vagranteinzige
New member
Hi! My name is Bet! I'm 19, I currently live in Albany, NY, and I'm planning on getting the hell away from this place sometime in 2022! I've actually planned on being a sort of migrant worker/hobo before, but I wasn't ready nor able to. Now that I'm gaining my independence, though, I can actually make that a reality!
Why I've decided to go ahead and decide to be a sort of migrant worker is a bit of a long, bumpy story, so I'll do my best to summarize it so it isn't a full-length novel.
My family has had almost full financial control over me for years, my mother and my grandparents (Her parents) in particular. This includes money set aside for my education. Every course I take or certification I get or thing I major in, they have to approve of it. Since it's "what you do", they had me attend a community college (Funny thing is I had to fight them to even enroll in a community college instead of a private liberal arts school), but I never even wanted to attend in the first place. I didn't like it, and there was never anything there I wanted to invest my future in. So, I ended up dropping out early on.
I had actually wanted to become a locksmith for a long time, and I was planning on getting an apprenticeship. My family didn't want me to become any kind of apprentice, because it isn't "real education". Instead, they basically told me to go back to school or they'd kick me out. Thing is, the closest locksmithing schools were in NYC or Ontario, so it wasn't an option. By this time, I'd just lost my housekeeping job and my mother had complete access to all my finances. This in and of itself really fucking sucks, but my mother not only tends to have outbursts where she does shitty things, often really impulsively, but she has a tendency to "borrow" money from me. I use "borrow" very loosely because she doesn't ask, she just takes it from me whenever she's in hot water, and only pays me back months later. Swear to God, as I'm writing this, she owes me over 400 USD. I did not and would not put it past her to empty all of my savings over something like this. She had also threatened to kill herself partially because I dropped out of school, so I ended up caving and enrolled in a different school for a different trade. Basically, she saw that there was a welding school in the next town over and wanted me to enroll, so I did. I had and still do have to pretend to be interested otherwise she'd lose her shit.
To be real, though, I hate 75% of welding. TIG, stick, fitting, blueprints, anything on pipe, I absolutely hate. The only thing I don't hate is MIG, and even then it's a struggle because I only enjoy making little sculptures out of scrap metal. Never wanted to be a welder from the beginning, and nothing really changed once I enrolled, except my outlook.
During this time, I had tried to find housing to get into after I graduated. I've been diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder, though it's more or less been in remission for 3 years. I don't take medication aside from a sleep aid, and I've been told I'm managing things pretty well, all things considered. Still, due to both my disability and current living environment, my therapist and workers in the therapeutic program I'm in tried to help get me in supportive housing after graduating. They were worried that I'd end up relapsing at some point, whether it be from my current household or the move, and wanted to secure something in case my household got more violent. Plus, they knew I wanted to be a migrant worker and didn't want me on the streets. Happy to say I haven't relapsed, despite it all.
Long story short, though, it was an absolute joke and a waste of time. I got in contact with one agency, and it took me three months to even get an intake appointment. After the appointment, the caseworker said she'd call me in a week, but never did. The last time I heard from her was a month after she'd called, and it was when she emailed my therapist telling her she was still looking at options (Mostly due to my low income). Never once has she contacted me. It's been almost five months now. I've given up on getting housing through them, or really any agency for that matter. This was just one agency that I was in contact with, and the others followed a similar format of "Sorry, we can't do shit". It's a complete carnival, and I would tell them to go fuck themselves if I could. It also really sort of solidified the idea of traveling and working, at least for a little bit. If I can't get supportive housing because of my income, how the fuck can I rent a regular apartment here? Especially when rent is sky-fucking-high.
I've learned something incredibly valuable, though, through all this. All this bullshit, like money, material things, upholding the the status quo, etc. are utterly fucking meaningless to me, and none of them make me happy. I only want to do what makes me happy from now on, and I only want to associate with people who make me happy from now on. Fuck all those other things, and fuck everybody else.
I'm still in welding school, though I've only got 16 school days left. I not only got a job as a seasonal retail employee (Despite my mother's wishes), but have an account in a separate bank that I deposit my paychecks in that my family can't access. Once I graduate, I'll start to move money from my old account to the new one so I can actually, you know, save it. I've also managed to secure a part-time position at the same store for when the season ends, which is good because I won't be unemployed when I graduate, though I'll still be trying to find better, full-time work. I've decided to try and live with my family until I have my shit together, but only because I'll be able to get licenses and certifications I want/need without it coming out of my own pocket. Driver's license, forklift certification, OSHA 30, stuff like that. Once I get those, though, I'll be out of here. It feels like kind of a dick move, but I'm still feeling some type of way about the past 7 months.
I don't truly know where I'll go once I'm out, since I don't really know WHEN I'm going out. Just some time in 2022. But I have a close buddy in Ontario, who lives just outside of Toronto. He's a very, very sweet guy. He's been there for me throughout the entirety of welding school AND when I was trying to get housing. He's helped me financially a couple times, like one time when my mother stole money from me, or when I was trying to scrounge up enough for housing. He's the only person that really knows all the intricacies of, well, everything. He knows how I feel about wanting to travel as a sort of migrant worker, and he's offered me housing if I'm ever in the area. I honestly love him more than anything on the planet, so I'm thinking of stopping by Toronto + his area first thing. The only things truly stopping me are immigration and worrying about getting deported since I won't really be a permanent resident.
I'll figure it out, though. I'm still ways away from getting out of here, and I'm sure I'll get help on figuring out where to go when the time comes. Plus, I still gotta hone and develop more skills, get more gear, all that fun stuff. It's a process, but I'll get there!
Thank you, and sorry about the long read. I look forward to talking with you all and being part of the community!
Why I've decided to go ahead and decide to be a sort of migrant worker is a bit of a long, bumpy story, so I'll do my best to summarize it so it isn't a full-length novel.
My family has had almost full financial control over me for years, my mother and my grandparents (Her parents) in particular. This includes money set aside for my education. Every course I take or certification I get or thing I major in, they have to approve of it. Since it's "what you do", they had me attend a community college (Funny thing is I had to fight them to even enroll in a community college instead of a private liberal arts school), but I never even wanted to attend in the first place. I didn't like it, and there was never anything there I wanted to invest my future in. So, I ended up dropping out early on.
I had actually wanted to become a locksmith for a long time, and I was planning on getting an apprenticeship. My family didn't want me to become any kind of apprentice, because it isn't "real education". Instead, they basically told me to go back to school or they'd kick me out. Thing is, the closest locksmithing schools were in NYC or Ontario, so it wasn't an option. By this time, I'd just lost my housekeeping job and my mother had complete access to all my finances. This in and of itself really fucking sucks, but my mother not only tends to have outbursts where she does shitty things, often really impulsively, but she has a tendency to "borrow" money from me. I use "borrow" very loosely because she doesn't ask, she just takes it from me whenever she's in hot water, and only pays me back months later. Swear to God, as I'm writing this, she owes me over 400 USD. I did not and would not put it past her to empty all of my savings over something like this. She had also threatened to kill herself partially because I dropped out of school, so I ended up caving and enrolled in a different school for a different trade. Basically, she saw that there was a welding school in the next town over and wanted me to enroll, so I did. I had and still do have to pretend to be interested otherwise she'd lose her shit.
To be real, though, I hate 75% of welding. TIG, stick, fitting, blueprints, anything on pipe, I absolutely hate. The only thing I don't hate is MIG, and even then it's a struggle because I only enjoy making little sculptures out of scrap metal. Never wanted to be a welder from the beginning, and nothing really changed once I enrolled, except my outlook.
During this time, I had tried to find housing to get into after I graduated. I've been diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder, though it's more or less been in remission for 3 years. I don't take medication aside from a sleep aid, and I've been told I'm managing things pretty well, all things considered. Still, due to both my disability and current living environment, my therapist and workers in the therapeutic program I'm in tried to help get me in supportive housing after graduating. They were worried that I'd end up relapsing at some point, whether it be from my current household or the move, and wanted to secure something in case my household got more violent. Plus, they knew I wanted to be a migrant worker and didn't want me on the streets. Happy to say I haven't relapsed, despite it all.
Long story short, though, it was an absolute joke and a waste of time. I got in contact with one agency, and it took me three months to even get an intake appointment. After the appointment, the caseworker said she'd call me in a week, but never did. The last time I heard from her was a month after she'd called, and it was when she emailed my therapist telling her she was still looking at options (Mostly due to my low income). Never once has she contacted me. It's been almost five months now. I've given up on getting housing through them, or really any agency for that matter. This was just one agency that I was in contact with, and the others followed a similar format of "Sorry, we can't do shit". It's a complete carnival, and I would tell them to go fuck themselves if I could. It also really sort of solidified the idea of traveling and working, at least for a little bit. If I can't get supportive housing because of my income, how the fuck can I rent a regular apartment here? Especially when rent is sky-fucking-high.
I've learned something incredibly valuable, though, through all this. All this bullshit, like money, material things, upholding the the status quo, etc. are utterly fucking meaningless to me, and none of them make me happy. I only want to do what makes me happy from now on, and I only want to associate with people who make me happy from now on. Fuck all those other things, and fuck everybody else.
I'm still in welding school, though I've only got 16 school days left. I not only got a job as a seasonal retail employee (Despite my mother's wishes), but have an account in a separate bank that I deposit my paychecks in that my family can't access. Once I graduate, I'll start to move money from my old account to the new one so I can actually, you know, save it. I've also managed to secure a part-time position at the same store for when the season ends, which is good because I won't be unemployed when I graduate, though I'll still be trying to find better, full-time work. I've decided to try and live with my family until I have my shit together, but only because I'll be able to get licenses and certifications I want/need without it coming out of my own pocket. Driver's license, forklift certification, OSHA 30, stuff like that. Once I get those, though, I'll be out of here. It feels like kind of a dick move, but I'm still feeling some type of way about the past 7 months.
I don't truly know where I'll go once I'm out, since I don't really know WHEN I'm going out. Just some time in 2022. But I have a close buddy in Ontario, who lives just outside of Toronto. He's a very, very sweet guy. He's been there for me throughout the entirety of welding school AND when I was trying to get housing. He's helped me financially a couple times, like one time when my mother stole money from me, or when I was trying to scrounge up enough for housing. He's the only person that really knows all the intricacies of, well, everything. He knows how I feel about wanting to travel as a sort of migrant worker, and he's offered me housing if I'm ever in the area. I honestly love him more than anything on the planet, so I'm thinking of stopping by Toronto + his area first thing. The only things truly stopping me are immigration and worrying about getting deported since I won't really be a permanent resident.
I'll figure it out, though. I'm still ways away from getting out of here, and I'm sure I'll get help on figuring out where to go when the time comes. Plus, I still gotta hone and develop more skills, get more gear, all that fun stuff. It's a process, but I'll get there!
Thank you, and sorry about the long read. I look forward to talking with you all and being part of the community!
