Woman who teaches full time shares how she had to get a second job delivering pizzas
“Everyone’s talking about all the reasons teachers want to leave. But what about all the teachers that want to stay, but literally can’t afford to?”

"I'm doing this because I can't survive on my teacher paycheck."
Teaching has never been an easy job. Add to that the surge of remote learning challenges, making up for curriculum lost during school closures, a growing concern for safety and—last but not least—having to help more anxious and depressed kids than ever
The responsibilities have increased for an already taxing job. And yet, teacher salaries remain abysmally low, forcing many to either quit altogether or find supplemental income.
Alexis Longcrier falls into the second category. Longcrier still teaches full time during the day. At night, she delivers pizza for Domino's just to get by. A video sharing her story is taking over TikTok for its candid portrayal of what teachers are having to endure just to make ends meet while holding onto their jobs.
“I’m doing this because I can’t survive on my teacher paycheck’” Longcrier says in the clip. “Everyone’s talking about all the reasons teachers want to leave. But what about all the teachers that want to stay, but literally can’t afford to?”
Longcrier is not alone. Her video received a slew of responses from fellow teachers who have found themselves in similar situations.
Here are just a few:
“Hi, fellow teacher. I had to start my own mobile welding business on the side for the same reason.”
“I love it, but I’m doing Lyft after work and spreading myself super thin.”
“I work at Target part time for the same reason.”
“Teacher w a masters and i have a 2nd job to pay the bills... it shouldn’t have to be this hard.”
“Teacher here. I also work as customer support for a travel company.”
“I’m a teacher with a masters and I sell my plasma to get by.”
“I have a masters and work extra duties. Work a part-time job, sell my plasma. We need a livable wage.”
“I’m a teacher who has fully accepted that I’ll never own a house, have kids, be able to support anyone but myself, live in a nicer area.”
@alexislongcrier Teachers don’t just deserve a living wage - they deserve a thriving wage! #teacher #teachersoftiktok #teacherlife #teachers #highschool #middleschool #elementaryschool #teach #teachertok #teaching #teachertiktok #teachersontiktok #teacherproblems #tiktok #tiktokviral #viral #fyp #foryourpage #foryou #student #students #pay #broke #money #school #class ♬ original sound - AlexisLongcrier
As Longcrier clarified in a follow-up video, her argument is that everyone deserves a living wage—not just teachers. This was in response to a comment saying that “everyone works two jobs now.”
“If you work a full-time job, you should only work one,” she said. “And you should be able to afford to eat out sometimes, go see a movie, enjoy your life. You were not made to just work, struggle, and die. None of us just deserve a life, we deserve a quality of life, too.”
@alexislongcrier Replying to @awesometheadam And it’s a shame. We all deserve better. #response #responsevideo #comment #teacher #highschool #students #teachersoftiktok #tiktok #tiktokviral #viral #fyp #foryou #foryourpage #money #happiness #health #enjoyment #deserve ♬ original sound - AlexisLongcrier
Longcrier has a point. Work should somehow add to our quality of life. It’s no secret that teachers usually do what they do out of a sense of purpose, not for financial gain. But now that passion is being squelched, leaving the profession without much reward. Those who are sticking it out are paying a hefty price
- A celebrated teacher's 5-point explanation of why she's quitting has gone viral. ›
- A brutally honest kindergarten teacher shares five reasons why she quit the profession ›
- She quit teaching, works at Costco, and has 'never been happier.' That says something. ›
- Vienna's 100-year-old approach to affordable housing - Upworthy ›
- Gay man and straight woman have heartwarming encounter - Upworthy ›






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Resurfaced video of French skier's groin incident has people giving the announcer a gold medal
"The boys took a beating on that one."
Downhill skiing is a sport rife with injuries, but not usually this kind.
A good commentator can make all the difference when watching sports, even when an event goes smoothly. But it's when something goes wrong that great announcers rise to the top. There's no better example of a great announcer in a surprise moment than when French skier Yannick Bertrand took a gate to the groin in a 2007 super-G race.
Competitive skiers fly down runs at incredible speeds, often exceeding 60 mph. Hitting something hard at that speed would definitely hurt, but hitting something hard with a particularly sensitive part of your body would be excruciating. So when Bertrand slammed right into a gate family-jewels-first, his high-pitched scream was unsurprising. What was surprising was the perfect commentary that immediately followed.
This is a clip you really just have to see and hear to fully appreciate:
- YouTube youtu.be
It's unclear who the announcer is, even after multiple Google inquiries, which is unfortunate because that gentleman deserves a medal. The commentary gets better with each repeated viewing, with highlights like:
"The gate the groin for Yannick Bertrand, and you could hear it. And if you're a man, you could feel it."
"Oh, the Frenchman. Oh-ho, monsieurrrrrr."
"The boys took a beating on that one."
"That guy needs a hug."
"Those are the moments that change your life if you're a man, I tell you what."
"When you crash through a gate, when you do it at high rate of speed, it's gonna hurt and it's going to leave a mark in most cases. And in this particular case, not the area where you want to leave a mark."
Imagine watching a man take a hit to the privates at 60 mph and having to make impromptu commentary straddling the line between professionalism and acknowledging the universal reality of what just happened. There are certain things you can't say on network television that you might feel compelled to say. There's a visceral element to this scenario that could easily be taken too far in the commentary, and the inherent humor element could be seen as insensitive and offensive if not handled just right.
The announcer nailed it. 10/10. No notes.
The clip frequently resurfaces during the Winter Olympic Games, though the incident didn't happen during an Olympic event. Yannick Bertrand was competing at the FIS World Cup super-G race in Kvitfjell, Norway in 2007, when the unfortunate accident occurred. Bertrand had competed at the Turin Olympics the year before, however, coming in 24th in the downhill and super-G events.
As painful as the gate to the groin clearly as, Bertrand did not appear to suffer any damage that kept him from the sport. In fact, he continued competing in international downhill and super-G races until 2014.
According to a 2018 study, Alpine skiing is a notoriously dangerous sport with a reported injury rate of 36.7 per 100 World Cup athletes per season. Of course, it's the knees and not the coin purse that are the most common casualty of ski racing, which we saw clearly in U.S. skier Lindsey Vonn's harrowing experiences at the 2026 Olympics. Vonn was competing with a torn ACL and ended up being helicoptered off of the mountain after an ugly crash that did additional damage to her legs, requiring multiple surgeries (though what caused the crash was reportedly unrelated to her ACL tear). Still, she says she has no regrets.
As Bertrand's return to the slopes shows, the risk of injury doesn't stop those who live for the thrill of victory, even when the agony of defeat hits them right in the rocks.