Sad songs say so much

This is literally the most depressing thing I've ever experienced: Last night, at 2 a.m., I was being driven home in a car service from work by a very chatty older gentleman. His car smelled like an airplane and stale cigarettes at the same time (though you don't really find those two smells together anymore) and he was clearly hard of hearing, but he was nice and when he tried to engage me in conversation, I felt like I should play along, even though I was so tired that I could barely make words. So, he looks back at me and says, "Writer?" And I was like, "Yeah! How'd you know?" And he says, "When I pick people up from your company I can always tell if they are an art director or a writer or a sales representitive. I think it's because I used to work in advertising." I should have been content to leave our conversation at that, but I didn't want him to think that I was a writer for this company, because really I'm just a lowly fact-checker (well, among other reasons). So I explained that I was a freelance writer who just worked "here" as a fact checker to suppliment my income. And my driver goes, "Oh I went to journalism school! I used to write for a newspaper too, but then I left when I realized there was no money to be made in it!" Now, not to be snobby, but this guy drives a car for a car service! But, he's right, I'm SURE he makes more money than I do. How fucking sad is that? I saw my whole life flash before me: Am I going to end up a grizzled old lady driving a petty cab, stomping on the dreams of young, hopeful writers?