I'm working an unpaid internship to complete my bachelor's degree and I hate it. The work itself is fine but the employees try to take advantage of my situation.
As soon as my supervisor left yesterday one of the other employees ordered me to wash their personal dirty dishes in the bathroom sink while I was giving a prospective hire a tour of the facility. Not only was this embarrassing for me but it left a really bad impression on the new hire.
I have no problem doing actual work for the company (ie taking out trash, cleaning bathrooms) but I draw the line at demeaning tasks that aren't expected from other employees. I used to be a labor consultant for a greenhouse and if someone tried to pull something like that I would fire them immediately.
The only reason I haven't already quit is that I'm paying full tuition for this internship, and if I leave I forfeit thousands of dollars. I have zero recourse for being treated unfairly and I have no choice but to “tough it out”.
This has been the worst employment situation I have ever experienced.