A woman sits asleep at a desk. She is hooked up with strings like a marionette. The invisible arm of the marketplace pulls the strings. The woman types on a keyboard, makes telephone calls, etc. The movements are choppy and should not appear at all natural. The woman’s head bobs awkwardly as she snores.
Play a Day: Inside and Out
Interior: Winter. A white, middle class couple plays with a baby. A TV is on in the background. Packages under a tree. Exterior: A homeless woman of color wrapped in a blanket shivers in the cold. People walk past on the street and take no notice.
Time Management
I read an article recently, which I cannot find, which gave reference to the idea that time management is impossible under capitalism. That it’s a trick, basically. That it is a Sisyphean task which we will never actually be able to accomplish. I think I am starting to believe that. Already, I’m not spending as […]
Lactate Intolerance
2015 is a bad time to be a worker. Not only is the minimum wage well below a living wage, but corporations seem determined to erode the rights of laborers wherever and however they can, and the government keeps siding with them. In December, the Supreme Court ruled 9-0 in favor of Amazon, saying that […]
Money Troubles Swing Both Ways
Someone told me that when poor people actually manage to have money, they don’t know what to do with it and it becomes a source of stress. That’s kind of how I feel right now.
I have a couple hundred dollars in my bank account somehow, and I will get another couple hundred before the end of the month.
About half of that I will need to help cover rent and bills at the first of the month, but I’m so used to not having any money, or having just enough to buy gas and groceries that it’s still weird.
Even Less Than a Year of Poverty Changed Me
I feel guilty buying groceries now. Even when I can afford them. Even when I’m buying protein to make me less hungry on days I do housecleaning. Which is totally legitimate and dare I say necessary to my health and well-being. I kept looking at the food in my shopping cart and thinking about what […]
Strange Intimacies
I started house cleaning again to better make ends meet. I decided to charge more for it this time around, because I think part of the reason I burned out last time is that I was undervaluing my time. I wasn’t sure whether anyone would bite, but it seems the kind of people who can pay […]
F*ck Capitalism
Another chapter in the “Being Poor Sucks” anthology. Using mint.com, I figured out that part of my problem is that I only accounted for monthly expenses in my budget. Less frequent expenses, like haircuts, oil changes, and renewing my car registration, mean I would need to make at least another $100 a month. Which explains […]
Cause and Effect
I work for an independent bookstore. So, while I’m keeping my Amazon wishlist as a helpful archive of information, needless to say, my book purchases from them have stopped. As I get older, I think more and more about the saying that you vote with your dollars. I don’t have a lot of them to […]