“After 30 years in this industry, I am done,” are the grave words of John W, a blue-collar worker in Minnesota who feels helplessly trapped in a dreadful loop. Going by MinnIronMiner on Reddit, he posted to r/mildlyinfuriating to explain his predicament: he’s losing about an hour of pay daily just to fill his truck with enough gas to commute to and from work. He would get work elsewhere, but because of his situation, he feels he’s stuck.
“The sad thing is that we are not even that high on gas prices,” John clarifies, pointing out that the primary problem is where the facility company transferred him to. Before, he alleges it was just a 10-mile trip to his workplace and back. Now, that distance has not doubled, not tripled, but gone up 16 times, forcing him to drive a 160-mile round trip in a truck that gets about 20 mpg.
John says he has a mortgage, so he can’t just up and leave to live closer to his work. As for getting a local job, he claims his company has no-cost health insurance, so he feels the need to stay with his employer until his wife qualifies for Medicare. This is the main thing holding him back and locking him down in this job he so wishes to get out of.
Redditors Expressed Overwhelming Sadness for John and His Tough Situation
In his post, John shared a selfie of himself, which is what was what many Redditors reacted to with overwhelming sympathy. “Unc, you look so tired. Hang in there,” wrote a commenter with a crying emoji; almost 10k people upvoted in agreement. “’I’m too old for this stuff’ in a picture,” added another.
One user pointed out how, on top of the fuel cost, John probably loses out on so much time going back and forth from work, time he’s not even getting paid for. “A real American story right here. I feel for you,” sighed a commenter. “Truly American,” agreed a second. “Using a truck to commute, 160!! miles to a job that you keep just to have healthcare.”
Some people tried to make the miner’s story political, with one person exclaiming, “REPUBLICANS DID THIS TO US.” A handful of others blamed Trump. But several Redditors also shared their stories. Some have to travel dozens of miles to work every day as well, while others claimed their jobs trapped them because of healthcare benefits like John’s.
The takeaway that many got from this Minnesota miner’s situation is clear: “Having to spend more money than you make just to stay alive and have a job,” as a Redditor wrote. “The American dream.”
