. I see you waiting tables. I see you driving the city bus, coming into contact with hundreds of people. I see you at the desk, answering phones and questions from scared and stressed out folks. I see you praying that you don’t get sick from working because you have kids and an elderly loved one at home or your spouse is disabled and medically fragile.
I see you, and I know that while everyone is being told to work from home, you can’t. I see your posts about not having childcare while schools are closed.
I see you not able to call off because if you do, you’ll be fired.
Paying the Bills
I also know that as the privileged are demanding businesses close, demanding that people work from home, that you are wishing they understood that you’re caught between wanting to stay home and terrified as to how you’ll pay the bills when that does happen. I know that you wonder how long your landlord will give you if you’re not able to work. I know that you’re wondering what you will do if you get sick because you don’t have insurance.
I know that you’re wondering if you’ll lose your SNAP benefits if your employer shuts down and you can’t work to meet the work requirements. I know that you have no one to watch your kids while schools are closed and yet you’re afraid to tell anyone that they’re staying home alone because you don’t want reported. And I know that they have no transportation to the feeding sites provided by the schools.
I also know that buying groceries for these extra meals will strap you financially and cause you to count your change to fill your gas tank so you can get back and forth to work.
I know you’re worried because I am worried for you, but I also know you can do this because you’re used to struggling. You’re used to rationing and scrimping and saving. You’re used to not having the same things as others have. Do I think that’s okay? No, and I fight against it every day. Do I think it’s a superpower that we don’t talk about enough? Yes, I do.
The thing is, we don’t know what to do. Closing the businesses seems necessary if people are going to quit hanging out in public spaces, but there are small business owners who don’t know what they’re going to do when that happens and they are concerned about you as well as themselves. We’re all stuck between a rock and a hard place.
Put your energy into focusing on your knowledge of how to survive rather than worrying. You know how to do this. And revel for a minute in the fact you don’t have to fall apart at the thought of not having toilet paper. Hell, most of us who have struggled with money have been there at least once in our lives and know there are alternatives.
I think one thing that’s going to come out of this is that the playing field is going to be leveled a little bit. People who typically don’t know what the struggle is will understand to some degree. They’re going to know what it’s like to want something and not be able to have it. They’re going to realize how important your role is when you’re no longer allowed to be in it.
The truth of the situation is, it’s the people in the essential positions right now who are risking the most- and they’re doing it for low wages with no benefits such as sick time and/or insurance. They don’t go to work as an act of defiance but as an act of survival. It’s always those with the least amount of privilege who stand to lose the most, and this national emergency is no different.
Think about how your resources can be used to help those without it. Could you watch that single parent’s kids for her and make sure they are fed while she’s dealing with the general public at the cash register at a grocery store? Could you volunteer to grab a few extra meals and drop them off to that working couple who can’t get off work while their kids are home? Could you prepare a meal for your elderly neighbor whose kids don’t live around here? Can you leave a thermos of coffee out for your mail delivery person or for the garbage collection crew?
There are ways that you can contribute to the greater good that really won’t cost you much. If you have the privilege to work from home or stay at home to care for your loved ones, how can you help those right beside you who can’t? Is it buying a gift certificate from a local eatery that’s being shut down? Is it buying things online that can be delivered to a local charity? Can you contribute to a fund that is being collected by a charity that will help working class folks should they not be able to work?
Look around. There are ways that we can all help, and maybe the ones that will be worth the most will cost the least. Thank the cashier. Show appreciation. What we need now is to look into each other’s eyes and realize that we all need the same things to get through this.
Lock arms with one another so none of us are standing alone.
Onward,
Amy Jo
