Incidentally, my sister is having a mild panic attack because she is a non-essential gov’ment employee. (Biologist with US fish and wildlife) and she isn’t getting paid right now, while living in California.
But, in very typical fashion for her, she’s MORE concerned about how the national parks are being damaged and how she has important studies that are going to miss deadline now. Because that’s how she’s always been; animals first, her second.
She’s lucky enough to live with her boyfriend, who has a good job, but things are gonna be tight for them for the foreseeable future, and also enjoy a brand new hex, Trump, and also go fuck yourself.
I’ve noticed that tends to be the how many environmentalists organize their world. I work at a university and we’re always like “WHAT ABOUT THE STUDENTS” when it comes to the budget, and THEN worry about ourselves.
Now if… if only politicians could see it that way… :/
That’s EXACTLY how she is.
“I have two studies with deadlines coming up! They’re very important! And the parks! There could be irreparable damage done to delicate ecosystems! I was supposed to do three public outreach events this month! Oh. Also, rent and student loans. Right. I need money for those. And I suppose, like, food and stuff.”
THIS
Of all of the catastrophic consequences for those impacted by the shut down, my heart particularly goes out to the scientists. I know from my personal experience (MS in ecology, currently private sector R&D work) that most non-science folks have NO idea what the job looks like. Time points are sacrosanct, and if you miss one, game over, man. In ecology (or any discipline with long running studies), that can mean YEARS of work out the window. None of us go into science for the paycheck (especially these days), so the financial cushion of savings so often assumed by the higher earners isn’t an option for most working scientists, but if we’re allowed to do the science, and buy food and someplace to sleep and clean out lab coats (or field clothes), we will take the job with the lower paycheck, and get to the science! The way this shut down is executed and how it’s impacting research is just another thick layer of horrible on top of the awful clusterfuck that is this whole era.
Could McConnell be added to the hex? He’s refusing to bring the bills from the house that would reopen the government to the floor, in addition to the rest of the cartoonishly evil stuff he’s done over the years (coughs *Merrick Garland* coughs).
I just snorted reading this, because she describes their apartment as “field clothes storage.”