Submitted 3 hours ago by Oka@sopuli.xyz to [deleted]
Excluding walkouts, How do people find time to go to these events?
How do people afford time off work if they are working? Missed wages or time off requests? Vacation pay? Unemployed?
Directly US answers only please. I already know our job system is laughable, and your country gets paid time off and free healthcare.
Choices are hard when life’s hard
There’s no one answer
People work different schedules, the schedule I personally work has me working slightly more hours than average overall but I have more days off, so I’m free on a lot of weekdays, other people have more flexible schedules or work nights or weekends
Some people have PTO they can use, some have cool bosses who will just let them take time off whenever they want to, some people are those cool bosses or are self-employed and can set their own schedule
Some people are unemployed, some are retired (I’ve seen a lot of older folks at some protests near me)
Others are financially secure enough to be able to take the hit and think little to nothing of it
Others make sacrifices in order to make it work (if I had to take off without pay, I’d be out a few hundred bucks, it would hurt but I wouldn’t be ruined for it, I might have to skip out on a few things I’d like to do, maybe cut some corners and buy cheaper groceries, cancel a subscription or two, borrow a couple bucks from friends or family, put a couple things on my credit card to pay off later that I otherwise might have paid for outright, or maybe work some overtime before or after it to make up the difference, but nothing I couldn’t recover from fairly quickly.)
And with some exceptions, not everyone is going to every protest, some may only make it to a couple, some may make it to all or most of them, some may not be able to make it to any but may find other ways to help
There was a very raucous council meeting in my city where a woman said she had walked out of work to be there and expected to be fired. I hope they forgave her but if not that’s fucking bad ass.
We definitely need more networks of support to help people show up because it isn’t easy.
Sacrifice.
If you can’t see past your nose, protesting seems crazy. But to do so means sacrifice. Risking your job, your home, your well-being, whatever, because you know that the risk of losing these things could yield something better if the collective actions of you and your comrades create change.
Lose now to gain later.
In my life, I’ve held an array of jobs. Sometimes I’d just be off randomly on a Friday (because I’d have to work all weekend).
Some people in this economy are struggling to find jobs, so they can spare time to protest.
Speaking from my current situation, I have a bank of time I could pull from if I wanted to take time off. Many people can easily fake saying they are sick to get time off on short notice. Some people probably have cool bosses who will let them request vacation at the last minute. There’s a million possible scenarios.
My workplace would allow me the time off if I put the request in ahead of time, but i would take a financial hit for taking days off. Im not as free as I want to be.
You don’t have paid leave?
Unpaid time off sucks, I’ve been there too. The American economic system feels designed as if everyone has a full time job with benefits.
You’ve gotta stand up for what you believe in. The medium is the message — your boss and coworkers will start to understand that you are serious once there start being consequences. That’s how it spreads. Little people, everyday people, saying “I won’t do this anymore, damn the consequences.”
Fucking make time.
I don’t really afford shit while working becsuse shit is so fucked up, so IDFC. I’ll walk out and slap my manager in the face as I do so because I am fed up.
Besides going out and holding a sign, there are many ways to help and display solidarity. Boycott, spread the words, volunteer online, do what you feel you can do. And the next time, see if you can do more.
First people were complaining that US Americans weren’t standing up.
Now, apparently for the economy, some people think too many people are standing up to strike.
Must be Hollywood/Soros paying them off ?
No one said too many people were protesting, they simply asked how people are able to. I don’t really understand how this was a difficult point to suss out.
I don’t really understand how this was a difficult point to suss out.
I think their last sentence answers that one.
I’ve been burning sick days
In the end we all have a point
Mastengwe@sh.itjust.works 3 hours ago
Sometimes standing up for what you believe in is worth the consequences of refusing to sit down.