https://mobile.twitter.com/GunDeaths/status/1404271988349095937
Sure, But it’s important to remember that there are different kinds of axes.
There’s the someone had a bad day axe (outside the factory gates). And there’s the our entire society is organized to make sure we live in fear of that axe (inside the factory gates).
One of my teaching jobs opened up because the last teacher got hit by an impaired driver and killed at a crosswalk. Not really relevant to the discussion but just made me think of it. He seemed to be beloved by the students and pretty sure the driver faced little to no consequences over his death, which is separate discussion.
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A friend got shot raiding a pumpkin patch when he was a teen. A nephew of a friend got shot dead in Iraq. I think that’s all I know, the suicides I’m aware of were all by other means.
Continuing the off-topic derail…
I got my job because the guy who had it before me died, along with his uncle, while climbing/hiking on Mt. Rainier.
- Good friend in my early 20s, super manic depressive shot himself in the chest
- My first girlfriend’s older sister shot herself in the head
- My good buddy’s Dad killed himself with a shotgun on Christmas Day, the friend drank himself to death in his early 40s
- My best buddy in high school had a 13-year-old cousin who was accidentally shot and killed by a friend playing in their garage
- My stepdad’s mom shot through her door and killed her ex who was threatening to kill her. He happened to be turned away at the time so she went to jail for 10 years I think.
I feel like there’s a few more I’m forgetting.
A lot of close calls, playing with my Mom’s gun, and doing other stupid shit that could have ended very very badly.
Still waiting for that successful self or home defense.
My friends got home invaded but thankfully one friend got cold-cocked trying to get his shitty .22 pistol that always jammed out of the attic. If he’d got a hold of the gun he might be dead defending a little bit of money and some shitty electronics. Of course they didn’t know that, they thought they might be killed. They all moved to the suburbs after that.
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Well we know she wasn’t a cop.
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I had a friend whose father was one of the 31 people that survived being shot by Charles Whitman. I knew them both for over a decade before he told me about it.
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My stepdad had a bunch of shotguns and pistols. But they were tools, not toys or hobbies. If we went and shot them it was to practice for hunting, or for my mom to get used to shooting the .38 revolver he got her to put in her purse when we lived in Houston.
Which of course is extremely dubious that she would have been able to defend herself, and turned out to be a fun toy for me and my buddy to play pretend Russian roulette with 6 empty chambers as teenagers. Yay guns! So fun!
The only time I ever saw my stepdad brandish a gun in home defense was on me when I got up before dawn to make my Mom surprise breakfast in bed for Mother’s day. He came into the kitchen - gun at his side ready to shoot someone. Can’t imagine any way that situation could have gone wrong.
He talked about boats, cars, hunting dogs. motorcycles - but I never heard him talk about guns like the way the dudes on chiefsplanet jerk themselves off over assault rifles. Guns were like a crescent wrench to him - just as boring but a lot more dangerous.
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This thread is not what I expected.
I haven’t had a job job in almost 20 years. Prospects for one in the future seem dim. But I’m willing to entertain offers if employers get sufficiently desperate.
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Exactly the same here except employer and me would have to be sufficiently desperate.
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Aren’t you running the family orange tree farm or something?
You’re a smart dude with a lot of practical knowledge and skills.
Devil:
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Only in the Hallmark movie. The book had a different ending.
Thanks. I just don’t have it in me to make the case.
Grinding Top Shot is a full time gig
I can’t imagine any full time job hiring someone with a 20 year resume gap, employers would rather fold. They’ll just assume you’re a junkie or an ex con.
It’s not a job in and of itself but more economic security, feeling useful, and interacting with coworkers (assuming they aren’t assholes) that would be good.
If I knew I’d be hit by a truck in say four years, I’d be ok as things are. At least I wouldn’t end up on the street.
I wouldn’t say I’m afraid of change. But there are things I can’t tolerate. If there’s something that does scare me, I’d say it is being humiliated. I don’t like being in a position to be constantly judged, especially for things I can’t control.
Unfortunately, there’s just no way to avoid that. As Iron said, right off the bat I have to explain why I went to the trouble to get a graduate degree then never worked. It’s personal and painful and I can’t not be truthful about it. Iron is correct as to what would happen.
This is not that different, I don’t think, from the choice that many people are facing. The pandemic showed them they don’t have to tolerate working conditions they don’t like, so why go back? At least until they have to.
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It’s fine, really. I appreciate the perspective. It’s just complicated and I don’t have the emotional energy or resilience to deal with it. I thought it would get better and easier given time but it hasn’t. Russians, at least the ones who survive, are just tougher. 
My anxiety about this isn’t entirely rational but not exactly unjustified either. There’s no way to say the 20 years were a plus. They weren’t. I lost respect for most people and institutions.
Last thing I looked at last night was the story below. I’m not desperate enough yet to hang a kick me sign around my neck just for the chance to work for guys like this.
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How about making money playing poker? There are forums on the internet that will help you learn.
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