I’m still struggling while I look for that job that wants to keep me. I don’t know what it is with me or them, but I’m tired of it. Mentally, and physically, and quiet frankly, I’m just tired of it in general all over all.
Is it my health?
Is it my work ethics? Whatever it is, fuck it. Fuck epilepsy.
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You tried looking outside of the cannabis industry?
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Yep… It’s impossible. I’m just tired of not being able to keep my work/jobs. I have many skills. I’ve been around computers, grows, extraction, food, and many other things.
And for everyone chiming in, I appreciate you guys. I’m just tired of being used up like a rag doll in the industry like some of us are. We know who we are.
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try being a delivery driver for door dash bro. as long as your driving record checks out you are good to go. if you have a disability that’s been properly documented (epilepsy) you should atleast be getting a disability check every month and free housing and insurance , and nice food card balance as well. no shame in using the system if you are struggling legitimately
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Gotta switch up the hard times to a more optimistic attitude to catch a break. It’s not necessarily faking it to make it, but you can’t catch a break with woe is me vibes. McDonald’s is always hiring and depending where they’re paying more than most manager jobs at retail stores. Chick-fil-A pays even better. Do you have any technical skills? Like mentioned above. You can deliver groceries with instacart, food with Uber eats/door dash/Postmates. You can serve tables and make tips. The longer you go in the red the more time it will take to climb out. There’s no shame in getting paid vs waiting to be be hired and doing nothing in the mean time. Stacking incomes is healthy. Go outside and just find the nearest place to your pad that pays your bills and take it. Then keep applying for what you want.
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You’re not alone brother, I’ve been looking for work this entire time, inside and outside of the industry and have come up with absolutely nothing. Hope you can get things figured out soon!
Also, since when did being on disability give you free housing? You don’t get a lot of money from it either (probably only like $1200/mo) and you’re not allowed to own more than $2k in assets if you’re on disability. It’s not all it’s cracked up to be, it’s not possible to survive on unless you have someone taking care of you. You may as well be a vegetable let’s be honest.
Edit: and as far as what I’ve been doing to fill the gap, I’ve been helping with my family HVAC business as a project coordinator, I’ve been planning out sustainable landscaping projects for my parents property, and I’ve been trying to take courses online and learn new skills. Unfortunately for me, I live in an extremely rural area so jobs aren’t easily available to me, I’d have to relocate for work so I can’t settle for entry level positions as they simply wouldn’t pay the bills and it’d be too expensive to relocate for on my own dime.
Double edit: I also wouldn’t recommend driving centric jobs to someone with a seizure disorder. Huge liability for themselves and everyone around them unfortunately. There’s a reason doctors will limit/revoke your license if you’re diagnosed with epilepsy or some other form of seizure disorder. Employment is super rough out there for anyone with a disability.
I was diagnosed with a seizure disorder 7 years ago. While working at Papa Johns as a delivery driver, I had a seizure on someone else’s property walking up to their door to make a delivery, one moment I was walking up, the next moment I was waking up in a hospital bed (this wasn’t even my first seizure, just the first one on a job). My boss had thoughtfully offered a position change to me but I ended up quitting because I was embarrassed to have a seizure on the job. I was studying for my FL pharm tech license at the time so I focused on that, which eventually propelled me into the cannabis industry. Smoking literally every single day stopped my seizures, the doctors who diagnosed me had told me that my seizure threshold had plummeted and every time I have a seizure the threshold lowers further, making me more prone to the next seizure. I experienced my last seizure in February 2019, though ever since moving to CO in 2016, I haven’t had health insurance, so I’m unsure if I still have a seizure disorder, I simply just smoke every day (which I’m sure is a problem for most companies outside of our industry).
Sorry for the long convoluted story, but I just wanted to empathize with you. Living with seizures is not easy.
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Labor union > min wage help job (workforce, laborforce type companies) > do the best you can while on shift > next time that GC needs help and sees you, youll be selected > repeat 2-4 times and ask for a job.
Youre now a tradesman.
My father was homeless (by choice) and the above method made him a regional choice for drop ceilings and eventually very wealthy. But not before eating shit for a few years and living in his long boy dodge 3000 van.
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$20hr+ at Chick-fil-A bet.
If you can do Technician related work:
HelloTech & Field nation pay proper. I stack Technician work with my Security work presently and found a nice balance. Consulting and websites too. It’s been nice to stack multiple revenues.
If you can do Software related work:
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It really isn’t. Even on meds, I think I have seizures. I wake up tingling, numb, and I wake up SUPER SUPER TIRED EVEN AFTER 12 HOURS OF REST. And I barely do anything, which Im trying to change but I wanna get MOTAvated. And I need income and to keep those around me worry free about me.
(I was diagnosed 7/5/2023 and my last seizure was about 3/5 weeks ago Grand Mal Seizures)
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Nobody truly understands how hard it is to live with seizures. I personally get grand mal seizures as well, so I will literally black out, fall to the ground and convulse. If you live alone, you’re hitting your head on walls, furniture, and the floor for sure. Waking up on the floor in a daze with a massive migraine, calling in to work to ask for more time before going in, only to be assumed to have been partying and drinking the night before even though my illness has been disclosed, medically recorded, and got me an extended 60 plant count on my CO medical card. (Btw, I don’t drink AT ALL because alcohol and benzos negatively impact seizure thresholds.) It’s really hard to be up front with a potential employer about it too because you’re just seen as a liability, so you have to hide it and avoid asking for reasonable accommodation because realistically, employers don’t want to provide that if they don’t have to.
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One of my roommates growing up struggled with seizures
He switched to a ketogenic diet after ten years of doctors trying different drugs
I believe he had good luck with it. I know he works at a pizza shop now for last like 5 years
I hope he’s happy with what he’s doing. I just can’t help but think about how lame it is that people with disabilities are always relegated to bottom-tier work.
“I have a disability, and I’m having trouble finding stable employment. I have several years of experience working in different industries; what do I do?”
“McDonald’s is hiring! Do doordash! Walmart!”
It’s a little demeaning. Not to say the people working those jobs should feel bad about it, because they literally have the saintly patience to deal with rude customers on a daily basis. It takes real skill to deal with and I think it creates a large and versatile set of skills, but I think those jobs should be there for people who need work experience, not people who have been working since they were teenagers, who have already worked a career. I think it’s unfair to assign people with a disability to those positions, what a waste of potential talent. Nobody should be stuck spinning pizzas, or working a drive thru for their entire life unless it’s what they want.
I was working 3 jobs simultaneously in CO at one point, 1 full time in CO Springs and 2 part times on my time off in Longmont (where I actually lived, Co Springs was basically 1 week per diem). Absolute nightmare. I shouldn’t have to go through that just to live on my own. I shouldn’t have to go back to Papa John’s or Babies R Us or Target or whatever to “get experience” again either. Absolutely ridiculous if you ask me. I diligently saved up a large emergency fund to avoid working those types of jobs again. I’m stubborn enough to wait it out for a job that will utilize the experience I’ve developed over the years in lieu of my disabilities or whatever else.
Sorry for the rant but that’s how I perceive the messages saying to just work entry-level service/retail. God bless the folks who do, or are essentially forced to due to their situation. I get where y’all are coming from though, because sometimes it really is the only option.
Edit: The ultimate reasonable accommodation for folks with seizures specifically is a felxible WFH job. Which we all know is a unicorn position these days, impossible to achieve unless you have 10+ exp working remote and have a BS+ in CS or something tech related. Either have to go into insane debt going back to school or work yourself to death at a physically demanding job.
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I think youre spinning it this way in your head
DoorDash is a great way to make fast money in a pinch while you find something more stable and fitting. My buddy just did it while he landed a pretty good sales job with Verizon wireless. Im very surprised at the commission you can make with Verizon, it can really stack up if youre good at your craft.
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Folks with seizures should not be driving. That’s my main point against the driving jobs, specifically for seizure patients. Though, I do agree there will be companies that treat their retail/service employees well. My frame of reference is definitely skewed since I’m in a rural area with a lack of real work unless I drive 2 hrs out.
I’m definitely projecting right now lmfao, I recognize that. When happyfeet mentioned seizures, I just got flashbacks, in combination with this being the hardest year to find employment for me, I just started going off. So I apologize.
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Shit is very expensive right now I would say that it is nearly impossible to live on your own self sustained with perfect health, never mind with medical issues so I can’t imagine how difficult it is to be in them shoes
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Sheeesh, that’s no lie. Definitely the reason why I’m still with my parents after moving back from WA last year, I’m proud of myself for being able to live on my own for 6 years at least, but rent going up to $1850 for a 1bed was the last straw. My other option is to move in with my sister and her family and build a little cabin on her land hahaha. It’d at least be closer to civilization and job opportunities than my current situation.
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Exfuckingxactly
Those delivery jobs are hot ass. Plenty of times you end up making like $5 an hour when nobody tips and you don’t get compensated for gas, and get punished by the app if you don’t take every delivery they throw at you, even if it’s a 50 mile round trip for $11. Need to be running multiple apps at a time to even make $10 an hour. And after you start eating the food occasionally they act like it’s a big deal and ban you from delivering ever again.
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I think he did it for a month or 2 while he was applying to other jobs. Got a security guard job standing around then upgraded to the Verizon sales job
Maybe theres hope out there?
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Security is good money. Just gotta have the clean record. Same for Uber.
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