The sudden appearance of fear: a temp worker鈥檚 experience
Amy McGregor-Dainton
It鈥檚 not that often, as an adult, that you get scared. Stomach whizzing, hands wobbling, mind hurtling sort of scared. But that鈥檚 how I felt the evening 性用社 staff were notified that in light of the escalating coronavirus situation, they should work from home for the foreseeable future.聽
You see, I鈥檓 a migrant worker half way through a three-month contract with the communications team here at 性用社.
Eight weeks ago I turned up in Edinburgh, a week prior to my 31st birthday 鈥 the deadline to have your feet on British cobblestones if you鈥檙e an Aussie fancying a 鈥榯wo-year working holiday鈥. I didn鈥檛 have much in the way of a plan, so when I was fortunate enough to get a temporary gig at 性用社, I thought it would be a fun and interesting way to keep myself out of trouble until I found something in my field.
Then coronavirus happened. I don鈥檛 know about you, but for me it seemed to happen fast. One minute, it was this thing happening to other people in other places, and we were just making contingency plans. Then those contingency plans became our reality. And I became acutely aware of just how precarious my situation was. Would I be kept on for the rest of my contract? How long would my savings last if not? Should I get on the next plane home?
There was talk of Australia closing borders. The cost of flights was skyrocketing. I didn鈥檛 know what to do. So, I did the only sensible thing anyone can do in that situation 鈥 I went to the pub.
In the end, I found myself in the enviable position of having a few more weeks of job security, somewhere to live, enough books to read and colleagues who have become my friends.
What the future will look like and when it will start, none of us know. For now, I鈥檓 just thankful 鈥 thankful in the same intense way that I was frightened for that moment in time - for the security and sense of belonging offered to me by 性用社 through this.
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