I’m just too tired after work. When coworkers had a get-together after work recently for us to hang out with a former coworker, I got too tired after only an hour and left. It was fun, I like the people, I just spend so much energy at work that I have nothing left over when the work day ends. Then the weekend comes and it’s my one chance to actually rest, so I don’t want to go anywhere or do anything that isn’t related to keeping life going (like doing laundry, prepping meals, etc.)

Just three days ago I made a comment here on Lemmy:

“If I didn’t spend that [social] energy every day to work, I’d have more of it for fun things in my time off. But the way things are, I only get two days of the week to not have to put that effort in, to recharge my social battery. I cherish those days.”

This article is spot-on. Poverty doesn’t just mean “everything that costs money is out of reach,” but also, “we spend so much effort trying to afford life, we don’t have the energy to actually live it.”