It’s wild to think about how a few lost years can follow you into adulthood.

Imagine you allowed burnout and the grief from your father’s passing to derail your teenage plans, and you didn’t realize it would cost you in the long term until it was too late.

What would you do? Would you put that behind you and try harder? Or would you continue to complain that nothing is fair?

In the following story, one young adult finds himself in this situation and can’t find a way out. Here’s what’s going on.

I Screwed Myself For Life Because I was Too Lazy as a Teen

I really did want a job when I was 14, but my parents said wait until I got my license at 16 and to just focus on school.

Well, year 16 rolled around, and unfortunately, my father passed away, which really threw a wrench in the works, so of course, I just moped for 2 years straight.

I got so lazy I started skipping school which I had NEVER done before but I almost didn’t get to graduate just because of so many absences, though my grades were actually really good considering how much I was skipping.

He’s been trying for three years now.

I’m glad I was able to finish out school with a good record, but I’m also so mad I didn’t try for a job.

Now I’m 21 and have been desperately searching for any job I could get since I was 18. The main issue, of course, is a lack of previous experience, and half of all the interviews I’ve been in ended with the employer asking what was wrong with me.

I haven’t landed a single job so far, not even a call back or anything. I wish I could go back in time and beat some sense into my younger self. I’ve even had a McDonald’s interview end after the first question, and it came out that I had no previous experience.

The whole thing is very annoying for him.

When I was younger, everyone would joke about how bottom of the barrel a McDonald’s job is, but apparently it is nearly impossible to get as an entry-level candidate now since they tend to pay much better than most places… what a joke!!

Oh, and don’t even think about mentioning hobbies during an interview! Why do employers see hobbies as red flags? It’s so dumb! As soon as they hear that you like art, they think you’re gonna flee to an art school or something the moment you make enough money.

It’s so annoying how hard you have to kiss these people’s ***** just to be able to survive. I guess I’m just gonna have to start ************ my way through these interviews like everyone else does. Really sad.

Eek! Sadly, this is probably only going to get worse.

Let’s see what the people over at Reddit think about the job market.

This person understands the issue.

Here’s a good suggestion.

For this reader, it’s about learning how to interview.

According to this reader, that’s just today’s job market.

He needs to stay positive and reframe how he answers questions in interviews.

If you liked this post, check out this story about an employee who got revenge on a co-worker who kept grading their work suspiciously low.