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I know what it's like to be unemployed and not have enough money to buy mobile phone credit in order to call a prospective employer to ask them for directions t

I know what it's like to be unemployed and not have enough money to buy mobile phone credit in order to call a prospective employer to ask them for directions to their office in order to attend a job interview... While being homeless and staying at cheap AirBnBs in a foreign country (because the country I lived in before did not have any jobs for me because I didn't speak the language and my previous employer stopped giving me freelance work and none of the recruiters would answer my emails because of my foreign mobile number so I had to move to a different country and use my dwindling funds to buy a sim card). Being a white male and nerdy-looking makes it even worse because everyone assumes that you're a spoiled brat and they give preference to other people who fit the typical 'disadvantaged' mold.

MeinBlutIstBlau 6y ago
What I'm saying is exactly what you're describing. You have options. You have the ability to get by one way or another. I"m not saying poverty is amazing. I'm saying that even with all your negative situations that occurred, here you are talking to us over HN. You've made it another day. All because of the wealth of ways you can continually get by in the western world.
- cryptica 6y ago
  But people these days have to resort to heroic feats just to get by. It used to be that people who went through these kinds of obstacles would become relatively successful. Not anymore, now defying all odds and doing everything right means that you merely get to survive. I haven't had it easy, but obviously some people have had it even harder than me. I'm sure many fail (through no fault of their own) then end up in a really bad place where there is no escape then end up doing drugs and overdosing. You might say that doing drugs is a choice but I don't think this is the case; constant stress and risk taking without any payoffs physically destroys the brain and can lead anyone to self-destructive behaviors.

MeinBlutIstBlau 6y ago

What I'm saying is exactly what you're describing. You have options. You have the ability to get by one way or another. I"m not saying poverty is amazing. I'm saying that even with all your negative situations that occurred, here you are talking to us over HN. You've made it another day. All because of the wealth of ways you can continually get by in the western world.

cryptica 6y ago
But people these days have to resort to heroic feats just to get by. It used to be that people who went through these kinds of obstacles would become relatively successful. Not anymore, now defying all odds and doing everything right means that you merely get to survive. I haven't had it easy, but obviously some people have had it even harder than me. I'm sure many fail (through no fault of their own) then end up in a really bad place where there is no escape then end up doing drugs and overdosing. You might say that doing drugs is a choice but I don't think this is the case; constant stress and risk taking without any payoffs physically destroys the brain and can lead anyone to self-destructive behaviors.