My first job was filled with all of the usual excitement of a normal first job. I was so happy to finally stop asking my parents for money and to start saving for college. I tried to learn what my job entailed and was ready to work. I was ready to work with them, but they suddenly were not ready to work with me. There are two sides to every story, however mine is not altered.
Within the first few weeks I was suddenly feeling not so excited to go to work. I was almost having panic attacks. The management made me feel stressed, then that would cause me to make a mistake and then I would get more stressed. In fact, I was spoken to about how if I made another mistake I would loose my job. Then I would go home stressed because of how my job may have been impacted. I understand their reasoning, as a mistake makes them lose money, but we are all human we are bound to make mistakes.
After a few months of working for them, I started to ask for some days off. I had settled in and wasn't making the mistakes but I was still being yelled at for how many days I was asking off. Let's be clear, I was asking off for one weekday,(typically a tuesday or thursday) for a track meet. I also was asking off one weekend shift because of an appointment or family thing. Let it be known, I let them know roughly three weeks before these events. Yet I was being yelled at for a schedule that was not easy to work with. I was a high school sophomore. I needed to be a high school student. When I had first applied to the job, I was under the impression that I would be able to keep being a honors kid, an athlete and able to hold a part time job. After I accepted, things were changed. I was expected to come to work right after school and stop doing things I liked because of the job.
Then the worst part of the job came. I wasn't put on the schedule for 2 months, I was told multiple times that it was because of my “difficult schedule” but once summer came I would get more hours. This was not the case. I was on my way to a party one friday night and I decided to bring some ice cream to the party. So I stopped at work and told them to give me the employee discount and was told I didn't work there anymore. I laughed and asked if I was fired. The cashier said that I wasn't fired, but I wasn't going to get hours. I mean really, you didn't have the respect to tell me I was fired, you just strung me along. You wanted me to quit so it didn't look bad on your business. Ironically, your business got worse. My friends stopped going after i told them my story, neighbors stopped going. If you had just fired me I wouldn't be telling people of my horrible first job. I would have laughed and found another minimum wage job.
Although I do thank my first job for teaching me how to work with difficult people, both customers and coworkers. I also thank it for the drive it gives me to make something of myself, so I can become something bigger than just a minimum wage manager for the rest of my life. That was my first job, all of the stresses and lessons just added to who I am today.
