So, I read an article this morning.
If you’re too lazy to read it, I’ll give you the gist. Mexican man has stomach cancer. He works at Golden Farm to support himself, his wife, and children. They do not allow holidays or sick days for the man to get chemo treatments. He shows up to work every day, basically until he is too sick to do so and is sent to the hospital. Man dies.
Sad story, right? I thought so. Is it really legal for companies not to allow sick days? Apparently so, depending on the state. Not only that, but the man is quoted in the article to say that he didn’t want to take a day off for fear of his job. God forbid he take a day off FOR CHEMOTHERAPY.
Now, the article bothered me. Of course. Regardless of who it was written by or biased towards, it seems inherently evil to me that the workers at this place don’t have any kind of a feeling of security in their jobs. They’re easily replacable. Sick? Too bad, find another job. Piece of cake in this economy. I’m fucking loaded, so I can find any old Mexican off the street and offer him a job for shit wages. I don’t give a shit about you or your chemotherapy.
But further than that were the comments on the article. I am literally ashamed to say that I even inhabit the same planet as these sad, bigoted pricks.
There are currently 6 comments total. Of the 6, 5 of them think the man’s death is his own fault. The 6th talks about which City Council speaker should win.
Let’s take a look:
“He should have gotten chemotherapy on his 147 sick days, two days a week off.”
Yes, I’m sure he did. But if you’ve ever had or known someone who has had cancer, you need to get chemo more often than that. God forbid these immigrants (because immigrants /= people) are allowed two days per week off. They should be working seven days a week WHILE GETTING CHEMOTHERAPY at night so that they can survive. Sick days? Man up and work while you’re on chemo. Pussies.
…
Really?
Have these people ever had chemotherapy? Have they ever REALLY been sick? Here’s where the whole empathy part should come into play, but it doesn’t. Everybody who works should be working 40-70 hours per week, and… health care? Days off? …Puuh-lease.
Others took it a step further:
“As sad as this is, if they are going to demand sick time, then they should all be on the books, paying into the till.”
Yeah..okay. Who said they weren’t on the books? No one. They’re Mexican; that automatically means they’re illegal immigrants here, apparently. Whether they’re illegal or not, they’re probably not “paying into the till”, so. Their problem! Obviously.
…
Seriously?
And a final one:
“He had 14 hours each day (the hours he did not work) he worked to go to the hospital……..he did not have to worry about the kids, as his wife did not work (hmmm–is this code for illegal immigrant)”
Oh, okay. So he should have worked for 10 hours, then gone to the hospital for a few hours of chemo, then to bed, then back to work the next day? I’ll refer you to the “Chemotherapy Side Effects” section, below.
Oh, and the wife not working is code for illegal immigrant, huh? Or could it just be BECAUSE SHE HAS TWO FUCKING KIDS TO TAKE CARE OF AT HOME? GEE FREAKING WILLIKERS.
God forbid she needs to stay home to give her children an actual education and upbringing instead of shelling out however much it is per week to have her children taken care of by some random assholes for five days a week. Nope, it must mean she’s an illegal immigrant. After all, her skin IS brown.
It seems that these bigoted pricks are the same ones who bitch about how illegal immigrants are destroying our country and that we should randomly do searches on people who aren’t white, or pull them over. The same ones who think that everyone should make it on their own, without welfare and food stamps. The same ones who think that poor people getting enough tax cuts to buy a FRIDGE is exorbitant.
And so on.
No one seems to be able to put themselves into other people’s shoes.
Chemotherapy? Psssh, deal with it. Lose your hand? Pssh, deal with it. Three kids to support? Pssh, deal with it. All your problem.
But have they ever HAD that experience? Have these people ever been just born into poverty?
Some will claim they made their way all by themselves. Sure you did. Your parents never helped you or gave you money. You never received a loan from a bank. The government never helped you. And it shouldn’t help others who are in need, either. Why? Because it’s THEIR FAULT that they’re in need.
Even further than that. Have these people ever had cancer? Or chemotherapy? The fact alone that this man worked while receiving chemo on and off is bloody heroic. Here’s a list of side effects from chemotherapy:
I challenge all of you bigoted, entitled assholes to get that sick and still go to work without ever asking for a sick day. Pick about 15 random symptoms from that list and imagine yourself with them every day for a year. Or better yet, make two or three lists of 15 symptoms apiece and switch up the lists on a daily basis.
Yeah.
Keep on trucking.
Put yourselves in someone else’s shoes for once instead of just taking off your own shoe and throwing it at them. Empathize instead of immediately judging. Seriously. I’d recommend it. Maybe by the time you’re 85 you’ll feel like a HUMAN BEING again.