Flyover, I'm not the breadwinner in the family. I'm a full time caregiver for my Mom. We live off my dad's death benefits/pension that goes to Mom. I'm not officially an employee because they don't have that set up in my state, but I live here and she pays for my stuff in exchange for me taking care of her and doing what I can to try to keep the house up. She sometimes falls down or gets low blood sugar so she doesn't want me being out of the house for long periods of time. I couldn't leave her when my brother was working and even when he's not working, he's not reliable to help her because he locks himself in his room with noise canceling headset and plays computer games. He also is very hard to wake up when he's sleeping. So she could fall & he wouldn't know it. Even when he had a job he never paid rent or contributed to the bills. I have a little bit of money I saved up and I sometimes buy stuff with it but for the most part I'm leaving it in savings to accrue interest. I had been planning to get a part-time job on different days/hours than my brother but then the pandemic hit. Then my brother showed how unreliable he is. I'm hoping things will clear up soon though because I want to get some sort of job. Probably a desk job since I do have a college degree and I can't stand for long periods of time. I'm really hoping that when we get Starlink that I can get a job working from home.
Before my Dad died, I'd been taking over more responsibilities and helping him and my Mom with fixing stuff at the farm, driving them to dr appointments, handling insurance claims, bush-hogging the yard, etc. But my health took a dive so it's a lot harder to do stuff. My dad liked having me around because I helped him with projects & he just enjoyed my company and didn't want me to move away like my sister did. I had no desire to move away either. I previously worked as a zookeeper, interned at a computer care center (tech support), and worked as a tutor in computer studies.
But because I'm an unpaid caregiver (unless you count mom covering almost all my expenses) I don't accrue social security and don't qualify for any benefits like Medicaid. If I lived out near my sister I could get paid by my mother's insurance to be her caregiver. But Mom doesn't want to live out there. I'm still trying to get my energy back. Chronic Fatigue really sucks.
I will say that my brother does sometimes help carrying heavy groceries in and he helps me with grocery shopping since I've had trouble with my back and shoulder. Shoulder is on the mend though. Still doesn't have the mobility it used to have but isn't as sore. But he doesn't help with cleaning, clean up after himself, or do much. He doesn't know what to do with power tools and doesn't know how to fix things. He can cook pretty well though. He just chooses not to cook for anyone but himself most of the time. I'm not much of a cook so poor mom gets frozen meals heated up a lot.
Heard from my friend, he's feeling really bad. Stomach pain. Can't seem to quench his thirst no matter how much he drinks. Diarrhea. On top of sore throat, coughing, shortness of breath, etc. I wish I could bring him something to help but he said he didn't want pepto or anti-diarrhea meds. Also found out that the school demanded that his ex bring their daughter to school. Said they didn't care if she was sick that if she hadn't been Covid tested and had it come out positive, she *had* to come to school. His ex told them she was in quarantine but they said if she didn't come to school it would be unexcused absence. Really stupid attitude for schools to have.