I have Fibromyalgia and Rheumatoid Arthritis, which makes it incredibly hard to hold down most steady jobs, which means for most of my working life I have been forced to take retail jobs because for the most part, they can work around my heath issues.
But the thing about working retail with my conditions in the US is, because we only get one 30 minute break in an 8 hour shift (and one ten minute break, only after five hours) and don’t get to sit down while working, it actually makes my health even worse and causes it to deteriorate very rapidly the more I work.
Because of this, I need to use the money I earn working to make sure I can continue working- instead of using it to pay my bills, it goes toward gas to get to work, doctor visits, prescriptions, therapy, and pricey products that can improve my quality of life without having to see a doctor (like CBD oil- aside from muscle relaxers and prescription narcotics, it’s the only thing that can actually take away the pain; CBD is $100 an OUNCE). Things like Biofreeze and Icyhot are cheap but only help ease temporary pain. Over the counter pain meds like Advil and ibuprofen do not even scratch the pain I live with. A good pair of shoes can help postpone the consequences of a 40 hour work week on my feet but it does not prevent it, and if they’re not replaced every 6 months it makes no difference anyway. Because CBD is so expensive, I have to make it go a long way, meaning I have to buy carrier oils and spend time mixing and diluting or making lotion or salves to make sure I don’t use too little or too much too fast.
Because of the pain it causes me, I can’t work more than a few short days a week, because for every one day of work I need two days of rest, and if I don’t get it the pain compounds until I can’t get out of bed at all. The time I spend outside of work recovering and trying to take care of myself cuts into many other aspects of my life like cooking and cleaning, and most of it doesn’t get done unless my husband helps out (he already works 40-60 hours a week). If I don’t cook I usually end up snacking on whatever’s laying around, or resorting to frozen “easy prep” meals, which don’t make me feel great but making sure I don’t starve is important too, and if the cleaning doesn’t get done, that’s pretty self explanatory- my asthma flares and the house is gross. Even laundry takes up too much of my limited energy.
I basically work just so I can pay the medical bills and purchase the items I need for self care, because of the pain working causes because I can’t sit down at my job. When I look at it like this, it’s almost not even worth having the job because I’d be better off physically without it, but I can’t just “not work” because I’m in debt. But I also can’t get the job I need tailored to my skill set and needs (help desk, from home) because those jobs go to veterans and the disabled first. I can’t go on disability because my condition isn’t considered a “disability” to my government.
And this is worst case scenario. Even retail workers without my conditions will still need to see a chiropractor every once in a while because standing / walking for long periods of time (especially if they don’t have supportive, comfortable shoes) will destroy your hips and back, and throw your entire body out of alignment (which will lead to problems in your knees and ankles, neck and shoulders, which will cause migraines).
And the reason they don’t want us sitting down at retail jobs in our country…? “Because it leads to slacking off” or even it just “looks like you’re slacking off”.
Corporations would rather not give the illusion that its employees are slacking off over making sure they’re in good physical health and happy at their jobs.
Seriously, FUCK this mentality, it’s destroying my life.
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