Hahaha - Sorry about that - "First World Problems" - do you dislike that phrase as much as I do? The first time I heard it, it just grated somehow - it just sounds so, I don't know, condescending or something. And now, of course, it's all over bloggyland, so I guess I'll just have to tough it out for awhile.
Oh! And another phrase that drove me crazy from the get-go is "old soul". I do not like "old soul". If you want to call someone wise, go ahead, but unless we're talking about Vishnu or something, you might want to steer away from "old soul". It's been done. and done and done and done. I'm waiting right now for someone to call Corey Haim an "old soul".
Ooooookay, now that I've wandered about as far off track as I can, let's get to the point. I used "First World Problems" {shudder} as the title today because I'm about to talk about money and the lack thereof. And Ex, I am telling you RIGHT NOW, if you're gearing up to chime in about how if we all just got advanced degrees and cushy jobs like you, there'd be no problems, well ...... aw, go for it. It's always nice to hear another view. Here's my story .....
On Monday, my co-workers and I got some bad news of the financial kind.
Nothing earth-shattering, nothing to land me in the poor house, but it's always disheartening to discover that not only are you not getting a raise, you are actually going to be taking home less money.
And again, while this was no way going to ruin my world, it was a blow. And I was worried. Worried about how I was going to make my budget stretch that much farther, and worried that at almost fifty, I wasn't making more money and was actually starting to slide backward - never a direction you want to go.
Oh, and the reason for all this financial woe? MVP, our f*cking health insurance company, who decided to jack premiums 17% this year. Because they can. Meaning it will now cost my employer six grand a year per employee for health insurance. No dental, no vision, big-co-pay health insurance.
If there are any right-wing, tea-party, no-nationalized-health-care wingnuts reading this right now? KISS MY ASS.
Ahem.
So anyway, I spent a couple of uneasy nights re-working the old budget and trying to figure out a way around the problem, and I came up with a solution. I would still be making less money, but it would be coming out of my vacation hours, instead directly out of my weekly income*, and I thought it would work for both my company and I, but I wasn't sure if I should present it to the boss or not. And I kept worrying. And fretting.
So! Yesterday afternoon, the boss could evidently tell something was wrong, and he called me into his office and asked me to spill.
I started to explain, about how this financial loss would be hard for me to fill, and ..... oh f*ck me sideways ...... I started to cry.
I HATE it when I cry at work. The guys don't cry at work, for Pete's sake - why do I have to cry?
In retrospect, I guess some of what caused yesterday's tears is that I spent a long time at the financial edge. Then I finally started making more money, working hard, getting secure, and to start going backward was just ....... no. HELL NO. Waaaaaa.
And when you are the sole breadwinner in your household, when there is no spouse or significant other to help absorb the blow, well, it's up to you to hold off the damn wolf at the door. And that's scary.**
But! Happy ending! As soon as I started to spill, the boss said, "Oh yeah, I meant to call you aside after that meeting ...... it doesn't apply to you."
'{wiping tears away} '{feeling really f*cking stupid}
Yay! No ramen noodles for me.
But here's thing: In this shit-tastic economy, where the banks and the fat cats get bailed out and the rest of us get told to go piss up a rope, this kind of thing is happening to a lot of people who are NOT getting told that it doesn't apply to them. I just happened to be incredibly lucky.
And I am grateful. And worried about what happens next year, when MVP inevitably decides to jack their rates yet again.
And I am glad that I dodged the bullet this time.
*I know that makes no sense, but there is no way in hell I am going to go into any more detail about financial stuff here. Sorry.
**See also: That's being an adult. Suck it up. Jaysus. I annoy myself.
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6 comments:
Your health insurance company is jacking premiums because they see the legislation pending.
Blame Obama/Pelosi for your woes.
I went several years without a raise at my current company, where I started at 12 grand/yr LESS than I was making at my last company where I got laid off, due to them moving the company to Greece. Oh yeah, the job before THAT one? Also laid off as they consolidated. Come to think of it, I didn't get a raise this year either. Shitty economy.
Maybe I should try crying at work.
Go for it, Ex.
I was made redundant in September last year - that was a real wage cut!
But before that, I hadn't had a raise for some 6 or 7 years - don't know what the US is like for public/private sector working, but here the private sector sucks and the public is so overprotected they wouldn't know real life if it bit their arse.
God, that sounded just like a mini rant!
Rant on, Fish!
Sounds like things are tough all over.
The construction jobs here , got so bad that hubby had to take a reduced pay or find another job. He went from earning 25% commission on each load to 15 an hour and then down to 11 an hour. It was really bad for a few years. Last month he got a raise to 12.25 an hour. Things are starting to look up for now, but I'm also afraid of what the insurance will do to that raise later on.
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