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crbmtb t1_j2c4zcv wrote

Horrible situation all around. But ... the storm was predicted, so why is/was it so hard for people to just remain where they were? Why go out in a feckin’ blizzard at all? Yes, it sucks being stuck at work or whatever, but it beats dying in your car when the roads are blocked and you can’t see.

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davidreiss666 t1_j2csgqp wrote

Because a lot of businesses order their employees to show up at work regardless of weather it's safe to drive. They will even tell the people that work for them to break rules against driving bans and show up at work or get fired. After a while, they don't need to make the threat, as everyone just assumes the threat will be made again if they ask.

We call this economic system Freedom somehow. Free Market Race to the bottom basically.

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beeraholikchik t1_j2ew699 wrote

Thank you. This is something that we see in the south during hurricane season, and yet there's still a question of why someone living hand-to-mouth would ignore an evacuation when a storm is coming. Not that difficult to understand - if they still have a home after the storm passes, they're going to be expected to pay to live there.

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ABillsMafiateacher t1_j2eeqxe wrote

Wage slavery is still slavery and its sad many people don't see that. There is very little to zero voluntary consent when the choice is work or starve to death under a bridge.

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jyper t1_j2esu54 wrote

"wage slavery" is not slavery and should not be compared to slavery

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ButtMilkyCereal t1_j2ez422 wrote

Right? How the fuck is the guy above you up voted? It's a disgusting downplaying of how horrific slavery was throughout the world, and in the us and Caribbean in particular.

Shitty jobs suck, and so horrible bosses. However, your manager cannot legally torture, rape, and murder you, they can't prevent you from living with your family, and you're free to seek other employment. Literally nothing in common with slavery whatsoever.

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HoboBaggins008 t1_j2f770m wrote

Why is it called "wage slavery"?

What aspect of the employer/employee relationship is being compared to slavery?

Please show your work (this is vital for understanding)

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Attackofthe77 t1_j2d9gov wrote

Hi. Many, many employers were open Friday morning. That would account for a lot. Also my parents lost power with the first gust and i almost drove to them several times. Their house was down to 36 degrees before the power came on. People were faced with desperate decisions and it came on FAST.

I hope that helps your understanding.

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at-woork t1_j2dx5xk wrote

Those businesses that stayed open should face fines. Maybe even criminal prosecution if an employee died as a result of their greediness.

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HospitallerK t1_j2e4g3y wrote

If there was no order to close from the city or state then they had no duty to close. This fault lies with the city for not issuing such orders.

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zepprith t1_j2eex7b wrote

I agree with it falls on the city not to give the order, but some of this also comes to simple humanity, if things are going to be so bad businesses should have taken their employees well being into consideration. Maybe they didnt think it would happen so fast but at the same time they should have to consider life over profits.

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beeraholikchik t1_j2eya3x wrote

If a business is open there will likely be someone going there for stupid shit. I've worked at gas stations during winter storms and blizzards and while gas stations can be considered essential, people came in just to buy lottery tickets. No gas, no snacks, no tools. Just lottery tickets.

Not to mention the fact that anyone that closes a business or decides not to go into work because of a storm will be labeled as overdramatic if the storm ends up shifting or not being as extreme as forecasted. Which is another issue - while actual meteorologists might care about the forecast being accurate, news stations want something to sound apocalyptic. It leads to a "boy who cried wolf" situation where everyone in the area knows there's a 90% chance it won't be that bad, and everyone outside the area calls them idiots for not taking it seriously. Of course, if it turns out not to be that serious everyone forgets about it, so it doesn't occur to them that we get warnings like that every time something shows up on the radar.

And then there's the slight chance that something gets worse than originally forecasted. Happens with hurricanes sometimes and the concept of "too late to evacuate" doesn't make sense to someone who hasn't been in that situation before.

Oh, and while I totally agree that the city should've done more about this, keep in mind that once they say that everything needs to shut down the city turns into an absolute shitshow with people realizing that they're not prepared, leading to more clogged streets/stores/what have you. It'd be nice if people could have that all ready at the beginning of the season, but again, preparation is a luxury for people living hand-to-mouth.

Shit, and I damn near forgot to mention that while it is nice for a business to close when a storm like this rolls through, the employees whose shifts were cancelled don't get storm pay. They just don't get paid. Their landlords and utility companies don't care that their shifts got cancelled. Neither do grocery stores.

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Camus____ t1_j2d6eef wrote

You act like people don’t live paycheck to paycheck and arent forced to work. These people don’t have enough money to stock up for food.

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foggy-sunrise t1_j2dtxq7 wrote

Why don't they simply have the Uber eats peons deliver them food during the storm? Surely an extra few dollars for the tip is worth it in times.like these!!?

^/s

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IT_Chef t1_j2d7cxu wrote

I will concur with you here, except I want to know why the dead/injured were on the road in the first place.

How many of them were coming and going from work, having to deal with unreasonable bosses?

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docmedic t1_j2fgo1a wrote

Quite a few went out responding to pleas for help too. It’s not easy telling your family and friends you’re not helping them to safety.

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Sirsalley23 t1_j2fr3os wrote

Grew up in WNY we have a bad habit of playing chicken with shitty winter weather in that part of the country, and as it happens we tend to get some of the worst snowfall in the entire country as well. So it’s no big secret that catastrophic snowfall happens, we just tend to shrug it off until the very last minute even if it means costing people’s lives.

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jcolinr t1_j2dm5wd wrote

I have no idea why this isn’t being mentioned, but once the power goes out in freezing weather, staying where you are can be a death sentence. If you don’t have a generator or wood stove, staying where you are for several days is not an option.

Also, I’m sure that some were underprepared and others made dumb decisions like not closing offices. But the lack of sympathy and “told ya so” comments in this thread is disturbing. Some people went out looking for medicine and necessary medical treatment. Others went out to try to help elderly or physically handicapped people. This whole “why didn’t everyone just stay home” logic is very short sighted

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ABillsMafiateacher t1_j2ef2zq wrote

Setting up a living room blanket tent and filling large bottles with hot boiled water to send up heat can really help in such situations. Or going into a bathroom and turning on the hot water to max to generate steam. I know someone who made a blanket tent with hot boiled water and spent a couple days in there in a sleeping bag

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beeraholikchik t1_j2evmln wrote

Assuming they had gas stoves and water heaters that weren't affected by the storm. RIP to anyone who only have electric appliances.

There are a lot of plans that are great if you have the ability, but even those require the weather to work with you to some degree.

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crbmtb t1_j2douk5 wrote

Apologies if my post seems like an “I told you so” because that is not what I’m saying. And I agree with and know that most people are living paycheck to paycheck and have shitty bosses, etc. There is a lot to learn from this experience. Be prepared. Help others if you can. Let’s make 2023 a better year for all.

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beeraholikchik t1_j2etpip wrote

A lot of store/shift managers that make a dollar or two over the employees they supervise are still living paycheck to paycheck. They don't want to be at the store anymore than their employees do but if they had decided to close the store and cancel shifts they would've gotten their asses handed to them if the storm turned out not to be as terrible as it was. That's really what it comes down to, out of touch higher-ups that don't live in the area, or that don't have to leave their houses, thinking that it'll blow over like all the other storms that are forecasted to be catastrophic. You see it with hurricanes all the time which is part of why people don't evacuate.

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dudSpudson t1_j2chbp1 wrote

This. People just couldn’t stay off the roads and abandoned their cars, which left the roads blocked so they couldn’t plow the streets and emergency vehicles couldn’t get through.

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BeneficialDog22 t1_j2fjlvn wrote

As someone who has lived in CNY my whole life, we don't get storms like this. -20° is not common, nor is 51" of snow over one weekend.

I can't speak for the residents of buffalo, but it's not uncommon for people around here to be on the poverty line, they can't afford to miss work.

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[deleted] t1_j2crp1j wrote

[deleted]

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Zeppo_Ennui t1_j2df2xw wrote

Just a life FYI For your relative story….you don’t get to ‘told ya so’ if the bad thing you thought would happen didn’t occur. I mean you can but it just makes you an asshole.

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