I turn 21 this year. I’ve been working ever since I was 16, and I’ve had around 5 different jobs since then, the longest being my current job, which I’ve been with about 15 months. There are many people here who have been working laboriously for many years. I want to hear stories from those who have only entered the workforce in the last decade. I myself am gonna be sharing some things that happened to me in the few years I have been in the workforce, ranging from mildly fucked up to really fucked up, things that I think are not supposed to happen to anyone at work, let alone someone who is just starting their life. I will note: others have it far worse than I did. I want to hear those stories of workers far too young to experience the pressures of this stupid ass system. Let me begin.
Age 16: I got a job at what used to be my favorite burger place called Freddys. They serve burgers and fries and hotdogs and stuff. I remember how when I first started I thought the work was so fun, almost like a video game. The repetition was almost nice. That lasted for like 2 months, because they started scheduling me as a closer once I turned 17. I was still in high school, and the store closed at 11pm and it took about an hour to shut down and clean the grill line. What used to be a feeling of fun was now dread. I was pretty sure it was illegal to make me work that late but I didn’t care because I was saving up for a car. I would close nearly every night, and the next morning I would fall asleep during class. My parents found out and made me tell the general manager I couldn’t close on weekdays anymore. Guess that made him mad because started only scheduling me for 4 hours a week, so I quit after working there for 9 months.
Age 17: Started working as a cook for Sonic. I was only there for 3 months, so the only really fucked up thing I noticed was that we never got any breaks no matter how long our shift was, because any “downtime” in the kitchen was considered a break (even though we were expected to clean during downtime). (Edit: I will note that there was no place to sit in the building; Sonic doesn’t have a dining area, so it’s just a kitchen. Guess cooks don’t need to sit) Same thing started happening where I was only scheduled 5 or less hours a week because if “personality conflicts” so I said “fuck it” and changed jobs.
Age 18: I started working for a company that sold water softening systems. I went door to door practically scamming people into buying a system the probably didn’t want or need. We were told to say we were “testing water in the neighborhood” but what was basically a lie to get our foot in the door. I was good at it, and I was paid both hourly and commission, so I was making bank. I was finally able to buy my first car. However, I didn’t feel safe. They would send me out into unfamiliar neighborhoods (most of the time by myself) as a barely 18 year old girl, at night after dark. Once I expressed my concerns, they gave me a partner. I had to drive that partner to Urgent Care while on the clock because someone who’s door she knocked on had a dog that attacked her and left her bleeding. After I dressed her wounds with a bandana I had to wait at the urgent care center for HOURS, keeping her sane and lucid because she was practically passing out. After that, my manager STILL made me complete the last hour of the selling day. Not even a week later, the same partner got us in a wreck in the company car, and BEGGED me to say I was driving because she didn’t actually have her license and she was on probation for ASSAULT WITH A DEADLY WEAPON. I put my two weeks in that very same day. I worked there for 6 months.
Age 19-20: I got a job as a teachers aide in a special ed classroom at a high school. The work was rewarding enough, but the pay….. my god. I had hoped to be moved out by the end of 2020 but Covid screwed me over, and school pay is no joke. I can’t afford to live on my own. But I stayed because of the insurance. I had been doing classes at the community college, but didn’t sign up for another semester due to Covid and mental health reasons, I have no degree.
This job…. They recently moved me into a new classroom where one of the students made me a target. Every single day she would pinch and scratch and smack me until I bled. All the other aides would say it was “part of the job” but I knew that was bullshit. This shouldn’t happen at WORK, especially since we had zero training on how to deal with student aggression, and we can’t discipline the kid because they have a disability. So I took it. It was trauma and painful and I would go home in tears every day but I stuck it out. I still don’t know why. Maybe for the kids? I was the only aide in that classroom and I had to protect the other students in that room. My mental health plummeted so bad that I had a panic attack so severe i could ba remove for 5 days. I made incident reports as needed for about a month before they decided to finally pay attention to my emails. Instead of removing the student, they removed me and placed me in a new department where I quite literally stare at a wall all day, which in some ways is worse. Still can’t afford rent anywhere though. Looking for yet another job as of now.
These may not be the worst stories out there, but these things sucked, I was only a kid. And an inexperienced; untrained 20 year old shouldn’t have to deal with protecting themselves daily from a near full grown adult attacking them . I still have actual scars. And that dog incident…. Can’t believe they wanted me to go BACK OUT and work. Fucking classic. I don’t know why I stayed with the school so long. There’s no communication, blatant ableism, shit pay that doesn’t allow me to support myself at nearly full time hours, and the fact they obviously don’t care about the safety and mental health of staff.
Moral of my stories: Don’t work at a school; and the workforce will suck the life out of you in less than 5 years . I’m exhausted, and I’m not even 25. I literally have no motivation to ever work. Money? Can’t afford anything anyway. Fuck the system for killing me so early.
What are some other stories from you guys? Would love to hear them.