My loneliest summer as an entrepreneur

I shoved my way through a garage filled with gamers to get to the bar at the brewery. It was video game night and the space was lit up with all kinds of vintage computers and gaming machines but I wasn't there to play games. I was there to talk to the taproom manager about a job.

I sat down at the bar next to this guy named Anthony. Anthony, I would learn later, worked for the city repairing sidewalks. He had worked for the city his whole life. His dad worked for the city too. Anthony had union wages. Predictable hours. A house. A pension. A TikTok account that was just for fun.

I wondered what that was like.

I didn't get the job at the brewery but the taproom manager took pity on me and gave me a free beer while I talked to Anthony about what it was like making a stable living.

The reason I had applied in the first place wasn't really about money. I had just quit working for tech companies which famously pays pretty well and making part time minimum wage at a brewery with no benefits in California pays less than unemployment. I just needed something to do that wasn't staring at a computer wondering what I'd done wrong that led me to this dark moment.

Thus began the summer of 2021. My loneliest summer as an entrepreneur.