This has been such a weird experience that I can't help but relate it here. Brief history of mine: I have been in the workforce since August of 2015, so a little under seven and a half years. In that time I have had no less than TWENTY SEVEN W2 jobs, and I hated every single one of them. I worked in factories, warehouses, call centers, I worked at Walmart, I worked at Burger King. I had full time jobs, part time jobs, seasonal jobs, temp jobs. It didn't matter. It was the same every time: the work was boring at best, the pay was low, and my boss was a micromanaging jerk. Over the past three years, the jobs have been harder to find despite what anyone will tell you, and so the jobs I've been hopping to have been even worse. The last one I had was at a certain chicken strip restaurant that was opening its first location in my area. I hated that job so much that I quit after my first day of training. Back to r/recruitinghell and back to applying to hundreds of jobs hoping I can feed myself by the end of the month.
Among those hundreds of jobs was a temporary gig playing the Easter Bunny at my local mall. I thought nothing of it. After all, in this job market with my job history, every application I submit anywhere is little more than a hail mary. Besides, “people like me” don't get to have jobs like that. We only get grimy jobs around the other low class peasants. Much to my surprise, I got a text from them about a background check and after that went through I was able to start without even interviewing.
Playing the Easter Bunny is not for everyone, but I absolutely love it. In many ways I should hate this job too: the pay is crappy, I work weird hours, and the suit is hot and uncomfortable. But every time a kid looks at me in my big, unblinking eyes and says, “Tank you Easta Bunny!” it's like all of those problems melt away. I'm still antiwork. I dread the end of this job so much because I'm going to have to go back to my old life. All I'm saying is that no matter how antiwork you are, if you have to work, don't give up hope that a job you can at least tolerate is out there somewhere. Also don't blame all your mental health problems on having to work. It took me being happy at work to realize how UNhappy I am at home. The issue is more complicated than you think it is.
I'm sorry this post is so long. I have no idea where I wanted to go with this, but all of this just started pouring out of me. For those of you who stuck around this long I hope it was thought provoking.