I know the title sounds bad, but hear me out.
I had been working as a carer for the longest time after being turfed out of the foster care system and left to fend for myself. Anyone who knows care work knows it's gruelling and you are not treated the nicest. I had been working as a live in carer doing back to back weeks with my stuff in someone's garage I rented out as I could not afford a place and didn't want to be sleeping on the streets, but I was technically homeless. I worked hard enough to save up a deposit for a bedsit and was transitioning from live in care to care homes via an agency, when a job opportunity for a permanent care home position came up with reasonable hours so I could finally have a life, maybe meet someone, make friends etc. The pay wasn't great but what carer role is?
The interview came and the interviewer was this older lady who was so so nice and basically felt like a grandma from a cookie advert. I was introduced to staff, the people in the home (only a few service users and it was a very specialised type of care). I smashed the interview and due to me having very specific training in the area of care, I was offered the job on the spot. We worked out a schedule and agreed I'd start in a week. I was really happy and what felt like good luck continued.
My social worker (I'm high risk so even after being discharged from care I still have a social worker to check up on me from time to time) found a charity that would fund me being able to go to college as I didn't have qualifications and was a care leaver. I applied and heard back real quick and they was happy to put me on an evening course so I didn't have to give up my new job. I tried to contact the new job a few times (email and phone) but got no response and as my start was a few days away I just decided I'd go in early and tell them as a heads up.
Weeeeell they didn't like it. This nice cookie baking, flower arranging, big smile grandma pretty much turned into a wolf. She was real nasty, said I was a ungrateful child and already letting her down. I showed her my timetable and how it interfers with none of their hours, but she was shouting at me that what about overtime. Or if they wanted me to cover someone. She said they picked me because I was flexible with other jobs (guess they checked ny references). The charade was over and she was showing who she was. Her lovely assistant came in and she swore at her for not letting her know about my emails, the assistant pointed out she did. She full on screamed at her that our generation was everything wrong and we are lazy ans take advantage of them. She expected me to start my shift early and I went to work. But she spent the whole day being snarky, saying I'd lied to them and it was disgusting, how we was lazy benefits stealers (while she was smoking more than working) and I'm lucky she is giving me a chance.
So mid taking the residents on an outing, I quit. I had no way getting home, in the middle of nowhere, and I quit. It was after seeing her threaten the assistants holiday time that I went NOPE. And I told her exactly why, that she was abusive and I could not work for her and she was a horrible horrible person. She started shouting and I just walked away. My social worker called me and asked how it was going, and I lied and said the job fell through and she said there was a benefit I could apply for to stay in school as I haven't quit a job, (equivalent of US unemployment I think) and yeah I did that. Turns out they hadnt filed my paper work yet so the checks came back fine and I got the funding. Went to college to get qualifications and did real well, and now I'm in university as a mature student looking to move away from the care sector all together. Cause fuck that.