Weirdos Work Nonstop to Fund Their Weirdass Habits

For a while I thought I should say, "Ha! Ha! I can't afford any habits! Millennials represent!" and then fly backwards into the moon while flipping off the planet Earth. But that is not actually true. I like to buy chili sometimes, as a treat.

Hence, to support my love of Wolf Chili, which is made of cardboard and the battered dreams of undocumented workers, I work at a drug rehabilitation center on the overnight shift. It's pretty great. Once the clients fall asleep, the night is officially mine to do with as I wish. And, as I am often Lead Recovery Advocate these days, that means that my duties are generally only office-related. No longer do I have to take clients to the ER or wash laundry or take six cars to the gas station. Life is pretty good.

I like my work. I often feel like I lucked into this job. Pretty much all low-paid menial labor geared toward my age group is hard, thankless work. Quite literally thankless. Somehow public opinion feels that it's just as bad to be employed at Wal-Mart as it is to beg on a street corner. Anything to feel superior to one's fellow man, eh, eh?

Unlike work at Wal-Mart or Taco Villa, I feel like I'm actually doing something worthwhile. Folks struggling with addiction are usually afflicted with a great many other concerns--psychological disorders and past traumas being the most common. By the time they've realized that they need help, they turn around to see that they've set fire to their entire life and all they have left is a smoldering ruin. Relationships with friends and family tend to be strained at best--usually snapped off at the root. Part of my job is to give them the safe space they need to get back up again, and grant them the confidence and respect that the rest of the world will not.

Don't get me wrong. Sometimes these people can be truly awful. But there's a real strength and quality in any human being who can stand up and say, "I've done the wrong thing and I need to change." They should be given that opportunity. Nobody starts out awesome right out of the gate, amirite?

I've learned so much about human nature, respect, and kindness from working with these folks. They've changed how I see the world. Many of those customers I hated back in my Wal-Mart days? Probably people with undiagnosed psychological disorders. Changes how I interact with folks for the most part. It also asks an uncomfortable question: how far can you blame someone for what they do? Sometimes it's like I'm measuring out that amorphous border every day.

In any case, I picked up extra hours to pay for school and the apartment, my two big bills. Hours have changed to twelve hours on, twelve hours off. I worked full time hours in only three days. It's surreal.

I bought one whole can of chili.