Up above we see "Then you start learning the Starbucks menu". Does that seem like an honest take here? Surely folks "dancing around the fundamental constraints of reality" aren't about to start whipping up frappuccinos because they failed to keep up with industry trends and plan ahead, right?

My good friend from high school has a PhD and was a published expert in a field that stopped being relevant when his company acquired another company and went with their tech.

He was laid off and unemployable in the field. He survived as a Starbucks manager and sold Herbalife for a year while getting some additional education. I was able to help him get a contract as a tech writer to get out of the retail stuff. Now he’s a director level person in a cybersecurity firm.

The one true path is obvious on message boards, but the reality is people find themselves in bad places sometimes.

I'm glad to hear your friend is doing well now. You're a good friend for helping him in his time of need like that.