Related: Told mother about a friend the other day. "Where does she work?" she asked. "Uh," I explained, "most of her income at the moment is in Patreon donation

Related: Told mother about a friend the other day. "Where does she work?" she asked. "Uh," I explained, "most of her income at the moment is in Patreon donations." Then I had to explain Patreon. "And then she also has some commissioned music and writing work, and one or two other things." Said friend isn't convinced that this is a stable situation either, but it's the position she's working with. Mother, of course, was left dumbfounded by this bombshell, among others regarding friend. Mother describes her own employment history as "I took whatever gigs I could get," and this time I asked where she expected that to lead, at the time. Said she thought there would be stable employment but the rise of recorded music everywhere killed most of the market for live gigs. Which, in hindsight, seems so, so obvious. But also speaks to a common ideal that the market discourages now, when expectations are that every job that's already there will be automated away someday.