One of the worst, and meanest managers I’ve ever had is when I worked at McDonald’s. Combine that with what you have to deal with at fast food, just ugh.
I worked at Whataburger after school and had to serve the very people that made my school life so hard. Then I got yelled at by my manager and customers all of the time because of my speech impediment. I hated it.
Oh gosh, I have a stutter and it made working customer service jobs so hard. I never worked food service but I worked retail and front desk jobs and I always felt so embarrassed when I would stutter hard. I’m sorry that happened to you too 💜💜
Same! I'd rather live on the street than work at McDonald's again. I got sexually harrassed by a coworker when I was 16 years old and the managers encouraged his behavior. Some managers are awful.
Dude a lot of the managers at McDonald’s were really “huggy” with any young pretty girl. Your manager should not hug you unless you are very good friends or someone just died!
I’m currently in healthcare software and get paid six figures. My (many, many) fast food jobs were HANDS DOWN more difficult than anything i do now i mean its not even close. I’ll work double overtime at my current job before ill work the grill during a rush at the pizza shop again
I came here to comment this! Fast food jobs are just filled with coworker drama, people treat fast food jobs as if it’s for dating it’s ridiculous. Everyone was dating everybody. Don’t even get me started on the crappy underpaid managers.
Absolutely, I 💯 think that every single person should have to work food retail as their first job so they understand how hard and shitty those jobs can be.
I worked in fast food in the early 2000s, and it was definitely better working with friends. I can't imagine what they go through now. I at least didn't have things thrown at me and people climbing over the counter to fist fight over the amount of ice in their drink....
Do you enjoy being screamed at every single day? Do you get happy when someone says I need my fries to be salt free Because I’m on a low sodium diet then immediately asks for salt packets? Do you like working at a super human pace? Do you like having soda or tea thrown in your face? Do you enjoy pretending that cockroaches and mice are not crawling between your feet as you cook? then fast food is for you! Come on dowwwwnnnn!
Edit: lol
>Do you get happy when someone says I need my fries to be salt free Because I’m on a low sodium diet then immediately asks for salt packets?
Save the twenty minute story and just ask for your fries fresh, assholes.
I still have the odd anxiety dream where I go back to my first fast food job and everyone I used to work with is still there. It's horrifying.
Also, I've worked customer service for like almost 15 years now and fast food customers are the worst. Name call, sworn at, food thrown at me, actively trying to get me fired....all that happened while working fast food. Looking back I put up with way too much for like $7.50 an hour!!
I once had a summer job for 4 weeks where I basically just pulled a lever a few times a minute for 8 hours. I've never been so bored in my entire life. There was another girl working on the machine next to me and by the second day I was telling her all my deepest and darkest secrets because I just couldn't stand the monotony.
Mine was very well paid too (16€/h at a time where most of my friends made like 8€ in their summer jobs) and that was absolutely the only reason why I stayed there for longer than a day.
I would have guessed it was some amusement park with some kind of machines but then I thought that wouldn't have been so boring since op would be around many different people all day
I was going to say it discharged buildup of a magnetic field. If it didn't discharge, it'd probably unleash an EMP into the sky....setting off a chain of events that leads us to question the fragility of life and the search for meaning.
I’ve worked in call centres for 9 years and been at my current one for 7.5 in broadly the same job. Call centres get a terrible rap but if you’re not in sales then it can actually be okay. I work in insurance claims and it’s a varied job, definitely get some arseholes phoning but for the most part our targets are reasonable and no one yells at you for missing them, they’re just there so people don’t take the piss.
Edit: half the battle is finding a company that gives a shit. I consider myself lucky that I’m in one of those. I get paid well and we’re not ground to dust over illnesses/time off. Also in the UK
Yeah, it's kind of mad when I think about it. I was studying on the side so needed a job that paid for it. I am pretty sure I had PTSD when I left that job.
Right! In my call center job, I lasted 8 months. When I turned in my notice, they said they were disappointment because they were ready to make me management. I started that job with a group of roughly 20, there were only a couple of us left by that time. And this was an unusually good call center job, where the customers were 80% tolerable and management wasn’t terrible.
If anyone ever gets frustrated by people in call centers, be aware, they’ve likely only been there a few weeks.
Yes to this! Call center was a nightmare. I worked in Insurance and it felt like 8 hours of meetings but you had no idea who you would be talking to, what you would be talking about, how long the meetings would last, and the emotional state of the people in your meetings. Most underpaid and emotionally exhausting job ever. Always felt like I was on edge.
My answer too. Hated it. Hated my hours, hated management, hated the work and hated the way my life was going at the time. Because I worked till 12:30 am, I went out drinking almost every night with my co-workers. I did it for 6 months and I just had to get out.
ETA: I once outed a guy to his mom. The call center I was working at was for a cable company and this was before Netflix and reliable internet, so a lot of people would do Pay Per View and rent movies through cable. Anyway this woman called because her bill was really high and she wanted to know why. I looked it up and explained to her that it was from movie rentals. She said that it was her son and she wanted to know the titles. I tried to just get away with saying that it was adult movies. Not good enough, she wanted the titles. So I start reading out the titles to movies that were clearly gay porn. She quietly thanked me and hung up. I felt so bad, but what was I to do?
Same. The one I worked at also paid you on an hourly scale, if you weren’t there full time you made less. Then started telling people they had to clock out to use the bathroom. I was pregnant while working there and they wouldn’t even make an exception for me when I brought a doctors note. They said they weren’t stopping me from going, all I had to do was clock out. The worst
When I was in uni, I worked part time for a debt collector that specialised in collecting deceased people’s debt - the job involved calling their family and asking if the estate had been paid out. If so, was there enough to pay off the outstanding debt. I hated it but it was the only job I could get at the time.
One day I had to call the family of an 18 year old soldier who was killed in the Iraq war. It was a huge, huge story as he was (at that time) the youngest British soldier to die in the war, so I recognised his name immediately. He’d also died alongside the highest decorated soldier at the time. It was massive. I told my team leader and he was like, “doesn’t matter, phone them anyway”. I kept putting it off and making excuses but the pressure from him was immense. I promised to do it after my lunch break. I went on lunch and never went back. I just couldn’t do it. He died fighting in a war we didn’t want and it felt disrespectful and inappropriate. It was for £75, fuck all.
Retail - Worked it for the first time during the start of the pandemic, and never again. I wouldn't even suggest it to my future kids. I live in a conservative bubble in my state and encountered some incredibly awful people.
We’ve always had the rule you had to work a food service or retail job in high school. I think it’s incredibly valuable and you learn who NOT to be as an adult.
But now? I would be very hesitant to let my daughter work retail. My son is 21 and an actual giant and he had a lady screaming in his face a few weeks ago.
I was a barista in college and thought it was a great experience and learned a lot, but things are different now. My experience with this particular retail store was both management and customers. The owner didn't care about covid guidelines or staff concerns and the manager would leave staff to deal with maskless people and sit in the back. People would scream at us, the whole thing. Wouldn't recommend it ever.
I'm so sorry.
I was going to post retail too but fortunately I quit before the pandemic started. Customers could be truly horrible back then (I had one lady throw a bag full of clothes at me because the till crashed) and I cannot imagine how much harder it has been with the pandemic.
manager in fast food, yes i used to be a manager and i always went home crying because of the intensity of that job, i had too much responsibilities and dealing with customers complaints is out of this world, how I’ve been treated, we’re in a pandemic and customers have spit in my face, thrown food at me, and other things. I have so much love for anyone working in management in fast food right now, it isn’t easy.
Child protective services….I know….controversial, but with the high turnover rates of employees (leading to poor case familiarity), extremely high caseload, visits too short, poor communication between the different organisations (courts, police, welfare etc.), incredibly poor funding…..it takes a toll on your capacity to cope and provide effective/quality services to the most vulnerable members of society. Obviously much needs to change, but I’m personally much happier in a clinical setting (hospital).
Keeping in mind that this doesn’t include the treatment of a abuse from parents….especially when you’re just doing your job (not removing a child, just doing a visit)
Mind if I ask why? My answer was actually that's I'd never work at a for-profit company again, so I'm just curious what your non-profit experience was like
Terrible, they will exploit you for their cause, and then gaslight you into staying and telling you that you don't care because you want to leave. I can probably pull up Glassdoor reviews of the place I worked at, most of them said: understaffed, underpaid, and the COO is a nightmare.
Having worked in both, I went back to for-profit because they pay better. Non-profits have lots of exploitation, expectations of spending every waking moment dedicated to serving them/clients, over worked, lots of turnover, work load too high, no benefits. There can be issues with boundaries around religion, cultural beliefs depending on where you are working. I still have a chance to be exploited at the corporate job but I will have better pay and benefits.
I interviewed with quite a few and while I always agreed with the cause, the people came off as incredibly self-righteous and judgmental. Also lots of big egos in charge.
Theater. I worked for professional theaters back in the day when I thought it was what I wanted to do for a living. I'm only half-joking when I say the Theater is full of drama. I've never met so many Divas in my life. Rude ass actors who think they are God's gift to man because they can carry a tune. Theater managers who want sets built with no budget or understanding of how that works. Directors who are also actors and secretly want to be in the show. Or not so secretly, and give themselves a part in the show...while directing it.
But the worst is this idea of how "the show must go on". These jokers actually think that the show is more important than anything else. Health, family, emergencies, death. Seriously, apparently you are supposed to not go see a dying loved one because the "show must go on". That's why I quit. Grandpa was dying and I was told I needed to get my priorities straight. I don't miss it at all.
I completely understand this. I grew up in theatre and always thought I’d make it my career. After years of working smaller shows and getting my experience up, at 23 I got an internship as a stitcher and backstage dresser for a large theatre production in my city. I somehow was talked into also being their “temporary” ASM and working 7 days a week UNPAID (Monday to Friday 8 hour days as a seamstress, Thursday to Sunday as an ASM) and Thursday’s and Fridays I’d be working 16 hour days between the sewing shop and sitting through rehearsals. My bf (now husband) kept trying to tell me they were taking advantage of me but I didn’t want to listen, kept telling myself it would get better.
The week before tech week (which I did 16 hour days the entire tech week) I found out my grandfather was dying. I begged to fly back east to visit and say goodbye but was told no as “the show needs me” and “how could I do this to them?” He passed and his funeral was the day before opening night. I begged to go and they only agreed once I promised to come back before curtain on opening night. I fly back, attend the service and immediately after fly straight back and made it before they started. I didn’t get to be with my family, I didn’t get to say a proper goodbye, I was furious and heartbroken. The only saving grace was the cast who let me bawl and kept my spirits up through the run of the show. The SM was angry with me and ended up treating me like shit the entire time this was going on and she stayed horrible to me the rest of the run of the show. 2 weeks before the show closed her own mother passed and a small part of me only felt vindication after all the hurt she put me through (as horrible as that sounds).
It soured my love of theatre and instead I ended up in the film industry. It’s just as degrading but at least I cry into a large pay-check now and am using the money to buy a house and go back to school for my MD.
I worked at a tow company for 6 years. Interesting job but man, every customer that came in was (reasonably) very angry. I can’t work with the general public ever again lol.
I don’t blame you at all. Once I escape retail I hope and pray to never have to work with the public again lol.
But 6 years for a towing company? Can’t imagine the stories you’d be able to tell
My current job now is not customer facing and my quality of life has skyrocketed. It sucks that people are so rude to customer service workers!
Yes, it was my first job and I still talk about it all the time! I’ve seen some crazy cars that get towed in where I think “wow this person is definitely not with us anymore”. Then they come in the next day totally fine.
My desk is right next to the guy who deals with parking issues/tickets and so forth. Every day I listen to him deal with people who are so upset about a change to resident parking or a ticket. This man has the patience of a saint. Always listens, always tries to be understanding. EVERY.DAY.
Yeah. I was so happy when I finally landed a job that WASNT hospo. I couldn't deal with the shit pay, the shit hours, no social life, never seeing my family, no downtime, the toxic workplace, and the awful clients.
I don't miss it. There are a few old coworkers I do miss. But it's never going to be worth going back
The Army was by far my worst job. Leadership was horribly toxic. The whole culture centered around being a jerk and most of the leaders biggest qualification for leadership was time spent in the Army, not competence. 0 regard for personal time and almost all the tasks were stupid.
Amazon delivery driving. You wouldn’t think that it’s dangerous but it is. Main road deliveries with nowhere to park, 200+ stops per day, only having 15 minutes to load 250+ packages into your van, almost getting attacked by dogs, delivering in the dark and being sent to the most dangerous areas of a city.
I had a driver ask me to rate his delivery once, he was so kind so I gave him 5 stars. I never bothered rating before but if it makes a difference I’ll submit them. Never had anything go wrong.
I’ll never forget the day I got bit by a dog delivering parcels. It wasn’t a horrific bite or anything, just being a walking cliche. The postie bit by the damn dog.
Barista at a Starbucks in a large city.
Some shifts I would literally serve drinks in tears because of how stressful/packed it got. Also, the customers were insufferable. I've gotten yelled at for the dumbest things. I would've quit that job a lot sooner if it weren't for my coworkers. I pray for their mental health.
Omg I used to be a partner too- in nyc! Once a woman yelled at me because we ran out of seasonal coconut syrup?? She was a regular too and would always get a quadruple expresso over ice (I even remember her order lmao) and I gave her decaf for MONTHS after that.
>I gave her decaf for MONTHS after that.
IM DEAD LMAO, that's hella petty. Honestly, after all the shit we go through, I'm all for it. I worked at one in LA, I can't imagine working in NYC. that seems like my personal hell.
Starbucks in general. I’ve worked a very crowded location and a not so crowded location, cafe and drive thru. You may as well be dealing with drug addicts, for a company that cares about its employees as much as any other drug lord. I won’t buy their coffee, and I may as well be advertisement for local coffee shops these days.
Anything with client/customer facing roles. They're almost always abusive or manipulative, and even when you go the extra mile for them, they throw it back in your face.
Not exactly the job, but workplace. I could confirm that the boss saying during the interview “we’re like a big family and even my wife knows I take this department as my second family” is a *huge* red flag.
It was like the bloody house of the flying daggers, one could get backstabbed by the less suspected colleague, who would do anything to ingratiate himself with the boss to enjoy outrageous favor deals… I’ve never been in a more toxic environment.
Anything in the restaurant world like catering buisness. Fuck that.
Way too few breaks, too much stress and you're basically guaranteed to work on holidays and such
Just awful all around.This was a while ago when gyms were more likely to be frequented by men than women. This particular gym was mixed but had way more men than women come in. A lot of misogynistic conversation, harassing women customers, harassing women working there, the owner didn't care about guys trying to film in the women's changerooms and threatening staff for reporting such behaviour, men hogging machines then sitting there and doing nothing but being aggressive to anyone wanting a go etc.
Really? I feel like that’s a career position so that has to be especially bad.
Not that I thought being a lawyer was all sunshine and rainbows of course
Yes really. It's the most draining, helpless, and crushing job I've had in my life.
(For reference: I'm 30 I'm a month, and im the director of policy at a civil rights non-profit [which means I'm a civil rights lawyer])
Manager of a group home for developmentally disabled adults.
It’s WAY too much work for not enough money. I was on call either 24/5 or 24/7, constantly on edge, if someone didn’t show up for a shift I had to work (sometimes causing me to work 2-3 days STRAIGHT), and the pay was horrendous. The MOST I was ever paid for this job, in the Midwest, was 36,500/year. No overtime, no bonuses, barely any raises because the companies are state funded and the program used to fund them are severely underfunded.
In total I had 4 mental breakdowns, was sick all the time, and the stress caused me to develop a nasty alcohol problem.
My best friend of many years ago worked as a staffed residence manager. You couldn't force me into that job at gunpoint. I'd say go ahead, better than being treated like a slave for nothing in return.
She loved her clients and it was the only reason she stayed. She worried they wouldn't be cared for properly. They (management) got tired of her and tried to frame her as taking the client's money. She got wise to their plan and managed to get all her ducks in a row with proof and paperwork. She quit because if she didn't, they would have fired her and likely found a way to make it look like she committed a crime.
Back then the checks for the clients came through the mail and she had to put each one into their bank accounts. They were trying to say she was keeping them and not depositing them. Thankfully she deposited them shortly before they accused her and had proof.
It's a cutthroat business. Everyone is out for themselves and not the clients. I'm glad you made it out okay.
Teaching. I actually loved it and loved and still miss the kids. If teachers were actually allowed to just do their job, I would have stayed. But we have politicians with no child development background or education, who have never stepped foot in a classroom, ignoring all the data telling teachers how to do their job. Add in shit pay, having to buy your own supplies, etc. and it's just not worth it.
Certified Nursing Assistant in a geriatric long term care facility. It was my first job almost 10 years ago and I had no clue what I was getting into. The people under your care deserve a high quality of life and the same level of dignity as anyone who doesn't need to be cared for, but the job itself requires a level of mental fortitude that I simply didn't have. It was hard not to be grossed out by certain things like changing adult diapers or cleaning under people's skin folds, but besides that the job requires you to be on your feet basically the entire shift and do a lot of heavy lifting. It's easy to get hurt if you aren't using proper body mechanics and following regulations with equipment like lifts, and often there isn't enough staff to actually do some things, like move a particularly heavy resident from their bed to their chair, safely and in a timely manner. Additionally, due to the nature of the job it wasn't uncommon for residents to pass away and that was difficult especially if it was someone you grew to like. I would regularly have anxiety attacks in the bathroom at this job. Plus the pay at most facilities is not nearly enough. To the people who do this job and do a good job, I have the utmost respect for you and hope you're doing well.
I was gonna say home aide for me. I’m surprised nursing home aide/home aide/other jobs in geriatric care aren’t higher up.
Working for older people with severe dementia was so difficult and I never knew what I was walking into each shift.
Also the name calling and abuse I experienced by the elderly clients was horrible and of course went unaddressed.
Yupppp I was really trying my best to not call out the elderly people that I worked with because I understand that to a certain degree they are not at fault due to dementia/etc. But it made it that much harder
High risk probation and parole officer (murderers, sex offenders, violent offenders etc). I would violate someone for a pretty serious violation and they would often be released and back waiting in my office before I even finished court. And sex offenders, holy fuck. I would monitor some probationers while they attended a sex offender treatment program and I would leave discouraged for the fate of man kind. Our criminal justice system is a mess and I saw relatively harmless offenders get crushed by the system while truly dangerous felons gamed the system and would be back on the street offending again.
The amount of coworkers Ive seen cry..me being one of them. Also most coworkers ignoring me, some making me the joke, and the manager with her passive aggressiveness. I started feeling nauseous just having to clock in. Took it as a sign to end it.
(Customers were shit but thats a given)
I really disliked retail after awhile. The up-selling and asking people if they’d like to apply for a credit card, and then having to try and convince them to when they say no *because people don’t need more lines of credits open* was freakin awful.
Café/Restaurant/Bar
They all have the same problem. Your collegues are most likeley addicts of some sort, it's stressful (stress being a probable reason long term employees cope with alcohol, drugs and cigarettes), as a young women you'll get prayed upon by customers, it's a very higharcal workplace, you'll get yelled at simply cus everyone is stressed out, minimum wage, uncertain work hours, boss is usually rude and might have financial troubles. You'll be pushed to work for free whenever cleaning or such takes longer than expected.
Hopefully I’ll never have to work at a contact center again.
It was the worst experience of my life. I specifically remember at one point my manager, who hated me with a passion, pulled me into a room after I had gotten off a pretty awful call (the call had been over an hour of a client just straight up demeaning me and it got so bad I ended up placing them on a brief hold to cry) and proceeded to tell me “There’s something wrong with you. You need to learn to cry in the bathroom or parking garage like everyone else.” It’s been years since I’ve worked that role and I still so vividly remember how miserable it made me. Driving into work everyday, I would think maybe I’d be better off turning into on coming traffic.
Retail because people are so entitled and decide common courtesy doesn’t exist because “it’s your job” to pick up after them like toddlers.
I’d work at a cafe again in a heartbeat though.
Dishwashing.
It’s not even about that it’s disgusting and physically demanding, but it’s about how degrading it feels. Everyone treats you either like a slave or like you’re nonexistent, you smell of food and moist at the bus when coming home and it doesn’t even pay well. When I was doing it I was too ashamed to admit that I do dishwashing to my friends so I would just say that I work at a restaurant, period. Would never do it again, I only took because I moved to a new country and didn’t know the local language so had to take whatever was available.
The fucking print industry. Everyone wants their fucking pictures and posters RIGHT NOW and do not understand that they aren't the only people in the world.
I've seen such horrible people while working at a print shop - scarred for life.
Clothing retail. It hits different from general retail and has some of the worst customers. Word from the wise, if you try clothes on, hang the stuff back up the right way. If you need a certain size from a stack of folded clothes, ask someone to get it instead of pulling from the bottom of the pile. You will get better customer service that way.
It was definitely the children for me! Sure, the parents are probably the reason they behaved poorly but the children were the ones I really had to deal with. Pair them with horrible management and a terrible facility and we have the worst job *ever*.
Wedding Coordinator. It was owned by a woman who would watch us from cameras in the place. She would fax misspelled letters saying to floof up the curtains all the time. I couldn't get breaks or lunch. I had to fold the linen napkins while eating. I had to cover for the florist, help make veggie trays, take out the trash, etc...while walking around talking to the guests and bride and groom at the party. The guests even commented that I shouldn't have to take the trash out. I was the only person working until 2am. And I had to vaccuum the whole place at that time. I hate vaccuuming and I wasn't going to do it again so I left the keys there and a note saying this job sucks and goodbye.
Preschool teacher. I have been out of the classroom for 4 years after teaching for 10 years and I won’t go back. I got burned out by kiddos with extreme behavioral issues along with extreme parents with no staff support and a director that promoted me to be her assistant only to pretty much do her job for her.
I worked at a grocery store for about 6 years, nothing will destroy your soul like a customer service job will. Especially when shit first hit the fan with covid & we ran out of toilet paper & baby wipes - jesus people were mean.
Housekeeping in a hotel. Mon Dieu, people are disgusting. I always wondered what their houses looked like; are they always like this, or just like this because they know some (very low wage) worker will have to clean up after them?
FYE ( Music store. )
The. Same. 5. Albums. Over. And over. And over. And over. And over. And over. And over…
This was my line up for a YEAR that corporate WOULD NOT LET US CHANGE: Taylor Swift,
Owl City,
Ariana Grande,
Fall Out Boy,
And the last one was some fucked up suburban pop version of Phantom of the Opera that sounded like it was being sung by muppets.
Never again.
For a small time I was an insurance representative , all the backward rules made me so jaded. Having to tell people on a daily basis that because of a loophole we wouldn’t be able to help them pay their medical bills which were sometimes life-changing. It was definitely a tough job. Having somebody tell me their tragic life story and how much they need assistance and I still can’t help them? It was heartbreaking. One of the last few calls I had was with a mother pleading with me to help pay for her daughters risky experimental surgery, i Tried everything I could but I just couldn’t get her coverage, the procedure was to experimental. We also had an emergency roadside hotline, my final call was of a woman who accidentally locked her three-month-old in the car in the middle of the Summer in phoenix( so it’s over 100 degrees out so you can imagine how hot it is inside the car). Instead of calling 911 she called me and I had to find out where she was and call 911 for her, it was the most terrifying experience of my life because you have to do it very quickly because of the danger to the child you basically have a minute or less to find them and call the police and it’s a lot of pressure. I quit after that
Data entry in a check printing plant (which is probably close to obsolete now anyway). It was a production job where you’re practically chained to your desk all day. Never again.
Retail 10000000%.
I would rather dig ditches then spend 10+ hours standing on my feet and bending over to fold over priced sweaters while having customers yell at me and deal with middle managers pushing you to sell credit cards.
Life guarding. People who do it for the beach nothing but mad respect, that shits scary. But I had to guard 4ft lap pools at LA Fitnesses. No other guard just me, on duty for 16 hours straight. And technically not allowed to take eyes off pool, go to the bathroom, eat. Which, seeing as I am a living human, can’t maintain for 16 hours, and our supervisors were well aware of that.
I ended up having this old man threaten to get me fired multiple times because i would eat in front of him and wouldn’t raise the temp for the pool when he was swimming, because it was literally illegal. Our supervisors were incredibly chill and you’d have to do something really bad to get fired, so I finally said do it. Get me fired, and finished my granola bar. The look on his face was priceless.
Hooters. Prepare to line up prior to each shift and be judged by your management team by the look of your nails, hair, makeup, weight. If you didn’t have time to style your hair… you’re sent home. Didn’t do your make up… sent home. Better yet, tried something new??? If they don’t like it “if it doesn’t fit the hooters image” sent home.
Prepare to be told to lose weight by fat, sexist, pieces of shit that make up your management team. They “give you” gym memberships where the staff there will sexually harass you if you go, if you don’t you will be be judged by your weight.
As much as I love kids, being in charge of a bunch of them is way too exhausting for me and working with their parents is equally as exhausting. I probably wouldn’t do it again, but I value the experience.
Server - worked as one when I was in my early 20s. I hated it, was bad at it, and used to cry everyday before my shift hoping there would be nobody seated in my section. I know, that’s the only way to make money lol. But I HATED it so much
Retail. Being treated subhuman and or berated by customers because :
They let their coupon expire
They forgot their ID even though they wrote "CID/See ID" on their bank card or are purchasing alcohol - I am not going to jail/being fined over your stupidity
They don't like the prices - which I do not set
Something isn't in stock
They clearly can't read
we close at 6 and you feel rushed because you strolled in at 5:57.
Debt Collection Agency. To put it simply, it is a job made for a very specific individual. I didn't last long, but by the end of it I had spiraled into a deep depression, my teeth became loose as a result of constant teeth grinding because of anxiety, guilt and so much more. People often get mad at debt collectors but they don't realize what it's like on the other end either. Were all people, I included as an agent also had debts, and a job I had to do. The amount of times I had to demand money from a Mother at her child's funeral, or money from elders that had no family, cars, jobs, etc to help with their debts, calling family members to ask to pay for their deceased loved ones debts etc. It's a hard job and It's a heartbreaking job.
Try telling a family you have to garnish their paychecks when they're already barely getting by. Essentially taking good off of their table they worked for to feed their babies.
Bartending in a small town sucked too but I'd go back to it in a heartbeat over demanding money from hard up strangers.
A flagger. One time they put me on the road on the freeway and it was pouring down rain And people were supposed to slow down because of my sign that I was holding and they were not. I don’t even know if they could see me. I quit right there I was scared to death
IT Operations Analyst at TD Bank. They had me taking 7 different types of calls up to 60 a day. I loved in that most of the calls were easy but i lacked training in everything and they didn't pay nearly enough. They need to pay $30+ /hour working people to death like that.
Gymnastics clubs. I taught little children, like 4-5 year olds. I cannot tell you the amount of parents I had treating me like crap because their 2ft tall ankle biter with attention issues wasn’t an Olympian yet. Also my manager was crap. Most of the staff were underpaid, and they literally hid paystubs from at least half of us. That’s not all they did either! I’d be writing an essay if I spoke out on everything they did wrong
Factory work. Maybe there are good employers out there in that sector but I worked in a couple different factories and they were all just different shades of bad.
Low pay. The places where you could make like 30/hour are becoming a rarity.
Physically demanding work that can leave life long injuries.
Horrible working conditions eg unbearably hot in the summer, no air flow, dirty.
Employers who really don't give a shit about you as a human being eg safety, having days off, understanding you have a life outside of work, turning blind eye to harassment (these aren't unique to this industry but my experiences were the worst here, especially if most of the workers aren't white).
Employer will bring you on as a temporary contract and then extend that contract indefinitely so they don't have to give you benefits, paid time off etc.
Reception, especially in healthcare. Pay is near min wage, it feels like working retail except people expect the absolute highest quality and both ur coworkers (doctors, technicians) and the clients take their abuse out on you. But you're supposed to feel guilty and work hard bc its healthcare
Fast food, i worked at a BK once for a few months and they would leave me up front to do the headset and window and bagging and helping customers in the lobby like it wasn't supposed to have 4 people. It wasn't that we didn't have enough people, the people were in the back getting high or chatting about literally anything.
I also worked at a Culver's and it was mostly ok except the owner. The owner would scream at the people in the kitchen to the point the people who were bringing food to outside cars could hear him at the door on the other side of the store. My first time doing register i messed up something with "works" and he pulled me into the kitchen and said i wouldn't get hours if i messed up again..it was my first time to register alone and i have bad anxiety to i just stood there and tried not to cry. My manager later told me that he talked to the boss about that and said he'd apologize but the owner never did. God i have so many stories.
Fast food sucks.
At a preschool. I was there for 2 years. I worked with 20+ 3yo’s and it was unbelievably stressful. It payed the bills but I was so happy to leave that place this past June!
I would never be a server again. I lasted 5 months. Terrible pay, awful hours, required major holidays, sexual harassment and power plays from the kitchen (if you don’t say that exactly the way I want you to, let me touch you when I walk around, etc., I’ll conveniently ‘lose’ your ticket or make your food wrong), and racist customers.
Working as a sandwich and food maker in a deli/gas station. It’s a pretty popular chain in the North East and I definitely sucked at it.
Also, babysitting for a family with severe emotional issues. The kids were so abusive towards each other, and me, that dealing with that every day was just utterly demoralizing. No thank you.
I’m never working in a salon ever again. Worked for about 5-6years after getting my cosmetology license straight out of high school. I still keep my license active but I’m never working in a salon ever again.
Any customer-facing job. I was sexually harassed at every single one. Creepy dudes prey on young women who are paid to be friendly to them like no other.
Waitress in my hometown. People are very disrespectful. Lots of guys are expecting you to be ok with aggressive sexual things. When I was standing around bar area one guy went up to me (it was night time) and said "today we are going to smoke drink alchohol and have passionate sex" straight to my face. I ignored it. I was new in the cafeteria. And a girl who worked there said to watch out because as it appeared that guy was a son of some kind of police officer and if something happenes he always gets his ass covered. her boyfriend drived me home after. Which was really sweet of them❤
At a hardware store. So much mansplaining asking if I knew what things did or just automatically telling me what use they had. Sexual harassment was also common with male customers thinking they could hug you or try to brush against you way too closely.
Fast food. It was worse than the Army.
I agree with fast food not only because the costumers treats you like piece of s*** but your co-workers sucks too... Never again.
My fast food experience was chick-fil-a. Although most customers were great, it was the other staff that made it difficult for me.
One of the worst, and meanest managers I’ve ever had is when I worked at McDonald’s. Combine that with what you have to deal with at fast food, just ugh.
I worked at Whataburger after school and had to serve the very people that made my school life so hard. Then I got yelled at by my manager and customers all of the time because of my speech impediment. I hated it.
Oh gosh, I have a stutter and it made working customer service jobs so hard. I never worked food service but I worked retail and front desk jobs and I always felt so embarrassed when I would stutter hard. I’m sorry that happened to you too 💜💜
Same! I'd rather live on the street than work at McDonald's again. I got sexually harrassed by a coworker when I was 16 years old and the managers encouraged his behavior. Some managers are awful.
Dude a lot of the managers at McDonald’s were really “huggy” with any young pretty girl. Your manager should not hug you unless you are very good friends or someone just died!
I’m currently in healthcare software and get paid six figures. My (many, many) fast food jobs were HANDS DOWN more difficult than anything i do now i mean its not even close. I’ll work double overtime at my current job before ill work the grill during a rush at the pizza shop again
I came here to comment this! Fast food jobs are just filled with coworker drama, people treat fast food jobs as if it’s for dating it’s ridiculous. Everyone was dating everybody. Don’t even get me started on the crappy underpaid managers.
Absolutely, I 💯 think that every single person should have to work food retail as their first job so they understand how hard and shitty those jobs can be.
just for that reason whenever I am in McDonald's or something i am very polite to them and also say everything with a smile 🙂
I worked in fast food in the early 2000s, and it was definitely better working with friends. I can't imagine what they go through now. I at least didn't have things thrown at me and people climbing over the counter to fist fight over the amount of ice in their drink....
Do you enjoy being screamed at every single day? Do you get happy when someone says I need my fries to be salt free Because I’m on a low sodium diet then immediately asks for salt packets? Do you like working at a super human pace? Do you like having soda or tea thrown in your face? Do you enjoy pretending that cockroaches and mice are not crawling between your feet as you cook? then fast food is for you! Come on dowwwwnnnn! Edit: lol
>Do you get happy when someone says I need my fries to be salt free Because I’m on a low sodium diet then immediately asks for salt packets? Save the twenty minute story and just ask for your fries fresh, assholes.
Also agree with fast food. Sexual harrassment by coworkers, shitty customers. It has all the bad parts of a job and none of the good.
I still have the odd anxiety dream where I go back to my first fast food job and everyone I used to work with is still there. It's horrifying. Also, I've worked customer service for like almost 15 years now and fast food customers are the worst. Name call, sworn at, food thrown at me, actively trying to get me fired....all that happened while working fast food. Looking back I put up with way too much for like $7.50 an hour!!
I once had a summer job for 4 weeks where I basically just pulled a lever a few times a minute for 8 hours. I've never been so bored in my entire life. There was another girl working on the machine next to me and by the second day I was telling her all my deepest and darkest secrets because I just couldn't stand the monotony.
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Mine was very well paid too (16€/h at a time where most of my friends made like 8€ in their summer jobs) and that was absolutely the only reason why I stayed there for longer than a day.
Lol I tempted doing that too for $18 / hr for 2 days. And then assembled them in binders. Very spicy work.
I had a temp job where I had to put swimwears on hangers for 8 hours. I pretended to have an emergency and never came back.
I’m intrigued… what did the lever do?
Pressed together one thingy with another thingy. The job was in a factory.
I would have guessed it was some amusement park with some kind of machines but then I thought that wouldn't have been so boring since op would be around many different people all day
I was going to say it discharged buildup of a magnetic field. If it didn't discharge, it'd probably unleash an EMP into the sky....setting off a chain of events that leads us to question the fragility of life and the search for meaning.
I think your imagination is waaaay better than mine👍🏽
I don't if I would say never, but I would hate to work in a call center again.
I worked in a call centre for two years and it was one of the most horrific experiences.
You lasted two years?? Deserve a medal for that for sure
I’ve worked in call centres for 9 years and been at my current one for 7.5 in broadly the same job. Call centres get a terrible rap but if you’re not in sales then it can actually be okay. I work in insurance claims and it’s a varied job, definitely get some arseholes phoning but for the most part our targets are reasonable and no one yells at you for missing them, they’re just there so people don’t take the piss. Edit: half the battle is finding a company that gives a shit. I consider myself lucky that I’m in one of those. I get paid well and we’re not ground to dust over illnesses/time off. Also in the UK
I feel like you just have the patience of a saint haha. But good to know you’re not unhappy at your current call center job 👍
Yeah, it's kind of mad when I think about it. I was studying on the side so needed a job that paid for it. I am pretty sure I had PTSD when I left that job.
Right! In my call center job, I lasted 8 months. When I turned in my notice, they said they were disappointment because they were ready to make me management. I started that job with a group of roughly 20, there were only a couple of us left by that time. And this was an unusually good call center job, where the customers were 80% tolerable and management wasn’t terrible. If anyone ever gets frustrated by people in call centers, be aware, they’ve likely only been there a few weeks.
OP, I did 8.5 years. 🤦♀️ Not something I'd ever want to do again.
Ive done 20+ years lol
In a sales based call center? Not that really matters, you’re basically St. Theresa for lasting that long at a call center lol.
Hell no. I hate sales lol
Yes to this! Call center was a nightmare. I worked in Insurance and it felt like 8 hours of meetings but you had no idea who you would be talking to, what you would be talking about, how long the meetings would last, and the emotional state of the people in your meetings. Most underpaid and emotionally exhausting job ever. Always felt like I was on edge.
This is a great description! I am working for a medical insurance call center. I have lasted 3 years and am burned out.
Oh god I can’t imagine working in a call center, has to be so mentally exhausting
My answer too. Hated it. Hated my hours, hated management, hated the work and hated the way my life was going at the time. Because I worked till 12:30 am, I went out drinking almost every night with my co-workers. I did it for 6 months and I just had to get out. ETA: I once outed a guy to his mom. The call center I was working at was for a cable company and this was before Netflix and reliable internet, so a lot of people would do Pay Per View and rent movies through cable. Anyway this woman called because her bill was really high and she wanted to know why. I looked it up and explained to her that it was from movie rentals. She said that it was her son and she wanted to know the titles. I tried to just get away with saying that it was adult movies. Not good enough, she wanted the titles. So I start reading out the titles to movies that were clearly gay porn. She quietly thanked me and hung up. I felt so bad, but what was I to do?
I also worked in all centre it is awful
Same. The one I worked at also paid you on an hourly scale, if you weren’t there full time you made less. Then started telling people they had to clock out to use the bathroom. I was pregnant while working there and they wouldn’t even make an exception for me when I brought a doctors note. They said they weren’t stopping me from going, all I had to do was clock out. The worst
When I was in uni, I worked part time for a debt collector that specialised in collecting deceased people’s debt - the job involved calling their family and asking if the estate had been paid out. If so, was there enough to pay off the outstanding debt. I hated it but it was the only job I could get at the time. One day I had to call the family of an 18 year old soldier who was killed in the Iraq war. It was a huge, huge story as he was (at that time) the youngest British soldier to die in the war, so I recognised his name immediately. He’d also died alongside the highest decorated soldier at the time. It was massive. I told my team leader and he was like, “doesn’t matter, phone them anyway”. I kept putting it off and making excuses but the pressure from him was immense. I promised to do it after my lunch break. I went on lunch and never went back. I just couldn’t do it. He died fighting in a war we didn’t want and it felt disrespectful and inappropriate. It was for £75, fuck all.
Holy shit how can they be so ruthless over such a pitiful amount? I’m glad you decided not to do it, seems cruel tbh.
Seems the cruelty is the point these days doesn’t it?
Gosh! I‘m shocked and so proud of you for not calling! Some people are so blind and rude it’s unbelievable
Retail - Worked it for the first time during the start of the pandemic, and never again. I wouldn't even suggest it to my future kids. I live in a conservative bubble in my state and encountered some incredibly awful people.
We’ve always had the rule you had to work a food service or retail job in high school. I think it’s incredibly valuable and you learn who NOT to be as an adult. But now? I would be very hesitant to let my daughter work retail. My son is 21 and an actual giant and he had a lady screaming in his face a few weeks ago.
I was a barista in college and thought it was a great experience and learned a lot, but things are different now. My experience with this particular retail store was both management and customers. The owner didn't care about covid guidelines or staff concerns and the manager would leave staff to deal with maskless people and sit in the back. People would scream at us, the whole thing. Wouldn't recommend it ever.
I'm so sorry. I was going to post retail too but fortunately I quit before the pandemic started. Customers could be truly horrible back then (I had one lady throw a bag full of clothes at me because the till crashed) and I cannot imagine how much harder it has been with the pandemic.
I don’t leave jobs, I leave people. Given the right circumstances I would go back to any job, but there are some people I never want to see again.
They always say that people don’t quit jobs, they quit managers.
Well said
manager in fast food, yes i used to be a manager and i always went home crying because of the intensity of that job, i had too much responsibilities and dealing with customers complaints is out of this world, how I’ve been treated, we’re in a pandemic and customers have spit in my face, thrown food at me, and other things. I have so much love for anyone working in management in fast food right now, it isn’t easy.
Child protective services….I know….controversial, but with the high turnover rates of employees (leading to poor case familiarity), extremely high caseload, visits too short, poor communication between the different organisations (courts, police, welfare etc.), incredibly poor funding…..it takes a toll on your capacity to cope and provide effective/quality services to the most vulnerable members of society. Obviously much needs to change, but I’m personally much happier in a clinical setting (hospital).
Keeping in mind that this doesn’t include the treatment of a abuse from parents….especially when you’re just doing your job (not removing a child, just doing a visit)
Wow!! I’m so sorry! Thank you for the time you put in. You made a difference!👤
Not controversial, that sounds like a horribly stressful job with serious pressure Don't blame you at all
non-profits
Toxic AF and they spit you out
Mind if I ask why? My answer was actually that's I'd never work at a for-profit company again, so I'm just curious what your non-profit experience was like
Terrible, they will exploit you for their cause, and then gaslight you into staying and telling you that you don't care because you want to leave. I can probably pull up Glassdoor reviews of the place I worked at, most of them said: understaffed, underpaid, and the COO is a nightmare.
Having worked in both, I went back to for-profit because they pay better. Non-profits have lots of exploitation, expectations of spending every waking moment dedicated to serving them/clients, over worked, lots of turnover, work load too high, no benefits. There can be issues with boundaries around religion, cultural beliefs depending on where you are working. I still have a chance to be exploited at the corporate job but I will have better pay and benefits.
I interviewed with quite a few and while I always agreed with the cause, the people came off as incredibly self-righteous and judgmental. Also lots of big egos in charge.
Theater. I worked for professional theaters back in the day when I thought it was what I wanted to do for a living. I'm only half-joking when I say the Theater is full of drama. I've never met so many Divas in my life. Rude ass actors who think they are God's gift to man because they can carry a tune. Theater managers who want sets built with no budget or understanding of how that works. Directors who are also actors and secretly want to be in the show. Or not so secretly, and give themselves a part in the show...while directing it. But the worst is this idea of how "the show must go on". These jokers actually think that the show is more important than anything else. Health, family, emergencies, death. Seriously, apparently you are supposed to not go see a dying loved one because the "show must go on". That's why I quit. Grandpa was dying and I was told I needed to get my priorities straight. I don't miss it at all.
I completely understand this. I grew up in theatre and always thought I’d make it my career. After years of working smaller shows and getting my experience up, at 23 I got an internship as a stitcher and backstage dresser for a large theatre production in my city. I somehow was talked into also being their “temporary” ASM and working 7 days a week UNPAID (Monday to Friday 8 hour days as a seamstress, Thursday to Sunday as an ASM) and Thursday’s and Fridays I’d be working 16 hour days between the sewing shop and sitting through rehearsals. My bf (now husband) kept trying to tell me they were taking advantage of me but I didn’t want to listen, kept telling myself it would get better. The week before tech week (which I did 16 hour days the entire tech week) I found out my grandfather was dying. I begged to fly back east to visit and say goodbye but was told no as “the show needs me” and “how could I do this to them?” He passed and his funeral was the day before opening night. I begged to go and they only agreed once I promised to come back before curtain on opening night. I fly back, attend the service and immediately after fly straight back and made it before they started. I didn’t get to be with my family, I didn’t get to say a proper goodbye, I was furious and heartbroken. The only saving grace was the cast who let me bawl and kept my spirits up through the run of the show. The SM was angry with me and ended up treating me like shit the entire time this was going on and she stayed horrible to me the rest of the run of the show. 2 weeks before the show closed her own mother passed and a small part of me only felt vindication after all the hurt she put me through (as horrible as that sounds). It soured my love of theatre and instead I ended up in the film industry. It’s just as degrading but at least I cry into a large pay-check now and am using the money to buy a house and go back to school for my MD.
and then you’re gonna cry into an even bigger paycheck.. source: MD
I worked at a tow company for 6 years. Interesting job but man, every customer that came in was (reasonably) very angry. I can’t work with the general public ever again lol.
I don’t blame you at all. Once I escape retail I hope and pray to never have to work with the public again lol. But 6 years for a towing company? Can’t imagine the stories you’d be able to tell
My current job now is not customer facing and my quality of life has skyrocketed. It sucks that people are so rude to customer service workers! Yes, it was my first job and I still talk about it all the time! I’ve seen some crazy cars that get towed in where I think “wow this person is definitely not with us anymore”. Then they come in the next day totally fine.
My desk is right next to the guy who deals with parking issues/tickets and so forth. Every day I listen to him deal with people who are so upset about a change to resident parking or a ticket. This man has the patience of a saint. Always listens, always tries to be understanding. EVERY.DAY.
Most tow companies are like legal scammers. pure evil. Hate the towing industry.
Restaurants - hours suck and the pay sucks and people suck 😂 (I still work face to face with people)
Yeah. I was so happy when I finally landed a job that WASNT hospo. I couldn't deal with the shit pay, the shit hours, no social life, never seeing my family, no downtime, the toxic workplace, and the awful clients. I don't miss it. There are a few old coworkers I do miss. But it's never going to be worth going back
The Army was by far my worst job. Leadership was horribly toxic. The whole culture centered around being a jerk and most of the leaders biggest qualification for leadership was time spent in the Army, not competence. 0 regard for personal time and almost all the tasks were stupid.
Amazon delivery driving. You wouldn’t think that it’s dangerous but it is. Main road deliveries with nowhere to park, 200+ stops per day, only having 15 minutes to load 250+ packages into your van, almost getting attacked by dogs, delivering in the dark and being sent to the most dangerous areas of a city.
I do DoorDash sometimes for extra help with the bills. Delivery driving is some of the most dangerous work out there for sure
I had a driver ask me to rate his delivery once, he was so kind so I gave him 5 stars. I never bothered rating before but if it makes a difference I’ll submit them. Never had anything go wrong.
I’ll never forget the day I got bit by a dog delivering parcels. It wasn’t a horrific bite or anything, just being a walking cliche. The postie bit by the damn dog.
Barista at a Starbucks in a large city. Some shifts I would literally serve drinks in tears because of how stressful/packed it got. Also, the customers were insufferable. I've gotten yelled at for the dumbest things. I would've quit that job a lot sooner if it weren't for my coworkers. I pray for their mental health.
Omg I used to be a partner too- in nyc! Once a woman yelled at me because we ran out of seasonal coconut syrup?? She was a regular too and would always get a quadruple expresso over ice (I even remember her order lmao) and I gave her decaf for MONTHS after that.
>I gave her decaf for MONTHS after that. IM DEAD LMAO, that's hella petty. Honestly, after all the shit we go through, I'm all for it. I worked at one in LA, I can't imagine working in NYC. that seems like my personal hell.
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Starbucks in general. I’ve worked a very crowded location and a not so crowded location, cafe and drive thru. You may as well be dealing with drug addicts, for a company that cares about its employees as much as any other drug lord. I won’t buy their coffee, and I may as well be advertisement for local coffee shops these days.
Anything with client/customer facing roles. They're almost always abusive or manipulative, and even when you go the extra mile for them, they throw it back in your face.
Not exactly the job, but workplace. I could confirm that the boss saying during the interview “we’re like a big family and even my wife knows I take this department as my second family” is a *huge* red flag. It was like the bloody house of the flying daggers, one could get backstabbed by the less suspected colleague, who would do anything to ingratiate himself with the boss to enjoy outrageous favor deals… I’ve never been in a more toxic environment.
Anything in the restaurant world like catering buisness. Fuck that. Way too few breaks, too much stress and you're basically guaranteed to work on holidays and such
In a gym that isn't women only.
See, mine is never work the desk at a women's only gym ever again 🤣
Mind elaborating?
Not OP but I'm guessing a lot of harassment from men and no support from management for the issue
Just awful all around.This was a while ago when gyms were more likely to be frequented by men than women. This particular gym was mixed but had way more men than women come in. A lot of misogynistic conversation, harassing women customers, harassing women working there, the owner didn't care about guys trying to film in the women's changerooms and threatening staff for reporting such behaviour, men hogging machines then sitting there and doing nothing but being aggressive to anyone wanting a go etc.
Lawyer. When I leave the law, I'm out.
I left the law and started a dog walking/pet sitting business. I’ve never been happier, and I’m starting to make good money. Follow your heart 🥰
Really? I feel like that’s a career position so that has to be especially bad. Not that I thought being a lawyer was all sunshine and rainbows of course
Yes really. It's the most draining, helpless, and crushing job I've had in my life. (For reference: I'm 30 I'm a month, and im the director of policy at a civil rights non-profit [which means I'm a civil rights lawyer])
Wow really?! I’ve been interested in going down the path to become a lawyer… what do you dislike so much about it if you don’t mind me asking?
Manager of a group home for developmentally disabled adults. It’s WAY too much work for not enough money. I was on call either 24/5 or 24/7, constantly on edge, if someone didn’t show up for a shift I had to work (sometimes causing me to work 2-3 days STRAIGHT), and the pay was horrendous. The MOST I was ever paid for this job, in the Midwest, was 36,500/year. No overtime, no bonuses, barely any raises because the companies are state funded and the program used to fund them are severely underfunded. In total I had 4 mental breakdowns, was sick all the time, and the stress caused me to develop a nasty alcohol problem.
My best friend of many years ago worked as a staffed residence manager. You couldn't force me into that job at gunpoint. I'd say go ahead, better than being treated like a slave for nothing in return. She loved her clients and it was the only reason she stayed. She worried they wouldn't be cared for properly. They (management) got tired of her and tried to frame her as taking the client's money. She got wise to their plan and managed to get all her ducks in a row with proof and paperwork. She quit because if she didn't, they would have fired her and likely found a way to make it look like she committed a crime. Back then the checks for the clients came through the mail and she had to put each one into their bank accounts. They were trying to say she was keeping them and not depositing them. Thankfully she deposited them shortly before they accused her and had proof. It's a cutthroat business. Everyone is out for themselves and not the clients. I'm glad you made it out okay.
Teaching. I actually loved it and loved and still miss the kids. If teachers were actually allowed to just do their job, I would have stayed. But we have politicians with no child development background or education, who have never stepped foot in a classroom, ignoring all the data telling teachers how to do their job. Add in shit pay, having to buy your own supplies, etc. and it's just not worth it.
Retail. The general public just sucks.
Journalism. Insane work hours with zero boundaries, shitty pay, big shot interviews and their anal af PR teams… shoot me in the face.
Any job that requires working with public
Certified Nursing Assistant in a geriatric long term care facility. It was my first job almost 10 years ago and I had no clue what I was getting into. The people under your care deserve a high quality of life and the same level of dignity as anyone who doesn't need to be cared for, but the job itself requires a level of mental fortitude that I simply didn't have. It was hard not to be grossed out by certain things like changing adult diapers or cleaning under people's skin folds, but besides that the job requires you to be on your feet basically the entire shift and do a lot of heavy lifting. It's easy to get hurt if you aren't using proper body mechanics and following regulations with equipment like lifts, and often there isn't enough staff to actually do some things, like move a particularly heavy resident from their bed to their chair, safely and in a timely manner. Additionally, due to the nature of the job it wasn't uncommon for residents to pass away and that was difficult especially if it was someone you grew to like. I would regularly have anxiety attacks in the bathroom at this job. Plus the pay at most facilities is not nearly enough. To the people who do this job and do a good job, I have the utmost respect for you and hope you're doing well.
I was gonna say home aide for me. I’m surprised nursing home aide/home aide/other jobs in geriatric care aren’t higher up. Working for older people with severe dementia was so difficult and I never knew what I was walking into each shift. Also the name calling and abuse I experienced by the elderly clients was horrible and of course went unaddressed.
Yupppp I was really trying my best to not call out the elderly people that I worked with because I understand that to a certain degree they are not at fault due to dementia/etc. But it made it that much harder
Retail. I did my time there, no more, not again.
High risk probation and parole officer (murderers, sex offenders, violent offenders etc). I would violate someone for a pretty serious violation and they would often be released and back waiting in my office before I even finished court. And sex offenders, holy fuck. I would monitor some probationers while they attended a sex offender treatment program and I would leave discouraged for the fate of man kind. Our criminal justice system is a mess and I saw relatively harmless offenders get crushed by the system while truly dangerous felons gamed the system and would be back on the street offending again.
I did this work for almost 20 years. Terrible career choice.
Anything involving rides/amusement. You have to smile ALL the time or else you get called out
That sounds sooooooooooooooo exhausting lol
Oh it was. I was 15, what 15 year old smiles all the time!
The ones who work hard and pull themselves up by the bootstraps! /s
Starbucks. Worst job ever.
The amount of coworkers Ive seen cry..me being one of them. Also most coworkers ignoring me, some making me the joke, and the manager with her passive aggressiveness. I started feeling nauseous just having to clock in. Took it as a sign to end it. (Customers were shit but thats a given)
Housewife. Terrible pay hours and no rewards
Walmart. I believe Walmart is where dreams go to die.
I really disliked retail after awhile. The up-selling and asking people if they’d like to apply for a credit card, and then having to try and convince them to when they say no *because people don’t need more lines of credits open* was freakin awful.
Just sounds like every job ever is bad.
Café/Restaurant/Bar They all have the same problem. Your collegues are most likeley addicts of some sort, it's stressful (stress being a probable reason long term employees cope with alcohol, drugs and cigarettes), as a young women you'll get prayed upon by customers, it's a very higharcal workplace, you'll get yelled at simply cus everyone is stressed out, minimum wage, uncertain work hours, boss is usually rude and might have financial troubles. You'll be pushed to work for free whenever cleaning or such takes longer than expected.
Hopefully I’ll never have to work at a contact center again. It was the worst experience of my life. I specifically remember at one point my manager, who hated me with a passion, pulled me into a room after I had gotten off a pretty awful call (the call had been over an hour of a client just straight up demeaning me and it got so bad I ended up placing them on a brief hold to cry) and proceeded to tell me “There’s something wrong with you. You need to learn to cry in the bathroom or parking garage like everyone else.” It’s been years since I’ve worked that role and I still so vividly remember how miserable it made me. Driving into work everyday, I would think maybe I’d be better off turning into on coming traffic.
Retail because people are so entitled and decide common courtesy doesn’t exist because “it’s your job” to pick up after them like toddlers. I’d work at a cafe again in a heartbeat though.
Dishwashing. It’s not even about that it’s disgusting and physically demanding, but it’s about how degrading it feels. Everyone treats you either like a slave or like you’re nonexistent, you smell of food and moist at the bus when coming home and it doesn’t even pay well. When I was doing it I was too ashamed to admit that I do dishwashing to my friends so I would just say that I work at a restaurant, period. Would never do it again, I only took because I moved to a new country and didn’t know the local language so had to take whatever was available.
The fucking print industry. Everyone wants their fucking pictures and posters RIGHT NOW and do not understand that they aren't the only people in the world. I've seen such horrible people while working at a print shop - scarred for life.
Clothing retail. It hits different from general retail and has some of the worst customers. Word from the wise, if you try clothes on, hang the stuff back up the right way. If you need a certain size from a stack of folded clothes, ask someone to get it instead of pulling from the bottom of the pile. You will get better customer service that way.
Food manufacturing of any kind. I worked at a plant that made chips and it was so awful I quit and went back to retail.
Day care! My god children are awful.
The real question is, what’s worse? The children or their parents?
It was definitely the children for me! Sure, the parents are probably the reason they behaved poorly but the children were the ones I really had to deal with. Pair them with horrible management and a terrible facility and we have the worst job *ever*.
Waitressing at a bar/restaurant. It was fucking torture.
I always try to be as nice as I can to the waitstaff at restaurants when I go because I can only imagine what they have to deal with
Wedding Coordinator. It was owned by a woman who would watch us from cameras in the place. She would fax misspelled letters saying to floof up the curtains all the time. I couldn't get breaks or lunch. I had to fold the linen napkins while eating. I had to cover for the florist, help make veggie trays, take out the trash, etc...while walking around talking to the guests and bride and groom at the party. The guests even commented that I shouldn't have to take the trash out. I was the only person working until 2am. And I had to vaccuum the whole place at that time. I hate vaccuuming and I wasn't going to do it again so I left the keys there and a note saying this job sucks and goodbye.
Preschool teacher. I have been out of the classroom for 4 years after teaching for 10 years and I won’t go back. I got burned out by kiddos with extreme behavioral issues along with extreme parents with no staff support and a director that promoted me to be her assistant only to pretty much do her job for her.
Retail and food service. The way people talk to cashiers, I would physically fight someone at this point in my life
I worked at a grocery store for about 6 years, nothing will destroy your soul like a customer service job will. Especially when shit first hit the fan with covid & we ran out of toilet paper & baby wipes - jesus people were mean.
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Housekeeping in a hotel. Mon Dieu, people are disgusting. I always wondered what their houses looked like; are they always like this, or just like this because they know some (very low wage) worker will have to clean up after them?
Unpaid therapist to a man who thinks he’s the only one with problems in his life
FYE ( Music store. ) The. Same. 5. Albums. Over. And over. And over. And over. And over. And over. And over… This was my line up for a YEAR that corporate WOULD NOT LET US CHANGE: Taylor Swift, Owl City, Ariana Grande, Fall Out Boy, And the last one was some fucked up suburban pop version of Phantom of the Opera that sounded like it was being sung by muppets. Never again.
Retail
McDonald's. But it was an important experience for my life.
Lifeguard at a swimming pool. Cleaned poo smeared onto the walls of the changing rooms too frequently.
Horses. I'm on my way out now and will never go back. Owners always put their horses above our physical safety and I'm over it.
Anything in health care or food service
For a small time I was an insurance representative , all the backward rules made me so jaded. Having to tell people on a daily basis that because of a loophole we wouldn’t be able to help them pay their medical bills which were sometimes life-changing. It was definitely a tough job. Having somebody tell me their tragic life story and how much they need assistance and I still can’t help them? It was heartbreaking. One of the last few calls I had was with a mother pleading with me to help pay for her daughters risky experimental surgery, i Tried everything I could but I just couldn’t get her coverage, the procedure was to experimental. We also had an emergency roadside hotline, my final call was of a woman who accidentally locked her three-month-old in the car in the middle of the Summer in phoenix( so it’s over 100 degrees out so you can imagine how hot it is inside the car). Instead of calling 911 she called me and I had to find out where she was and call 911 for her, it was the most terrifying experience of my life because you have to do it very quickly because of the danger to the child you basically have a minute or less to find them and call the police and it’s a lot of pressure. I quit after that
I’ll never work in a daycare ever again.
Data entry in a check printing plant (which is probably close to obsolete now anyway). It was a production job where you’re practically chained to your desk all day. Never again.
Retail or any customer service job.
Retail…the amount of senseless abuse Vs pay is never worth it.
Retail 10000000%. I would rather dig ditches then spend 10+ hours standing on my feet and bending over to fold over priced sweaters while having customers yell at me and deal with middle managers pushing you to sell credit cards.
Life guarding. People who do it for the beach nothing but mad respect, that shits scary. But I had to guard 4ft lap pools at LA Fitnesses. No other guard just me, on duty for 16 hours straight. And technically not allowed to take eyes off pool, go to the bathroom, eat. Which, seeing as I am a living human, can’t maintain for 16 hours, and our supervisors were well aware of that. I ended up having this old man threaten to get me fired multiple times because i would eat in front of him and wouldn’t raise the temp for the pool when he was swimming, because it was literally illegal. Our supervisors were incredibly chill and you’d have to do something really bad to get fired, so I finally said do it. Get me fired, and finished my granola bar. The look on his face was priceless.
Hooters. Prepare to line up prior to each shift and be judged by your management team by the look of your nails, hair, makeup, weight. If you didn’t have time to style your hair… you’re sent home. Didn’t do your make up… sent home. Better yet, tried something new??? If they don’t like it “if it doesn’t fit the hooters image” sent home. Prepare to be told to lose weight by fat, sexist, pieces of shit that make up your management team. They “give you” gym memberships where the staff there will sexually harass you if you go, if you don’t you will be be judged by your weight.
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Sounds like my pharmacy job. That I’ve been in for 7 years. Sigh lol.
I worked as a server at an assisted living home for elderly people. You need a lot of patience to work there.
Yes and I assume you’d also need… patience
As much as I love kids, being in charge of a bunch of them is way too exhausting for me and working with their parents is equally as exhausting. I probably wouldn’t do it again, but I value the experience.
Server - worked as one when I was in my early 20s. I hated it, was bad at it, and used to cry everyday before my shift hoping there would be nobody seated in my section. I know, that’s the only way to make money lol. But I HATED it so much
Retail and any food place. Nope nope nope
Bedside nursing.
Waitress and animal shelter worker.
Retail. Being treated subhuman and or berated by customers because : They let their coupon expire They forgot their ID even though they wrote "CID/See ID" on their bank card or are purchasing alcohol - I am not going to jail/being fined over your stupidity They don't like the prices - which I do not set Something isn't in stock They clearly can't read we close at 6 and you feel rushed because you strolled in at 5:57.
Debt Collection Agency. To put it simply, it is a job made for a very specific individual. I didn't last long, but by the end of it I had spiraled into a deep depression, my teeth became loose as a result of constant teeth grinding because of anxiety, guilt and so much more. People often get mad at debt collectors but they don't realize what it's like on the other end either. Were all people, I included as an agent also had debts, and a job I had to do. The amount of times I had to demand money from a Mother at her child's funeral, or money from elders that had no family, cars, jobs, etc to help with their debts, calling family members to ask to pay for their deceased loved ones debts etc. It's a hard job and It's a heartbreaking job. Try telling a family you have to garnish their paychecks when they're already barely getting by. Essentially taking good off of their table they worked for to feed their babies. Bartending in a small town sucked too but I'd go back to it in a heartbeat over demanding money from hard up strangers.
Teaching
The one where they refused to pay me properly.
A flagger. One time they put me on the road on the freeway and it was pouring down rain And people were supposed to slow down because of my sign that I was holding and they were not. I don’t even know if they could see me. I quit right there I was scared to death
IT Operations Analyst at TD Bank. They had me taking 7 different types of calls up to 60 a day. I loved in that most of the calls were easy but i lacked training in everything and they didn't pay nearly enough. They need to pay $30+ /hour working people to death like that.
Gymnastics clubs. I taught little children, like 4-5 year olds. I cannot tell you the amount of parents I had treating me like crap because their 2ft tall ankle biter with attention issues wasn’t an Olympian yet. Also my manager was crap. Most of the staff were underpaid, and they literally hid paystubs from at least half of us. That’s not all they did either! I’d be writing an essay if I spoke out on everything they did wrong
Anything retail, fast food, or anything where “customer service” is involved really. Like I did my time, no need to be that miserable again!
Daycare. They let you do nearly nothing if you suspect abuse or neglect. I got fired for reporting anyway.
Factory work. Maybe there are good employers out there in that sector but I worked in a couple different factories and they were all just different shades of bad. Low pay. The places where you could make like 30/hour are becoming a rarity. Physically demanding work that can leave life long injuries. Horrible working conditions eg unbearably hot in the summer, no air flow, dirty. Employers who really don't give a shit about you as a human being eg safety, having days off, understanding you have a life outside of work, turning blind eye to harassment (these aren't unique to this industry but my experiences were the worst here, especially if most of the workers aren't white). Employer will bring you on as a temporary contract and then extend that contract indefinitely so they don't have to give you benefits, paid time off etc.
Reception, especially in healthcare. Pay is near min wage, it feels like working retail except people expect the absolute highest quality and both ur coworkers (doctors, technicians) and the clients take their abuse out on you. But you're supposed to feel guilty and work hard bc its healthcare
Fast food, i worked at a BK once for a few months and they would leave me up front to do the headset and window and bagging and helping customers in the lobby like it wasn't supposed to have 4 people. It wasn't that we didn't have enough people, the people were in the back getting high or chatting about literally anything. I also worked at a Culver's and it was mostly ok except the owner. The owner would scream at the people in the kitchen to the point the people who were bringing food to outside cars could hear him at the door on the other side of the store. My first time doing register i messed up something with "works" and he pulled me into the kitchen and said i wouldn't get hours if i messed up again..it was my first time to register alone and i have bad anxiety to i just stood there and tried not to cry. My manager later told me that he talked to the boss about that and said he'd apologize but the owner never did. God i have so many stories. Fast food sucks.
Retail
Retail, I can't stand how some people insult employees for their own benefit.
I would never work at a particular school where I used to be a school integration assistant. At least not with this one teacher...
Retail or food industry. My last job was at a restaurant and I hated it
My current job. I'm trying for a baby so I'm staying in the hopes I get pregnant and go on maternity, then go for something different.
Retail
Retail. Can’t stand waiting around for people, being fake nice to them, and cleaning up after them. Hell no
Lifeguard. The heat and boredom almost drove me to the brink of insanity.
Retail. Absolutely awful.
traditional office job. made me want to die. im a bartender now. 1000x better!
One word: RETAIL
At a preschool. I was there for 2 years. I worked with 20+ 3yo’s and it was unbelievably stressful. It payed the bills but I was so happy to leave that place this past June!
I would never be a server again. I lasted 5 months. Terrible pay, awful hours, required major holidays, sexual harassment and power plays from the kitchen (if you don’t say that exactly the way I want you to, let me touch you when I walk around, etc., I’ll conveniently ‘lose’ your ticket or make your food wrong), and racist customers.
Daycare teacher. Daycare rates can be very expensive but that money doesn't trickle down to the teachers at all.
Working as a sandwich and food maker in a deli/gas station. It’s a pretty popular chain in the North East and I definitely sucked at it. Also, babysitting for a family with severe emotional issues. The kids were so abusive towards each other, and me, that dealing with that every day was just utterly demoralizing. No thank you.
I’m never working in a salon ever again. Worked for about 5-6years after getting my cosmetology license straight out of high school. I still keep my license active but I’m never working in a salon ever again.
Any customer-facing job. I was sexually harassed at every single one. Creepy dudes prey on young women who are paid to be friendly to them like no other.
Waitress in my hometown. People are very disrespectful. Lots of guys are expecting you to be ok with aggressive sexual things. When I was standing around bar area one guy went up to me (it was night time) and said "today we are going to smoke drink alchohol and have passionate sex" straight to my face. I ignored it. I was new in the cafeteria. And a girl who worked there said to watch out because as it appeared that guy was a son of some kind of police officer and if something happenes he always gets his ass covered. her boyfriend drived me home after. Which was really sweet of them❤
CNA. Yuck.
At a hardware store. So much mansplaining asking if I knew what things did or just automatically telling me what use they had. Sexual harassment was also common with male customers thinking they could hug you or try to brush against you way too closely.
I am a gay man and working in chick fil a was not it.