Can't help with the vendor unless you can provide more details.

But WRT the metaphor, yes, you most certainly can "skip class." Suffering is a state of mind. Live in the present and the impossibly large debt, the cancer diagnosis, the cheating son-in-law all drop away.

Consider school children. Mostly they live in the moment and can find joy when they're not bothered by us adults. Let them be our teachers, guides and mentors.