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The story
“I’m a 43-year-old NEET who wants to turn his life around” — this advice thread, posted on 5ch’s freewheeling “Anything Goes” live-discussion board, drew a mix of responses: some pushed for concrete action, others were flatly dismissive. While posters living with chronic conditions like back pain and acid reflux pointed out that they still manage to hold down jobs despite the same ailments, others kept firing back with “what exactly counts as a ‘turnaround’ anyway?” — and the conversation never quite found common ground. Mixed in was one resident’s report of going from ten years as a NEET to landing a full-time job at 38, making for a thread with surprisingly uneven temperature for its subject.
What people said
Can't — I've got chronic back pain.
Ever think about actually trying to fix it?
"Can't because of this, can't because of that" — at that rate, a turnaround was never in the cards to begin with.
I'm in the middle of treating it.
I'll think about it once it's healed.
If you want an ordinary life, go work.
I've just been lost in thought this whole time.
Even just landing a cute, charming girl around 20 would be enough for everyone around you to think you'd turned your life around.
Like what, specifically?
Stuff about the future, mostly.
Come back once it's healed.
What kind of thoughts about the future, exactly?
The positive kind, or the negative kind?
So you can't even do something like stocking shelves at a supermarket?
I'd bet not moving around just makes it worse.
I've got chronic back pain too, and I work just fine.
Why would I need to say that?
Because you guys are acting all high and mighty.
Nice, you actually did it.
Did you hear a message from god or something?
That's genuinely impressive.
You did well.
I've got constant nausea from acid reflux,
a weak stomach from IBS, and chronic back pain on top of it —
and I still manage to work.
If you don't want to be called a loser, you can work.
If you're aiming for a turnaround, you need to actually earn money.
Can you guys not hold an actual conversation?
You can get it after about 5,000 hours of studying — assuming you're even eligible to sit the exam.
What do you think it is?
Background and Key Points of the Debate
This kind of “NEET life-advice thread” is a long-running staple on 5ch, and as one poster (reply #47) put it, the format has “been around for 30 years.” What split opinion in this thread was the very definition of a “turnaround.” Some argued that simply working and living an ordinary life counts as a turnaround, while others set an extreme bar, insisting nothing short of reaching “Elon Musk levels” would qualify — and with no shared premise, the discussion never really converged. There was also a gap in tone over how far health issues should be accepted as a valid reason not to work: when the OP cited chronic back pain as an obstacle to employment, other posters living with the same condition pushed back, noting that they manage to work despite it. This piece leaves out posts that were purely personal insults or bait aimed at the OP, but it’s worth noting that encouragement and mockery were running side by side throughout the thread.
*This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (“Anything Goes” live board) thread “43-Year-Old NEET Here, I Want to Turn My Life Around.”
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