As a Brit unfortunately living in the US, I have a temporary job in a department store for the season. Because of the rampant psychotic greed that grows worse every year in this appalling country, I had to work from 2 AM to 2 PM on that day. So, I was forced to work a 12-hour shift with no real sleep.
I was doing reasonably well until about 10:30 or 11 AM, and then the wheels started to fall off of the bus, as they say here. By noon I was barely coherent, couldn't speak above a whisper, and was trembling visibly from fatigue. Customers in the queue could easily see how badly off I was, not that it would stop them from shopping. Even in my impaired state I could see them whispering, while trying not to look like it, about the fact that I couldn't stand up straight and was as pale as death, but again nobody fucking cares. I could have dropped stone dead on the bloody till and people probably would have just complained about how long the wait was. My store manager had the "decency" to let me go 20 minutes early while talking about how she had been there since 10:30 the previous night, like I give a toss. Of course, she will get a 4-digit bonus for the day's success, while I get nothing but the pathetic salary that we always do.
Driving home was breaking the law in and of itself, because driving while impaired due to fatigue is a crime in this country, and I was lucky not to get pulled over. I walked into the house and the first thing my mum said to me was "My God, are you still alive?" I was bone white and visibly quivering. I immediately went to bed and slept until 1:15 AM (I had to be back to work at 5:30 AM on Saturday). My mother told me that she almost woke me up because she was worried that I had died in my sleep, and I am not joking even in the slightest. She said that normally (we have a very small house) she could hear me turn, snore, and make other sounds while sleeping, but for 7 hours straight she didn't hear a peep and she was considering calling an ambulance.
I never did pass out, but I almost wish that I had as it might have allowed me to make the company look bad on the news. It's 3 days later and I am still not fully recovered. I was hoping that the whole midnight bollocks would be a flop and that they would never do it again, but since people are predictably greedy fuckwads they surpassed their goal and made a ton of money, so I'm sure that next year they will make it even worse so as to make even more money. Not only did I compromise my health for a slave's wage and no benefits, but what's worse is that I feel like a filthy whore for contributing to this country's ever-worsening greed. I am often embarrassed to be a US citizen, but never moreso than these last few days.
