Pretty much everything went to shit right after I got to the workforce. It was somewhat subtle at first, but it’s only gotten far worse and far more obvious as time has gone on.
Kids? Nah bro. Have you seen the world? I don’t want to live here, why would I subject someone that I care about to a life, living in this hellscape? Like all parents, I’m sure I would love my children if they existed and even though they don’t exist, I still love them enough to not subject them to gestures at everything this.
I haven’t gotten a meaningful raise since starting work. I was originally hired at basically minimum wage, a bit better than it in my area (ironically, my starting wage in my career is now below what minimum is now), and the only time I went up in salary is when I changed jobs.
With more than half a dozen years of experience (this is a while back) I was fighting for anything over $60k/yr (it gets worse), while housing in my area was skyrocketing above $400k for a modest home…
After the usual expenses of food and rent, I’ve been robbed blind by being given no choice but to buy things “as a service” and own fucking nothing. I’ve pushed back against it as much as possible and after years, I paid off my vehicle and absolutely, positively, 100% own this now 13 year-old car. Whoopee…
I’ve lived through everything from 9/11, to Trump… Twice… And nothing has ever quantifiably gotten “better” without getting worse in some other way.
Better, faster, more capable computers? You’re obligated to run software that spies on you. Better cars with fancy tech that makes them basically drive themselves? Only if you subscribe to activate the seat warmers for a nominal yearly fee… Phones are more capable, better, faster, more connected and overall significantly improved? These are now devices used by companies to harvest every meaningful ounce of information from you, selling it to the highest bidders (multiple times, I might add), and giving you nothing for your contribution. Congratulations, someone has monetized your existence via an app on your phone.
Everything is worse. You never have time off work anymore. Even if you take vacation, the expectation is that if they call you, you’ll answer, then you’re working for free. But if you don’t answer, then your job is at risk.
Fuck everything. This world sucks. I’m fucking sick of all of this shit and I’m mad as hell about it.
Same position and age as you, except I got diagnosed autistic and ADHD at 33. Haven’t been able to work in the one field I have any training in for decades, as that now basically means call centre work which triggers migraines (now known to be sensory overload).
Can’t afford to retrain, can’t get disability to help with costs because of UKGov cycling disability claimants through tribunals to massage the statistics. I lose the disability, I lose my funding. I get the disability back plus back pay, but am still booted from university for not being able to pay in the mean time.
G fucking G. I guess I just wait around until I die or get angry enough to commit an act of political violence that leaves a mark.
I was diagnosed with ADHD a few years back… Just shortly before I turned 40.
I’m lucky that seems to be the only thing my brain struggles with. After about a year and a half, I found a combination of drugs that works for me, and I’ve been doing ok, as far as my ability to think, concentrate, or focus at work goes…
I’m in Canada, so we have similar issues with our social support programs. I know this because, while I got off light in my diagnosis, my brother has far more severe ADHD symptoms, and he has other medical complications that make treatments difficult at best. I won’t go into his medical issues since that’s not my story to tell, but from a high level, most of the problems root in the fact that he was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes in his mid-teens…
He’s actually registered in the disability system and I’ve helped, or at least tried to help him navigate it and get to a point where he can do anything and get any support at all. Needless to say, I get it. Our system isn’t super different from the UK system. Personally I think it’s shameful that we give such a hard time to people with diagnosed disabilities, it’s not like those disabilities are going to… Idk, stop being a thing? It’s kind of a life long problem.
I’m lucky in the fact that if I continue taking the meds, I’m more or less “normal”. I have a steady job and I help my brother as I am able.
None of this is to detract, compare or “one-up” your challenges. The purpose to saying all of this is that I get it, I emphasize with your situation. I hope you are doing better and that the UK disability system stops fucking up your coverage so you can get back to living your life.
Still “experimenting” via my GP with various meds. Perhaps one day we’ll stumble onto something that works.
Glad to hear you’ve found a regimen that works for you though, and that it enables/better places you to help your brother.
Ultimately, helping each other survive existence with the minimum of anguish is the best any of us can be.
As for UKGov (or CanGov for that matter) getting their collective heads out of arses and not using disabled folk as easy marks, I suspect much worse is to come before it gets better. This place is like a microcosm of the US in a lot of ways.
I agree, helping eachother is the best any of us can be. I’ve dedicated my life to helping others.
My dayjob is IT support, and I am often holding certification in first aid (I currently need to renew this), and I have a lot of skills that I’ve developed specifically to assist others. I have, know how to operate, and actively use radio technology as a qualified amateur and regularly volunteer for events to help communication and coordination between medical teams, security, supplies and other services at public events.
I even carry a car battery boost device in my vehicles trunk for the odd time I come across someone who’s car won’t start, and I have a set of booster cables in case the battery in the pack is flat… As an example. I usually have a first aid kit in there too. Just in case.
There’s a lot we could, and probably should be doing to help ourselves and others; I firmly believe that basic emergency first aid and CPR should be a part of the highschool curriculum, and we should learn how to access social services like disability services, welfare, unemployment, and other government services, in highschool as well. Instead we take classes on English in countries where that’s the native language, yet people still don’t know how to articulate themselves in a comprehendable way, and we take several years of maths classes, including algebra, geometry, and so much more, that most people never even see similar problems again ever… Instead of teaching algebra, how about a class on how to file your taxes?
I have a lot of strong feelings about it and bluntly, nobody with any possibility of enacting change, cares.
I strongly feel like highschool failed me, and most of the people in society, and it could be so much better, and there’s simply no evolution or evaluation of what’s being taught and what’s actually relevant for people to know.
In any case, I hope I can continue to help others and that’s the biggest reason why I’m still alive. I’m trying to make this place a bit more livable for the people that are here.
We share a lot of traits and opinions it would seem.
It’s uplifting to come across someone who reminds you that there are still at least a few worth fighting for, that not everyone is a self-absorbed asshat with an axe to grind or agenda to push.
School in general in the UK is a bit of a shit show, slowly getting more and more privatised with each successive government. “Privatisation isn’t working… Maybe we’re not doing it hard enough…”
Perhaps the things your economy relies on should not be placed in the hands of organisations whose very raison d’être is to extract the maximum possible profit possible for themselves…? Energy, transport, education, healthcare, food supply; all privately owned and decreasing in quality while costing more, and, to rub salt into the wound, the entities responsible then dodge as much tax as is possible.
Our supposed “Labour” party is captured by self-serving neoliberal corporate puppets that are beholden to the extremists running the US right now.
They’ve recently announced that they’re going to make it even harder to claim disability benefits, and those that still make it will be paid less than currently. In almost the same breath, they were excited to let everyone know that they’re going to either cut or get rid of the new Digital Services Tax designed to ensure Amazon, Google et al actually pay tax to speak of. Because, y’know, Bezos needs another new yacht.
Honestly, it seems we’re long overdue to remind the politicians who they’re actually supposed to work for. If that means a few heads have to come off to get the message across loud and clear, I’m certainly not upset about it. I don’t see things getting better until that level of event occurs, to be frank.
I’m an “elder” millennial… I’m 40+.
Pretty much everything went to shit right after I got to the workforce. It was somewhat subtle at first, but it’s only gotten far worse and far more obvious as time has gone on.
Kids? Nah bro. Have you seen the world? I don’t want to live here, why would I subject someone that I care about to a life, living in this hellscape? Like all parents, I’m sure I would love my children if they existed and even though they don’t exist, I still love them enough to not subject them to gestures at everything this.
I haven’t gotten a meaningful raise since starting work. I was originally hired at basically minimum wage, a bit better than it in my area (ironically, my starting wage in my career is now below what minimum is now), and the only time I went up in salary is when I changed jobs.
With more than half a dozen years of experience (this is a while back) I was fighting for anything over $60k/yr (it gets worse), while housing in my area was skyrocketing above $400k for a modest home…
After the usual expenses of food and rent, I’ve been robbed blind by being given no choice but to buy things “as a service” and own fucking nothing. I’ve pushed back against it as much as possible and after years, I paid off my vehicle and absolutely, positively, 100% own this now 13 year-old car. Whoopee…
I’ve lived through everything from 9/11, to Trump… Twice… And nothing has ever quantifiably gotten “better” without getting worse in some other way.
Better, faster, more capable computers? You’re obligated to run software that spies on you. Better cars with fancy tech that makes them basically drive themselves? Only if you subscribe to activate the seat warmers for a nominal yearly fee… Phones are more capable, better, faster, more connected and overall significantly improved? These are now devices used by companies to harvest every meaningful ounce of information from you, selling it to the highest bidders (multiple times, I might add), and giving you nothing for your contribution. Congratulations, someone has monetized your existence via an app on your phone.
Everything is worse. You never have time off work anymore. Even if you take vacation, the expectation is that if they call you, you’ll answer, then you’re working for free. But if you don’t answer, then your job is at risk.
Fuck everything. This world sucks. I’m fucking sick of all of this shit and I’m mad as hell about it.
Same position and age as you, except I got diagnosed autistic and ADHD at 33. Haven’t been able to work in the one field I have any training in for decades, as that now basically means call centre work which triggers migraines (now known to be sensory overload).
Can’t afford to retrain, can’t get disability to help with costs because of UKGov cycling disability claimants through tribunals to massage the statistics. I lose the disability, I lose my funding. I get the disability back plus back pay, but am still booted from university for not being able to pay in the mean time.
G fucking G. I guess I just wait around until I die or get angry enough to commit an act of political violence that leaves a mark.
I was diagnosed with ADHD a few years back… Just shortly before I turned 40.
I’m lucky that seems to be the only thing my brain struggles with. After about a year and a half, I found a combination of drugs that works for me, and I’ve been doing ok, as far as my ability to think, concentrate, or focus at work goes…
I’m in Canada, so we have similar issues with our social support programs. I know this because, while I got off light in my diagnosis, my brother has far more severe ADHD symptoms, and he has other medical complications that make treatments difficult at best. I won’t go into his medical issues since that’s not my story to tell, but from a high level, most of the problems root in the fact that he was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes in his mid-teens…
He’s actually registered in the disability system and I’ve helped, or at least tried to help him navigate it and get to a point where he can do anything and get any support at all. Needless to say, I get it. Our system isn’t super different from the UK system. Personally I think it’s shameful that we give such a hard time to people with diagnosed disabilities, it’s not like those disabilities are going to… Idk, stop being a thing? It’s kind of a life long problem.
I’m lucky in the fact that if I continue taking the meds, I’m more or less “normal”. I have a steady job and I help my brother as I am able.
None of this is to detract, compare or “one-up” your challenges. The purpose to saying all of this is that I get it, I emphasize with your situation. I hope you are doing better and that the UK disability system stops fucking up your coverage so you can get back to living your life.
All the best, from across the ocean.
Still “experimenting” via my GP with various meds. Perhaps one day we’ll stumble onto something that works.
Glad to hear you’ve found a regimen that works for you though, and that it enables/better places you to help your brother.
Ultimately, helping each other survive existence with the minimum of anguish is the best any of us can be.
As for UKGov (or CanGov for that matter) getting their collective heads out of arses and not using disabled folk as easy marks, I suspect much worse is to come before it gets better. This place is like a microcosm of the US in a lot of ways.
I appreciate your well wishes all the same 💛
I agree, helping eachother is the best any of us can be. I’ve dedicated my life to helping others.
My dayjob is IT support, and I am often holding certification in first aid (I currently need to renew this), and I have a lot of skills that I’ve developed specifically to assist others. I have, know how to operate, and actively use radio technology as a qualified amateur and regularly volunteer for events to help communication and coordination between medical teams, security, supplies and other services at public events.
I even carry a car battery boost device in my vehicles trunk for the odd time I come across someone who’s car won’t start, and I have a set of booster cables in case the battery in the pack is flat… As an example. I usually have a first aid kit in there too. Just in case.
There’s a lot we could, and probably should be doing to help ourselves and others; I firmly believe that basic emergency first aid and CPR should be a part of the highschool curriculum, and we should learn how to access social services like disability services, welfare, unemployment, and other government services, in highschool as well. Instead we take classes on English in countries where that’s the native language, yet people still don’t know how to articulate themselves in a comprehendable way, and we take several years of maths classes, including algebra, geometry, and so much more, that most people never even see similar problems again ever… Instead of teaching algebra, how about a class on how to file your taxes?
I have a lot of strong feelings about it and bluntly, nobody with any possibility of enacting change, cares.
I strongly feel like highschool failed me, and most of the people in society, and it could be so much better, and there’s simply no evolution or evaluation of what’s being taught and what’s actually relevant for people to know.
In any case, I hope I can continue to help others and that’s the biggest reason why I’m still alive. I’m trying to make this place a bit more livable for the people that are here.
We share a lot of traits and opinions it would seem.
It’s uplifting to come across someone who reminds you that there are still at least a few worth fighting for, that not everyone is a self-absorbed asshat with an axe to grind or agenda to push.
School in general in the UK is a bit of a shit show, slowly getting more and more privatised with each successive government. “Privatisation isn’t working… Maybe we’re not doing it hard enough…”
Perhaps the things your economy relies on should not be placed in the hands of organisations whose very raison d’être is to extract the maximum possible profit possible for themselves…? Energy, transport, education, healthcare, food supply; all privately owned and decreasing in quality while costing more, and, to rub salt into the wound, the entities responsible then dodge as much tax as is possible.
Our supposed “Labour” party is captured by self-serving neoliberal corporate puppets that are beholden to the extremists running the US right now.
They’ve recently announced that they’re going to make it even harder to claim disability benefits, and those that still make it will be paid less than currently. In almost the same breath, they were excited to let everyone know that they’re going to either cut or get rid of the new Digital Services Tax designed to ensure Amazon, Google et al actually pay tax to speak of. Because, y’know, Bezos needs another new yacht.
Honestly, it seems we’re long overdue to remind the politicians who they’re actually supposed to work for. If that means a few heads have to come off to get the message across loud and clear, I’m certainly not upset about it. I don’t see things getting better until that level of event occurs, to be frank.
One word for you. Antidepressants
Here’s one for you: Empathy.
Ha. I’m on them. The meds I take for ADHD are classifiably also anti depressants.
What now, Poindexter?