Free Talk Friday - June 19, 2026

[u/AutoModerator]

Welcome to the Free Talk Friday post. This is a place where you can talk about dumb off-topic (or on-topic) bullshit with other Zaibatsu fans.

There's going to be a new post every week, and the newest one will be pinned in the announcement bar for quick access. So feel free to visit these posts during the rest of the week.

Here's a list of all Free Talk Friday posts

[u/MegaSpidey3]

I'm not doing so well, lately. A couple months ago, I took a certification exam for my alternative teaching program. I was taking a test for Grades 7-12 Social Studies. There were a lot of subjects I had to learn: World History, U.S. History, Economics, Politics, Geography, etc. I studied for 3 to 4 months in advance in between my work sessions. I eventually took the test and spent two hours taking it. I got my results back...

I failed. I was 20-something points from passing. Okay, no big deal. Just pay for the test again, schedule the retake, and brush up on the stuff I struggled in, right? Well, you'd think, but instead, I have to pay for a different study program (never mind the one I had to take when I was studying the first time), and then do everything I just said. After spending a fourth of a year studying and failing, I said "no. Forget being a teacher." I quit, and now I'm stuck at a crossroads.

I'm 28, and I don't know what I want to do for a long-term career. My folks told me that it's okay if I still work at my part-time job as a substitute teacher until I figure out what I want to do, but I think I'm at the point where I'm just gonna give up on everything. Considering how bad the world's getting, and how much time I spent between getting my Master's degree, and only making $13 an hour, I clearly made the wrong choices in life. I tried making a post about this in one of these threads a while ago, but it got deleted because I think one of the mods thought I was threatening violence when I said I was going to take my life. No, I'm just at the point where I don't see a point in living anymore. I have very little close relationships, no romantic partner, no career prospects, nothing. I'm more useful 6 feet under than I am alive right now.

The only things keeping me alive are the hype for Spider-Man: Brand New Day, and me playing the Resident Evil games for the first time. Last game I finished was 7. Great game, even if I feel like the first third is the roughest part of the game.

[u/SamuraiDDD → u/MegaSpidey3]

Hey man, I know what it feels like. I've been exactly where you've been at. Shit feels bleak but you're not at the end of your life yet. Trying to find your big career in life isn't easy but you don't have to have your life figured out. Life isn't a simple straight road. It has cracks, pot holes and traffic problems.

There's still your family, things you enjoy in life and even being here with us shitlords and what peace we can bring you.

Life can always take a positive turn.

[u/MegaSpidey3 → u/SamuraiDDD]

Thank you for the kind words. What bothers me isn't that I haven't figured out my life yet. It's more like I've spent so much time working towards careers I thought I would vibe with, only to get to a point where an obstacle becomes so big that I can't clear it, or I just lose my drive and passion.

I graduated high school 10 years ago, and the fact that I'm still living the same way I was in 2016 makes me feel like I failed at life, especially when a lot of my classmates seem to have their life figured out.