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This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Gregory Brooks, a 57-year-old based in Rochester, New York. It’s been edited for length and clarity.After reluctantly resigning from my technology services job at a community college in May, I was terrified to be out of work.I’m not a young guy…
The US Navy is looking for temporary housing options for sailors that could put thousands of them in hotels, RVs, prefabricated units, temporary “man-camps” or even houseboats as it searches for places to house troops during a yearslong effort to overhaul aging barracks.The service announced its search for “practical and…
Five months after packing two giant suitcases and boarding a one-way flight from Wisconsin to Los Angeles, my boyfriend told me he was leaving the city I had relocated to for him.In just a moment, I realized I was alone in one of America’s biggest cities, wondering if I had…
When I was 20, I spent a summer working as a maid, cleaning houses.The hours were long, the pay was terrible, half the day was spent in traffic, and the work was frequently unappreciated by our clients.But the job did have one excellent benefit: I learned a lot about cleaning…
Growing up in a small Midwestern city, I always dreamed of moving to a place like New York or Chicago after graduating from college.I wanted to be at the center of everything that made these places so appealing, from the endless entertainment options to the seemingly abundant career opportunities.Yet after…
On Christmas Eve, December 24, 2025, at 41 years old, I found myself in bed, lying to men about where I lived.Well, sort of.Earlier that night, while my teenage kids were getting ready for bed, I scrolled through TikTok, pausing on a video from a woman who manually changed her…
