By now I think it's actually more of an asset to have lived through such a "surprise" than something unfortunate. I remember my mom always telling me about her work in a sausage factory before she became a teacher and me thinking something like "hell no, I won't even start like this". Then I messed up my university studies big time and in a lucky shot - born from the threat of imminent homelessness - started my career in 24/7 customer service. By hard work and some luck, I eventually found a back door into engineering at that company, ending up as CTO only 6 years later. I'll never forget the lessons of sitting alone through night shifts though for the rest of my life and it's just such a great way to recall some gratitude and humility whenever I need it.