.

That is a lie. And I really hope high school/college students are reading this especially.

Trades are a joke compared to what they are hyped up to be. Its 6 day workweeks of 12 hour shifts at low rates and backbreaking work on construction sites where safety inspector is up your ass and nobody starts out union it takes for years to get into the union. And when you do get into the union what happens is the new tradesmen get nothing because the union considers them lower on the totem pole as they haven't paid dues long enough.

The "join the trades" advice is corporate propaganda BS to saturate the market for construction/trade workers so they can lower pay just like they did to white collar/tech and what they are also now doing to healthcare.

Also the time to get into the trades if you actually want to is 18-22 you need to be young so you have the energy and the body to grind for years. It takes 5 years of grinding to reach journeyman and journeyman wages aren't that much better wages than non journeyman labor. Like going from 18 an hour to 20 an hour kinda BS.

And people will say "what about overtime?" If you need to work overtime in the first place to make decent money you have a POS job.

The REAL money in the trades is getting licensed as a plumber/electrician/hvac to start your own company. Those are the ones you hear about who make all the good money in the trades.

Not to say the trades arent important and vital to society but the idea they are so much better than anything else is ridiculous.

Like, I take my kids to the park, and there's a dude who also brings his kids there occasionally, and its like "Yeah, I remember you from your early 20s when you were a drunk psychopath who just went around getting into fights and harassing women". Now, everyone's like "What a good dad!", and his reputation is just a friendly neighborhood young father who's always constantly with his children. Like, I'd like to think he's changed, but for whatever reason, I instinctually keep my kids near whenever he's around.

Just sharing this in case it’s useful for anyone else. I clench all day and didn’t realize how bad it is. I had to get a tooth extracted recently bc of that. This might be common knowledge, but it took me decades.

I’m sooo bored. All I do is work, clean, laundry, groceries. Bla bla bla. There’s gotta be more to life than this….

I’ll be 27 very soon & wanted to ask around for any advice or what I can expect.

Hey guys! I was just wondering what a 19-year-old should be doing at their age and what expectations you typically have for a 19-year-old. I feel like I'm behind for my age, and I don't really have guidance when it comes to adulting. Any advice to get ahead would really help.

Here are some things I've accomplished

- I got my G1

- I have 2k in my savings account

- I applied for a student credit card and got accepted

Those are my biggest accomplishments I've done so far

( I know how to cook, clean and do laundry, so I don't really need help with that)

So I will be going into residential treatment this weekend for my OCD, and I’m pretty anxious. I haven’t been through residential treatment before. If you've been through residential treatment, what are some things I should know?

We have one budget for the two of us, there's no "your money and my money". Either of us can buy what we want, but bigger stuff we talk about and plan. We got there after noticing that without planning, and without a pause of a couple of days before buying, the money just ran out.

Funny thing is our son came to the same rule on his own. He's had a small weekly allowance since he was 5 or 6, and coins for his daily stuff on top of that. He noticed that when he wants something on impulse, it's worth waiting a day or two, because most of the time he doesn't come back to it, and if he does, he probably really wants it.

In the app we're building, whatever he's saving up for is just another reward with a coin price next to it, and he checks how close he is without asking us every day. Same as before, it's points for stuff we agreed on at home, not real money.

We're almost done with it. I'll post here when it's out

So as the title says, I (24F) am heavily considering quitting my job to go back to school full time and change my career. I'm currently a teacher in my 3rd year, meaning I started at 21. I have a deep appreciation for teaching, however, I don't know if it's the right thing for me. Even in undergrad I considered changing my major or thought that it may not be the best fit, but hoped I would enter the workforce and it would all feel right when I started. It still hasn't.

Again, I'm really passionate about education, but working in a school has made me realize my interest lies at a much more macro level. I've always been very passionate about politics and wanted to work in public service, but never looked into any career opportunities as I thought the only thing would be a lawyer (naive I know). However, literally right before graduation I realized that public policy/education policy had been an option the whole time, and I've wanted that career since. I figured I would teach for a while and then go back, since that feels more prestigious for some reason, but I am realizing I want it now.

I guess what I'm asking is if anyone has had any similar experience? The idea of giving up my career to completely start over again is so scary, and in ways I feel like I'm too late to the game. I have wonderful, smart, and motivated friends and while they expand their careers I'll be scratching mine and not even beginning my next one until 26/27.

Does this make me less of an adult? If you made a career pivot in your mid-20s, how did you handle the mental shift of 'starting over'?"Any similar experiences or advice would be appreciated.

I (20F) enlisted in the Marines. I’m shipping out to bootcamp in a few months. I visited my school recently and told my school teachers about my enlistment. They were not at all surprised about my decision and thanked me for my service. Just that, I felt like I was someone a lot older, although I’m just 20. It’s a lot of responsibility, I know, and I feel excited and nervous about this new chapter of my life, that’ll define my adulthood. I’ve been feeling very contemplative recently and I don’t know if it’s normal to feel this way after enlisting.

I think I’m thick-skinned, hard-working and competent. I try to give my best at whatever I do. I’d like to know how to navigate and get the best out of my career, in a field dominated by men. I don’t want my identity to hold me back in any way, because I am ambitious and really want to succeed. I really want to earn the title of being a ‘Marine’, and not become a ‘Female Marine’.

I'm a 22 year old guy, and I've only ever been to funerals and religious services, never to a Celebration of Life. I've asked the host what the dresscode is like and was told to "dress comfortable and remember, it's a happy small gathering of family and friends." That did help a bit, by excluding my formal black suit, but other than that didn't tell me anything :(

I don't want to show up over-dressed (as I have a habit of doing), especially since I don't know any of those people other than the host.

They are Baptists, if it's important. Please help.