I am 18 years old, I work at a Circle K location, one of 4 in my town, and it's the only place that i could get to hire me. I have been here for nearly 6 months and the state of things is just pathetic. I had to negotiate my way to $10/h post employment (which cant even reasonably afford me a studio appartment here), and the store itself is a wreck with filth and pests. Scheduling is erratic and my coworkers and I are often called in to cover shifts even at other stores, of which 2 had managers quit recently.
Most of my coworkers are quitting or transferring because of a transphobic coworker that our manager refuses to do anything about, and another coworker my age is forced to do roughly half of my manager's job for her. Regional management is more concerned about how many cookies we sell and whether or not we're on our phones during our shifts. I plan on quitting by the end of the month.
I struggle daily with constant thoughts about how I'm going to find an actual career to get me through life, and how I would get the skills or pay for the education to find a career in the first place.