tw: the government is trying to make us do hard work and i am literally shaking

tw: hard work, corporate jargon, perceived urgency, pdfs, ted cruz

besties i am writing this from under my desk because the simulation has officially become a hostile work environment. so like, my fyp was just serving me gentle morning stretches and suddenly i got jump-scared by c-span. erika kirk and senator ted cruz just introduced the 'american grit and grind act,' and it is literally the most traumatic piece of legislation since they invented the concept of the IRS.

if you don't know what this bill does, please hold your crystals tight. it legally mandates that every citizen over the age of 18 must respond to professional emails within 24 hours. sending an email is already literal violence, but forcing a reply? that is a direct attack on my parasympathetic nervous system. they are weaponizing 'checking in.'

during the press conference, ted cruz actually used the phrase 'hard work' without a trigger warning. my soul left my body. the sheer toxicity of expecting human beings—who are basically just highly sensitive houseplants with anxiety—to labor in a completely toxic economy is deeply un-alive behavior. he said we need to 'clock in.' clock into what, theodore? the irreversible heat death of the universe?

erika kirk was standing there nodding, looking like the concept of boundaries has never even occurred to her. she suggested we should 'look our bosses in the eye' when we ask for time off. eye contact? in this economy? that is a literal microaggression. my therapist (who is technically a tarot reader on tiktok but it's the same thing) said that the government is just projecting its unhealed generational trauma onto our generation.

i'm physically exhausted just typing this. existing is basically a full-time job already. if you need to self-soothe because the concept of a 9-to-5 is triggering your fight-or-flight, i highly recommend the extra-heavy weighted sensory blanket i use when the news cycle gets too aggressive. it's linked in my amazon storefront (link in bio) and it feels like a hug from someone who will never ask you for a deliverable by EOD. stay safe out there, the vibes are in critical condition.