It’s a pretty bleak outlook when everyone you know is highly educated, independently brilliant, and somehow working 3 mediocre jobs trying to get by.
- This is the curse of my generation, I suppose, and we’re all in this together to some extent.
That being said, I’m really tired of this particular curse already, and I have a long time in the working world ahead of me. At this point, I work a full time job and two part time gigs just trying to support myself – literally just trying to keep warm through the winter. These days, my third job is actually serving to pay off my ungodly energy bills every month, because lord knows I can’t afford to live in a well insulated house with a working HVAC system. Instead, I reside in a tiny little ramshackle home, a solid 45 minute commute from the city, and barely make enough cash to pay for rent and my monthly utilities. The heating and cooling system, alone, takes well over 20% of my check many months. Think about that – the cost of keeping a one bedroom house warm through the winter and relatively cool through the summer is a fifth of my income. I’ve tried having the landlord inspect the HVAC system, because clearly there is a major issue with the efficiency of the heating and cooling equipment, if not the air ductwork itself. However, this grumpy old man just thinks I’m a groaning and moaning millennial with no leg to stand on. I can tell you, if my energy expenditure doesn’t improve, soon I really won’t have an arm or a leg.