Hey everyone, I JUST discovered this sub and I feel compelled to share a recounting of my summer experience during 2020.
So, pandemic begins in March and sends me home from college early. Having been only a freshman in the engineering field, my internship writes me a “courtesy” email informing me that my position waiting for me over the summer no longer exists. Valid. They probably laid off full-time staff as a result of the pandemic, like many places did to maintain profits, so I couldn't be too upset. After being home for a few weeks and doing some number crunching, I realized that I really needed a summer job to maintain being on track to return to college financially. One trip to the gas station/party store in my rural town, and I saw the “NOW HIRING, $10/HR”. I applied and was hired within 15 minutes. The only operative I was interviewing with was that I didn't want to work any overtime. My manager informed me she would honor this.
As soon as I was hired, I realized I was entering a very toxic work culture. For starters, my manager who hired/supervised asked me to “don't mind the longer tenured people” as they still made our state's minimum wage ($8.65) despite advertising the $10/hr that I was given. From my first day, I was treated very poorly by my coworkers, though I did not blame them as they were no doubt being shafted. Within my first two weeks, I was already beginning to feel disenfranchised with all the happenings. The building was gross, the bathrooms were moldy, and the kitchen surely wasn't up tp health code. We were constantly ripping of customers as well, my boss once encouraged me to move spoiled milk we had in stock to the front of the cooler in an effort to move the product rather than cut losses. The whole thing made me feel so disgusting, but I had no choice but to keep chugging along as someone who lived within walking distance and without a car.
Things only worsened later into the summer. Hired in April, I had my one condition broken by the first week of June as I was asked to work overtime. During my first overtime shift, I took my 10 minute break (we were allotted two 10 minute breaks during an 8 hour shift, and another break for every 2 hours of overtime) and was asked to “be a team player and come back in to help” after 3 minutes. I never should have but I was a pushover and was only thinking of how much I needed the money. This then started a trend of never getting my full break whenever I was supposed to be given one.
As the summer progressed, my manager began hiring again and a former classmate of mine from high school joined on (despite me telling him it was the worst idea). However, upon his hiring, he showed me that on his paystub he was making $15/hr(!!!!!!). Soon this trickled down the ladder at work and many of the “original” crew who was there since before me and were making $8.65 were not at all happy to learn that someone on staff was making nearly double what they were making. Just a nightmare in terms of justified toxicity and attitudes during the remaining days of work I had.
If I had the work experience(s) or views I have now I most certainly wouldn't have worked a day after my first, but unfortunately I was just so desperate to be able to get money for college at the only place in my tiny midwest town that was hiring.
My breaking point occurred when I was slated for a 55 hour work week, but then after my first day my grandfather who lived with us passed away. I decided to be professional and call work to let them know that I would be quitting to focus on myself before heading back to school. This got me a very verbose rant from my manager, calling me entitled and accusing me of being weak and feeble, even admitting that she hated my antics all summer (I wore a mask in a very covid-denying area). She even had the audacity to end the berating call with “So, I'll see you tomorrow?”.
With each passing year of hindsight I can't believe I put myself through all this for just a few grand…