# I never want to be NEET again.



## devitalized (Oct 28, 2015)

Last month I finally got a job after a four year stint of doing absolutely nothing with my life. The shameful agony of being a mid twenty-something living essentially as an overgrown child drove me into a desperate struggle to find work. 

I thought it would be impossible. I've been to school off and on for the past several years but hadn't been actually employed anywhere for at least eight. I thought having such a gap in my employment history would basically be the equivalent of having multiple felonies, damning me to a life of total and utter uselessness. 

So I started volunteering everywhere I could, furniture stores, thrift stores, food pantries, etc. I didn't think of or even care about getting a job at that point, I just had to do SOMETHING. I was so sick of playing video games all day and watching TV that my intense anxiety was not enough to prevent me from getting out of the house like in the past. After about a month of doing this I applied for a job at one of the places I was volunteering. The time I spent working at other places, along with a story about some medical issues I was having (I didn't lie, just embellished a little) enabled me to explain the gap and get my foot in the door so to speak. I felt paradoxically afraid and relieved that I had finally gotten a job.

I suck at my job by the way. Shockingly my coworkers seem to like me, even though I have a strong suspicion they all think I have the IQ of a piece of glass. I have to drive a forklift sometimes and holy **** it's a miracle I haven't destroyed anyone or anything with it yet.

I never want to be NEET again. You feel like a subhuman pile of ****, and nobody has any sympathy for you because they assume you're lazy. It makes me mad when I hear people with jobs openly wish that they could sit around and play video games all day. Yeah, it's great for like the first three months or so, but once you start to witness your life pass you by, with all of your peers achieving things and becoming adults while you rot in near isolation, it isn't so much fun. Honestly selfishness is the only thing that helped me get out of this slump. For the first time in my life I didn't care if I ****ed things up or if people rejected me, I couldn't stand being locked up by myself another year.

NEET = Not in Education Employment or Training for those that don't know. I'm American but I like the British acronym (also tendies).


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## SmartCar (Nov 27, 2011)

devitalized said:


> Last month I finally got a job after a four year stint of doing absolutely nothing with my life. The shameful agony of being a mid twenty-something living essentially as an overgrown child drove me into a desperate struggle to find work.
> 
> I thought it would be impossible. I've been to school off and on for the past several years but hadn't been actually employed anywhere for at least eight. I thought having such a gap in my employment history would basically be the equivalent of having multiple felonies, damning me to a life of total and utter uselessness.
> 
> ...


Yeah, I get that ..I'm gradually trying to recover from a similar situation, I'm impressed you've come thus far ..many people aren't as lucky, & yeah it's not a great way to live :no it's definitely not a good pile on top of Social Anxiety.


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## EmotionlessThug (Oct 4, 2011)

I'm a Neet who work online and read science books all day. I fill out job applications, and never received any calls from the Hispanic Wal-Mart. I was forced to be a Neet, because my education system misplaced me into special ed as an African American and got me left back twice in school.

I blame the governments and their crappy artificial intelligence for pulling an NHK anime and Menace II Society on me.


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## twitchy666 (Apr 21, 2013)

*An inner loop*

of grandiose outer, global, universal, planetary state of recession 
with nothing offered, nothing available, no supply, no resources

spreading disease of human being production

every person on their own private circle of needs & loss: (each employer, company, political party, each politician), their family


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## Cool Ice Dude55 (Jan 7, 2014)

Wow Op thats a great success story you've got there. Congratulations. you've done yourself proud. well done


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## devitalized (Oct 28, 2015)

Cool Ice Dude55 said:


> Wow Op thats a great success story you've got there. Congratulations. you've done yourself proud. well done


Thanks a lot man I appreciate it.


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## HellCell (Jul 8, 2014)

Having been both sides, I agree. Although, I've never been in the NEET state for longer than a month. Your description of the rot inside and the motivation that'll eventually surge is spot on.

My stubbornness has seriously held me back in life. I remember one of my teachers upping the ante on a test once saying something to the effect of "Okay, I'm raising the points on the test, if you fail you can drop down 2 letter grades. Sometimes you just need a bigger fire lit under your bum to pull you out of your mess."


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## Shinobi1001 (Aug 28, 2012)

I liked being a NEET more. Before I got a job, I was comfortable living in my room, never leaving for months at a time. Now that Ive had a job for about a year, I've been obsessed with getting a girlfriend, and fitting in. The anxiety has crippled my health too. I wish I could go back to living in my own bubble.


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## SilentLyric (Aug 20, 2012)

devitalized said:


> I suck at my job by the way. Shockingly my coworkers seem to like me, even though I have a strong suspicion they all think I have the IQ of a piece of glass. I have to drive a forklift sometimes and holy **** it's a miracle I haven't destroyed anyone or anything with it yet.


haha, I can relate to this so much. I've found that overthinking and being too anxious can make you drive worse, I just try to react naturally and not go too fast. keep my eyes open even if I don't think anyone is there.


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## devitalized (Oct 28, 2015)

Shinobi1001 said:


> I liked being a NEET more. Before I got a job, I was comfortable living in my room, never leaving for months at a time. Now that Ive had a job for about a year, I've been obsessed with getting a girlfriend, and fitting in. The anxiety has crippled my health too. I wish I could go back to living in my own bubble.


I feel like that sometimes too, wanting to return to my bubble. It's like an addiction. You get instant relief from anxiety at the cost of lost opportunities in life. I hope your health situation improves.


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## yellowpages (May 16, 2012)

Very well done on getting out of the NEET lifestyle. I've been there--I was unemployed for 3 years straight from 2011 to 2014, and I know how difficult it is. Like you, I started off volunteering to try and get my foot in the door. Eventually, I found work and now I'm at uni (teacher training course), so things have turned out okay for me. All I can say is, keep working hard and building a better life for yourself.


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## likeabrickwall (Oct 29, 2015)

If you were going to school, you technically weren't a NEET. But I hear you, the last six months of my life were spent doing nothing. Before that, my record was 3 months which I guess isn't that bad. You really do start to feel like the most useless person around. I have a job interview next saturday and I REALLY hope it goes well. I might sign up for some 8 week online courses from my local CC as well.

Hope things keep looking bright for you OP.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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