(1) As you all know, the Number One and universal question among adults is "So, what do you do"? or "What do you do for a living?"

(2) My truth: I have a long history of a serious mental illness. I was put on Social Security disability a number of years ago.

(3) My decision: I'm never again telling all this to any apartment manager or any apartment neighbor. Why? Because I did tell this to a past apartment manager and apartment neighbor, and the result were terrible: endless harassment, bullying, gossiping and spreading of false rumors, and vandalism. To reveal a serious mental illness to ordinary people in a low-income apartment complex is like being a black guy or a gay guy in a white supremacist biker bar.

(4) But, what do I tell my future apartment manager and apartment neighbors? People DEMAND to know what your situation is. You can't tell them nothing. WHAT DO YOU SUGGEST?

P.S. I'd much prefer to live in a cabin in the woods and have no neighbors except for squirrels and bluejays. But I can't imagine how to get such an arrangement.

P.S. I am too old to be a student.