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We Support Federal Workers

Hold The Line

The Pitt: Mohellis Alternative Meeting

While Samira loves working at PTMC’s ER, specifically giving the much needed care to multiply marginalised patients, and her research about improving the outcomes for said patients, that fulfilment doesn’t bridge the ever widening gap between her salary and her bills. She loves living alone. Her home has become a sanctuary for her, a place with no one micromanaging her, where taking things slow but intentional is met without judgement. Her cozy (small, honestly) colourful and messy space means everything to her. Nights spent unwinding to Raveena, Solange and Kelela with her lavender essential oil diffuser on and a gorgeous book in her hand are everything to her. Even as her rent goes up and her debt is no longer manageable, she’s not giving up her space to live with messy roommates that pay bills late and aren’t considerate of her schedule. She’s not going through that again. But something, unfortunately, has to give. She’s long past her level of acceptable personal debt and she doesn’t want to start resenting what’s supposed to be her safe space. So after yet another month of barely making ends meet, even if it’ll add more to her plate, she’s back to offering tutoring services.

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Parker objectively loves her sister, truly she does, but while rushing to pick up her niece from her tutoring lesson after pulling a double because someone forgot to mention it even after they were asked multiple times 2 weeks before when Parker was scheduling her shifts, she really really hates her. Luckily, her niece and tutor meet at the local library a 15 minute drive away. Max, her Uber driver, seems to sense her frantic and frustrated energy so is keeping conversation to a minimum. 11 minutes and a generous tip later, she’s breathing a sigh of relief that she’s been able to get there early. Christie, her niece, hates having her routine disrupted.

Their family has done a lot of adjusting in the year after Christie was diagnosed with both autism and ADHD. It was hard at first, the feeling that they’d failed her by not noticing sooner but more so was the realisation that they didn’t notice sooner because they shared the same traits they learned to simply push through. Accommodating Christie’s needs forced them all to face how unkind they were to themselves. The grief of what their lives could’ve been, what Christie’s thus far could’ve been was heavy, but they were glad to finally have a clear picture and adjust accordingly. The tutor, though a massive expense, was a godsend. Parker wasn’t involved in the long and appropriately thorough search and selection, but both her sister and her niece sing Mira’s praises. She’s also a woman of colour that had learning difficulties in school, exceedingly patient, offers gentle correction and never shows away from genuine praise. The best part is her flexibility, on bad days, she is happy to switch to online sessions with Christie. Parker is kind of excited to meet her, this woman, Mira, that has helped her niece so much and given them the gift of a kid excited to learn again. She shakes herself out of her musing, she needs all the energy for the next bout of socialising.

She hears her before she sees her. Her niece is talking animatedly to a woman whose back is towards her. Christie’s hands are moving just as fast as her speech but the woman is nodding along. Parker imagines she’s smiling. Her heart warms seeing Christie being so open, her previous school had been so awful that she hardly spoke or emoted, let alone so publicly and fearlessly. She’ll give her a gift at the end of the school year she decides, not something that can truly capture the depth of her gratitude, nothing can, but something good and thoughtful.

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I am absolutely devastated by this news. Bandcamp's former workers and indie musicians will all be negatively impacted by this. I hope a new platform arises from this, but until then, many people's sources of income will be in limbo. My page focuses on goth music, but I hope that indie musicians and music fans of all genres come together during this time.