I work in a call center (voice training nightmare mode) and live in a red state.
The job has driven me to being put on suicide watch a couple times but I can't quit and do something else like I desperately need because my entire resumè is sales & customer service and I get paid well for the job I do.
I'm feeling helpless about it and I've been spiraling for years now over my general place in the world as an extroverted trans woman who presents hyper-feminine despite my passions...
I love working on cars but bigots run the shops, the communities, and the events.
I would love to learn welding, CNC, machining, etc. but bigots run all the shops.
I would love to become a handywoman but I can only afford to live in folksy Midwest places where my only clientele would be bigots.
I love blues music but I can't go enjoy a show without bigots glaring at me the whole time. I also used to be a touring musician (guitar) and stopped mainly because it just feels pointless with no one to play with or for.
My local queer community all hate one another because we're all under constant pressure from bigots and can't help to take that anxiety & frustration out on each other.
Every week I wear my voice out talking for 8 hours a day in "girl voice" and have to use my relaxed, low voice around my family and singular friend. That's outside of being yelled at for stuff that's not my fault on a daily basis,
being passed over for promotions because I refuse to be inauthentic, and all the normal corporate BS that I have become irredeemably antagonistic toward at this point.
It's all driven me into a soft seclusion with my partner and my best friend who's moving away soon and
I just feel so... not myself. Not alive. Not living the life I need to live to have any sort of joy. Not a part of something I feel at home & worthwhile within.
My dream job was mechatronics, and at this point I refuse to take the risk on 4 years of college debt to come out the other end to AI replacing most of the starter jobs I could get and being stuck in corporate hell for the leftover ones I could eke into.
So my next "dream" job is flipping wrecked sports cars, but I need tons of money to start and survive the lulls.
And yeah, I'm good with tech. I run a pretty complicated homelab. I know the fundamentals of coding, ops, admin, etc. I could be the stereotypical trans girl in tech. But again, I just can't handle the corporate BS.
I just... I don't know what to do. I see fantastic mental health professionals who have done a lot for me but we're at the point now where the only thing that will help is a fundamental shift in my practical circumstances. And that's just not going to happen without a miracle, I fear.
I don't know if this post is venting or a cry for help so any replies are welcome. I'm so scared of what's coming next for me and for trans folks in-general and it make my life feel so pointless nowadays; like anything I could do for myself is just throwing resources into a bottomless pit.