this post was submitted on 18 Mar 2026
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Damn that's nuts. I worked 96 hours a week (5 8 hour shifts at one job and 7 8 hour shifts at another) for a while when I was younger and I was only sleeping 2-3 hours a day on the five overlap days. That wasn't sustainable at all and burned me out in six months or so. Clearly you were doing even more, I'm shocked you lived. I hope things are better for you now.
I could only last qbout 8 months doing it all. I kinda didnt survive it. Really changed who I was yet again in my life. But yeah I just got on a boat and sailed away from it all. Worked somewhere that gave me food housing and a routine till I could get better and I would say I am and things are. Thank you. Fuck lack of sleep.
Elsewhere you said you sold yourself into indentured servitude, but this sounds amazing to me. Guessing by the servitude comment it wasn't ideal?
Trigger warnings, heavy stuff:
It was contracted work for set periods of time with no human resources and no way to leave without paying back the "costs of getting us there" I made $800 a month and was sometimes not fed because food went bad or had to be served to higher ranking people. Room was shared bunk accommodations with people that all spoke different languages but generally we all knew some English.
Like it was good sometimes. I met people and I traveled and learned to empathize beyond borders or identity but I also got raped and had my rapist rewarded which was common since it happened to friends I made as well who didnt all survive. I lost good people and watched assholes brag about their cruelty forgetting their was an american who could understand them and their goals in the room.
Life is a combination of what you make of it and the world around you. It was gonna be shitty for me no matter what. And giving myself a smaller routine was nice and so was the bigger environment to learn about myself. And I made the best of it. But knowing that, I can't say it was amazing. I can say it works if that is what you need. Heck you can always run away to the carnival but its just different than "real" life not a new life.
Still better than the military I guess.
Wow. So sorry to hear ypu had to live through that but I'm glad you made it through.
Thanks. Life, right?
Glad to hear your doing better at least. In my case, I had lost nearly everything I owned due to a catastrophe, so I was just trying to grind my way to being able to have a normal, if not poor life again. Luckily I was able to find an apartment that had a "$200 moves you in!" promotion, and I had roughly $200 to my name so I avoided actual homelessness.