Vent Thread

[Luxibutt]

I’m expected to be the caretaker for my parents when they get old, as well, so I need to keep things the way they are so that I don’t end up hating myself for the rest of my life

Oh no way. Taking care of seniors is a 24/7 thing. And if you have two of them, it'll burn you out horribly. If they are expecting this while working that job, it's going to make you resent them.

 

[Frank Gulotta]

My number one piece of advice to any worker is not to cover or pick up shifts unless it’s a favor to a close friend. They will use you. They will take you for granted. Setting immediate boundaries and sticking to them is necessary. You won’t get any more favoritism or benefits at industries that work their employees like that by doing so anyways. Just another cog in the machine. Stand up for yourself!

Good luck handling it. These companies want to hire the least amount of employees that they can get away with, and stretch them thin.

Good employers exist. I made sacrifices to get where I'm going but I consider it as worth it, I got a solid position and now my manager reminds me to take some vacations some time soon.

 

[Luxibutt]

Good employers exist. I made sacrifices to get where I'm going but I consider it as worth it, I got a solid position and now my manager reminds me to take some vacations some time soon.

I had worked in good companies. There was one I worked it before Covid and it was pretty amazing. Great pay, great clients, and great people to work for. But unfortunately, Covid happened and they had to shut down due to the safety of the clients (I worked in a facility with disabled clients). So I had to look for another job. I wish I could back, but they have limited staff, limited clients (Some of them are pretty severe cases so it's hard to get them to know why that can't do certain things). So I'm in this job and they don't really care. They are trying to have everyone work some kind of shift even though the caretaker already is working a shift. I mean, if someone wants to work a 12-14 hour day, that's their thing, but I refuse to do it anymore.

 

[Kope]

Maybe suicide is the best option if the next life is better than this one

 

[Baud]

I waited two weeks for two items and neither of them works.

 

[Yakamaru]

Good employers exist. I made sacrifices to get where I'm going but I consider it as worth it, I got a solid position and now my manager reminds me to take some vacations some time soon.

Yup. My employer is pretty nice and so are the conditions of our contract. If I don't like something we can either change it or I take my leave if the negatives outweigh the positives. Though there are far more positives for me to even consider employment elsewhere.

I waited two weeks for two items and neither of them works.

Damn, man. That sucks. What'd you buy, anyway?

 

[Baud]

Damn, man. That sucks. What'd you buy, anyway?

I have been messing around with an Amiga 500 which is a 16 bits computer from the 80s, so I bought two add-ons for that: an external floppy drive to be able to use two floppies at the same time (plus adapter to hook it up to the computer), and a little device that lets you use a micro SD as an internal hard drive. Total cost: 70 euros.

 

[Yakamaru]

I have been messing around with an Amiga 500 which is a 16 bits computer from the 80s, so I bought two add-ons for that: an external floppy drive to be able to use two floppies at the same time (plus adapter to hook it up to the computer), and a little device that lets you use a micro SD as an internal hard drive. Total cost: 70 euros.

Amiga 500? Geez, haven't heard about those in many years. Sucks to hear they don't work though. Would've been fun to hear/see how it works.

 

[ben909]

did they say the devices worked on a 16 bit device?

 

[Baud]

Amiga 500? Geez, haven't heard about those in many years. Sucks to hear they don't work though. Would've been fun to hear/see how it works.

Oh the computer itself works perfectly and I am having plenty of fun with programming it and playing games, the accessories would make it easier to use but they are completely optional.

did they say the devices worked on a 16 bit device?

Yes these devices are designed specifically for the computer in question.

 

[Yakamaru]

Oh the computer itself works perfectly and I am having plenty of fun with programming it and playing games, the accessories would make it easier to use but they are completely optional.

Yes these devices are designed specifically for the computer in question.

Yeah, I was referring to the additional accessories. What games are you playing on it? Pong?

 

[Punji]

Maybe suicide is the best option if the next life is better than this one

Gotta hedge your bets here.

The possibilities (as I understand them anyway) for an afterlife are thus:

• There is no afterlife
• An afterlife exists
• Reincarnation

Option one sees no benefit. Option two contains the clause in which your actions may or may not be punished. Suicide is seen as a very negative thing in some religions, and there is always time for anyone to be better than they were the day before. Option three is statistically more likely to yield a worse life than the one you live now.

Therefore, you ought to make the best of what you've got now if you hope for a better run next time.

 

[Baud]

Yeah, I was referring to the additional accessories. What games are you playing on it? Pong?

lol no, I'm afraid Pong is a lot older. The previous owner gave me 105 different games with the computer, what I'm playing the most right now is Moonstone: A Hard Days Knight, Historyline 1914-1918, Theme Park, and Cannon Fodder. I still have to try the vast majority of the games I have though.

 

[Smityyyy]

Good employers exist. I made sacrifices to get where I'm going but I consider it as worth it, I got a solid position and now my manager reminds me to take some vacations some time soon.

Glad you’re in a place where your manager actually advocates for you as they should. Reminds me of one of my previous managers. She was an amazing person both as a manager and as a friend. Even though I’ve left that position, we’ve stayed in touch.

You will find employers/managers who are amazing — especially when you’re working at a smaller company rather than a chain/corpo. People who feel hopeless on it should remember that more independent businesses will have awesome management at times.

The USA has some of the worst labor rights/protections in all first-world countries so it’s unsurprising how often people run into horrible employers and managers. Of all the jobs I’ve worked over the years, I’ve worked two jobs with amazing employers — the rest had pretty awful ones. When I first jumped from retail/minimum wage into laboratory work, I expected better management, but even in high level jobs things can suck. Fingers crossed that unionization out here continues to grow!

 

[Firuthi Dragovic]

Fingers crossed that unionization out here continues to grow!

Talk to us about good union construction.

I've been on the wrong end of a school union where they expected me to be as slow as them. Wouldn't let me do my job, wouldn't let me learn about my job, canned me about a month in by complete surprise.... that school district wound up in a major scandal shortly after I was booted, but the damage had already been done to my perception of unions.

I need to know that this is a serious attempt to help workers and not just something that's going to get bad bosses entrenched... and thanks to my own detrimental experience with union work, the income level of the employees trying to unionize (these being people who stand to benefit a lot from the help - no I will never call it "needing help", that implies incompetence - and not people who are doing it merely to protect status) does not change that doubt.

 

[Smityyyy]

Talk to us about good union construction.

I've been on the wrong end of a school union where they expected me to be as slow as them. Wouldn't let me do my job, wouldn't let me learn about my job, canned me about a month in by complete surprise.... that school district wound up in a major scandal shortly after I was booted, but the damage had already been done to my perception of unions.

I need to know that this is a serious attempt to help workers and not just something that's going to get bad bosses entrenched... and thanks to my own detrimental experience with union work, the income level of the employees trying to unionize (these being people who stand to benefit a lot from the help - no I will never call it "needing help", that implies incompetence - and not people who are doing it merely to protect status) does not change that doubt.

I totally get it. There’s been numerous union scandals and it sucks. Unions are a necessity if the American working class wants to protect its interests. Profits for businesses have skyrocketed, cost of living has risen, and wages have remained entirely stagnant. Collective bargaining is one of the last remaining ways to put the worker on a level playing field with their employer. Unless workers advocate for themselves — businesses will milk them dry. Unionization rates are at an all time low and since this pattern has begun, we’ve seen an increase in wage theft, stagnation of wages, and dramatic increase in the salary of the top 10%.

When unions are strong and widespread, we see an increase in the average worker’s wage, more even wealth distribution, and better CoL controls. If I could embed images on the forums (thanks a lot raiders!) I would provide all the graphs and data demonstrating the negative effects of falling unionization rates. There’s been an extremely unfortunate disinformation campaign funded by large chains to dissuade workers from unionizing. Many workers get illegally fired when whispers of unionization kick up. It scares them because it works. Don’t let the bad apples or malicious misinformation spread about the purpose of unions taint their actual function and effects.

There’s lots of resources on how to start a genuine, hard-working, honest union. I also have plenty of links to those resources if needed — although, I will include one below. I am very sorry that you had such a terrible experience with a union. I have heard many examples of predatory unions which siphon wages off of their members and provide little to no benefits in return. Proper organization is crucial and I always recommend thorough research of existing unions (ideally, Democratic unions are a much safer bet) or organizing your own with coworkers.

This message applies to everyone — unionize! Money and power belongs in the hands of the workers who do backbreaking labor daily to keep our society afloat.


This is an archived PDF explaining a simple outline of how/when to unionize, but the IWW is still up and running AND does amazing work helping local workers unionize and form statewide grassroots branches: https://archive.iww.org/PDF/Official/IWW_organizing_manual.pdf

And here’s their current site for anyone interesting in getting into contact with experienced union organizers and members to help start up their own: https://www.iww.org/

My DMs are also open if anyone needs help, guidance, or more specific info. I’ve been a proud union man for the majority of jobs I’ve ever worked at.

 

[TyraWadman]

Time of the month is killing my energy and I went to bed at 8pm last night. Didn't fall asleep right away of course, but I was in bed.
Wake up feeling super relaxed but not miserable. Manage to make it through the entire work day without napping on lunch.
Immediately crash after work and nap for 2:30 hours, constantly having dreams where I'm waking up or snuggling with people I have never seen or met before.
Wake up with that nauseous/groggy feeling.

Ugh.. can't win. XD

 

[Frank Gulotta]

I had worked in good companies. There was one I worked it before Covid and it was pretty amazing. Great pay, great clients, and great people to work for. But unfortunately, Covid happened and they had to shut down due to the safety of the clients (I worked in a facility with disabled clients). So I had to look for another job. I wish I could back, but they have limited staff, limited clients (Some of them are pretty severe cases so it's hard to get them to know why that can't do certain things). So I'm in this job and they don't really care. They are trying to have everyone work some kind of shift even though the caretaker already is working a shift. I mean, if someone wants to work a 12-14 hour day, that's their thing, but I refuse to do it anymore.

Too bad it really seems like only the biggest piles of shit have survived enforced lockdowns, if they had done it on purpose they wouldn't have done it better

Glad you’re in a place where your manager actually advocates for you as they should. Reminds me of one of my previous managers. She was an amazing person both as a manager and as a friend. Even though I’ve left that position, we’ve stayed in touch.

You will find employers/managers who are amazing — especially when you’re working at a smaller company rather than a chain/corpo. People who feel hopeless on it should remember that more independent businesses will have awesome management at times.

The USA has some of the worst labor rights/protections in all first-world countries so it’s unsurprising how often people run into horrible employers and managers. Of all the jobs I’ve worked over the years, I’ve worked two jobs with amazing employers — the rest had pretty awful ones. When I first jumped from retail/minimum wage into laboratory work, I expected better management, but even in high level jobs things can suck. Fingers crossed that unionization out here continues to grow!

Bad unions also exist, I've met one good one so far, the rest is just useless shitty grifters who don't give a shit about anyone and just want to convert people to their ideological sewage

 

[Minerva_Minx]

Time of the month is killing my energy and I went to bed at 8pm last night. Didn't fall asleep right away of course, but I was in bed.
Wake up feeling super relaxed but not miserable. Manage to make it through the entire work day without napping on lunch.
Immediately crash after work and nap for 2:30 hours, constantly having dreams where I'm waking up or snuggling with people I have never seen or met before.
Wake up with that nauseous/groggy feeling.

Ugh.. can't win. XD

Hope you feel better

 

[quoting_mungo]

@Firuthi Dragovic If you want information about unionization (and the sort of issues that a union is probably the most viable option for addressing), I cannot recommend JortsTheCat on Twitter enough. Unions aren’t the only thing that account posts about, but they’re a good portion. And it’s always in a very digestible format.

 

[Kope]

Too bad it really seems like only the biggest piles of shit have survived enforced lockdowns, if they had done it on purpose they wouldn't have done it better

Bad unions also exist, I've met one good one so far, the rest is just useless shitty grifters who don't give a shit about anyone and just want to convert people to their ideological sewage

Unions are our only chance against being exploited by the higher ups though flawed as they can be.

 

[Baron Tredegar]

My dads the president of the local union and has done a lot of good for the people at his paper mill.

 

[Frank Gulotta]

Unions are our only chance against being exploited by the higher ups though flawed as they can be.

Not really

 

[Kope]

Not really

Do educate us

 

[Frank Gulotta]

Do educate us

Too busy relaxing.