Surviving The Fall, 26

I hate my job. It wrecks my sleep, and I resent having to struggle to survive for an unjustly low wage meted out by an employer that can afford to pay better and lies about not having the funds. In less than three years I retire. In exactly two years, two hundred seventy-five days. I like what I do and I like my clients and coworkers, but the big bosses have made this a toxic and unhealthy experience, and likely for a lot of us. I am especially sick of the sleep problems, which only really go away when I don't have to work. And our government is especially stingy about shoving out for early retirement and this is because the conservative voting base, that fearful and selfish thirty percent of Canadians, are powerful enough a block to keep even progressive governments nervous. So, we still get nothing or almost nothing. Being a contractor makes it even harder, because I get no paid vacation time and not having union protection, my government funded employer can exploit me and other contractors with impunity and they do. To add insult to injury, in our contract we are called self-employed contractors, yet we are not allowed to set our own rate of pay. Come on, you guys, you can't have it both ways. I am so sick of being lied to! The only buffer I have is subsidized housing, for which I am extremely grateful..........I have never swallowed the Koolaid about work having value in itself, that nonsense that any work is good and you should be grateful that you have a job. I have no time for meaningless work, which I think is soul-destroying and toxic to the human being. Remember that famous slogan in German at the entrance to Auschwitz: "Work Makes You Free?"................What a difference a bit of breakfast makes. My stomach is full and I am thanking my lovely bosses that I can eat for another day. Sad indeed that it gets to this, that we owe body and soul to those who hold our lives hostage but it keeps me alive. This does not mean that I love Big Brother. I will never love those bastards. But keeping us well fed will shut us up a bit. And if they really want us to shut up then they can start paying us a decent and living wage. Until then, they are going to have to continue to resort to intimidation and threats because that is all they know and it really reveals them for the kind of people they really are. In the meantime I will continue to take care of my clients, whom I care for deeply. I will continue to enjoy my coworkers, whom I have become fond of. I will continue to enjoy the long walks and coffee breaks I can often secure because of variations in scheduling. And I will continue to give thanks for social housing. Perhaps this is the best way, for now, to channel my rage: by loving those who need to be loved and laughing in the face of the others who continue to abuse the power that they think they have over our lives. And to eat a good breakfast every morning and to be thankful. For everything.