I’ve been watching a few American TV shows and it blows my mind that they put up with such atrocious working terms and conditions.

One show was about a removal company where any damage at all, even not the workers fault, is taken out of their tips. There’s no insurance from the multimillion dollar business. As they’re not paid a living wage the guy on the show had examples of when he and his family went weeks with barely any income and this was considered normal?!

Another example was a cooking show where the prize was tickets to an NFL game. The lady who won explained that she’d be waiting in the car so her sons could experience their first live game, because she couldn’t otherwise afford a ticket to go. They give tickets for football games away for free to people where I live for no reason at all…

Yet another example was where the workers got a $5k tip from their company and the reactions were as if this amount of money was even remotely life changing. It saddens me to think the average Americans life could be made so much better with such a relatively small amount of money and they don’t unionize and demand far better. The company in question was on track to make a billion bloody dollars while their workers are on the poverty line and don’t even have all their teeth?

It’s not actually this bad and the average American lives a pretty good life like we’re led to believe, right?

  • @GBU_28@lemm.ee
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    355 months ago

    This. If you are fortunate to have great employment (100k+, dual income preferred (so breaking 200+), depending on location), with good healthcare, your options are great, and you’ll access a higher level of service than most of the world can get. Great schools, great doctors, great home/car/vacations.

    If you don’t have that raw income, and therefore don’t have that support, america is a much much different place.

    I’m fortunate enough to have gone from very low class to a much higher strata and I never get comfortable. I’m constantly surprised by shit that just happens…easily.

    An example: by having good insurance, I have a very good dermatologist. I have psoriasis and use a biologic injectable to handle it completely. Once, my specialty pharmacy had some sort of shipping issue and I called my doc to check in. They said come by.

    They handed me 6 doses FOR FREE, so 6 months of medication, like it was nothing. Each dose is thousands of dollars cash. I pay 25$ with my insurance. I assume a vendor rep dropped a ton off.

    Point being, I know there are millions of folks on very expensive meds, who don’t have a high quality doctor relationship, who could never access that perk I did. Literally paywalled customer service.

    • monk
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      12 days ago

      Each dose is thousands of dollars cash.

      LOL, it’s because it’s not, simple as that.

      • @GBU_28@lemm.ee
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        12 days ago

        It is, to the consumer. Obviously I’m not referring to the true manufacturing cost, that would be idiotic. What part of my comment lead you to believe I was referring to anyone who was able to subvert the customer model? Why would you even imply that given the very specific situation, and players I mentioned?

        • monk
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          12 days ago

          What part of my comment lead you to believe I was referring to anyone who was able to subvert the customer model?

          A plane ticket out of the scam country and back is a pathetic fraction of the “thousands dollars cash per dose” you invoked.

          • @GBU_28@lemm.ee
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            2 days ago

            Are you questioning the price of drugs like humera or taltz? What are you taking about scam… It’s still thousands in Mexico, last I read. Here’s an article from a few years ago

            https://senatedemocrats.wa.gov/keiser/2020/02/04/latest-allure-for-mexico-caymans-travelers-the-pharmacy/#:~:text=The cost for six pens,%245%2C820 in Mexico%2C Ojeda said.

            The point is that quality insurance is a serious privilege, especially in the frame of reference of folks living in America.

            You’re off topic and moving goalposts

            Your above comment was wrong and you should edit it. It’s misinformation

              • @GBU_28@lemm.ee
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                1 day ago

                You’re assuming everyone has the time, passport, and flexibility to do this. You’re also inventing a scenario not described in my original scenario. An average worker doesn’t have the up front cash to take such a trip, cheap as you think it may be.

                You’re preparing a privileged solution, clearly outside the scope of my original scenario.

                My source aligns with yours, there’s no question it’s cheaper elsewhere. But just assuming someone can fly to Europe for a drug that cost 1500 in Germany , monthly, for a drug that needs to be refrigerated is the goalpost move.

                Lastly, the whole point is how in the US quality insurance IS a privilege, due to the fucked up system, but you were too primed to just call the US a scam to get it.

                The point is us citizens, especially those without thousands in cash ready to book trips overseas, or those with quality insurance are at a disadvantage.

                • monk
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                  11 day ago

                  US citizens have the most powerful passport in the world and a cost of living that makes overseas travel profitable. There’s no goalposts moving here. Paying a shitton of extortion money for a privilege of not paying the overblown price might be a decision to make might be a dexision they consciously make, but that’s not my point. My point is, this medicine does not cost nearly as much, and the only reason >$1000 numbers are thrown around is that nobody in their sound mind pays them. If you’re willing to embark on side-discussions, I’m willing to entertain you, just stop bringing up your movable goalposts.

                  Lastly, the whole point is how in the US quality insurance IS a privilege

                  Having rights of a US citizen is a privilege. Living in US while having rights of a US citizen is a privilege on top of a privilege. But one doesn’t have to. That’s absolutely a choice. Repeat after me. An Afghan person with nearly no rights and a cost of ticket to US exceeding their life-long salary doesn’t move to US because it’s a privilege. But for a US hobo, whose monthly expenses far exceeding a ticket to a sane country they’re “magically” already allowed to enter anytime they want, staying in US is a choice. Don’t even try to twist that into a privilege. Time and flexibility, my ass. US citizens spawn with a golden ticket and a knob to dial life difficulty to “easy”. If they stay in US past their healthy young prime, that’s on them.

                  • @GBU_28@lemm.ee
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                    1 day ago

                    Privileged bullshit. Not everyone has a passport, not everyone has vacation days to spare, or several thousand in cash to pull off the operation. Many in the US can hardly do anything but work

                    You are ignorant, and assume much. I’m done with you.

    • @Trainguyrom@reddthat.com
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      55 months ago

      I recently went back to college and I’m now in my first professional role with real professional benefits and the difference is night and day

      I got sick and had to miss a couple of days of work. I literally just had to send a single teams message from my work phone and could ignore everything else for the rest of the day and still be paid. I’ve had previous jobs where I’d be required to get a doctor’s note by the end of the day just to not be disciplined for my absesnd, which meant going to urgent care which costs more because i couldn’t make a same day appointment with my primary care doctor. Y’know all for a common cold

      I went to go to the office one day (my job is hybrid) and found a 4 inch screw in my tire. I had zero obligation to explain myself for why I didn’t come in when I was expected. I had another time I had a different issue with the car for which I didn’t get around to mentioning why I didn’t come in and I never heard about it. My last job I had a very catastrophic flat and literally had to miss 2 days of work while I waited for shop to get in tires to put on my car

      Every holiday is paid. I’ve had previous jobs where I had to burn literally all of my vacation time to not take a 20% hit to my paycheck for a holiday that I don’t even get the choice of working if I wanted to. I’ve had other jobs where I just had to accept that I’d have to take a hit on a paycheck for a holiday because I didn’t get any vacation time

      If I have an important personal phonecall, I can just answer the call. I don’t have to do some song and dance about burning a timed break or saying out loud to everyone in earshot who sees me getting a call “oh this is an important call, I need to take this” I can just answer the damn phone and get on with it

      There’s usually some snacks somewhere in the building that i can grab for free. If I don’t pack enough food and find myself getting hangry I’m not forced to spend my own money at the vending machine or to go to the store at lunch, I can just go grab a snack and be done with it. I also don’t have to wait for a break, I can just get up and go grab my damn snack without having to explain myself

      Notice how every one of these benefits is not having to spend time and/or money to appease my employer