In my dad's truck, the radio was turned up and he'd be blasting out words to the likes of Eric Clapton, Alabama, The Eagles, and Johnny Cash. As a teenager, I despised having to listen to his music but the words seem to bury themselves deep within my being because as an adult I can still hear the words waffling up from the unknown places within my brain.
The words of Alabama's 'Forty Hour Week' have been floating around in my head for months now as if on a broken record. If you don't know the song, they give homage to all those living behind the scenes making our world turn. The truck drivers alone in their long haul, the men and women standing on the floor in a factory working to meet their quota, steelworkers who walk in the clouds, those driving a hammer and a nail in extreme temperatures and so many others who tirelessly do the work of keeping our daily lives moving forward.
For many of our forty-hour workers, their work is dependent upon punching a time clock, trying to eke out every single minute that will contribute to their paycheck. Over the last 7 months, I've seen what an hourly forty-hour work week might look like for an individual financially. It provides you with payments that must not exceed the following per month:
Wifi $25.00
Car Payment: $150.00
Gas for your car: $80.00
Groceries $520.00
Electric $125.00
Sewer $30.00
Savings $75.00 (if nothing goes wrong)
Did you notice what's missing?
Rent
Car Insurance
Health Insurance
Phone Bill
Clothes that must be replaced by wear and tear
No charitable giving/tithing to the church
No room for any type of an emergency such as:
a flat tire
having to pay for parking while serving on jury duty for several days regular dental cleanings
regular oil changes or car repairs
new glasses even when your prescription is no longer providing clear sight
getting sick and having to be off of work for more than a day.
Forty-hour weeks no longer provide a livable wage, adults all across our country are caught in a web of financial distress. The financial distress of trying to work as many hours as possible but having to take time off for sick children. The stress of navigating work hours with sitting in a room full of individuals that cannot survive without assistant from programs they do not want to sign up for. The weight of having to work but using precious time of having to sit in the crowded space at the local health department. The desire to go to college but not being able to afford the class, much less having the wifi stability, and an electronic device in which to take an online class at night after tucking their children in at night.
What if we stopped assuming individuals are unwilling to work?
What if we stopped shaming individuals when they need assistance?
What if we stopped saying that minimum wage worked for me?
What if we stopped.....
What if we stopped to look around?
What if we stopped talking as individuals are faceless/nameless humans?
What if we stopped shaming, assuming, and become people who uplift, sharing our own resources?
I salute those who are working the forty-hour week just to bring it on down the line. I applaud those who are balancing the stickiness of a financial web that has trapped and feeling helpless. I stand in awe of those who walk through their door each night bone-tired but give exponentially to their families. Who do you need to stop to salute today?
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