In Lemmy, subreddits are known as communities. You join a community by its name, for example !mycommunity. Do a search for that community, click on the search result, and you’ll be given an option to subscribe. Note that the search might come up as 0 results even though you got the community name right. It’s just taking longer to find the community.
Your experience is the exception rather than the rule. It’s been shown that rags to riches is a myth perpetrated by capitalism. At one time I had your level of success. It was all taken from me when I became disabled. As a Canadian, you have the distinct advantage of at least some social welfare assistance whereas your neighbor to the south has virtually none.
I wish I could remember the place my Chicagoan friend took me to but it was great. In my area on the east coast we have a chain called Pizzeria Uno which has a reasonable facsimile of Chicago deep dish. But nothing beats Chi-town’s sourdough deep dish pizza!
Get an advanced education, work harder, never be the one to say, “That is not my job” was the worst advice I could ever receive. I got into debt and was abused and exploited by my employers.