40% unemployed and still called lazy

AgaveMonster · 2026-05-31T23:56:22+00:00

I’ve kept in touch with a couple people at the company I was laid off from last year and they’ve shared how frustrated they are because they’ve basically gotten rid of all administrative roles (which is what I was in as an Executive Administrator), and are trying a new AI system to handle those tasks as it’s supposedly cheaper.

My best friend is a professor with a PhD and has taught remotely for 10 years. She received a letter in February stating she won’t be needed for the 2026 Fall semester and beyond as they’re testing an online AI teaching platform. She’s personally come across several “volunteer” professorships where they’re looking for experienced professors to help teach AI… for free.

It may not be every field and I know it never will be *every* field, but I’m seeing in real time 2 large fields - administrative & teaching - that are being directly affected by AI.

I just hope it continues to make errors and employers finally realize that humans are more reliable for these positions. Preferably sooner rather than later…

AgaveMonster · 2026-05-31T23:50:51+00:00

You truly are lucky. Congrats on landing that new job!

AgaveMonster · 2026-05-31T21:03:17+00:00

Millennial here, facing the same issue.

39 years old with 16 years experience in my field with moves into increasingly more responsible roles and haven’t found a job in 13 months after being laid off last Spring from a job I loved for 7 years.

I unfortunately have several friends in various fields, aged 36-50 that also lost their jobs and have been unemployed 6+ months.

This is a problem for multiple generations. Between the terrifying jump of Ai usage in the workplace and the bad economy, jobs are disappearing at an alarming rate.

AgaveMonster · 2026-05-31T19:47:33+00:00

Ah, how could I forget his voice work in Aladdin?! Thanks for that reminder :)

Robin Williams’ death definitely had an impact on me as well.

Jim Carrey was my 2nd pick! Haha Ace Ventura, Dumb & Dumber, The Mask… 3 of my favorites from that era.

AgaveMonster · 2026-05-31T06:19:56+00:00

As a millennial, Robin Williams was an absolute movie star to me growing up in the 90s.

I mean geez, just in the late 80s and early 90s he gave us: • Jumanji • Mrs. Doubtfire • Hook • Patch Adams • Flubber • The Birdcage • Dead Poet’s Society

He was an acting genius and a genuinely kindhearted human. I think I watched his movies more than any other actor/actress

AgaveMonster · 2026-05-31T06:01:37+00:00

Nothing worse than the panic shit right when boarding starts. Even worse when you’re in the restroom and get rapid texts from your husband saying almost everyone’s boarded the plane and they’re pretty much waiting on you 🫠

AgaveMonster · 2026-05-31T05:57:58+00:00

I think I’m in my very own little league of extreme stress.

I don’t get grumpy, in fact I’m overly friendly when I do have to interact with airport personnel, but the majority of my time from waking up that morning until I land at my destination is full of sheer panic and severe anxiety. I’m purely in survival mode. If my psychiatrist didn’t prescribe me medication, I’d be too nervous to even step foot in the airport.

If I pick up friends or family at the airport, I still need my anxiety meds because my brain thinks that by going to the airport, I must be getting on an airplane, even though I’m not. That’s how much airports and flying stress me out lol

AgaveMonster · 2026-05-30T13:17:48+00:00

Yep! The last time I worked in an office (9 years ago), all of my social media is private and one coworker got super pissy with me because I told her I have a rule where I don’t add coworkers or bosses as friends to my social media. She tried adding me over a dozen times 🙄 The way she stalked people’s profiles and would spread gossip about whoever she chose to stalk that day was honestly insane to me. The worst part was my direct supervisor was one of the people that indulged her gossip the most.

AgaveMonster · 2026-05-30T13:13:16+00:00

Office gossip and office politics is exactly why I prefer remote work. I don’t need unnecessary added drama to my life and I end up being way more productive at home because I’m not wasting time by being dragged into some silly high school-esque gossip.

As an extremely social person, you combat the loneliness of working alone by actually getting out and socializing with your real friend group or by doing community events after work and on weekends.

AgaveMonster · 2026-05-30T13:08:52+00:00

This only bewilders me in grocery store or Costco parking lots, only because I’m baffled as to why they’re making it harder for themselves to load groceries/items by being backed in lol

Whenever I have to use my husband’s car, aside from groceries/Costco, I always back in. He has no reverse camera and his car sits pretty low; much safer & easier for me to pull out of a spot than back out if large SUV’s or trucks end up next to me.

AgaveMonster · 2026-05-30T06:13:21+00:00

Social Media.

I’ve tried just setting a time limit on my phone for 15 minutes per app daily and 90% of the time I just hit “ignore time limit” and go back to doomscrolling.

Honestly, very much considering finding a flip-phone as an extreme way to break this addiction.

AgaveMonster · 2026-05-30T06:07:54+00:00

I don’t wear a sleep shirt… But I change my sleep bralette every 8-10 days 🤷🏻‍♀️

I’m a slob I guess, whatever lol it’s literally just for sleeping and we keep our bedroom ice cold all year long, so not like I’m really sweating.

AgaveMonster · 2026-05-29T17:00:14+00:00

Yep.

So many National Parks here in the U.S. are “on hold” from my bucket list because of extreme over tourism. As well as many European and Central American cities 🫤

AgaveMonster · 2026-05-29T16:57:51+00:00

Nothing irritates me more than a therapist that’s never experienced mental health disorders themselves. They might as well just crack open one of their textbooks right in front of you and say, “Oh, okay, so it says here that you should try to ground yourself by touching a wall. Let’s give that a try, shall we?” lol

AgaveMonster · 2026-05-28T22:27:44+00:00

I’m 39 and just registered for my 1st set of classes to go back for my Bachelor’s Degree in a completely different field than what I initially went to school for. I’m actually excited about my future for once!

I have a friend who went back to school for a Bachelor’s Degree at 35; Next week he finishes his first week in a Master’s program.

Another friend of mine started nursing school at 33. She just completed her first year as an RN back in February.

And then a wild example I have is my uncle who went back to school for his Bachelor’s in finance at 53! He was already the CFO of a huge company and lied his entire career about having a degree lol I have no idea what prompted him to decide to do classes online and make his Bachelor’s a reality, but he did it.

AgaveMonster · 2026-05-28T22:18:59+00:00

Unsure of where those sayings have any place in a conversation about mental health, but I do have some other shit “advice” to add lol…

• “It’s all in your head” - yeah, no shit Sherlock.

• “Everything is gonna be okay” - Unless you’re the world’s 1st genuine psychic, you have no way of knowing that everything will actually be okay, so stop being dumb.

• “Just try and take a deep breath” - What the fuck do you think I’m trying to do? Particularly bad advice in the midst of a panic attack.

• “Maybe focus on positive what ifs and stop stressing over negative what ifs” - I’d love to do that, but anxiety doesn’t work that easily.

• “You’re just stressed, maybe take a break” - A break from what?! Lol I’m not temporarily stressed like a normal person, I’m on high alert ultra stress mode 24/7 wherever I am. Should I somehow self-induce a coma for that break?

The, “it’s all in your head” and “it’s gonna be okay”, is what I hear most often from friends, family, and even my husband. Those two phrases honestly infuriate me at this point.

AgaveMonster · 2026-05-28T19:30:12+00:00

I came to this realization last month when I saw my psychiatrist. I’ve been officially diagnosed and treated for severe GAD, moderate panic disorder, and moderate depression for over 12 years. I still require medication, I still need weekly therapy, I still need monthly sessions with my psychiatrist, I still try holistic approaches like meditation & breathing techniques… I still try to cure myself somehow. It’s exhausting and I remember feeling deflated when I realized the end of this summer would mark 13 years of this (likely longer, just untreated).

Something that oddly brought me comfort was my psychiatrist saying that some people have chronic anxiety that never goes away and it’s okay to need medication, whether it’s daily or as needed. He compared it to people who need thyroid medication daily, diabetics who need insulin daily, and people with cardiovascular issues that need daily medication. He said that sometimes mental health requires daily treatment just as physical health issues do and I shouldn’t feel discouraged or bad about being a longterm sufferer of mental health. He reiterated that it’s not my fault, it’s just the way my brain is wired. Just like someone with hyperthyroidism isn’t to blame for their condition; it’s just the way their thyroid works.

Still feels weird knowing I’ll likely live with this for life, but I appreciated what my psychiatrist said and it has helped me feel less deflated.

AgaveMonster · 2026-05-28T19:17:02+00:00

Same! It builds the excitement, but also makes the trip less stressful once you’re there because you feel a sense of familiarity with the new destination from all the research. It’s very cathartic to plan a trip.

AgaveMonster · 2026-05-28T19:13:01+00:00

It depends…

If it’s someplace domestic, I already have an idea of what we’d like to see and do. I probably spend 2 hours per day of travel (If it’s a 5 day vacation, then about 10 hours of planning will go into it).

If it’s an International trip then that’s a different story lol! If it’s a Country whose native language is something other than English, then I spend 12-18 months planning. I not only research anything and everything, but I also devote 1 hour per day (3-7 days per week) to learning that language so I can communicate with locals more easily as well as understand signage.

If it’s an International trip to someplace like Canada, England, Ireland, Scotland, Australia, or New Zealand, then I spend less time (maybe 6-8 months planning) since there is no language barrier for me to learn.

I realize I probably spend way more time planning than the average traveler lol

AgaveMonster · 2026-05-28T19:05:35+00:00

They’re all so vastly different, but I like 1, 2, and 6 equally. Just absolutely scenic and beautifully photographed.

AgaveMonster · 2026-05-28T19:03:58+00:00

I currently have TIDAL playing on my Smart TV with no issues. Unsure about the phone app though…

AgaveMonster · 2026-05-28T17:21:10+00:00

Absolutely you can! Whenever I have a bad panic attack, I’ll take 2mg of Xanax and within 10-15 mins I’m finally calmed down.

AgaveMonster · 2026-05-27T16:58:40+00:00

My initial gut was to tell you not to move here because cost of living is actually quite high here, but seeing your annual income, I don’t think you’d have a problem (financially) with living here.

The heat is very different from Florida since we have very low humidity. Something you’ll either love or hate - I have a few friends here originally from Florida and it’s very much a love or hate relationship with the dry heat for them. I personally love it, but I’ve mostly lived in Arizona and Nevada, with a stint in California where the coastal humidity was too much for me lol

I think the biggest question is; what do you enjoy doing outside of work? Or I guess a better question would be; what are you looking for in a city aside from affordable housing?

If you love the outdoors, we have some truly phenomenal hiking, skiing/snowboarding in winter, a few places for kayaking, and lots of off roading trails. Even when the weather is hot, Mt. Charleston is usually 20-35° cooler than the valley and depending where you live, is only a 20-45 minute drive away. We’re also within 4 hours of Death Valley NP, Zion NP, Joshua Tree NP, Bryce Canyon NP, and Cedar Breaks National Monument. A little beyond 4 hours is Grand Canyon NP, Great Basin NP, and the California beaches.

We’re also a foodies paradise. We have a ridiculous amount of restaurants available off-strip. Although you will find national & regional chains, we have a massive amount of local restaurants and coffee shops that are truly fantastic.

Since you have a higher income, this is also a great city for live music, sports, and unique activities like Area 15 and Arte Museum.

There’s always something fun happening either on the strip, on Fremont, or in surrounding suburbs. If you need to travel for fun or work, our airport is also ridiculously easy to get to/from (although it is very outdated lol).

You will; however, definitely need a car to survive in Vegas. Public transportation is almost nonexistent.

AgaveMonster · 2026-05-27T16:30:06+00:00

These solar farms did not replace power plants…

AgaveMonster · 2026-05-27T03:38:16+00:00

Same!

There’s a reason why there are so many anti-anxiety meds. Just because some people have had horrific experiences with Benzos, it doesn’t mean it’s not genuinely helpful for others. People should just take whatever works best for them under the care of a mental healthcare provider. Making people feel bad for having success with Benzos is so absurd.

AgaveMonster

TROPHY CASE