I get it man. I wish I could say more. If it helps just know you're not the only one feeling these things. Many of us are miserable and barely clinging to the rat race.
I've been applying to any job for the last
6 years with zero call backs. Even for minimum wage positions. I got one call back for a minimum wage position but they called while I was out of town. When I returned to town 3 days later they said they wouldn't give me a shot because I didn't answer the phone when they called. I explained that I'd made it clear that I do not own a cell phone anymore, that it was a house phone number and that I'd told them everyday for a week before I left for that 2 week trip that I was going to be out of town and that they needed to let me know before I left or expect me not to answer. They didn't care.
Probably would have lost that job within a year anyway. The owner of that gas station sold it to another local that promised she'd never sell to a non-local. Within a year she sold it off to some foreigners. So now there isn't one gas station left in our small town that isn't owned by someone that's been in the country for less than a couple of years. I found out recently that the US Government is giving them some type of loan that lets them purchase up these small local businesses. Yet the Government won't cut a local a break on anything. I'm convinced it's being done on purpose to ruin small local business.
What pisses me off the most is those people get rid of all local products like honey, locally grown food/meat and other local products the moment they take over these stores. Then they stock the shelves with gas station scam drugs and bring in a bunch of illegal gambling machines. I've caught several of them gaming the gas pumps. The pumps will add several extra cents for each gallon you pump they'll even continue adding money to the total if the pump is not running at all. Which is highly illegal here but the local Government won't do anything about it. Well as long as you aren't a local. If you're a local they'll raid your place with the quickness.
We've got at least 30 small "smoke shops" in town now that have popped up like weeds over the last decade. We had one decent one for a few years but the guy sold it to some guy that's not been in the country for long now. He ruined that vape shop quickly. Entire staff was replaced with his family members and they're selling bunk products. All the shelves that used to be dedicated to building your own vape, locally produced vape juice and high quality products is now dedicated to things like bunk 7-HO pills. The few legit pills and kratom they've jacked up the prices on. Oh and don't forget the mountains of terrible bongs and smoking devices. Used to be high quality glassware in there. Now it's some crap they buy online for $5 and try to sell to unsuspecting teenagers for $100. Then there is the Delta-8 pre-rolls and gummies that I'm convinced don't contain anything.
I tried to get hired on by some of these smoke shops over the last few years. I explained that I knew my shit and was willing to work for almost nothing. Nope. The only locals they hire (when they rarely hire one) are clueless young girls with big tits. One of the owners flat out told me they do that because they think it'll bring in foot traffic.
I've caught several of these out-of-town owners installing card skimmers on the gasoline pumps and on the card scanners inside of the stores. I called out one and he demanded I leave of he'd call the police and have me trespassed. I called the police myself and nothing was done about it. I think they yanked them out before they showed up because I was stupid and told him I was going to call them.
One of those people set-up and illegal gambling establishment in town that operated for months before it got shut down. It was only shut down because they were using an illegal radio jammer for some reason. I assume because it's easy to make the machines pay out with a cell phone. The only reason the police did anything was due to the radio jammer screwing with their radios. Otherwise they turn a blind eye to all of this stuff. They're probably getting kick backs. I know one local operating illegal video poker that's been getting away with it for years gets a head up any time a raid is coming. They move everything over the state border (we're right next to it) before the raids. Then after the raid is finished they move all the machines back down and go on like nothing happened.
I can't even get a call back for fast food. It's demoralizing. I've been called overqualified, under qualified, too old, too young and that's just the few times they've even bothered to follow up with me. Most of the time they never follow up at all.
All remote work refuses to hire me as well. I'm convinced 99% of the stuff listed on the job sites aren't even real. Several companies I applied to for remote tech work claimed they couldn't find any native born USA citizens to do the job and imported a ton of people on Visas to fill those positions.
It also doesn't help that all our local industries have shut down. We only had a few left. Mass lay offs everywhere over the pass 6 years I've been looking.
The only work I can find at all is work through temp. agencies operating in the area. Usually, seasonal warehouse work which only lasts 3 months tops. They work you like a slave and straight up lie about your salary. I got hired on to work for $10 an hour the first time I worked there over a decade ago to make extra money for Christmas. They were paying all temp. workers $8 an hour illegally. When I complained I got the boot. They told me I shouldn't complain because their full time staff doesn't make $10. Not my problem. I signed a contract for $10 an hour I should get paid $10 an hour. They now pay $15 an hour and do the same thing (pay out less than $12). They refuse to pay you via direct deposit or with a paper check. They pay you on some kind of pre-paid credit/debit card. If you stick it in an ATM it takes $5 every time you withdrawal cash. It takes $2 every time you swipe it in a store. The ATM I use has no withdrawal fee for any kind of other card. I've never heard of anyone getting charged a fee to use it even people from out of state that aren't part of the local credit union. But that company card is going to rob you of $5+ every time.
It's really fucked up.
I have basically given up on looking and for the last several years I'm been having to survive off what I can make off odd jobs. For the last 3-4 years my weekly grocery budget is now down to $60 a week. On good weeks I might be able to spend $100 on food. As a result I've been skipping meals regularly and have gotten used to eating only twice a day. If it wasn't for my Grandmother inviting me to supper/breakfast everyday some days I wouldn't eat at all.
This is why I keep telling my little brother who has been complaining about his drafting job not giving him a raise and thinking about quitting: DO NOT QUIT. You WILL NOT be able to find another job no matter how hard you look and how many degrees you have. The job market is in the shitter and the media is lying through their teeth about unemployment numbers. Nearly everyone I know has been out of work for 3+ years.
