Context: I was given advice to try applying for a sysadmin position on the local train station. Sounds oddly specific, but considering where I live, this is the closest I can find to a job in IT. This advice immediately sent me into an anxiety spiral, although it took me some time to formulate why.
People are evil
Computers are not, despite everything you think of them when you struggle to find a bug. They are not. Ever1. People... sometimes.
This is Omegle, or rather, the farewell note left by its creator
The part of it that stuck with me is this:
The very nature of the Web protects my physical body, but I would like to add that it also protects my mental state. It gives me the choice to interact with people or go away, and broader, to do what I want to do, to get the thing I want to get or refuse and go look for something else.
There are, of course, people online who are not just mean but actively evil and willing to cause me very real harm (suppose, to steal my money), but even in that case, I have at least some resemblance of control over my vulnerabilities. I still have a chance to not fall for a scam or smth like that. My safety still, if not completely, depends on me2.
What does any of this have to do with the sysadmin's job?
There will be xenophobic war-brained bigots around me. It is not a possibility; it is guaranteed—I know well enough what kind of people work and live here. And for once, I will not be able to just go away.
As much as I hate living as a parasite, I am not taking any chances with this.
Edit: I know there will be a moment where I will have to get whatever job I can or die. I am not sure which option I will end up picking.
1 With one possible exception being Apple machines
2 This does not make crime on the Web any more exusable than crime in the material world