For a few years now I've had a little side business printing garments. Up until last year I was also working at a warehouse, generally believing that without that job I'd not be able to subsist primarily off of self-employment money. The work itself was really not that bad compared to some of the stuff I read about on here, but it was painfully boring (like 10 hrs of remedial study hall a day) and after a series of annoying events (getting passed up for promotion, having to come in on days off, getting talked down to, getting these offensive boxes of junk food in lieu of a cash xmas bonus, having to go to work during lockdown) i decided i'd just quit for a few months and if I ran out of money I'd just go work for another warehouse for a better rate. But today I realized I'm celebrating a whole-ass year of full-time self employment so I'm taking a minute to reflect. I'm sharing partially out of gratitude because this sub has really been helpful in both keeping me motivated to stay away from shitty labor jobs and keeping me up-to-date with what is going on with working in general these days.
Just to be transparent and because im afraid of this reading like 'bootstraps' rhetoric I'll add that before the warehouse I worked for another screenprinter for a few years which both enabled me to periodically invest in my own equipment and gave me access to an already fully operational shop to print and sell my own designs… so while i didnt just magically start a business overnight i also have had the privileges of time, circumstance and luck. Plus whatever else I'm not thinking of at the moment, feel free to rip into me… I guess before I lose momentum I'm just thinking that it's neat that so many people are realizing how little these unskilled jobs really matter.