Have you ever worked in a job where you hated it so much that the thought of it made you want to cry? Have you ever stressed out so much about a job that you've had to stay home from your classes or not go to family events because you knew that you would've yelled at somebody because the stress is toxic and follows you everywhere? Maybe that doesn't quite make any sense, but that person was me. I worked at McDonald's for 3 years; I started when I was 16. I made so many friends there and I loved working there, until recently. In May of 2016, I became a manager. I didn't want to but it gave me the opportunity to make more money to help pay my bills and for my books that I needed to start college in the fall. Managing wasn't hard, but it was definitely a lot of work. Everyone came to you for training, basic questions, complaints, and pretty much anything that they couldn't do themselves. Eventually, all of my friends became my enemies. I mean, who likes having their friend as their boss? My friends didn't like when I told them to do something, so it easily turned them against me. The bosses that I didn't like easily became my go-to people and they eventually became my friends. My store manager and my district manager came to know me very well, which made it easier to work with them.
After about three months working in management, I finally decided that I had too much on my plate. I was in the process of registering for fall classes and I was working too much. How could I possibly work almost 50 hours a week and go to college full-time, when it was my first semester as a freshman? I decided to put my two-week notice in and take weekend jobs babysitting. As soon as my DM heard that I was going to be leaving, she immediately started blowing my phone up with calls and text messages telling me that I should stay and that she'd work things out with me so that way I didn't have to find a new job. I took a pay raise and told her I could only work part-time and then we shook on it. She went through with her promise for about two weeks and then it was back to the same routines that pushed me from the job the first time. I was getting so frustrated and so stressed that I didn't know what to do. Instead of ditching the job that I should have done, I ditched my freshmen year of college. I had never been more heartbroken because I had been looking forward to college since I was a freshman in high school! From that point on I had been pushed to my breaking points and I was always stressed, even when I wasn't at work. I yelled at people and I developed an instant hatred to everyone that walked through the doors at work. My bosses made me believe that my job was important but they were constantly lying to me and using me to cover gaps in shifts because they couldn't find anyone to take the job. I have been threatened by customers, came very close to getting robbed every week on the overnight shifts, had fights in the lobby of the store and did the store manager ever come to my rescue? No. I was told to deal with it and only call if someone got hurt. We even had a customer sit in the parking lot with a gun in his hand and no one would still come up to the store and take control. I thought I was important and I thought my I was doing a good job, but looking back on it, I'm glad that I quit this past Friday.
I have never felt so neglected or mistreated from a job and no one else should ever feel the same way. If you ever stress so much about a job that you come home crying, then it isn't worth it. If you're constantly asking yourself if your job is worth it, then it's probably not. Don't ever sacrifice something that you love to stay at a job that you would never turn into a career. Don't ever forfeit your education for someone or some job that you feel like you help make a big difference in, because at some point it's going to turn against you and you'll have nothing left. Don't fall into the same pit that I did and find something that you find passion in, not hatred. Yes, it's just a job, but you shouldn't feel like your dying every time you walk through the doors.
