who am I? These stupid jobs....

[mlt38]

Hello all,
Need to rant out loud!
I so freaking tired of getting these low, paying jobs that work me to death! I'm so tired of working with a bunch of stupid, lazy ignorant people who think they are above everybody else.
I just don't understand why I get these dysfunctional jobs. I have computer skills, office experience, great phone. I use to be a designer but wind up working in hospitality at a hotel. I was laid off due to business failure. I got scared of my unemployment benefits running out so I took this job I have now. But the previous job environment was a pain in the a**. The boss was an a**.
I also seem to get these bosses that don't like me.
Is it because I'm just so dang shy that these dysfunctional jobs and I just seem to attract? I want to know because I'm tired of it and I want to find some job that treats me right.
God I'm tired of this! Grrrrrrrrr!
mlt38

[allisonn]

I'm sorry you're going through that. I've had jobs like that, too. I don't think it's necessarily "us," rather "them." Especially in the low-paying jobs, you get terrible management and working conditions. So I feel your pain!

Try to put yourself in someone else's shoes... people high up on the ladder may get the paycheck but they don't always have it great. And people down below have it even worse. Think about people working overseas in sweatshops - they make a fraction of what you make, and in unimaginable conditions. If I would suggest two things it'd be to a) try to appreciate what you have, and b) try to relax by yourself at home in peace and quiet to unwind from all that stress. Good luck.

[missklew]

My sister is in a situation like that. She is extremely intelligent and hard working and because of her phobias and slight stutter, she's been stuck in a low paying clerical job for the past 30 years.

She is due to retire in a couple years and her supervisors are your typical bottom feeding ass holes and make her life hell there and now are trying to build a case against her to fire her.

I mean these people and this job are so far beneath her but when you are fearful it is hard to see that. she is fluent in several languages.

Are there any decent jobs left in the US? It seems they've outsourced any that pay well.

If all that is left is a bunch of low paying service jobs, there isn't much you can do

[Karen]

Jun 17, 2011 22:03:58 GMT -5 missklew said:

She is due to retire in a couple years and her supervisors are your typical bottom feeding ass holes and make her life hell there and now are trying to build a case against her to fire her.

Thats truly awful. It seems like things like this are happening more and more.

[mike86]

Jun 13, 2011 6:45:35 GMT -5 mlt38 said:

Hello all,
Need to rant out loud!
I so freaking tired of getting these low, paying jobs that work me to death! I'm so tired of working with a bunch of stupid, lazy ignorant people who think they are above everybody else.
I just don't understand why I get these dysfunctional jobs. I have computer skills, office experience, great phone. I use to be a designer but wind up working in hospitality at a hotel. I was laid off due to business failure. I got scared of my unemployment benefits running out so I took this job I have now. But the previous job environment was a pain in the a**. The boss was an a**.
I also seem to get these bosses that don't like me.
Is it because I'm just so dang shy that these dysfunctional jobs and I just seem to attract? I want to know because I'm tired of it and I want to find some job that treats me right.
God I'm tired of this! Grrrrrrrrr!
mlt38

Most of my life I have worked in minimum wage jobs, mostly in fast food restaurants. Even after graduating with a law degree, I went working at McDonald's for a few months before returning to KFC where I had worked on and off over the years. I spent a year working there.

Over time I began to realise that it was me holding myself back. My low confidence and self-esteem made me take the easy option and stay in my comfort zone by working in places where I knew I could get employment easily. If you watch the film 'Invictus' it cites a famous poem which includes the line 'I am the captain of my own ship, I am the master of my own fate.'

If you're in a bad job it's because you choose to be in one even if you're not conciously aware of that. I mean sure, sometimes we all have to work jobs we don't want to as a means to an end but that doesn't mean we have to spend our whole lives working there and repeat the cycle. Eventually I realised what I was doing and I walked out of there and never looked back.

It was a scary decision because I never had another job lined up and I had no idea what I was going to do but you only get one life so you have to make the most of it. Life's too short to be unhappy and considering we spend most of our lives working, you better make sure you enjoy what you do!

I couldn't find a job when I quit my job so I started volunteering at my local Citizens Advice Bureau. This really developed my confidence and self-esteem because I was no longer working in a negative environment with pessimistic people and I was gaining new skills and experience in interviewing and advising clients, working reception and providing telephone advice.

Eventually I secured a paid part time job there which paid more for 3 days work which I actually enjoyed doing than what I was earning working in a fast food restaurant full time. I also went back to law school last year, which I have just finished.

If you want a better job then find one. If you can't find one, you're either not looking hard enough or don't yet have the relevant qualifications/experience, in which case, go out there and get it! One of my friends in the fast food restaurant said he hated his job so I told him to look for another one. He told me he had and there aren't any jobs out there. I asked him when did he last look for a job, he said about two weeks ago. The job centre website gets updated with new vacancies every single day! The truth is, he was too scared to leave the job because it was his comfort zone.

[1229]

If you want a better job then find one. If you can't find one, you're either not looking hard enough or don't yet have the relevant qualifications/experience, in which case, go out there and get it! One of my friends in the fast food restaurant said he hated his job so I told him to look for another one. He told me he had and there aren't any jobs out there. I asked him when did he last look for a job, he said about two weeks ago. The job centre website gets updated with new vacancies every single day! The truth is, he was too scared to leave the job because it was his comfort zone.

That's not necessarily 100% true. We're in a little something economists all over the world call a "recession." Not too many employers are adding to their payroll. I'll agree that some people can get complacent when it comes to looking or would rather have the job come to them. But the truth is there are not an abundance of opportunities out there. I'll use myself as the example. I hate my job. Am I looking for anther one? Damn right. Daily. Am I qualified? Let's see... college degree, years of experience, an excellent track record, fantastic at job interviews. But that doesn't mean that there are jobs out there to apply to.

I get where you're coming from and I get that you're trying to tell people that only they can change there lives. Which I agree with. But I won't agree that it's as easy as quit what you have (I know for me I have these things called "bills" that need to get paid) and go get another one.

Rant over. I just needed to clarify a bit.

[mike86]

Jun 22, 2011 19:31:44 GMT -5 1229 said:

But I won't agree that it's as easy as quit what you have (I know for me I have these things called "bills" that need to get paid) and go get another one.

I never said it was easy. I know it's very hard that's why most of my friends are still working in that fast food restaurant now even though they unequivocally hate their jobs.

I had the exact same problem, I had no other job lined up, I didn't know where I would be getting money from or whether I would be able to get another job. I had plenty of reasons why I should have stayed there but I didn't let my fear keep me a prisoner in there and in the end everything turned out alright. I felt much happier because I took control of my life for once and I ended up more qualified, more experienced and in a better paid job.

Everyone sees recession as a negative thing but I just see the opportunity there. To quote Napoleon Hill from 'think and grow rich' written after the great depression in the 1920s/30s: 'The "depression" was a blessing in disguise. It reduced the whole world to a new starting point that gives every one a new opportunity.'

Life is hard but you might as well work at it doing what you want to do rather than doing what you don't want to do. 'Per ardua ad astra'-through hardship to the stars. I don't pray for an easy life, I pray for a difficult life because it will make me a stronger and wiser man and it's character building. Everything I have learnt of value has been through hardship and my mistakes and failures.

The reason why the rags to riches stories are so great is because of the hardship and the trials those people had to overcome to achieve success. If it was easy, we would all be millionaires and they would be no point to it.

[1229]

I felt much happier because I took control of my life for once and I ended up more qualified, more experienced and in a better paid job.

That's great that everything worked out for you. I'm just saying that's usually the exception and not necessarily the rule.

Everyone sees recession as a negative thing but I just see the opportunity there. To quote Napoleon Hill from 'think and grow rich' written after the great depression in the 1920s/30s: 'The "depression" was a blessing in disguise. It reduced the whole world to a new starting point that gives every one a new opportunity.'

Note that it was written after not during the Great Depression. Yes, I'm sure it did even the playing field for a lot of people. But it also hurt many more people who had very little to begin with. I'm talking your average farmer, laborer, ect. not a wealthy tycoon. We can't say for sure how much of a blessing it actually was, because we were fortunate enough to not have had to live through it.

I can say that the Great Recession caused me to lose a job that I was not only very good at but also enjoyed thoroughly. That's a loss that's not going to be in the history books.

The reason why the rags to riches stories are so great is because of the hardship and the trials those people had to overcome to achieve success. If it was easy, we would all be millionaires and they would be no point to it.

They're also so great because they're extremely rare. I don't deny that it takes A LOT OF HARD WORK to get to the top, but as with everything in life, it also takes some luck and fate.