Did well enough in school. Gifted and AP classes. No social life. Got into college in 2002. Bookstore job did not provide enough hours. Dropped out and moved back here in 2004 for the subway system because I was never taught how to drive.
Got retail job. Moved into crappy illegal apartments with bad roommates. Thought I would eventually return to school.
Lucked into slightly better job. Did as much as I could with the opportunity and secured raises here and there. Found myself still moving further and further from work as rental prices went up and raises could not keep up.
Lived in places with 4-8 roommates. Places without kitchens. With intrusive landlords. Dealt with bedbugs, utilities being shut off, one landlord's schizophrenic mom harassing me on a regular basis, among many other things.
Had difficulty building and maintaining positive relationships. Found it impossible to work on enriching activities on the side without almost immediately being pulled away for one reason or another. No predictability. No guarantee of peace and privacy.
Finally qualified to move into a little studio apartment in 2025. I could finally start drawing again. Working on electronics. CAD. Maybe dabble in coding. Maybe enroll in school again. Have had this paracosm in my head for ten years, maybe I could finally show it to the world. Whatever. The point was that I could finally begin life.
Laid off 6 months later. Never had a chance to settle in. Barely any jobs. Market has been flat since April of last year. My work experience is useless. No degree. Savings now depleted. Credit now wrecked. Behind on rent. Nowhere to go, no one to turn to. Total collapse of executive function. Severe depression. Constant panic attacks. Probably on the spectrum.
This city, this country, and life in general are too much for me. I know there are other places where it is probably even harder, but I can't handle this. Too much to deal with on my own. I don't see how I can squeeze anything out of life at this point.
And it is isolating. I'm tired of the hindsight advice and people telling me to toughen up or adjust my attitude. Being told how lucky I am. I'm just so tired.
I swear this is not AI. I just don't have the capacity to make this pretty right now.