# Stop telling me not to worry, because I know how screwed I am. **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [April 20, 2009, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-telling-me-not-to-worry-because-i-know-how-screwed-i-am/493760 "2009-04-20T19:01:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![mack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mack)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2009, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-telling-me-not-to-worry-because-i-know-how-screwed-i-am/493760/21 "2009-04-20T22:08:20Z")
Do you like the job you’re doing in school now even though it’s ending? After graduation plus a year of knocking about in shitty jobs I went back to school and bailed out after a semester with some student loan and cc debt. The one thing I liked about my semester back at school (music education - wasn’t for me) was the work-study job I had. I liked the people I worked for and they liked me and I used that one job plus their references and an enthusiastic interview to set myself on the path I’m on now. Looking back on it those job skills I learned that one semester were worth every penny and then some of those loans I took out for a degree I didn’t come close to getting (and ultimately didn’t want anyway). ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2009, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-telling-me-not-to-worry-because-i-know-how-screwed-i-am/493760/22 "2009-04-20T22:15:15Z")
> [@NinjaChick](#): > > I can request a forbearance and my mother has even offered to help with some of the payments, which would be awesome if A) I wanted to _completely_ destroy my credit rating before I hit the age of 23 What? Your credit rating would be hurt by missing payments or defaulting or declaring bankruptcy. Economic forbearance is not any of those. I took advantage of economic forbearance for educational loans for a short time and it did not “destroy my credit rating.” ---
**Author:** ![Tarwater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/9de0a6/32.png) [@Tarwater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tarwater)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2009, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-telling-me-not-to-worry-because-i-know-how-screwed-i-am/493760/23 "2009-04-20T22:19:26Z")
Is it too late to apply for law school and become a tax lawyer? ---
**Author:** ![Rubystreak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Rubystreak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rubystreak)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2009, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-telling-me-not-to-worry-because-i-know-how-screwed-i-am/493760/24 "2009-04-20T22:25:50Z")
Have you considered substitute teaching? It’s not a great living, but here, if you have a bachelor’s and get the finger printing, you’re in. The pay is $80-$100/day depending on the district. If you’re reliable, show up on time, and take all offered jobs, you will likely be working daily. Our district is desperate for subs, to the point that, on Mondays and Fridays, you can’t even get one unless you pre-arranged it ahead of time. If you decide to do this, PM me. I subbed for 6 months after getting my teaching degree and before getting my permanent job, and I have lots of tips and helpful hints. It would be something to do until a job in your field comes along. ---
**Author:** ![Yossarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/9de0a6/32.png) [@Yossarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yossarian)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2009, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-telling-me-not-to-worry-because-i-know-how-screwed-i-am/493760/25 "2009-04-20T22:43:33Z")
Two words: “Grad school.” ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2009, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-telling-me-not-to-worry-because-i-know-how-screwed-i-am/493760/26 "2009-04-20T22:44:26Z")
If it makes you feel any better, there is probably almost zero chance of you finding a job right now. So I wouldn’t beat yourself up over it. Reality is you are going to probably have to live at home with the 'rents until you find steady work. That’s not the end of the world. Beats being homeless. And unless you get lucky, you will probably spend a few years in shit jobs until you find steady work. Sucks, but I find it best to deal with the reality of the situation. The good news is that you are 22. A whole lot can happen between now and when you are 25, 30, 35 and so on. Provided you work at it of course. I’m 36 now. My generation INVENTED being an overeducated, directionless, underemployed 20-somethings. I had a temp job bagging groceries at a freakin Stew Leonards at your age. I didn’t even bag groceries in high school! But eventually we all found real jobs. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2009, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-telling-me-not-to-worry-because-i-know-how-screwed-i-am/493760/27 "2009-04-20T22:54:23Z")
> [@Tarwater](#): > > Is it too late to apply for law school and become a tax lawyer? Ha! Then you could look down with disdain upon the dirty hippies of the world, and their so-called “worries”! ---
**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2009, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-telling-me-not-to-worry-because-i-know-how-screwed-i-am/493760/28 "2009-04-20T23:12:41Z")
> [@Yossarian](#): > > Two words: “Grad school.” Going to grad school because you can’t think of any other options is one of the single worst mistakes you can make. ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2009, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-telling-me-not-to-worry-because-i-know-how-screwed-i-am/493760/29 "2009-04-20T23:21:16Z")
I always try to anticipate the absolute worse case scenario so I can come up with a strategy for dealing with it before it hits. If it’s living with your parents, consider why it would be so bad. Is it the prolonged adolescence thing? Yes, that sucks but you can handle it by not being an adolescent. You will get a McJob(s) somewhere so you can pay nominal rent and start paying down the debt. You will help out around the house whenever possible and do something constructive in your free time that gets you out into the world and away from parental nagging and your dark thoughts. And you will make it a mission to figure out what you want to do. That may mean connecting with people socially. (Yes, that dreaded word “network”). It may mean being extraordinally assertive by volunteering somewhere as an intern. It may mean doing something you can’t possibly imagine yourself doing well (like substitute teaching or customer service). But regardless, you can’t succumb to “I can’t!” or “I shouldn’t!” or “I won’t!” Even though you’ve got a familial safety net, you have to live like you can’t say no to anything (within reason, of course). And doing _something_ will give you more self-confidence, make you feel like you’re not a failure, and keep your parents from nagging you to death. It will also make you more interesting to prospective employers. Whatever you do, don’t worry about _anyone_ thinks. This is your life, not theirs. There are plenty of Ph.D’s pouring coffee at Starbucks and living in a junky rented room somewhere with no car and few groceries. They may be somewhat bitter and elitists may make fun of them, but they are still doing better than most people in the world. And they still have their sanity. Many of us so-called successful people don’t. You aren’t screwed. You aren’t pathetic. You aren’t a failure. And it’s too early to say you’ve made bad educational choices. But even if you have, nothing is irrepairable about your life. You will only make things worse by believing otherwise. ---
**Author:** ![Ichini\_Sanshigo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/d9b06d/32.png) [@Ichini\_Sanshigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ichini_Sanshigo)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2009, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-telling-me-not-to-worry-because-i-know-how-screwed-i-am/493760/30 "2009-04-20T23:42:36Z")
> [@ultrafilter](#): > > Going to grad school because you can’t think of any other options is one of the single worst mistakes you can make. Ain’t that the truth. And I speak from experience. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![NinjaChick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/71c47a/32.png) [@NinjaChick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NinjaChick)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2009, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-telling-me-not-to-worry-because-i-know-how-screwed-i-am/493760/31 "2009-04-20T23:56:43Z")
> [@Free\_Range\_Otter](#): > > What is your degree in? > \ Liberal arts. Not avoiding the question - I literally majored in liberal arts. > [@pulykamell](#): > > Is temping an option for you? It will help pay the bills in the meantime, and it should be enough money to keep you afloat, as long as you develop a good name for yourself and your temping agency starts giving you regular or longer-term assignments. That’s what I did when I was in career limbo, and it worked for me. To be honest, I hated the type of work they had me do when temping (typical white-collar office stuff), but the agency was great and I got offered jobs at both of my longer-term placements (both of which I declined) in the five months or so I was in the temping pool. Hey, it’s one reasonable option while you’re out in the job hunt. Yep. I’m registered with every temp agency in town at this point, and I’ve done some temp work before. I hated it, but I’m more than willing to do whatever they ask of me. > [@BlinkingDuck](#): > > At the risk of getting flamed by you… > > …For most people, the degree you get in college is only marginally related to what you will end up doing. > > WHERE you went to school is important. A low GPA will kill you but if it is reasonably good then that is ok. So stop kicking yourself. > > Now…graduating in this economy? YES! That is reason to rant and it sucks bigtime. Back in the old days I graduated during a down time…so down most companies stopped even recruiting on campus. That is what sucks. My GPA does suck, though. I flunked out after 3 semesters. I’m not a smart person, and stupidly took classes that were really hard for me (eg, I’ve taken four years of math. I am not good at math. I have never in my life gotten higher than a B in a math class. Why? Because I’m stupid.) > [@Free\_Range\_Otter](#): > > One thing I forgot to mention, and maybe you are already thinking of it. Be prepared to move. In today’s economy, it’s not good enough to just look for jobs in your local city/metropolitan area/state. Be open to what’s out there, regardless of where. Many good jobs nowadays offer reimbursement for moving and if they don’t standardly you might be able to negotiate it. Yeah. My main thing is I’d _love_ to be able to get a summer’s worth of work where I am now, because I have tentative arrangements to sublet someplace without needing security deposit/first/last upfront, which would be nice. I’m not too attached though, and really I have absolutely no geographical preferences beyond ‘not where I grew up’. > [@MN\_Maenad](#): > > What everyone’s going to tell you is a variation on: > > 1. No, life will not turn into sunshine and roses, it will be hard. > > 2. No, you will not end up dying of starvation on the street. > > 3. No, you will not end up dying in debtor’s prison or shipped off to the outer-space version of a penal colony. > > 4. Yes, it’s scary. > > 5. Yes, **they’ve been there too**. Lots of people have, and have come through it. > > Breathe, do something constructive, and go outside and enjoy the lovely day. I know. And I certainly know I’m not the first person to have made bad choices - my dad didn’t finish his undergrad degree until he was 26. But I _really_ don’t want to end up like my dad. > [@Rhythmdvl](#): > > I get where you’re coming from in the title of the OP. For starters, let’s all gather 'round and smile warmly (as best we can under the circumstances) at the well-meaning and great advice upthread. > > Ok, done? > > Ready? > > HOLY SHITSHITSHITSHITSHIT!!! (breath) HOLY SHITSHITSHIT (breath)… > > OKOKOK… all that advice above is all well and good, all well and _rational_, but for fucks sake, we’re talking _emotions_ here – plain, unadulterated, help-me-survive-in-the-jungle emotion. HOLYSHITSHITSHITSHIT!!! > > You _know_ that everything above is correct, but it sure doesn’t _feel_ that way. Sure there’s a bright side to everything, but sometimes you just want someone to acknowledge and --perhaps more importantly-- \*empathize \*with you about the giant thunderhead bearing down on you. > > Telling you it’s all going to be just fucking ducky kind of pulls the rug out of some very valid, very real emotions and practical concerns. Sometimes, you just want someone to run around in circles with you, screaming at the top of your lungs, and wearing a funny hat. > > Tomorrow, tomorrow you can go meet the person who has no shoes, tomorrow you can go see that annoying ragamuffin with a propensity for sunshine, tomorrow you can figure out the least painful way out of this mess… > > But for today, do a bit of wallowing, pitch something of a fit, and vent to your heart’s content. Go spend twenty of your few remaining dollars on a cheap feather pillow (or two), and have at it with a pair of scissors. Scream and holler, and some of us will wail along with you – just know that the lack of “don’t worries” and “it’ll be oks” doesn’t mean a lack of support or optimism, just that sometimes you want someone to come along and simply agree with you: sometimes, things do suck. Thank you for this, because I wrote the OP after a conversation with my mother in which she totally dismissed my concerns, and I just wanted to scream that NO IT IS NOT OKAY I’M ACTUALLY QUITE SCARED ABOUT THIS ‘REAL LIFE’ AND ‘TERRIBLE ECONOMY’ THING AND WOULD JUST LIKE SOME SYMPATHY. > [@mack](#): > > Do you like the job you’re doing in school now even though it’s ending? After graduation plus a year of knocking about in shitty jobs I went back to school and bailed out after a semester with some student loan and cc debt. The one thing I liked about my semester back at school (music education - wasn’t for me) was the work-study job I had. I liked the people I worked for and they liked me and I used that one job plus their references and an enthusiastic interview to set myself on the path I’m on now. Looking back on it those job skills I learned that one semester were worth every penny and then some of those loans I took out for a degree I didn’t come close to getting (and ultimately didn’t want anyway). I do like it, and I’m actually looking for a similar job, which would do nicely as something to tide me over. In order to have any sort of career in the field (library work), you generally need a MLS or similar, and I’m not that into it. Also… > [@Yossarian](#): > > Two words: “Grad school.” Applied to five places. Got rejected from four. The only one I was accepted to is overseas, doesn’t offer practically any financial assistance to foreign students, and thus is about twenty grand away from feasibility. > [@monstro](#): > > I always try to anticipate the absolute worse case scenario so I can come up with a strategy for dealing with it before it hits. > > If it’s living with your parents, consider why it would be so bad. Is it the prolonged adolescence thing? Yes, that sucks but you can handle it by not being an adolescent. You will get a McJob(s) somewhere so you can pay nominal rent and start paying down the debt. You will help out around the house whenever possible and do something constructive in your free time that gets you out into the world and away from parental nagging and your dark thoughts. And you will make it a mission to figure out what you want to do. > > \ > > You aren’t screwed. You aren’t pathetic. You aren’t a failure. And it’s too early to say you’ve made bad educational choices. But even if you have, nothing is irrepairable about your life. You will only make things worse by believing otherwise. Mostly the thing about moving home is I don’t get along with my parents when we’re in the same place. Chatting weekly on the phone is usually fine. Much more than that and we just grate on each other. Mom has a very hard time accepting that I’m not a kid anymore: when I’m home on break I’ll say, “Hey, I’m going out this evening, don’t hold dinner for me or anything.” She’ll demand to know where I’m going and with who and when I’ll be home and so on. Dad has a hard time accepting that I have my own opinions and don’t always do what he thinks I should do. When I was living at home for a couple months after flunking out I got a job working nights, and got home at about 3 AM. On weekends he would come and wake me up around 9 AM to tell me he could “really use a hand” working out in the yard or whatnot. When I’m home on break from school he’ll call me from work and, say, tell me to mop the kitchen floor - not _ask_, not even with a please, just tell me, and then he gets incredibly offended when I point out that he could just ask. Anyway, that’s a very brief summary of why I do not want to move home. Also I don’t have a car and it’s the least-bike-friendly place in the world, the weather is terrible, there’s nothing to do in town, and I no longer have any friends who live in the area. As for being screwed? Overreaction, I know. I also know I’m certainly not the only person who’s having trouble finding a job. As far as being a failure? Well, as I said, I could have done the smart thing and had practically no debt by this point in addition to at least a foot in the door in the professional world. Or I could have at least graduated in four years instead of five. Basically, I’m in a shitty situation, and I refuse to be the dolt who tries to blame anyone but themselves. I made bad choices, now I need to face up to the consequences. And that _sucks_. ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2009, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-telling-me-not-to-worry-because-i-know-how-screwed-i-am/493760/32 "2009-04-21T00:38:11Z")
> [@NinjaChick](#): > > Mostly the thing about moving home is I don’t get along with my parents when we’re in the same place. Chatting weekly on the phone is usually fine. Much more than that and we just grate on each other. Mom has a very hard time accepting that I’m not a kid anymore: when I’m home on break I’ll say, “Hey, I’m going out this evening, don’t hold dinner for me or anything.” She’ll demand to know where I’m going and with who and when I’ll be home and so on. Dad has a hard time accepting that I have my own opinions and don’t always do what he thinks I should do. When I was living at home for a couple months after flunking out I got a job working nights, and got home at about 3 AM. On weekends he would come and wake me up around 9 AM to tell me he could “really use a hand” working out in the yard or whatnot. When I’m home on break from school he’ll call me from work and, say, tell me to mop the kitchen floor - not _ask_, not even with a please, just tell me, and then he gets incredibly offended when I point out that he could just ask. Yeah. All of that sucks and I can totally understand why they would bug you. Perhaps you can prevent it from happening by being the assertive one. For your dad, you could make arrangements to do specific “house stuff”, but besides the occassional favor, that’s it. I’m trying to imagine me having such a conversation with my father and I’m drawing a blank. But maybe it could be something as simple as, “Hey, dad. I’ll do the dishes every night and clean the whole house every week if you’ll promise I can have my mornings on the weekends. I need to be able to sleep in sometime during the week.” Offer to run errands or do stuff before he even asks, and over time he’ll learn that he doesn’t have to make busywork for you. You might have to just bite the bullet with your mother. Over time she’ll get tired of grilling you (especially if the answer is always the same) and if you’re cool about it, you won’t give her any reason to get suspicious. > [@](#): > > Basically, I’m in a shitty situation, and I refuse to be the dolt who tries to blame anyone but themselves. I made bad choices, now I need to face up to the consequences. > > And that _sucks_. You can go overboard with self-blame, though. And it seems to me you’re dangling over the railing. ---
**Author:** ![Rand\_Rover](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/db5fbb/32.png) [@Rand\_Rover](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rand_Rover)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2009, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-telling-me-not-to-worry-because-i-know-how-screwed-i-am/493760/33 "2009-04-21T00:50:20Z")
> [@Tarwater](#): > > Is it too late to apply for law school and become a tax lawyer? Excellent advice. Also, nice to see someone placing the blame for their problems squarely where it belongs. Good job. Now figure out how to fix it (and law school really isn’t a bad option). ---
**Author:** ![Rand\_Rover](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/db5fbb/32.png) [@Rand\_Rover](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rand_Rover)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2009, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-telling-me-not-to-worry-because-i-know-how-screwed-i-am/493760/34 "2009-04-21T00:54:13Z")
> [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > Ha! Then you could look down with disdain upon the dirty hippies of the world, and their so-called “worries”! That’s only one of the many benefits. ---
**Author:** ![DiosaBellissima](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a8b319/32.png) [@DiosaBellissima](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DiosaBellissima)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2009, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-telling-me-not-to-worry-because-i-know-how-screwed-i-am/493760/35 "2009-04-21T00:54:19Z")
Go substitute teach. All you need in most places is a BA. You might have to take some little State teacher exam that might set you back $50, but it’s worth it. Around here, the public schools do $20 an hour (you need to take the test to sub) and the private schools (where I work, but you don’t need a testing certification to sub) do $17. My roommate and a few other friends sub here. Our local high school district has a website that, once accepted, you register on and you can just go on each night and accept or decline sub jobs. You can pick classes, schools, duration, etc. My friends like it because they can work it around their class schedules (going to school for teaching credentials, master’s, etc.), but I’ve heard you could very easily work 40 hours a week subbing. Around here, at least. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2009, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-telling-me-not-to-worry-because-i-know-how-screwed-i-am/493760/36 "2009-04-21T02:32:59Z")
> [@Rand\_Rover](#): > > Also, nice to see someone placing the blame for their problems squarely where it belongs. Good job. Cannot every problem that befell mankind be blamed on our relative paucity of tax lawyers? ---
**Author:** ![groo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ecd19e/32.png) [@groo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/groo)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2009, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-telling-me-not-to-worry-because-i-know-how-screwed-i-am/493760/37 "2009-04-21T02:36:34Z")
I’m not going to advise that you stop worrying, because you’re facing some pretty tough things. But a lot of people have overcome worse than that, and if you’re an above average person, which I think you are, you have a good chance, by the age of 26 or so, of knowing that you can get hit by a freight train (figuratively speaking), stand up, dust yourself off and move on. There are many directions you can take that can lead to success, and perhaps everything being a complete clusterf\*ck right now may help you to stay open to options you might not have otherwise considered. Notice how I haven’t actually given you one practical piece of advice yet? I can’t! All I can say is that life is testing you right now, and you may find that you’re a lot stronger than you think. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2009, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-telling-me-not-to-worry-because-i-know-how-screwed-i-am/493760/38 "2009-04-21T02:41:47Z")
My credentials: I worked at the U.S.D.E. Direct Loan Servicing Center for about 3 years (including as a temp when I graduated from grad school and before I found a job in my field). So, not just general info this- I know what I’m talking about: Forebearance _does not in any way_ affect your credit rating. It’s not even reported to credit agencies. As long as you get the forebearance from the U.S.D.E. (or whoever the lender is) it is “in satisfactory repayment” the same as if you were making payments. Also, the default rate on student loans is through the roof, which is a bad thing, but the good part of this is that they will work with you all kinds of ways to keep you from defaulting. Income based repayment, hardship deferments and forebearances (which are different than educational deferments), and other kinds of repayment plans are very flexible; the only really bad thing you can do is to not repay it and not make any kind of arrangements. All that said- well, if you were ever going to have a bad credit rating (which trust me, that ain’t the end of the world and you’re in great company), now’s the time. Nobody’s loaning money to less than AAA+++ perfect ratings anyway, and at 23 and broke and just out of school you’re not likely to be buying a house anyway. Ironically when I was up to my eyeballs in debt I had G-R-E-A-T credit; I paid off my debts and I can barely borrow a library book. And in some ways not having great credit is a good thing. It means you don’t get all those department store $3000 credit lines and VISA and MC offers in every mail, which when you’re in a “where do I go?” phase can cause some crazy impulse buys. (From experience.) ---
**Author:** ![meanoldman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@meanoldman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/meanoldman)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2009, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-telling-me-not-to-worry-because-i-know-how-screwed-i-am/493760/39 "2009-04-21T02:47:11Z")
Upstream the OP said she took 4 years of college math, and she sucks at math. I think that is a mark of someone that is indeed quite employable. You did not take the easy way. You challenged yourself. You did not back away from that challenge. You persevered. Someone that will work, and work hard, doing something that they don’t like; My god! now that’s an asset! I have a b.a,; majored in philosophy. I got a job working with computers. You never know. ---
**Author:** ![AdmiralCrunch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/6f9a4e/32.png) [@AdmiralCrunch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AdmiralCrunch)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2009, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-telling-me-not-to-worry-because-i-know-how-screwed-i-am/493760/40 "2009-04-21T03:23:48Z")
Stop beating yourself up over this. You were playing with fire, but it’s not your fault that you were standing on a mountain of dynamite. Everyone got this economy wrong. Sure, our generation can blame the reckless and greedy generation that our parents came from, but it’s better to just learn from it and speak to older people condescendingly. Worst case scenario: you use your feminine wiles to shack up with one of those prudent engineers or computer programmers who spent college planning for the future, rather than getting laid. Don’t worry, they’re all over the place, and they will gladly help you out while you’re working a crappy retail job to pay down your debt. Just hope it doesn’t come to that. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-telling-me-not-to-worry-because-i-know-how-screwed-i-am/493760.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-telling-me-not-to-worry-because-i-know-how-screwed-i-am/493760.md?page=3)