Fear. I waited tables for 12 years out of the 17 years I was a teacher. I always heard how bad being a server or working retail was, so I never let it be more than part-time. But then I'd think, but I make $500 in 2, 5 hour shifts on the weekends. So, I started working more on breaks and tracking what I made, and it was more than teaching in 30 hours a week. So I decided in September of 2022 that it would be my last year and I didn't renew my contract for the current school year. There was a time period where I was working friday, sat, sun and make a grand, then have M-Th off. I'm not doing that now because I wanted a weekend day off, but I can if I want. I know many people teach because they want to spend time with their kids , but what other job can you make $1k and only work 3 days a week? And yes I have health insurance, we close at 10pm, and I put money in a Roth IRA. I'm no saying what I do would work for eveyone, but I'm encouraging people who are miserable teaching to look outside of the box. You never know what you'll find!