Boxing day

Income disparity is literally killing us

This article about Maria Fernandes dying while sleeping in her car between working the four jobs she had reminded me of this essay I wrote on Boxing Day, 2012.

I heard the blizzard warnings last night on the television and immediately thought all the news stations were just salivating at the chance to finally scare the living crap out of us with spun-up winter weather.

Shortly after sun-up this morning, I knew I was wrong. We were getting some real winter weather.

I’m lucky. I don’t have to go into my office to make a living. I just need an Internet connection and a laptop. I can redirect my office phone to my cell phone with a few clicks and log into servers from anywhere I can get WiFi.

But many employees are not as lucky. Many employees who work for retail and fast food places at or near minimum wage are not only expected to show up for work during bad weather, but will probably get their hours cut or fired if they show up late or not at all. In addition, many will also choose to sleep in their cars after their shift today so they won’t be late for work tomorrow morning.

Something to think about on Boxing Day when those of us who are more fortunate are supposed to be mindful of those less fortunate and labor in service for our comfort.