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Some were short, some tall and handsome. 100 IQ sounds about right, maybe less.
I'm not American so maybe it's different there, but it's not that hard to save up a few grand on minimum wage over the course of a year. If you're willing to work in a bar or something you can probably even find a job at your destination.
It is a very interesting idea and perspective. My problem with it is simply I look at my high school (different that most people here, although perhaps yours was similar, bottom 50% public school in the state, high hispanic population ~30%, no blacks really, a couple Indian families) and I very much see the problem described here. There were plenty of guys like me that went away to college and never returned. More girls than guys went to college, and thus also didn't return. The guys remaining either went military or some sort of low paying gig. Well, there are also the drug dealers. But the smarter, non college, non military, went into trades, mostly mechanics and carpentry. They seem fine. But its the ones that are more in the service sector that fall into the non-dating non-marriageable pool. They could probably save up enough money to quit and go abroad, but probably couldn't figure out how to obtain non-hotel/touristy housing, which would be necessary for an extended stay. Also, a 6 month gap on the resume would indicate to most of the employers that the guy went on a drug bender (which would be true for most instances) and they'd thus have to re-start at a super low rung with unstable hours. And I don't have much faith in them figuring out how to navigate the spousal visa process. Certainly hiring an attorney to help would also be a fairly extreme financial stretch.
This is not the case. I did 6 months travel in South America (no drugs) in my early 30's while in a very professional career with zero impact. My boss wished me well and my job was available on my return. Not the US though.
That is the huge difference. The people I am talking about are your Amazon warehouse workers, doormen, marginal salesmen, stockers, etc. Basically those people who are in the "be a warm body" positions. There is a path for almost all these people to a decent living. You just need to keep at it, because, like I've seen with so many kids from my high school, your competition will lose ground by going on a bender and being chronically late and end up with a resume gap, which ends up being a full reset to your progression. If you just start at an Amazon warehouse at 18 and work straight through to 26, you will be making decent wages by then. And probably be a manager soon enough, hell, they will pay for your night class associates (and its not just Amazon, they basically followed the wal mart model with a twist). But you can't take 6 months off at any time during the buildup unless you are doing it at a college with knowledge from the bosses who want you to get a specific degree so the HR lady won't pester them when they promote a "high school educated white man" to manager at age 27 (the HR ladies being both racist and classicist in these ways).
Even in early trades you need to be super locked in because a lot are controlled by ludacris union rules, even in states where unions are officially optional. Basically, because so many people in your area fall into bad habits, to succeed you just need not to, but also APPEAR to not to. And a big resume gap looks like doing meth.
Eh, the bar's probably much lower in the trades than as a big-corp drone (Amazon, Walmart, etc) -- "do you blow your whole cheque on crack and not show up for 3 days every two weeks, or is it only sometimes" is not an outrageous interview question.
Assuming some competence, nobody would blink at "I took six months off to travel in SE Asia" other than that they might tease you for being a perv -- which you could easily counter with "that face when u have no hot Asian wife".
Saving the money to actually do this would require some discipline, but shouldn't be impossible -- apprenticeships are paid, and funding for the school part is readily available.
It is, but the trades are actually quite skilled work. If you are good, you are as irreplaceable as it comes.
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I can completely see that if you haven't locked in a journeyman trade or are not established in your career that it would set you back.
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Maybe I'm putting too much weight on my social experience here, but when I think of "guy who can't get a girl" I imagine someone making decent-but-not-great money in IT or business (say $45,000 a year) who's just a bit of an introverted loser. That kind of guy can definitely say "fuck it, I'm going to do a one month CELTA course and move to Manila", and if their lack of romantic success is the main source of pain in their life, they probably should.
I know those people as well, and frankly they are not nearly as bad off. Those are the guys who often need to realize they also are engaging in excessive expectations. They want to get girls by swiping right and taking her to an Applebees. But if you see the real real. The bottom 30% of the White/Hispanic males, theres nothing for them. They make their $15-22/hr, now typically at an Amazon warehouse or the like, and if they keep at it, they will move up slowly. But they really need to keep at it.
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