He told me today that I’m going to get a check on Wednesday. But for almost a month I haven’t seen any income.
I am still working 18 or 19 hours per week, but I used to work like 31 or 32 hours. I was working as a server, server assistant, or bar attendant, so we got paid just minimum wage and depend on tips. But now the restaurant is only open for to go orders, so not a lot of people are taking care of us in their tips like they used to. But I’m still working. My roommates have not been working at all. They went back to work last week, but they sat at home for two months. That’s a long time. None of us got anything from the government because of our immigration status.
I’ve been working this whole time, but my boss hasn’t paid me since last month. He told me today that I’m going to get a check on Wednesday. But for almost a month I haven’t seen any income. He just sent me my hours, and they were less than I thought. Not that he doesn’t want to pay me for what I worked, I just mean the hours are less than I realized. I worked 87 hours for the month. I used to have like 65 hours every two weeks, so about 130 hours for a month. So now it’s a lot less, and the tips aren’t as good.
We don’t know when we will reopen the restaurant, and if we reopen, I don’t know how things will be done. They say people will need to stay separated, so I don’t know how well the business will do. Right now we’re doing ok with just to-go’s. But I’m really worried about it. If we don’t get any unemployment benefits from the state, we’re going to be in deep trouble. A lot of people lost their jobs. Thank god this guy gives us a couple hours a week of work. He told us, I’m going to help you guys out because you guys have worked for me for a long time. Because there are other coworkers who have SSNs and the owner decided to have us work in the restaurant instead of them because they can collect unemployment. Otherwise I wouldn’t have any income. Like my brother, he didn’t work for two months. Not a penny.
It’s kind of sad because other people can get benefits from the government. Why can we not get any benefits? I know we are not legal to stay in this country, but we work here. Everyday. We pay taxes, we pay rent, we pay electricity. If we go to the store, we pay taxes on whatever we buy. I mean, we live in this country. So I don’t know why we cannot get at least something. Like if other people get $400, can we at least get $200? Something? But it’s so sad. You listen to the news, and you hear over and over that people without a SSN or without papers, they don’t get anything. So that makes me upset. I’ve been in this country since 1997. I have two daughters here, one is 20 year old and the youngest is 17.
The point for me is, it’s upsetting why we don’t get treated the same way when we get charged the same way. In my paycheck, it shows how much tax I pay every paycheck. If I go to the store and buy something, I pay taxes like anyone else; if I work, they take taxes from my paycheck like anyone else. But why when we talk about benefits, I can’t get anything? But I have to pay taxes? That’s what bothers me. When they talk about taking money from your paycheck, you’re treated the same way. But if you’re talking about benefits, no. You’re not able to get anything because you are not legally allowed to stay in this country. But we are legal to pay taxes, right? That’s the saddest thing, and it’s hard to know anything to do about it.
I talked to my landlord. I’ve lived in this house for four years. She’s a really nice lady, and I talked to her about my situation. We’ve come to an agreement on a certain amount to pay her each month. So she’s helped me a little bit in that regard. I’m not sure if I have to pay her back, but she cut my rent in half. So that helps me a little bit. She’s a nice human. She sent me a text like a week after everything shut down to tell me to not worry about the rent and that we would talk about it. So I called her and explained everything, and she said we are going to help each other. But we didn’t talk about what we’re going to do about that money after, if I have to pay her back on top of regular rent or what.
But right now, I’m really behind on my cell phone, electricity bill, cable, and my expenses. I support my parents too.
— Juan A., Seattle