My dad lost his job at a tech company in the early ‘00s. He took manual labor jobs rather than miss a single child support payment. He never expected anyone to blow smoke up his ass, but he did teach me about the kind of person and parent I want to be. I expect people to at least attempt to support their kids.

I was so afraid that when i got to the comments there would be people defending this crap. Thank you for this!

Came here to say this. Dude, become a plumber. You’ll make 60k a year. Obviously writing was a failed fantasy.

idk; personally, i dont think the article was that well written.

Yeah, I didn’t want to say it because I don’t like to be mean. But he’s... not a very good writer.

I seem like a parent who is responsible for my kids, who was raised by parents that took their own responsibilities seriously.

So the first time you actually have a parent of color write a parenting article for jez and you choose a black man who won’t pay child support.

This reads as one huge whine from this man. So many eyerolls.

Seriously! This guy sounds like a total asshole. Get a fucking real job that pays, man! You don’t even have to give up your writing to do so. Or even if you do, it sounds like you’re not giving up much. Support your fucking kids.

Before I saw the skin color of the writer, I was going to write a post about keeping your twigs n’ berries wrapped, but then the photo gave me pause. Would the comment be considered as racist based on the skin color of the writer? But I’ll try anyway.

No I saw that too but that’s like two things. You telling me the ONLY non-writing jobs he could get was UPS or pot farming? If true, then fine I guess. But that’s not what he says. He doesn’t say he’s been sending out 50 resumes a week to regular jobs and can’t get hired. He just mentions writing and these two random…

Seriously, fuck this dude. I don’t give a fuuuuuccccckkkk how hard it is in your industry. Does that mean your kids won’t need to eat until you get your shit together?

I’m probably being a huge asshole but I have trouble understanding how the non-custodial parents not paying child support are the victims here.

Get a real fucking job. Better yet, get two! You have the time because your kids don’t live with you!. You are a grown ass man, and the fact that you call yourself a writer does not excuse you from being responsible for the lives you created.

Off to a meeting but I’ll be back for the comments soon!