My experience in life has been so totally different growing up in small town southern Illinois. Where you are lucky to get a factory job and most struggle to do even that. Growing up the municipality seemed to fund it's self by marijuana busts of teenagers. At 18yrs old in 1998 working at a printing press 82hrs a week for $500 after taxes, because the illegals were willing to work 16hr shifts. I discovered I could sell weed to my buddies and make more than working 82 hours a week.

This created a cycle of in and out of prison. I would get out and find no job within an hour drive radius, after maybe 6 months of that I would give up on life and be forced to go back to selling drugs.

After 25 yrs my father was corporate downsized out of his factory job but was playing with fur taming on the side for several years before that. He was luckily able to turn that into a thriving business doing the tanning for the surrounding taxidermists. Once I got out the 4th time in 05 I joined in and really upsized his business. That changed everything.

I got lucky and bought a mobile home for $3k with just a $60 a month lot rent. And now do better than most of the people I grew up with. At least the ones that stayed in this area. But I work enough to be comfortable and no more. As long as I get by and have enough to build some motorcycles and hotrods on the side. I had the cops drag off my last girlfriend and have since given up on that headache. Life has been very stress free ever since.