During the pandemic, it took me about 8-9 months from the time I was fired as a librarian, after 8+ years of loyal service to the University, to find a new job. No one was hiring, and the government appeared hellbent on killing as many people as possible, whether through anti-vaxx rhetoric or by failing to provide financial support to their citizens in the same way that other countries did. I was forced to rely heavily on credit cards to survive by only receiving $800 under Trump, $600 under Biden, and $120 per week in unemployment benefits (which were inconsistent and dependent on filing weekly and conducting a job search through their Web 1.0-era portal).

I want to emphasize that the only non-essential purchase made in 2021 was MFF. Going through my statements now, it's just groceries, two mortgage payments on my credit cards because my savings ran out, some medical expenses (medications, copayments, pre-Lasik dental and vision), and so on. When Boomers yell at anyone under the age of 40 for our "extravagant lifestyles" and why we're so in debt, I'd like to point out that it's not "avOcAdO tOaSt," but rather things like my government failing me personally during a pandemic. I was expected to live for a year on a one-time payment of $600 and unemployment benefits of $120 per week; some weeks, the payment was denied or reduced, and I never understood why. "WFH" was not an option for me; there was simply no work available that required me to be present at a facility in person, my main skill-set. The Boomers have suffered no hardship like what they have caused every subsequent generation with their selfishness and incompetence, and blaming anyone but themselves for the messes they consistently create today is disgusting, but I expect nothing less from a generation raised eating lead paint chips. Death is far too satisfying a release. History must remember their selfishness, lest we become as bad as they were.

And yet... Despite everything, I made it. So I went to MFF, which was my only break from everything in 2021. And I was disturbed by how some people utilized their time there: total introverts who went to a large social gathering only to remain locked in their hotel rooms or on their phones in the corners of parties, unable to talk to anyone else; people who only went to have sex because the only way they get laid is at furry cons; long stretches of boredom at LineCon where the expectation is that you hang out with friends and fill the time yourself, located on the outskirts of a city I was unable to explore at the time because the whole trip was incredibly expensive.

To be fair, I believe we all experienced some social shock from being cooped up for the previous year and a half. But when I did talk to people, I was surprised at how similar many of them were: aimless, hurting, self-medicating with weed and alcohol, among other drugs, and angry about how things had turned out. They had accepted their fate. Things were not going to change, and life would always be "Like this," with the con being their escape from it all. I recognized aspects of myself I did not like in these various people, and resolved to change. MFF changed my life by being a boring cash-suck filled with people that disturbed me, and I can't thank them enough.

In retrospect, 2022 was more about personal development than anything else, but the debt always loomed over everything, limiting my options for my future. I sought to be debt-free, asap. To address this, I worked for 6 months this year at three companies, waking up at 4:30 a.m. every day to open a gym, biking eight miles to a restaurant gig from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., and either going back to the gym to close from 6-11 p.m. or going to a pizza-making job from 6-10 p.m. I'd been hopping from job to job all year, but that was the most consistent period until I got my current position as facilities operations manager at my gym. I was clearing the debt, but at a terrible cost with regards to lost time with friends and family, and how I gained nearly 40 pounds from stress eating in a single month, which was a clear indication that I needed to slow down. Overall, I make much less money currently, but I am much happier with the slower pace of life, which allows me to spend more time with my friends and partners. During those six months, many people missed me, but they all understood that it was something I had to do.

This is a celebration of my personal progress and being (mostly;pandemic-era) debt free (minus things like my mortgage and Lasik payments lol)! That's why I commissioned  fangsboi to assist me in celebrating my freedom. I simply could not continue my education or hobbies without financial help, which was hindered by this debt. But by getting through it, I learned a lot about myself, and I have no regrets. I maintain that I did nothing wrong but dared to live at a time when the Republicans wanted all undesirables, us included, dead. I did nothing wrong other than try to survive, and I will continue to do so in the future solely to piss them off. We are all clearly at the end of *something*, whether it is "Late-stage capitalism," democracy, or something else. We are clearly approaching the end of something monumental. Nothing is sustainable, and I beg for the current order to collapse and be replaced by something progressive and socialist as soon as possible. Things will get worse before they get better with the billionaire class in charge, but I have never been more hopeful that we will see something far better in the near future because the current order is simply so stupid that it cannot sustain itself.

But I also accept that the same people I met at MFF last year are more the rule rather than exceptional. I took part in the George Floyd protests in Boston in 2020. I used to bike in bottled water from Somerville because the Rite-Aids and Walgreens near Boston Common and Franklin Park stopped selling it "to prevent vandalism"; in reality, it was to starve out the protests. I learned two things that have been reinforced repeatedly since: slacktivists suck (unrelated, but still), and changes to the status quo are deeply unsettling to the majority. The Letter from Birmingham Jail has aged like fine wine, but most people would rather swallow anything else than acknowledge an unpleasant reality.

For the time being, this is my silly victory piece. In truth, an annualized bill arrived yesterday, and I still have about $150 to pay, so I won't be posting the NSFW variant on my profile right away, as it feels "Untrue" to do so right now. I also do not include my mortgage payments as debt because they are an asset separate from what I was working on clearing, hence the little sign by TK's foot; nor do I include my Lasik payments from earlier this year. But I can assure you that all pandemic-era debt has been paid in full, and that is what I am celebrating.

Werewolf Dab!!!!