I apologise in advance for the ranty post, I just feel really defeated.
Due to DV/mental health, I was kicked out of high school a year before graduation because although my grades were good, my attendance wasn't enough for a passing grade.
I worked in fast food right after, I hit a dead-end and I started an administration traineeship. I worked as a trainee for a year, and then an assistant for another year. I loved it, my colleagues started to feel like family and having older women around me helped guide me into adulthood. I'm not sure why, but my line manager and I clashed frequently and I felt like she wasn't giving her 100% and our small team of 3 were receiving the brunt.
In my city last year, we had multiple union train strikes which made me late to work. I was regularly asked to fill in for reception and on this particularly day, I had warned my manager the night before about the strike and my possible lateness. I got to the station really early, and had to wait 3 hours to fit onto a train. I was gaslit and blamed for being late and shut-down when I tried to explain why it happened. I gave my 30-day notice the same day.
In hindsight, I should have waited until I had another job in line before resigning because 1 month was not enough time. I did temp work for a while, and then I was hired as an office administrator for a property development company. I enjoyed the work, but it was a very corporate 'high-life' environment whereas I'm very working class and rough around the edges so I didn't feel like I fit in. For example, my colleagues all had private education and I didn't even have my diploma. I was eventually let go during probation and their reasoning was because they thought I was older and more experienced (I was very transparent in the interview). This was right before my birthday and Christmas, and it was a very bad end to the year because I felt like I had achieved nothing.
Out of desperation, I started working at McDonalds. For the record, I'm not above fast food and this is a completely valid line of work. I don't mean to sound judgemental in anyway.
I familiarised quickly with the stations and I feel like I've worked really hard so far. But my last couple of shifts have been tough.
We have been understaffed due to staff being gone for training and labour cuts. My last shift I was taking orders and cashiering, and given tasks like food prep and cleaning on the side. When asked, I let my manager know I'd complete this as soon as my cars were cashiered. Specifically, I was asked to mop a sticky corner of the store but I kept getting interrupted by cars at the speaker.
My manager yelled at me from across the store and through my headset that he had to ask me 7 times, and that it's not that hard. It really felt like he thought I had a pair of extra hands. I only recall him asking me twice, and this is because he was calling me by the wrong name for half of the shift and looked at the roster and didn't even acknowledge his mistake.
On top of being verbally abused all shift, they scheduled me wrong. My roster said I was supposed to finish at 5:15pm. I asked my manager if he needed me to do anything before I left and he told me to check my roster properly next time and I don't finish until 5:45. The mistake was that they pre-scheduled my break from 5:15-5:45 so it didn't show up on my roster. I stayed and my ride outside had to wait for 30 minutes. I asked to leave at 5:45pm on the dot, and he pulled out a list and asked me to clean the entire dining room. I told him I couldn't and that my ride is outside and he said 'you can't even do one thing?'
I have been scolded plenty by managers as a teenager in fast food, but somehow as an adult it is harder to swallow. Going from a work environment where having respect for your peers is an absolute must, to be treated like this, feels like I'm just starting from the bottom again. It felt undeserved and instead of verbally attacking your crew, why not guide them so the mistake doesn't happen again?
Again, really sorry this is so long-winded. I know it could be worse and there are folks out there that have it much harder than me.
tldr; quit fast food, started decent work and then had to resign. Starting fast food again and it is making me feel like shit.