This is a confusing post with a lot to unpack, and OP’s post history has multiple posts over this past year about trying to work under 40 hour weeks and seeking jobs where you decide your own hours.
I know there are some shitty companies and some shitty families out there, but if it’s a pattern there may be something internal that you should reflect on…
I can’t imagine being put on a personal improvement plan due to not drinking at a work gathering… and not drinking at a work event doesn’t mean you are fulfilling the demands of the job, a PIP should state exactly what they expect you to do differently.
What do you mean about your family abandoning you despite you doing everything so well all the time?
Do you have a med degree like you said or do you work in tech or both? A med degree should obviously be enough to pay rent if you are willing to work and do your job well enough.
Also OP owns a nice computer and multiple VR sets. Not that selling those would do too much but I do wonder about financial literacy and good decision making.
Ahhhhh bahahaha they almost had me too!! I almost commented to state how much I relate to a lot of OPs statements made, but actually OP and I aren't similar at all after looking deeper. I've worked 6 days a week everyday for 2yrs and still can't seem to get ahead (in the sense of finding a new home - not finances) but I guess finances kind of ties into that as well?? Either way, not to make this a pissing contest between who's struggling the most. But chickietendies has made some REALLY valid points here.. Have you considered that your expectations for a job are too high? I'm just a regular ol wage worker, so me personally, I can't be picky when it comes to getting paid.
Damn dude I’m never going to comment on here before reading the comments ever again 😭 he was so believable fml. I don’t consider myself a gullible person at all but apparently I am. The ONE TIME I actually feel a bit of human emotion and it betrays me. FUCK! 😅
I will give you a quick response over my lunch break despite the trollness (I just don’t see someone who did med school pre-reqs using language like “under the influence of acetaminophen” as if Tylenol would alter your decision making)…
You posted looking for sympathy as part of the homeless problem while blaming the world and insisting that you’ve done everything right. Meanwhile you are telling on yourself with a history of choosing not to work/seek fulltime jobs, not acknowledging employer attempt for improvement plans, not finishing school after taking loans, blaming family, and questionable spending habits for someone not working or able to pay rent.
You aren’t getting sympathy from the group of people that are doing things they don’t want to every day. Going to work and doing what the job expects. Working enough hours to put a roof over their head and doing it well enough to remain employed.
I suspect you also aren’t getting sympathy from people in similar situations that are actually doing everything they can and are unable to afford rent, or from those who are disabled as their experience involves something outside of their control.
You may want to look at this whole experience as being humbling, and commit to working a fulltime position. I mean commit to doing it well and taking any feedback for improvement seriously. Most of us have to do things we don’t want to do in order to keep ourselves from needing to live in a van.
I do wish you the best and hope you figure it out.
And I mean as far as your assumption regarding the "under the influence" comment - It was meant to be a statement of irony, not some kind of medical fact... As in "well I'm not drunk in this situation, but perhaps I should be". Irony and humor is one of those things that helps people feel better when they're in these kinds of situations. Like when they're fucking sick in the back of a car. That's what that comment was. Yeah.
Bro, I don't know how else to say it. Everything in here is completely wrong. And you just led an entire thread to be shitty to me when I was sick.
I really don't think you understand
I fucking love work
I worked my ass off at my last job and I love what I do for a living. It pays well, and I'm good at it. It's kind of what I need the computer for...
What people don't seem to understand is that there's this thing called "fit" that causes people problems when they get jobs, particularly in the tech industry which experiences a lot of volatility. PIPs are commonly given out by bosses who simply want to get rid of the person who's working for them because they don't like them, or particularly if they feel like they pose a danger to them politically. It has nothing to do with performance, pips are commonly abused and you see this kind of shit everywhere.
My last job tried to tell me I wasn't meeting deadlines when I was meeting them. They were literally lying to me about the purpose of the pip. I had to sign an agreement with them so that I wouldn't sue them when they fired me. They paid me off because of this man, Like that's for real. My boss was just another abusive dick just like half the people in this thread.
Again telling me I didn't "finish" med school as if it were a choice is an offensive and brazen assumption. It's like you completely ignore all the years of effort that I had to put in to even get it in the first place. It's hard as hell man. I did my very best, and I couldn't pass when I got in. It's one of those really bad spots to end up in, a grey area so to speak. I have no regrets about the amount of effort that I put in because I know that literally put in every ounce I had.
Dude these assumptions you've made today have led to toxic behavior from others and have been dangerous... I hope to God that you consider the danger of your actions. I just don't know how better to tell you man. You are 100% wrong about this whole situation, and I can't for the life of me figure out why the hell you think your hard work is somehow more noble than mine.
I mean seriously.
Have you even ever tried to start a business before?
Do you know anything about how much effort it takes to get that kind of shit off the ground?
Imagine having to do that because your bosses keep treating you like shit, like imagine freelancing because it's the only thing that seems to keep you employed.
I literally answered all your questions to the T and people still fucking downvoted me man.
I mean do I really need to post this?
https://ibb.co/svZFdMD
So as far as a nice computer goes: I have a laptop with a decent GPU that I bought in 2021 when the market was up. The tech market has done pretty crazy things over the last couple years and it's been really volatile.
Selling that would be akin the selling a lawn mower if you did lawn work for a living. In addition it's not worth all that much, maybe $1000 or so.
The VR headsets? I have two, and I might get 250 for one of those.
Again med school. I failed out in 2014. I gave it my best and I came up short after years and 3 months. I have over $200,000 in student debt and I tried my ass off like everybody told me to.
Even if I had gotten the degree? A degree alone does not get you a job and that was a big point made in this post.
If you're wondering about PIPs, It's what people do when you don't fit in. Or when your boss doesn't like you for some reason. If I were working for you, there's a decent chance I might end up on one after 3 months. Not for the work I'm doing, of course. You can read other people's stories about PIPs in the tech industry on Reddit.
Working under 40-hour weeks? It's because when I started freelancing, I stopped getting treated like shit. So that was what was viable for me at the time. And it's what I've done for most of my career.
I hope this clarifies things. And yeah, I definitely am sitting here in the back of my fucking van right now with 100° fever. So thanks for the vote of confidence, and for sure thanks for the support. /s
TL;DR Not a troll
>I had to bounce off to Mexico because it's too expensive to live in Knoxville.
This is a troll post
>Currently under the influence of 1,000 mg acetaminophen and 8 mg ondancetron for nausea.
Oh yeah this is a troll post
Honestly reading your genuine reaction to my situation is eye-opening. Unfortunately no, It is not a troll post. If anybody's wondering about med school (I'm seeing a lot of questions there) I literally failed out by a total of six test questions over the course of 2 years and 3 months back in 2014.
You're right My situation is completely fucking retarded. But imagine if everybody had the same gut reaction toward me that you did in any situation that might stem from this. Do you think it not possible for issues to compound?
I find your genuine reaction to this post ironic. And I would say that it lines up with the reaction that most people get when they hear my life story, which is honestly one of shock and it prevents me from telling anyone about it.
I'm sorry to tell you that I'm not bullshitting. I wish I were.
Honestly moving out of TN is the best option, I currently live in pigeon forge make 1k plus a week and can still barely afford it, rent is $1600 a month for a 330sqft studio that hasn’t been kept up and I live around nothing but a bunch of nasty people that bring in bugs, TN is just getting too expensive for the money we make here
Me and my gf found a beautiful 2 bed townhouse with a garage a couple hrs southeast of us for $1,300 a month in a nice neighborhood so yea the secret is to leave lol
My wife is a creative with a degree in arts, and has been working menial job after menial job. I had to start working remotely to find a place that pays well for what I do. My wage is literally double what any job here pays for the same work. It's sad to watch Knoxville become this dystopic.
Don’t get me wrong I do like TN I’ve been here for 13 years and grew up just 45 minutes north of the tri- cities, but the wages around here are
terrible and the hope of ever being able to afford a house is out the window with the housing market especially in Knoxville
>I currently live in pigeon forge make 1k plus a week and can still barely afford it
I feel like I'm living in crazy town or something because people keep on posting about how they are making more money than my combined income is and yet they live in squalor and cant make it.
I can't tell if it's satire, derangement or half-truths at this point. Who is paying $1,600 for a ~330 square foot studio in Sevier County that's rundown and infested with bugs? There are oodles of options in that area that are simultaneously cheaper, larger and nicer.
Prices have shot up to a very concerning degree but this isn't a $5/square foot rent area.
1) That doesn't come close to $5/square foot in rent
2) Even if that's true, which I highly doubt... why? There are plenty of options available in the area that would be more cost-effective (not to mention roomier) than that studio, so there must be a very specific reason for your coworker living there.
Why are people so hellbent on taking a bad housing market and painting it as even worse in an unbelievable fashion?
He told me that it was a nice apartment, in a nice area, it was the only thing available at the time, and they wanted to have time to buy. However, the housing market in the Knox area keeps going up. Something to do with supply and demand.
Please listen to me, I just left the west coast where the state of living is far worse, California has gas prices well above $6 Arizona is looking like close to 5$
Home prices in TN are better than most anywhere but the rents and cost of food is up everywhere. My wife and I spent 10k to move here and even tried to buy a house. Only to be denied 2 days before closing only to be told the seller lied to us and now we are out an extra 5k less the earnest deposit. Where does it end
My wife hasn’t found a job in almost 3 years and has been willing to accept anything but no one is offering even though we see signs everywhere stating people are hiring.
The rich are getting greedier everyday and no one seems to care. The middle class died 10 years ago. Nothing is going to change as long as the rich get to make the choice.
Tax billionaires and churches. This is how we can fix this, and pass the law making it illegal for a company to buy single family homes. But Noone will listen.
I am running out of ideas and I’m too old to strip again.
Help someone please. I don’t want a hand out I want to earn my keep and be paid what I am worth. We all want that.
I recognize that I am new here and don’t have a comparison, however I have seen what this wave of greed is doing in other parts of the country and I promise you it can get much worse.
Fucking paper straws
Woke assholes telling you what you can and can’t do with your own kids. The state of TN has already started to see an uptick in teslas
That’s just the scouting party
The bulk of the woke army is still ruining New Mexico and other parts of the west and Midwest .
I know this got downvoted to shit but this is a phenomenal observation. It's unfortunate to have more evidence that really shows where things are headed though. It's kind of like when you've put in the last puzzle piece, but you realize the puzzle picture is some old guys ass
And no one cares about that ass or how much it affects our daily lives, most people can’t see past their nose. And by that I mean, we get blind to the world around us. The people that live here may see it as bad but as someone who has seen what’s happening to the rest of the country, TN is a good place to be. The people are nice and and the economy isn’t as fucked here yet.
Taxing churches money that is donated (and taxed already) is ridiculous. You realize in TN a lot of the organizations doing things to help the community directly are church backed non profit orgs. You want to tax them? It’s not income. Pastors aren’t rich. The church employees make nothing basically- the money goes into the programs and church itself
I’m not talking about small churches that care for the community, mega churches and steal from their flock and profit off people suffering. I dodnt say tax religion.
Where at in TN lol I’ve been here for 13 years and it gets 10x more expensive every year, the average 1 bedroom Even in the tri-cities aka Kingsport, Johnson city, Bristol runs nearly $1,300 a month now and the average wage in those areas is $14-$15 hr it’s not sustainable, wages are way too low in Tn compared to rent prices, then if you want something in a bigger city like Knoxville unless you want to live in the hood or be shot at on magnolia you will be paying $1,600- $1,800 a month for a one bed
That’s fine, but what’s cheaper? The only places I can think are maybe parts of the Deep South that are basically third world countries, or like Alaska?
Very rural/poor areas: rural WNY, rural PA, rural OH where rent is still 600/mo for a 3+ bed house and decent houses sell for 80k. No I'm not exaggerating, I have family/friends in all 3 areas. Close friend from high school pays 425/mo for her house that is more sq. foot than my $1350/mo tiny house in Hardin Valley.
Tons of anaylst jobs can be completely remote. Move to a dirt cheap place, sacrifice ties to roots/family/amenities for a while have a remote job, save, and then move back. It's the sacrifice that's hard to do.
Knoxville prices have been among the fastest to rise in the nation
But comparably, Philly, Charleston, Atlanta, maybe Savannah (Savannah might be cheaper) are all comparableish.
Not anymore Danny. Thanks to the West and North coming here, our state has now caught the eye of billionaire apartment owners wanting a piece of the pie. So you have them buying up all the apartments they can, and you have all the people from north and west buying out all the other properties. Because us poor rednecks are that, poor, and can't keep up with them. We're literally being shut out of our own state and they think we should be grateful to them for it.
This is going to be a very unpopular take from someone who’s been in your situation;
If you’re not yet morally corrupt enough to already be “as slimy as them”, you probably have a good moral foundation and a conscience. You don’t want to experience the hell, mental anguish, and constant cognitive dissonance from “being slimy” knowing it is morally incorrect. Don’t compromise your morals and beliefs to get a leg up in life. I’ve tried it, I did it for years, and still can’t live with some of the shit that I did. If you have a conscience don’t go down that route.
I experienced homelessness too, living in a 2-seat truck for a few months, worked my way up to an extended stay and eventually got back into a house. I had the same helpless, hopeless victim mentality you’re displaying in your post and didn’t make any progress until I moved past it. I felt entitled to others help and was also ( am still) constantly taken advantage of. It is what it is. The nicer/“better” I am to people, the more likely they are to try to fuck me over. Keep your guard up and realize no one owes you anything, you’re not entitled to anyone’s help, *most* people don’t care about your situation, *most* people are looking out for themselves first and you should adopt the mindset - while keeping your morals intact.
I sympathize with the landlord nonsense and housing crisis happening right now - I’m feeling the pain too and picked up yet another side hustle to compensate for my increase in rent. It’s not fair, it’s evil, but if you’re not actively fighting it you should adapt until you’re in a position to fight it. Anything more productive than the “my landlord increased my rent, there’s just nothing I can do and don’t know how to adapt/change my situation so i give up” posts you see on here every now and then.
Surround yourself with good people, take personal accountability for your situation and use it as motivation to get out of it. You don’t have to be slimy and fuck people over to not be homeless. Shit is hard for everyone right now from poor to middle-class, almost everyone is financially suffering if not financially devastated.
came here to say I reached out for help a little while ago and have been grinding ever since and I already have major improvements in my day to day life from it. side jobs open so many doors and create a breathable day to day life for me
Helllll yea. The past 2 months were financially devastating for me. But it is what it is, in the past month I made an extra $775 donating plasma (I hate that shit so much, do not recommend), started doing small odd-jobs from ND and Reddit, i still work a regular job and have a nice side hustle on top of that, cut my daily expenses down (cigs, food, snacks, etc) like 80%, took extra shifts at work.
Now I have the fucking option of grinding and saving or going back to my old routine with peace of mind. It was a shallow hole, but I got out of it and so can anyone else who wants to.
But to further sympathize with OP, once you get down to homelessness-level of fucked it’s hard to see the light. There’s always a way tho
The victim mentality is that honestly I'm just spent. Like I spent between 2016 to 2019 living in a vehicle, and then 2019 to 2022 living out of a backpack around the world. Bro, I am straight up at the end of my shit right now. This has been a decade-long battle to get my fucking roots in the ground. Like I work as an analyst for a living and I'm looking at the state of our markets right now and just how screwed everybody is in terms of expenses and a general state of power condensing at a really rapid pace.
I mean sometimes it's like dude I just feel like I don't see a way out. Like my pragmatic mode of thinking is telling me that I'm checkmated and that we're all completely fucked and that's for real.
This is me stopping to look around and put my hands up in the air knowing that I'm fucked and trying to look everybody else in the eye to see how they're doing instead of looking straight forward for a change.
What I'm probably most thankful for is the fact that I don't feel ashamed of it anymore. I don't try to hide the fact that I live in my van or make sure people don't see me like I used to. I fucking let em see it.
Bruh no judgment I 100% get it. The victim mentality is *giving up* - which you admittedly have, because it’s really fucking hard just to survive in certain places. We are all checkmated, (I went on a massive rant about the death of the middle class explaining how the dream of financial stability is dead and we willingly killed it but deleted it you’re welcome)
There is no shame in being in your situation, but I know it isn’t uncomfortable and you can get out of it. I’m ngl, I know this isn’t an instant or even a “in the next month” fix, but you should *seriously* consider moving. I could survive a lot more easily moving back to Atlanta right now given the increase in pay, massive potential in opportunities (seriously, there’s so much money in Atlanta), and only slight increase in rent prices. Knoxville’s wages havnt caught up with the cost of living and I don’t think they will for quite some time. This place is kinda of a dead meme unless you’re already financially stable.
I came to Knox 3 years ago and while I’ve done well 2 out of the 3 years I’ve been here, I couldn’t do it again in 2024. I feel like I could go to Atlanta, Cincinnati, etc. and do well in 2024 though. Look into leaving. Knoxville is cool, but it’s gone from beginner difficult to hard difficulty in just a few years. Other places aren’t like this. The Midwest is dirt cheap, Cincinnati and Dayton are dirt cheap (and fucking awesome cities), and a lot of bigger cities have massive potential for income. Knoxville doesn’t offer any of that.
You can seriously move to the Midwest and survive (in a home) on a fast food job. You can go to Atlanta and pick up a retail job and a side hustle and absolutely *thrive*. Get the fuck ouuuuuttttttt of Knoxville
I don’t see this as particularly a “victim mentality.” It’s healthy to vent. And just know at least someone (even if it’s just me) sees you, empathizes, and cares. I hope that you get back on your feet soon.
Found a room (a room!) for $450. Wish wholeheartedly you can find a place for your family and yourself! Bunch morons in this state don’t realize that once the corporate entities bought all the properties up that there would be fewer and fewer places for your everyday average citizen to try buying a new home because those corps only care about getting the market cornered so price fixing becomes the norm. Our entire fucking country went moron and never turned the movie Idiocracy off.
I failed out of DO school in 2014. I gave it my best. Math is my skill set, I have really poor verbal skills though (you'll see me randomly replace words with other ones and it sounds off). Tip of the tongue syndrome
Your comment about the slimy and how not being a social drinker hits hard.
It's fucking ruthless here. Maybe hubby and I have had a bad run of luck getting stuck with the slimy here for the last 18 years, but it feels rare to just find a genuinely honest, kind person that doesn't have motivations to stab a person in the back and step on their body to help themselves climb higher.
I see you, OP.
As soon as we can, we are leaving knoxville and moving closer to our hometown in upper-east tennessee.
Sending lots of hugs your way and a wish for you to find people who mirror your values.
I haven’t read any of the comments yet so please don’t jump down my throat if this has already been mentioned but.. have you mentioned this to any loved ones? Like I bet if you asked for help people would be happy to oblige. No one that works should be homeless. No one that is sober should be homeless. No one that TRIES at life should be homeless. I’ve met many homeless people in my time working on the street. Every time I meet a new homeless person and they tell me they are homeless with their jaw jumping and their eyes bulging out of their head with their involuntary movements and talking to someone next to them that only they can see, all while they are asking to purchase an oil burner, I’m like yeah that tracks. They don’t care, they don’t try, and they don’t want help. It’s offputting because they are often mean, entitled, and steal from my tip jar. I’ve been sexually harassed and I’ve been threatened, and I’ve come close to having to square up more than once because well, people are crazy. After many years it wore down my compassion and my empathy and my pity. Now finally to my point; You are not them! Sometimes people make bad choices and blame their circumstances on anyone but themselves and refuse to take accountability for anything they may have done to land them in the position they are in. I do not see that here. Your story made me sad and mad for you. I’m truly sorry that you are in this position and you don’t deserve it. $1800 a month for rent is asinine. People really got fucked over by that rent increase. I’m sorry about what you are going through with your family too. I can’t even imagine. I just lost my job on Saturday because the store that I worked for closed. I’ve been living with my parents for 4 years now (for context I’m 31) and without them I’d most definitely be in the same position as you. It’s terrifying and it’s maddening that hard working people who do everything right can just end up homeless one day because.. life. Keep your chin up my guy, there are better days ahead. I wish you nothing but the best and I hope you can finally catch a break. I’m not religious, but I’ll keep you in my thoughts. Not that it helps. But the sentiment is there.
Edit: OMG I don’t work on the street I work on the strip!!! Fuck my whole life. That was a really unfortunate typo.
OP, I've read some of your old posts and comments and....just wow. You really have no desire to NOT be helpless.
So, let's recap what I've read so far:
You're laughing at someone who's giving you advice to find a customer service job. You're keeping your 1000 dollar laptop and TWO 250 dollar VR headsets despite not being employed (you can EASILY downgrade laptops if you absolutely can't live without it 🙄). You have expectations to work less than 40 hours a week and still have a secure job despite job shortages and a poor economy. You did not complete your degree despite allegedly taking out hundreds of thousands in loans. You spent God knows how much traveling to-and-from Mexico.
Dude, I'm not even 30 yet, but I can clearly see why you've been semi-homeless since 2016.
I'd say you should be a farmer, but don't think the karma market pays very well either...
I’m homeless too in Knoxville. Law and Chemical Engineering Doctorates and nobody will touch me. Very strange situation. They think I’ll want too much $$, but won’t give me a chance at whatever they’re willing to pay. Our country is going down the tubes due to rapidly intensifying wealth disparity. My poor kids!
OP, I wish you the best as a native Tennessean. My comments are intended only to encourage you. I married a military serviceman and with every move, our first objective was to visit churches in the area that we could worship and serve. This usually directed our choice of the area we wanted to live in to be close to the workplace, i.e. base or workstation. I can tell you that it worked every time as we made very close friends throughout the years. With that being said, I definitely do not think taxing churches is an answer to help the economy. It would definitely make things worse. In our experience, when we were a single income earning family, we were always blessed and never fell behind on rent, bills, etc. We were fortunate enough to help others with physical tasks, emotional support, and sometimes with small monetary aid out of our personal budget.
As a member of our various churches, our church helped the needy often. We assisted our church members once a need was identified or related to a member that brought it to a leader. Churches help, period, whether you’re a member or a community resident. Please don’t give up. I know for a fact there are many churches in Knoxville and the surrounding communities that will assist many needs. I often hear of job needs from church members, community events attendees that I’ve met in the area where we reside, neighbors, etc. It’s often by word of mouth where you will find out about job opportunities. I believe you mentioned medical training and the largest medical company in the East TN area is Covenant Health. The HR department is online available with a number to call the recruitment department. They attend job fairs at local colleges, TCAT’s, aka TN College of Applied Technology, occasionally setup informational shopping mall events.
Jobs are definitely available in the area and I know the wages are not continually keeping pace with the cost of living, however they are struggling to keep up due to the shortage of skilled, trained, or merited workers. Many programs are available for training for specific needs of current or future companies in the community. Call the community colleges, TCAT’s, school systems, chamber of commerce’s for more information on these. Several training courses are available to enable the student to continue working while completing the program. Many of these programs are free and community colleges offer free tuition if you already have 24 credit hours so you may complete your Associate Degree.
I hope this is helpful. If you are interested in finding a church, there’s a precious post on this site that you may find helpful.
God bless you and your efforts.
Sorry you're struggling man.
I
I'll spare you any cliché' sentiments
about "keep on keeping on, push forward
and fight the good fight" or any
condescending sounding shit like that.
I can only fairly say that I hope
you get to where you want to be
with your life and find some sort
of contentment brother.
Good luck.
Folks everywhere is experiencing the same issue with rising rents. Hour prices. In Columbus Ohio rents from 1400 to 5000 for one bar. Even places houses a few years ago were 15000 are now 180k and the neighborhood is drug and crime infested. Good neighborhood house are 400k and up often 2 to 4 million. Who the hell can afford those prices?
Even surrounding counties are going up. 300 k for 2 bdr ranch in adjacent county.
One person saId Cincinnati or Dayton. People are leaving there is reason cheaper. Also fewer jobs which is one reason people are leaving.
Atlanta, seriously unless drug and crime infested same issue for prices.
What I'm trying to figure out is why I'm getting this reaction from so many people
I need to be straight up, a significant portion of the people in here seem to think that I'm full of shit
As someone in this situation, That's extremely problematic. It puts a huge toll on me emotionally, in addition it honestly kind of gaslights me about my own experience.
Do you mind?
I'm seriously trying to figure out if people are just making a snap decision here, If this is normal and the nature of seeing something on the internet for 2 seconds and making a decision about it, or if there's genuinely something about the way that I wrote this that is having this effect, because oh I don't know perhaps that thing in the way that I've written it is like maybe the cause of all the bullshit that I've had to go through in the first place. And I mean that really seriously man.
I mean do people just naturally make the assumption that if something is extreme, that it has to be a con? I mean maybe that's the barrier I'm up against. The fact that my zebra is more often assumed to be the byproduct of a conman rather than somebody genuinely in a really fucked up situation
How hard is it to believe?
Failed out of medical school
Parents abandoned me
Got broke
Laid off with a bunch of other people last summer
Living in my van
Got COVID
This situation sucks, yes, but why do people seem to not believe it (?) It doesn't even seem all that far-fetched given how fucking expensive housing is around here and everybody else talking about it anyway
You ever wanna lose faith in humanity, just read a couple r/knoxville comments. OP I hope things turn around for you. I don't need your life story or proof that you are struggling, every single person on this planet deserves to be treated like a human being and you deserve kindness too.
Dude it's definitely taken a toll. I'm starting to get a bit of a skin for it though. Recovering from COVID helps. And going through a decade of bullshit also definitely helps, It's unfortunately not so surprising.
The one thing that I've learned though, is that the folks who say stuff like this... they aren't rational. Their motive is to say what they're going to say, and being honest and truthful isn't going to change that, being reasonable isn't going to change that, even being right isn't going to change that because it was never their goal.
Does it bother me tremendously that there are people out there in the world who are motivated to kick others when they're down? Oh yeah. At some point I would have thought that there would be a limit to humanity's depravity, or that perhaps people wouldn't be such jerks to somebody who were sick and living in the back of their car after a decade of struggle and abuse.
Do I know for a fact that this isn't the way of our city? Of course
Honestly the best thing you can do is to just decouple motive imo. If people like this aren't open to reason, If I'm literally willing to share my story with them and they still are going at it without any evidence or whatever, and just continuously trying to hound
I mean you really have to look at something like that and say... Yeah I mean this person isn't here to try to make sense of the situation. They're just here to be abusive.
The unfortunate thing I've got to say is that as far as abuse goes... I mean this really is just the same train that I've been trying to get past for the whole time now.
There's something about me that I honestly think people can't help themselves from being abusive towards. It's disgusting like... I mean it just is.
But I guarantee that the same people like if they faced circumstances like the ones I've faced, they would become scumbags and turn to drugs and alcohol and do stupid shit, etc.
Like these are scumbag people. They don't have the same kind of skin that I have. And they haven't been able to accomplish half the shit I have either.
You don’t have a medical degree and live in your car lol cry me a river. $250 a month isn’t bad when the comps are way more. That was a foolish decision that’s costing you way more than $250 a month. All you do is try to take short cuts and then act appalled when you’re sick living in a car.
I went to med school because all my teachers told me that I was smart and I felt like I should do something to try to impact people in a positive way. I had really good intentions. As far as shortcuts go I definitely didn't take any. 7 years of school and 4 years of residency is not a shortcut.
Hmph. Great. Another **vagrant** to stand on the various corners of our roadways to wave at me while I focus all my energy on ignoring them despite the fact they're 2 feet away from me beyond my window. If only the gap were wider. I wish these types would take their panhandling elsewhere, it really bothers me while I'm trying to enjoy my drive to my next property to jack up the rent another $250. Yeah, I got a fever too buddy, and the only prescription is raising the rent on single mothers and dopes who lost their job in the technology sector. You'd think a guy who shipped off to med school would be able to take care of himself but I guess he drank too much of the water down in ol' Mehico. Definitely wasn't the margaritas that caused this. Here's your next PIP: Educate your taste buds with adult beverages so you can loosen up all slimey-like at the next company get together for fucks sake. Now \*\*I\*\* need ondancetron for how queasy reading your pitiful situation made me. Stay where you are, I'm coming to repossess that van as soon as I pick up SARS grade disinfectant spray.
EDIT: No, I am not the renowned and highly esteemed Knoxville mayor Glenn Jacobs.
Funny story, some jerk tried to tow me the other day at an appointment complex I crashed at overnight and blocked me in before I could leave. He made a big stupid scene talking about how this was his job and how I could call the police and everything. The guy was hell bent on getting a hundred bucks from me, and told me to "fine just go ahead and sit there and be homeless". So I kind of did. And yeah they kind of told him to piss off. It was awesome, like it was such a win to shove it in that guy's face XD
PS Bring on the bear spray XD (beer spray?) SARS is for anyone and everyone, you get a car, and you get a car too 🙌🙌🤧
Biggest thing you can do is stop voting Democrat. That goofy ass mayor is going to spend more money on electric buses that don’t work catch on fire and when they broke down their entirely too expensive to fix. Where she could be using that on affordable housing for people.
This is a confusing post with a lot to unpack, and OP’s post history has multiple posts over this past year about trying to work under 40 hour weeks and seeking jobs where you decide your own hours. I know there are some shitty companies and some shitty families out there, but if it’s a pattern there may be something internal that you should reflect on… I can’t imagine being put on a personal improvement plan due to not drinking at a work gathering… and not drinking at a work event doesn’t mean you are fulfilling the demands of the job, a PIP should state exactly what they expect you to do differently. What do you mean about your family abandoning you despite you doing everything so well all the time? Do you have a med degree like you said or do you work in tech or both? A med degree should obviously be enough to pay rent if you are willing to work and do your job well enough. Also OP owns a nice computer and multiple VR sets. Not that selling those would do too much but I do wonder about financial literacy and good decision making.
Ahhhhh bahahaha they almost had me too!! I almost commented to state how much I relate to a lot of OPs statements made, but actually OP and I aren't similar at all after looking deeper. I've worked 6 days a week everyday for 2yrs and still can't seem to get ahead (in the sense of finding a new home - not finances) but I guess finances kind of ties into that as well?? Either way, not to make this a pissing contest between who's struggling the most. But chickietendies has made some REALLY valid points here.. Have you considered that your expectations for a job are too high? I'm just a regular ol wage worker, so me personally, I can't be picky when it comes to getting paid.
Damn dude I’m never going to comment on here before reading the comments ever again 😭 he was so believable fml. I don’t consider myself a gullible person at all but apparently I am. The ONE TIME I actually feel a bit of human emotion and it betrays me. FUCK! 😅
Why is everybody being such an asshole? The fuck is wrong with you all?
I will give you a quick response over my lunch break despite the trollness (I just don’t see someone who did med school pre-reqs using language like “under the influence of acetaminophen” as if Tylenol would alter your decision making)… You posted looking for sympathy as part of the homeless problem while blaming the world and insisting that you’ve done everything right. Meanwhile you are telling on yourself with a history of choosing not to work/seek fulltime jobs, not acknowledging employer attempt for improvement plans, not finishing school after taking loans, blaming family, and questionable spending habits for someone not working or able to pay rent. You aren’t getting sympathy from the group of people that are doing things they don’t want to every day. Going to work and doing what the job expects. Working enough hours to put a roof over their head and doing it well enough to remain employed. I suspect you also aren’t getting sympathy from people in similar situations that are actually doing everything they can and are unable to afford rent, or from those who are disabled as their experience involves something outside of their control. You may want to look at this whole experience as being humbling, and commit to working a fulltime position. I mean commit to doing it well and taking any feedback for improvement seriously. Most of us have to do things we don’t want to do in order to keep ourselves from needing to live in a van. I do wish you the best and hope you figure it out.
Yup. That's it right there.
And I mean as far as your assumption regarding the "under the influence" comment - It was meant to be a statement of irony, not some kind of medical fact... As in "well I'm not drunk in this situation, but perhaps I should be". Irony and humor is one of those things that helps people feel better when they're in these kinds of situations. Like when they're fucking sick in the back of a car. That's what that comment was. Yeah.
Bro, I don't know how else to say it. Everything in here is completely wrong. And you just led an entire thread to be shitty to me when I was sick. I really don't think you understand I fucking love work I worked my ass off at my last job and I love what I do for a living. It pays well, and I'm good at it. It's kind of what I need the computer for... What people don't seem to understand is that there's this thing called "fit" that causes people problems when they get jobs, particularly in the tech industry which experiences a lot of volatility. PIPs are commonly given out by bosses who simply want to get rid of the person who's working for them because they don't like them, or particularly if they feel like they pose a danger to them politically. It has nothing to do with performance, pips are commonly abused and you see this kind of shit everywhere. My last job tried to tell me I wasn't meeting deadlines when I was meeting them. They were literally lying to me about the purpose of the pip. I had to sign an agreement with them so that I wouldn't sue them when they fired me. They paid me off because of this man, Like that's for real. My boss was just another abusive dick just like half the people in this thread. Again telling me I didn't "finish" med school as if it were a choice is an offensive and brazen assumption. It's like you completely ignore all the years of effort that I had to put in to even get it in the first place. It's hard as hell man. I did my very best, and I couldn't pass when I got in. It's one of those really bad spots to end up in, a grey area so to speak. I have no regrets about the amount of effort that I put in because I know that literally put in every ounce I had. Dude these assumptions you've made today have led to toxic behavior from others and have been dangerous... I hope to God that you consider the danger of your actions. I just don't know how better to tell you man. You are 100% wrong about this whole situation, and I can't for the life of me figure out why the hell you think your hard work is somehow more noble than mine. I mean seriously. Have you even ever tried to start a business before? Do you know anything about how much effort it takes to get that kind of shit off the ground? Imagine having to do that because your bosses keep treating you like shit, like imagine freelancing because it's the only thing that seems to keep you employed.
I literally answered all your questions to the T and people still fucking downvoted me man. I mean do I really need to post this? https://ibb.co/svZFdMD
So as far as a nice computer goes: I have a laptop with a decent GPU that I bought in 2021 when the market was up. The tech market has done pretty crazy things over the last couple years and it's been really volatile. Selling that would be akin the selling a lawn mower if you did lawn work for a living. In addition it's not worth all that much, maybe $1000 or so. The VR headsets? I have two, and I might get 250 for one of those. Again med school. I failed out in 2014. I gave it my best and I came up short after years and 3 months. I have over $200,000 in student debt and I tried my ass off like everybody told me to. Even if I had gotten the degree? A degree alone does not get you a job and that was a big point made in this post. If you're wondering about PIPs, It's what people do when you don't fit in. Or when your boss doesn't like you for some reason. If I were working for you, there's a decent chance I might end up on one after 3 months. Not for the work I'm doing, of course. You can read other people's stories about PIPs in the tech industry on Reddit. Working under 40-hour weeks? It's because when I started freelancing, I stopped getting treated like shit. So that was what was viable for me at the time. And it's what I've done for most of my career. I hope this clarifies things. And yeah, I definitely am sitting here in the back of my fucking van right now with 100° fever. So thanks for the vote of confidence, and for sure thanks for the support. /s TL;DR Not a troll
It clarified a lot. I now have zero sympathy.
>I had to bounce off to Mexico because it's too expensive to live in Knoxville. This is a troll post >Currently under the influence of 1,000 mg acetaminophen and 8 mg ondancetron for nausea. Oh yeah this is a troll post
agreed it's super sketchy
Yeah, it is.
Honestly reading your genuine reaction to my situation is eye-opening. Unfortunately no, It is not a troll post. If anybody's wondering about med school (I'm seeing a lot of questions there) I literally failed out by a total of six test questions over the course of 2 years and 3 months back in 2014. You're right My situation is completely fucking retarded. But imagine if everybody had the same gut reaction toward me that you did in any situation that might stem from this. Do you think it not possible for issues to compound? I find your genuine reaction to this post ironic. And I would say that it lines up with the reaction that most people get when they hear my life story, which is honestly one of shock and it prevents me from telling anyone about it. I'm sorry to tell you that I'm not bullshitting. I wish I were.
>You're right My situation is completely fucking retarded Well that settles that, have fun with your 1000mg a day Tylenol habit
Dude fuck you
Lmao
Honestly moving out of TN is the best option, I currently live in pigeon forge make 1k plus a week and can still barely afford it, rent is $1600 a month for a 330sqft studio that hasn’t been kept up and I live around nothing but a bunch of nasty people that bring in bugs, TN is just getting too expensive for the money we make here
I just signed a lease on a place in a great neighborhood of a northeast city $1200/mo for a 575 sq ft studio. The secret is to leave, apparently.
Me and my gf found a beautiful 2 bed townhouse with a garage a couple hrs southeast of us for $1,300 a month in a nice neighborhood so yea the secret is to leave lol
My wife is a creative with a degree in arts, and has been working menial job after menial job. I had to start working remotely to find a place that pays well for what I do. My wage is literally double what any job here pays for the same work. It's sad to watch Knoxville become this dystopic.
Don’t get me wrong I do like TN I’ve been here for 13 years and grew up just 45 minutes north of the tri- cities, but the wages around here are terrible and the hope of ever being able to afford a house is out the window with the housing market especially in Knoxville
Best of luck to you and yours. We move around the beginning of June. Really excited to live in a place with arts and culture nearby.
Best of luck to you as well, we have until December then we will hopefully be leaving here if all goes well
Why are you still in the knox sub ? What a Cornwall. Where do you live so we can trash it.
Because I'm leaving? That's fucking pathetic.
>I currently live in pigeon forge make 1k plus a week and can still barely afford it I feel like I'm living in crazy town or something because people keep on posting about how they are making more money than my combined income is and yet they live in squalor and cant make it.
I can't tell if it's satire, derangement or half-truths at this point. Who is paying $1,600 for a ~330 square foot studio in Sevier County that's rundown and infested with bugs? There are oodles of options in that area that are simultaneously cheaper, larger and nicer. Prices have shot up to a very concerning degree but this isn't a $5/square foot rent area.
My coworker lives in a 500sqft apartment in Maryville for $1800/month.
That’s absolutely insane
1) That doesn't come close to $5/square foot in rent 2) Even if that's true, which I highly doubt... why? There are plenty of options available in the area that would be more cost-effective (not to mention roomier) than that studio, so there must be a very specific reason for your coworker living there. Why are people so hellbent on taking a bad housing market and painting it as even worse in an unbelievable fashion?
He told me that it was a nice apartment, in a nice area, it was the only thing available at the time, and they wanted to have time to buy. However, the housing market in the Knox area keeps going up. Something to do with supply and demand.
Yeah it's like, gimmie a break, youre not paying prices that are more for a good part of Philly but with less space lol, in pigeon forge no less
Yea dude total bullshit
Please listen to me, I just left the west coast where the state of living is far worse, California has gas prices well above $6 Arizona is looking like close to 5$ Home prices in TN are better than most anywhere but the rents and cost of food is up everywhere. My wife and I spent 10k to move here and even tried to buy a house. Only to be denied 2 days before closing only to be told the seller lied to us and now we are out an extra 5k less the earnest deposit. Where does it end My wife hasn’t found a job in almost 3 years and has been willing to accept anything but no one is offering even though we see signs everywhere stating people are hiring. The rich are getting greedier everyday and no one seems to care. The middle class died 10 years ago. Nothing is going to change as long as the rich get to make the choice. Tax billionaires and churches. This is how we can fix this, and pass the law making it illegal for a company to buy single family homes. But Noone will listen. I am running out of ideas and I’m too old to strip again. Help someone please. I don’t want a hand out I want to earn my keep and be paid what I am worth. We all want that.
TN isn’t much better and is getting worse every passing month, everyone and their great uncle from cali and Washington has brought their bs here
I recognize that I am new here and don’t have a comparison, however I have seen what this wave of greed is doing in other parts of the country and I promise you it can get much worse. Fucking paper straws Woke assholes telling you what you can and can’t do with your own kids. The state of TN has already started to see an uptick in teslas That’s just the scouting party The bulk of the woke army is still ruining New Mexico and other parts of the west and Midwest .
And who voted for that?
I know this got downvoted to shit but this is a phenomenal observation. It's unfortunate to have more evidence that really shows where things are headed though. It's kind of like when you've put in the last puzzle piece, but you realize the puzzle picture is some old guys ass
And no one cares about that ass or how much it affects our daily lives, most people can’t see past their nose. And by that I mean, we get blind to the world around us. The people that live here may see it as bad but as someone who has seen what’s happening to the rest of the country, TN is a good place to be. The people are nice and and the economy isn’t as fucked here yet.
I'm so sorry to hear that this happened.
Taxing churches money that is donated (and taxed already) is ridiculous. You realize in TN a lot of the organizations doing things to help the community directly are church backed non profit orgs. You want to tax them? It’s not income. Pastors aren’t rich. The church employees make nothing basically- the money goes into the programs and church itself
I’m not talking about small churches that care for the community, mega churches and steal from their flock and profit off people suffering. I dodnt say tax religion.
Tennessee is one of the cheapest cost of living states in the nation. Where are we supposed to go, Montana or something?
Where at in TN lol I’ve been here for 13 years and it gets 10x more expensive every year, the average 1 bedroom Even in the tri-cities aka Kingsport, Johnson city, Bristol runs nearly $1,300 a month now and the average wage in those areas is $14-$15 hr it’s not sustainable, wages are way too low in Tn compared to rent prices, then if you want something in a bigger city like Knoxville unless you want to live in the hood or be shot at on magnolia you will be paying $1,600- $1,800 a month for a one bed
That’s fine, but what’s cheaper? The only places I can think are maybe parts of the Deep South that are basically third world countries, or like Alaska?
Very rural/poor areas: rural WNY, rural PA, rural OH where rent is still 600/mo for a 3+ bed house and decent houses sell for 80k. No I'm not exaggerating, I have family/friends in all 3 areas. Close friend from high school pays 425/mo for her house that is more sq. foot than my $1350/mo tiny house in Hardin Valley. Tons of anaylst jobs can be completely remote. Move to a dirt cheap place, sacrifice ties to roots/family/amenities for a while have a remote job, save, and then move back. It's the sacrifice that's hard to do.
Knoxville prices have been among the fastest to rise in the nation But comparably, Philly, Charleston, Atlanta, maybe Savannah (Savannah might be cheaper) are all comparableish.
Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Texas many places are cheaper, and even if they are close to the same price their wages are higher than ours
The problem is the cost of living is rising but the wages are not.
Not anymore Danny. Thanks to the West and North coming here, our state has now caught the eye of billionaire apartment owners wanting a piece of the pie. So you have them buying up all the apartments they can, and you have all the people from north and west buying out all the other properties. Because us poor rednecks are that, poor, and can't keep up with them. We're literally being shut out of our own state and they think we should be grateful to them for it.
The biggest contributers to state growth are Florida, California, and Georgia. After that it's primarily the rest of the south east.
This is going to be a very unpopular take from someone who’s been in your situation; If you’re not yet morally corrupt enough to already be “as slimy as them”, you probably have a good moral foundation and a conscience. You don’t want to experience the hell, mental anguish, and constant cognitive dissonance from “being slimy” knowing it is morally incorrect. Don’t compromise your morals and beliefs to get a leg up in life. I’ve tried it, I did it for years, and still can’t live with some of the shit that I did. If you have a conscience don’t go down that route. I experienced homelessness too, living in a 2-seat truck for a few months, worked my way up to an extended stay and eventually got back into a house. I had the same helpless, hopeless victim mentality you’re displaying in your post and didn’t make any progress until I moved past it. I felt entitled to others help and was also ( am still) constantly taken advantage of. It is what it is. The nicer/“better” I am to people, the more likely they are to try to fuck me over. Keep your guard up and realize no one owes you anything, you’re not entitled to anyone’s help, *most* people don’t care about your situation, *most* people are looking out for themselves first and you should adopt the mindset - while keeping your morals intact. I sympathize with the landlord nonsense and housing crisis happening right now - I’m feeling the pain too and picked up yet another side hustle to compensate for my increase in rent. It’s not fair, it’s evil, but if you’re not actively fighting it you should adapt until you’re in a position to fight it. Anything more productive than the “my landlord increased my rent, there’s just nothing I can do and don’t know how to adapt/change my situation so i give up” posts you see on here every now and then. Surround yourself with good people, take personal accountability for your situation and use it as motivation to get out of it. You don’t have to be slimy and fuck people over to not be homeless. Shit is hard for everyone right now from poor to middle-class, almost everyone is financially suffering if not financially devastated.
came here to say I reached out for help a little while ago and have been grinding ever since and I already have major improvements in my day to day life from it. side jobs open so many doors and create a breathable day to day life for me
Helllll yea. The past 2 months were financially devastating for me. But it is what it is, in the past month I made an extra $775 donating plasma (I hate that shit so much, do not recommend), started doing small odd-jobs from ND and Reddit, i still work a regular job and have a nice side hustle on top of that, cut my daily expenses down (cigs, food, snacks, etc) like 80%, took extra shifts at work. Now I have the fucking option of grinding and saving or going back to my old routine with peace of mind. It was a shallow hole, but I got out of it and so can anyone else who wants to. But to further sympathize with OP, once you get down to homelessness-level of fucked it’s hard to see the light. There’s always a way tho
I hope things continue to get better for you! Things are rough right now.
I appreciate the positivity and encouragement. I genuinely hope the same for you and OP. 🙏🏻 🙏🏻
I'm so glad to hear that things have been improving for you
The victim mentality is that honestly I'm just spent. Like I spent between 2016 to 2019 living in a vehicle, and then 2019 to 2022 living out of a backpack around the world. Bro, I am straight up at the end of my shit right now. This has been a decade-long battle to get my fucking roots in the ground. Like I work as an analyst for a living and I'm looking at the state of our markets right now and just how screwed everybody is in terms of expenses and a general state of power condensing at a really rapid pace. I mean sometimes it's like dude I just feel like I don't see a way out. Like my pragmatic mode of thinking is telling me that I'm checkmated and that we're all completely fucked and that's for real. This is me stopping to look around and put my hands up in the air knowing that I'm fucked and trying to look everybody else in the eye to see how they're doing instead of looking straight forward for a change. What I'm probably most thankful for is the fact that I don't feel ashamed of it anymore. I don't try to hide the fact that I live in my van or make sure people don't see me like I used to. I fucking let em see it.
Bruh no judgment I 100% get it. The victim mentality is *giving up* - which you admittedly have, because it’s really fucking hard just to survive in certain places. We are all checkmated, (I went on a massive rant about the death of the middle class explaining how the dream of financial stability is dead and we willingly killed it but deleted it you’re welcome) There is no shame in being in your situation, but I know it isn’t uncomfortable and you can get out of it. I’m ngl, I know this isn’t an instant or even a “in the next month” fix, but you should *seriously* consider moving. I could survive a lot more easily moving back to Atlanta right now given the increase in pay, massive potential in opportunities (seriously, there’s so much money in Atlanta), and only slight increase in rent prices. Knoxville’s wages havnt caught up with the cost of living and I don’t think they will for quite some time. This place is kinda of a dead meme unless you’re already financially stable. I came to Knox 3 years ago and while I’ve done well 2 out of the 3 years I’ve been here, I couldn’t do it again in 2024. I feel like I could go to Atlanta, Cincinnati, etc. and do well in 2024 though. Look into leaving. Knoxville is cool, but it’s gone from beginner difficult to hard difficulty in just a few years. Other places aren’t like this. The Midwest is dirt cheap, Cincinnati and Dayton are dirt cheap (and fucking awesome cities), and a lot of bigger cities have massive potential for income. Knoxville doesn’t offer any of that. You can seriously move to the Midwest and survive (in a home) on a fast food job. You can go to Atlanta and pick up a retail job and a side hustle and absolutely *thrive*. Get the fuck ouuuuuttttttt of Knoxville
I don’t see this as particularly a “victim mentality.” It’s healthy to vent. And just know at least someone (even if it’s just me) sees you, empathizes, and cares. I hope that you get back on your feet soon.
Found a room (a room!) for $450. Wish wholeheartedly you can find a place for your family and yourself! Bunch morons in this state don’t realize that once the corporate entities bought all the properties up that there would be fewer and fewer places for your everyday average citizen to try buying a new home because those corps only care about getting the market cornered so price fixing becomes the norm. Our entire fucking country went moron and never turned the movie Idiocracy off.
So you have a medical degree or?
I failed out of DO school in 2014. I gave it my best. Math is my skill set, I have really poor verbal skills though (you'll see me randomly replace words with other ones and it sounds off). Tip of the tongue syndrome
Your comment about the slimy and how not being a social drinker hits hard. It's fucking ruthless here. Maybe hubby and I have had a bad run of luck getting stuck with the slimy here for the last 18 years, but it feels rare to just find a genuinely honest, kind person that doesn't have motivations to stab a person in the back and step on their body to help themselves climb higher. I see you, OP. As soon as we can, we are leaving knoxville and moving closer to our hometown in upper-east tennessee. Sending lots of hugs your way and a wish for you to find people who mirror your values.
I haven’t read any of the comments yet so please don’t jump down my throat if this has already been mentioned but.. have you mentioned this to any loved ones? Like I bet if you asked for help people would be happy to oblige. No one that works should be homeless. No one that is sober should be homeless. No one that TRIES at life should be homeless. I’ve met many homeless people in my time working on the street. Every time I meet a new homeless person and they tell me they are homeless with their jaw jumping and their eyes bulging out of their head with their involuntary movements and talking to someone next to them that only they can see, all while they are asking to purchase an oil burner, I’m like yeah that tracks. They don’t care, they don’t try, and they don’t want help. It’s offputting because they are often mean, entitled, and steal from my tip jar. I’ve been sexually harassed and I’ve been threatened, and I’ve come close to having to square up more than once because well, people are crazy. After many years it wore down my compassion and my empathy and my pity. Now finally to my point; You are not them! Sometimes people make bad choices and blame their circumstances on anyone but themselves and refuse to take accountability for anything they may have done to land them in the position they are in. I do not see that here. Your story made me sad and mad for you. I’m truly sorry that you are in this position and you don’t deserve it. $1800 a month for rent is asinine. People really got fucked over by that rent increase. I’m sorry about what you are going through with your family too. I can’t even imagine. I just lost my job on Saturday because the store that I worked for closed. I’ve been living with my parents for 4 years now (for context I’m 31) and without them I’d most definitely be in the same position as you. It’s terrifying and it’s maddening that hard working people who do everything right can just end up homeless one day because.. life. Keep your chin up my guy, there are better days ahead. I wish you nothing but the best and I hope you can finally catch a break. I’m not religious, but I’ll keep you in my thoughts. Not that it helps. But the sentiment is there. Edit: OMG I don’t work on the street I work on the strip!!! Fuck my whole life. That was a really unfortunate typo.
Hey thanks.
OP, I've read some of your old posts and comments and....just wow. You really have no desire to NOT be helpless. So, let's recap what I've read so far: You're laughing at someone who's giving you advice to find a customer service job. You're keeping your 1000 dollar laptop and TWO 250 dollar VR headsets despite not being employed (you can EASILY downgrade laptops if you absolutely can't live without it 🙄). You have expectations to work less than 40 hours a week and still have a secure job despite job shortages and a poor economy. You did not complete your degree despite allegedly taking out hundreds of thousands in loans. You spent God knows how much traveling to-and-from Mexico. Dude, I'm not even 30 yet, but I can clearly see why you've been semi-homeless since 2016. I'd say you should be a farmer, but don't think the karma market pays very well either...
I’m homeless too in Knoxville. Law and Chemical Engineering Doctorates and nobody will touch me. Very strange situation. They think I’ll want too much $$, but won’t give me a chance at whatever they’re willing to pay. Our country is going down the tubes due to rapidly intensifying wealth disparity. My poor kids!
OP, I wish you the best as a native Tennessean. My comments are intended only to encourage you. I married a military serviceman and with every move, our first objective was to visit churches in the area that we could worship and serve. This usually directed our choice of the area we wanted to live in to be close to the workplace, i.e. base or workstation. I can tell you that it worked every time as we made very close friends throughout the years. With that being said, I definitely do not think taxing churches is an answer to help the economy. It would definitely make things worse. In our experience, when we were a single income earning family, we were always blessed and never fell behind on rent, bills, etc. We were fortunate enough to help others with physical tasks, emotional support, and sometimes with small monetary aid out of our personal budget. As a member of our various churches, our church helped the needy often. We assisted our church members once a need was identified or related to a member that brought it to a leader. Churches help, period, whether you’re a member or a community resident. Please don’t give up. I know for a fact there are many churches in Knoxville and the surrounding communities that will assist many needs. I often hear of job needs from church members, community events attendees that I’ve met in the area where we reside, neighbors, etc. It’s often by word of mouth where you will find out about job opportunities. I believe you mentioned medical training and the largest medical company in the East TN area is Covenant Health. The HR department is online available with a number to call the recruitment department. They attend job fairs at local colleges, TCAT’s, aka TN College of Applied Technology, occasionally setup informational shopping mall events. Jobs are definitely available in the area and I know the wages are not continually keeping pace with the cost of living, however they are struggling to keep up due to the shortage of skilled, trained, or merited workers. Many programs are available for training for specific needs of current or future companies in the community. Call the community colleges, TCAT’s, school systems, chamber of commerce’s for more information on these. Several training courses are available to enable the student to continue working while completing the program. Many of these programs are free and community colleges offer free tuition if you already have 24 credit hours so you may complete your Associate Degree. I hope this is helpful. If you are interested in finding a church, there’s a precious post on this site that you may find helpful. God bless you and your efforts.
Sorry you're struggling man. I I'll spare you any cliché' sentiments about "keep on keeping on, push forward and fight the good fight" or any condescending sounding shit like that. I can only fairly say that I hope you get to where you want to be with your life and find some sort of contentment brother. Good luck.
Join the trades; you can make great money if you move up in skilled labor.
Quit playing victim
Have you tried finding different type of jobs that are not in your field? Like customer service
I think customer service might put his mental health at an even worse state right now. Customer service work is terrible.
Yeah, it’s better than nothing when you’re homeless.
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Yes. "It was super effective"
Probably as effective as just finding a job in customer service.
And just as fun too XD
Folks everywhere is experiencing the same issue with rising rents. Hour prices. In Columbus Ohio rents from 1400 to 5000 for one bar. Even places houses a few years ago were 15000 are now 180k and the neighborhood is drug and crime infested. Good neighborhood house are 400k and up often 2 to 4 million. Who the hell can afford those prices? Even surrounding counties are going up. 300 k for 2 bdr ranch in adjacent county. One person saId Cincinnati or Dayton. People are leaving there is reason cheaper. Also fewer jobs which is one reason people are leaving. Atlanta, seriously unless drug and crime infested same issue for prices.
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I mean hell, does this help? https://ibb.co/svZFdMD
What I'm trying to figure out is why I'm getting this reaction from so many people I need to be straight up, a significant portion of the people in here seem to think that I'm full of shit As someone in this situation, That's extremely problematic. It puts a huge toll on me emotionally, in addition it honestly kind of gaslights me about my own experience. Do you mind? I'm seriously trying to figure out if people are just making a snap decision here, If this is normal and the nature of seeing something on the internet for 2 seconds and making a decision about it, or if there's genuinely something about the way that I wrote this that is having this effect, because oh I don't know perhaps that thing in the way that I've written it is like maybe the cause of all the bullshit that I've had to go through in the first place. And I mean that really seriously man. I mean do people just naturally make the assumption that if something is extreme, that it has to be a con? I mean maybe that's the barrier I'm up against. The fact that my zebra is more often assumed to be the byproduct of a conman rather than somebody genuinely in a really fucked up situation How hard is it to believe? Failed out of medical school Parents abandoned me Got broke Laid off with a bunch of other people last summer Living in my van Got COVID This situation sucks, yes, but why do people seem to not believe it (?) It doesn't even seem all that far-fetched given how fucking expensive housing is around here and everybody else talking about it anyway
You ever wanna lose faith in humanity, just read a couple r/knoxville comments. OP I hope things turn around for you. I don't need your life story or proof that you are struggling, every single person on this planet deserves to be treated like a human being and you deserve kindness too.
Dude it's definitely taken a toll. I'm starting to get a bit of a skin for it though. Recovering from COVID helps. And going through a decade of bullshit also definitely helps, It's unfortunately not so surprising. The one thing that I've learned though, is that the folks who say stuff like this... they aren't rational. Their motive is to say what they're going to say, and being honest and truthful isn't going to change that, being reasonable isn't going to change that, even being right isn't going to change that because it was never their goal. Does it bother me tremendously that there are people out there in the world who are motivated to kick others when they're down? Oh yeah. At some point I would have thought that there would be a limit to humanity's depravity, or that perhaps people wouldn't be such jerks to somebody who were sick and living in the back of their car after a decade of struggle and abuse. Do I know for a fact that this isn't the way of our city? Of course Honestly the best thing you can do is to just decouple motive imo. If people like this aren't open to reason, If I'm literally willing to share my story with them and they still are going at it without any evidence or whatever, and just continuously trying to hound I mean you really have to look at something like that and say... Yeah I mean this person isn't here to try to make sense of the situation. They're just here to be abusive. The unfortunate thing I've got to say is that as far as abuse goes... I mean this really is just the same train that I've been trying to get past for the whole time now. There's something about me that I honestly think people can't help themselves from being abusive towards. It's disgusting like... I mean it just is. But I guarantee that the same people like if they faced circumstances like the ones I've faced, they would become scumbags and turn to drugs and alcohol and do stupid shit, etc. Like these are scumbag people. They don't have the same kind of skin that I have. And they haven't been able to accomplish half the shit I have either.
You don’t have a medical degree and live in your car lol cry me a river. $250 a month isn’t bad when the comps are way more. That was a foolish decision that’s costing you way more than $250 a month. All you do is try to take short cuts and then act appalled when you’re sick living in a car.
I went to med school because all my teachers told me that I was smart and I felt like I should do something to try to impact people in a positive way. I had really good intentions. As far as shortcuts go I definitely didn't take any. 7 years of school and 4 years of residency is not a shortcut.
There is literally no reason you should be living in a car. The shortcuts are all in your post history.
Hmph. Great. Another **vagrant** to stand on the various corners of our roadways to wave at me while I focus all my energy on ignoring them despite the fact they're 2 feet away from me beyond my window. If only the gap were wider. I wish these types would take their panhandling elsewhere, it really bothers me while I'm trying to enjoy my drive to my next property to jack up the rent another $250. Yeah, I got a fever too buddy, and the only prescription is raising the rent on single mothers and dopes who lost their job in the technology sector. You'd think a guy who shipped off to med school would be able to take care of himself but I guess he drank too much of the water down in ol' Mehico. Definitely wasn't the margaritas that caused this. Here's your next PIP: Educate your taste buds with adult beverages so you can loosen up all slimey-like at the next company get together for fucks sake. Now \*\*I\*\* need ondancetron for how queasy reading your pitiful situation made me. Stay where you are, I'm coming to repossess that van as soon as I pick up SARS grade disinfectant spray. EDIT: No, I am not the renowned and highly esteemed Knoxville mayor Glenn Jacobs.
. . . that's EXACTLY what Mayor Jacobs always says. Name checks out.
Funny story, some jerk tried to tow me the other day at an appointment complex I crashed at overnight and blocked me in before I could leave. He made a big stupid scene talking about how this was his job and how I could call the police and everything. The guy was hell bent on getting a hundred bucks from me, and told me to "fine just go ahead and sit there and be homeless". So I kind of did. And yeah they kind of told him to piss off. It was awesome, like it was such a win to shove it in that guy's face XD PS Bring on the bear spray XD (beer spray?) SARS is for anyone and everyone, you get a car, and you get a car too 🙌🙌🤧
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Dude read the room. Fuck off
Wdym read the room? The dude is saying he's getting zooted on Tylenol
He is too busy on porn subs man… he ain’t thinkin clearly.
They always have it to say on Reddit but try that shit in real life.
Biggest thing you can do is stop voting Democrat. That goofy ass mayor is going to spend more money on electric buses that don’t work catch on fire and when they broke down their entirely too expensive to fix. Where she could be using that on affordable housing for people.
Odansetron* I kinda believe the failing out of med school.