I Need a Different Career [VENT]

[TheOfficialTab]

So to give a bit of background, I work in retail, and have been since 2019. February of this year I applied for a job at a place, and when asked if I had any physical injuries that would prevent me doing my job, I told them that I didn't have anything that would normally get in the way of my work. This is still true. However, that is assuming that I'm not given all the most strenuous tasks, and that we don't have so much stuff to do that it forces us to be over by more than an hour past our normal end of shift. They gave me one of the heaviest categories in the store...

 

Well after a few months of being there, one of our members put in their notice, and after they left, things started taking longer for our crew to accomplish because we were without one worker. Since I knew we would be getting another member soon enough, I just kept on working. Well it took them a while and eventually after having too many hard days I had to call out because I have a muscle knot on my back that I used to have to go to physical therapy for. I started getting the reputation of calling out on Wednesdays because out of the two trucks we get a week, Tuesday's truck is the only one I have to work the next day. The day after a tough truck day my back can be giving me a lot of issues.

Finally we got a replacement for the missing member, but here's the kicker: they gave us a retired, part-time, half-and-half. Meaning not only does he have limited hours to work, not only is he slower because of his age, but on top of that, he isn't even entirely our department. He's partially another departments as well. Meaning the truck we could really use him on, one that would mitigate my issue, Tuesday's truck, we only have him for half the day. And not the half we'd actually be doing the truck. The day usually goes: most of us front the shelves, and a few of us break the truck down to be worked by aisle. So by the time we start working the truck, he's got maybe an hour to work his aisle if that, and most of the time he doesn't even finish... Well by this point I stopped calling out on Wednesday with one exception where I used a vacation day. So as far as I'm aware, I'm in the green by that point, but...

 

People started getting COVID in our department. When one came back, another called out, and while they were out, I got sick. The problem was, I tested negative for COVID, that being said, I still felt sick as a dog, and while I called out the days around the truck, on the truck day itself, I STILL CAME IN. On the Wednesday after that truck, I told my boss I'd need that day because I still felt awful, they told me the store manager was thinking about swapping my departments because she thinks I can't handle it there. I told him I simply was sick this time, and they told me I needed to speak with the store manager about it.

 

Well the most recent truck, a difficult one, we finish up and I'm about ready to head home, and she calls me into an office and proceeds to grill me about being out all the time. I explained to her the situation and she just didn't even care, and then proceeded to belittle my being sick, and then tell me she didn't know I had an injury, which is a lie, and that she used to do an entire side of the store, which is either a lie, or she's not telling the whole truth(My guess is that if this is true, the truck she did was much smaller, because there's no way she was doing the amount we're doing. Some of our best on our team couldn't do one side by themselves without serious overtime), and then tells me that the reason we can't put the truck off till Wednesday is because I'm never there on Wednesdays, which is also a lie, and if she DID do that, I would be there every Wednesday because I WOULDN'T NEED TO CALL OUT.

 

Did she want me to come in and get everyone else sick while I carried heavy boxes with a fever high enough to make me feel dizzy??? Maybe if we would have gotten a fulltime member like we were supposed to, in a timely fashion, it would have been an isolated incident of being out a few days because I was unwell, but instead they're expecting me to put all this heavy stuff up, move on to another heavy category, and then help finish in the smaller categories within the span of 4-5 hours, and if it takes longer, to stay overtime and tire my back out more.

 

I'm getting to a point where I know I need to swap careers, and finally pursue one of my passions, and right now it really seems like my gateway is tech, like becoming a developer, or a software engineer. Issue is I don't have the money for a degree, and I don't want to put in months of effort self-teaching and find out that it's extremely difficult to get into the field without a piece of paper that said I went to classes that barely taught me anything for however many years. I really think if I had another option, I could leave, and I wouldn't need to deal with the abuse, and they could see just how much I do for the team.

[HeyYou]

I used to work at the Staples here in town..... When I started, there were generally three of us on the floor, to run the tech counter, and help customers on the floor. As time went by, we first got reduced to two workers.... then down to one.... One person to handle the phone, the customers, stocking, and the tech work.... even during our busiest times of day. Then, they decided to start selling cell phones as well.... and the demo for how to set someone up took almost an hour. I made the mistake of asking "What are we supposed to do with all the other customers while we dink with setting up a phone for an hour?" I was taken to task for 'not being a team player'...... I left shortly thereafter.

 

I had the advantage of not actually NEEDING to have a job though.... I was medically retired, and went to work part time simply because I was bored. (and my wife told me to. :) ) So, just walking out one day, didn't really cause me any issues. I suspect you don't have that advantage......

 

I NEVER want to work in retail, in a corporate environment, ever again. The outright stupidity of management beyond the store level was just astounding.

[StormWolf01]

I can most definitely relate.

The job that I am at, has really gone to drek. We can't get anybody hired, and the ones that do come in, come in as temps, and they stay for a few days to get a decent paycheck, and then leave.

The other guys on the shifts after me, have both "quiet quit". And no longer give a drek about doing their jobs RIGHT, or even doing all of the things that they're SUPPOSED to be doing.

Which leaves a buttload more work on My shoulders. Literally to the point that I can't get it all done. And what I DO get done, may not be done RIGHT, because I am hurrying through all of it trying to get it done.

 

I come home totally exhausted. Physically, mentally, and emotionally. I'm so worn out that I end up crashing way too early. Then I wake up in the middle of the night, and can't go back to sleep for several hours. So I dread going back in. Because I haven't had a decent sleep, and I know damned well what kind of a catastrophe awaits me as soon as I walk into the room.

Which gets worse and worse by the week.

 

Up til just a few weeks ago, we still had to wear masks. In a very hot working environment. They hold in a lot more body heat that you would think they would. At least now we don't have to wear them anymore.

 

Tech fields can be extremely difficult to get into, without experience. Development work can be murder, depending on who you work for. Some companies will keep you on very long hours, not letting you go until your quota of the project is finished. Even if that means staying overnight. So yeah, definitely watch out for what kind of work they'll have you doing. And if they wanna pay you by hourly, thats a good thing. If they wanna pay you by a weekly, or especially a monthly flat rate... walk away from the interview.

"Crunch" is a very, very real thing in software development/engineering. Avoid that drek at all costs!

 

The stupidity of management beyond the floor level isn't astounding. It's ludicrous. And dangerous, because it's contagious.

[TheOfficialTab]

I used to work at the Staples here in town..... When I started, there were generally three of us on the floor, to run the tech counter, and help customers on the floor. As time went by, we first got reduced to two workers.... then down to one.... One person to handle the phone, the customers, stocking, and the tech work.... even during our busiest times of day. Then, they decided to start selling cell phones as well.... and the demo for how to set someone up took almost an hour. I made the mistake of asking "What are we supposed to do with all the other customers while we dink with setting up a phone for an hour?" I was taken to task for 'not being a team player'...... I left shortly thereafter.

 

I had the advantage of not actually NEEDING to have a job though.... I was medically retired, and went to work part time simply because I was bored. (and my wife told me to. :smile: ) So, just walking out one day, didn't really cause me any issues. I suspect you don't have that advantage......

 

I NEVER want to work in retail, in a corporate environment, ever again. The outright stupidity of management beyond the store level was just astounding.

 

I'm glad you weren't stuck where you were at, that sounds miserable. I do need to keep this job, at least until I find another one. I would say that the sad part about retail is that you go in thinking the customers are going to be the worst part, but weirdly enough, it usually ends up being some of the people you work with; most of the time the people you work under. I can deal with rude customers really well, I don't let them get under my skin, but if they're particularly awful I have tricks to dealing with them. I can't really do anything if my boss decides to be awful.

 

I agree that even if you're medically retired, trying to find an obligation is certain to keep you grounded. I remember when I first graduated high school, I had a grace period where I wasn't making any money; the lack of scheduled responsibilities made me feel aimless. I think it's also possible to self impose it though, like with hobbies or helping yourself spiritually. And when I say spiritually, I mean self-help, self-improvement, and enlightenment. Not sudo science, like chakras and stuff like that. Just trying to better yourself.

[TheOfficialTab]

I can most definitely relate.

The job that I am at, has really gone to drek. We can't get anybody hired, and the ones that do come in, come in as temps, and they stay for a few days to get a decent paycheck, and then leave.

The other guys on the shifts after me, have both "quiet quit". And no longer give a drek about doing their jobs RIGHT, or even doing all of the things that they're SUPPOSED to be doing.

Which leaves a buttload more work on My shoulders. Literally to the point that I can't get it all done. And what I DO get done, may not be done RIGHT, because I am hurrying through all of it trying to get it done.

 

I come home totally exhausted. Physically, mentally, and emotionally. I'm so worn out that I end up crashing way too early. Then I wake up in the middle of the night, and can't go back to sleep for several hours. So I dread going back in. Because I haven't had a decent sleep, and I know damned well what kind of a catastrophe awaits me as soon as I walk into the room.

Which gets worse and worse by the week.

 

Up til just a few weeks ago, we still had to wear masks. In a very hot working environment. They hold in a lot more body heat that you would think they would. At least now we don't have to wear them anymore.

 

Tech fields can be extremely difficult to get into, without experience. Development work can be murder, depending on who you work for. Some companies will keep you on very long hours, not letting you go until your quota of the project is finished. Even if that means staying overnight. So yeah, definitely watch out for what kind of work they'll have you doing. And if they wanna pay you by hourly, thats a good thing. If they wanna pay you by a weekly, or especially a monthly flat rate... walk away from the interview.

"Crunch" is a very, very real thing in software development/engineering. Avoid that drek at all costs!

 

The stupidity of management beyond the floor level isn't astounding. It's ludicrous. And dangerous, because it's contagious.

 

I've heard of the quiet quitting "movement," I could maybe understand if you were working at Walmart or someplace similar, and you knew that regardless of how much effort you put in, they always pile too much on to the workers, so everyone suffers anyways, but it's when you could make the difference that I start to disagree. Where I work right now, I do make a difference, since it's a local chain and the people there do actually half care. So I like to try to put in the effort to spare my coworkers extra work, but now I have the issue of not having the heart to be there at all. When I come in, I think about how the person I work for is a liar and doesn't care about if I have issues unless it's convenient or would look bad on them if they didn't give me sympathy.

 

As for the sleep thing, I know this all too well. My second job was a night stocker at Walmart, and it was awful. I would work really hard all night, come home and immediately pass out, and wake up either waaaaay too early and be exhausted by the time the next shift would roll around, or wake up just in time to do my shift all over again. Nearing the end it was only the latter. That existence was terrible. Wake up, go to work, suffer all shift, go home, immediately pass out, and wake up to immediately go back to work and do it all over again. That's not living, that's surviving.

 

I have heard stories about those kinds of jobs in the tech industry where the amount of work on an individual is just too much. I think that if I were working long hours, that by itself, I would probably still take the job; not because I'm okay with that, but because all I need to do is get my foot in the door. Once I show I'm competent and have experience in the field, I'd swap companies.

 

Now the hourly, weekly, monthly thing, I would never take anything other than hourly. That usually means they want me either on call for when even the smallest problem arises, which sounds awful and I have a friend in IT that used to do that and he hated it; that or they, as you implied, know that you'll be staying late and don't want to pay the extra money for your extra labor.

 

As for management incompetence, I've had jobs where even the low level management was acting stupid because upper management was putting too much pressure on them. Like you said, contagious. It infects the entire business because the top's influence works its way down.

[HeyYou]

Back in the early 2000's, I was Tech Services Manager for a local ISP. I LOVED the job, for the most part, as I got to play with really cool toys all day. I had a company issued cell phone though, that I HAD to answer..... And of course, work would call at the least convenient times, sometimes for truly stupid stuff, that had my questioning their sanity...... And of course, there were always those calls that I hated the most......

 

Phone would ring...

Yeah, what's up?

 

The server is down, you need to come in and fix it.

 

I'm on vacation........

 

But, but, the SERVER is DOWN! You HAVE to come in.......

 

I'm in Cleveland........

 

How soon can you be here???

 

See ya in about four hours........

 

Really turned me off on cell phones. The phone went away, when the job went away. Talk about relief..... And today, almost 20 years later, I STILL do NOT have one. :D

[Pagafyr]

Wow! Another bit to stir up memories. My history (I've even got a list of all my ancestors going way back in time). With this piece I can add stories about my life doing various paying jobs to my book of memoires. I've worked so many jobs while creating a path to find a dream job; with a guarantee of employment until retirement. It could take me a month of Sundays to post them all.

I was always thinking I would find a dream job. One with a dream retirement plan at 65. After I had a shocking disabling experience I couldn't even lay back and enjoy life unless I kept searching for that dream job and retirement plan. I kept on doing the jobs around a rental house until the owner sold it out from under me. I learned how to build homes from the foundation up. I learned how to paint houses with a brush and roller. I learned how to roof them, T-Lock Shingles was the last job I worked on. So I am a master of all home building trades. Even landscaping!

I bought the little house I have now. Still couldn't break the habit of doing all the work since I know how. Hired some people to do the roofing once. The roof's shingles lasted about 8 years. Hired five Boy Scouts who were out to make a few dollars. I thought they might be interested in getting their badges for flora, fauna, and minerals.

Once I asked one of the five to find out about the weeds in the yard to figure out how remove them permanently. They were not interested enough to earn a few dollars more and get started in a landscaping business of their own though. They just wanted to mow the lawn doing a good deed for an old man.

I am getting ready to do what the guy in the movie Crocodile Dundee said. Even though I am born and raise U. S. A. I like the line. Going on a walk about.

 

Thanks. Your post has given me another section to write in my memoires.

[Fatalmasterpiece]

OP, I had a similar experience with dead end jobs for the last decade. Last job before Covid I was assistant at a corporate HQ for 6 years. They treated me like crap despite being there 10 hours a day + 3 hour commute, 5 days a week, spending $300/month just on gas for the privilege of working. 0.3% pay increase yearly while constantly having goals set higher and higher. When covid hit it didn't matter that I had worked tirelessly for all that time, just let me go. They will replace you in a heartbeat the moment the numbers don't add up. You're not a human being to these companies. You're a number.

It's all a pyramid scheme. The ---- rolls downhill and everyone above you will try to make you feel worse about yourself while everyone above them does the same to them. It's not worth it. You're going to keep bouncing from job to job ran by people that want to simply use you as a tool. Personally, I'm done. I'm not a tool, not a number. I'm a person.

I've been spending the last 2 years becoming a dev. Training myself, learning, writing, working on content. We will see where it goes and maybe it won't work out. Maybe I'll eventually loose everything. But I'll die before I go back to letting someone else ruin my life everyday because I misfiled a document or was 120 seconds late clocking in. It is better to be poor and take a chance to live by your own standards then just get by with someone else's boot on your throat.

Sorry, realize that is cynical but that's where I'm at now.

[TheOfficialTab]

I had a company issued cell phone though, that I HAD to answer.....

 

I've heard of people intentionally getting a second phone for when their work wants their phone number, that way they can turn that phone off when they get home. That's probably what I would do as well. In your case that was company supplied, and they wanted to be iffy about it. I probably would have come up with excuses about the signal for the service they use not being good where I was at the time or something. Can't stand the idea of a lack of work-life balance. When I go home, I should be able to forget about work entirely.

[TheOfficialTab]

It is better to be poor and take a chance to live by your own standards then just get by with someone else's boot on your throat.

 

Sorry, realize that is cynical but that's where I'm at now.

 

Nah, man. I got you. I've worked at Walmart and seen first hand people forget about other people and strictly look at the numbers like they were the ends, and being an a-hole justified the means of getting them to where they needed (or just wanted) to be. Used to have a coach at Walmart that would actively lie and breath down the necks of my team to try to get a task done quicker. Spoiler alert, they never succeeded because the type of work we were doing takes time, and we weren't being lazy to begin with. It was all an attempt to make our store's times on mods (rearrangement of shelves and products) to be lower.

 

From many different jobs I've been lied to, belittled, called stupid, been ignored, and even been completely forgotten about by members of management, and it's honestly ridiculous. I'd love to do the same, become a developer, but the amount of self teaching I'd have to do with time I don't have, to make a portfolio of projects so I can send it in to a company that would probably treat me the same way. The only reason I'm even considering it is maybe the possibility of working remotely. I'm tired of commutes. I'm tired of having to put time in to put myself together 5/7 days a week.

 

I would love to wake up, sit at my computer with a warm cup of tea, and already be at work. No need to mess with my hair, or put on my shoes. I mean, at that point I don't even need to be wearing anything. Unless of course it's one of those places that requires zoom calls because for some reason some places have management that just can't function unless they see the faces of their workers while they speak???