The Plaint of the Middle Class

Yesterday I had my annual work review. My boss told me she’s happy with my work, as always. She told me that she wanted to give me a bigger raise, but she was constrained by the numbers set by the higher-ups, as always. Afterward, I checked my first paycheck of the year to make sure the raise had been factored in, and to see how much more I was getting per paycheck, only to find that almost all of my raise had been eaten up by taxes and insurance, as always. And what little more I was getting wouldn’t even come close to paying for the increases in our cost of living, as always. And so, though I am now bringing home a salary that once would have thrilled me, it feels like less than I was making before. As always.