Yeah. I took this last one with the understanding that there would be training/ opportunities instead I've become useful in the little niche I got stuck in. Hence the continued job search

@OpposingOpposum Let's face it. No one will tell you about the part of the job everyone hates. However I had one company that said "this is why most people quit. Yes quit. My dumb ass took the job any ways. I asked my boss one day what my hours were for the next day. Said he didn't know. Almost done with my shift the next day, and surprise! I had to work 4 more hours. It's pretty bad when co-workers literally beg you to get people to get a job there. You couldn't leave the premisis while on duty. Only time you could go to the bathroom, or eat was when they weren't busy. I left my food in the fridge. I got time to eat it. Some asshole ate most of my spaghetti and meatballs! Just a few noodles left. Needless to say I was supposed to get off at midnight. I had plans to have a bonfire and grill with my friends.I walked out of that place out of my "shift". They did charge me for the uniform, and I did complain about my missing lunch. Nothing happened.

@TheGreatShadow holy shit! Someone needs to tell those folks employees are not prisoners. Glad you escaped. Damn.

Yeah. I know. I've been working this one since april and steadily looking for better opportunities. Unfortunately it's causing real world problems in the meantime.

Yeah. My income dropped by about 25 % too. Idk if it was having kids, the recession or some combination but it sucks. I know waaay too many folks in the same boat who have ended up homeless or quasi homeless. Feels like this country has taken a giant crap on the working class.

@OpposingOpposum We are the working poor and nobody cares. We were just lucky enough to live in Tampa where Shriners will care for, operate on and heal any child that needs it no matter the cost. The government didnt give a shit about us.

@Martie1965 yep. "Your entire life is in ruins, your exhausted and stressed and don't have healthcare or any sort of safety net. Now get out there and make money for those giant megacorps and the billionaires who want a new jet".

@OpposingOpposum I hear ya sista' ! ((hugs))

@Martie1965 how is your kid now? Doing better, I hope?

@OpposingOpposum Yes! Thanks for asking. Without the surgery he would have been disabled the rest of his life. He was diagnosed at 12 his spine was corkscrewing as he grew. His ribs were pressing on his lungs and heart, leg was shortening as his hips twisted. He was a trooper. Got clamped into a full body brace 23 hours a day every day for 5 years. We had to wait until he stopped growing before they could operate. At age 17, a 9 man neuro surgical team performed an 8 hour surgery. About a year of rehab and recovery. He's 20 now and has a job and lives away from home. Lol. Sorry, I tried to shorten the story as much as possible.

@Martie1965 oh wow! He is a trooper and so are you. Thank goodness for the shriners and good parents. Glad there was a happy ending there. Hugs.

Customer service/retail mainly with the occasional maintenance job thrown in.

@OpposingOpposum CS jobs do not pay well. =[ I work in state gov't in CA and am pretty fortunate to have a decent job that pays fairly well.

@IAMGROOT thanks Captain obvious, That's a GIANT help /S

@OpposingOpposum When I was in my late 30s, I went back to school and retrained myself to work in the IT field. Mid-stream in my Associate's program in computer science, I got a job at Intel Corp. It never paid great, but wasn't terrible either. I went to work for them in 2000. In 2008 they laid me off after a long period of jumping from position to position in an attempt to avoid layoffs (they were outsourcing large portions of helpdesk andother support operations to Costa Rica) until they finally decided that my job was too far removed from my skillset (a condition they created). At that point, I had been with them long enough to collect a severance and for the first time in my life, I had time to work my way through the state hiring process (which is probably similar in your state). I took a substantial pay cut to get my foot in the door (working clerical, not IT), but have promoted a couple of times since and now make more than I did at Intel. If you are looking for a decent wage with some job security, I recommend at least looking into government service in your area. Cap't Obvious, signing off.

@IAMGROOT unfortunately I had a job with local government but was fired for unrelated reasons after reporting another employee for what was technically assault. Welcome to Florida.