my job used to be the only thing that i took pride in. i dropped out of school really young, spent a year lazing around the house feeling incredibly mentally ill and incapable of doing much of anything- and then decided to get a job.
i was surprisingly stupidly good at it. i make the specific fast food chain i work for look like an olympic sport. i make it look like an art form. i have poured blood, sweat and tears into mastering this job.
i had just turned 17 back then, i am 23 now. for over 5 years of my working life, it’s been this same restaurant. this same franchise.
in these 5 years i was introduced to drugs as an impressionable child by my adult managers, sold prescription drugs (and meth!) on camera, worked dozens of ten hour shifts with no break as a minor, worked one 13 hour shift with no break (4pm to 5am!) harassed and belittled for being transgender- something i do not even make a point to talk about unless i really, really know someone well!
i have been threatened with physical violence, taken advantage of, i struggle with drug and alcohol addiction every day and have for many years. managers and supervisors have been made aware of every issue and refuse to do so much as document it.
i’m just tired, man. i’m tired of being uneducated and stuck giving my all to a company that has been fucking me over since i was a naive kid still living with mom and dad.
all my friends have always hated working. i thought i would never feel that way. i didn’t understand it. well, i get it now. i’m jaded and exhausted, my body aches and i don’t recognize myself anymore. i deserve better than what has happened to me. i wish i got to be a normal kid, and enjoy what i had left of my childhood.