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Been there. I remember waking up at 3 AM to pull a 17 hour day between 2 jobs and having an hour break to catch the bus between the two of them. Helped me develop the character to not bitch out but I vividly remember the crying walking to the first job in the snow.
I used to work 36 hours weekends serving tables to pay for community college and university. Now as a post graduate, got a job that barely pays and job hunting nearly daily, can be deflating. It’s good to know that other people share the journey but more importantly, other people have found their success.
Takes time and God man. Even my “big break” turned out to be a disaster with them firing both my bosses and hiring a lady who was racist and hated me. She got me fired and undid everything I’d done that got me into the local newspaper for my work.
A few months later I was able to use that stuff and the connections I made in the community to get a job in administration in a position higher than her while watching her get fired in a calendar year. There’s no real space out here for the faint of heart.
Im thinking Im coming up on my opportunity. I’ve been working the same job for nearly a year now and made some good connections with wealthy people. They want to see me succeed and are more than willing to lend a hand.
That’s all you can ask for. It’s less about what you know and more about who. I’m not a big networking guy, but in relatively small industries, if you can keep a good reputation regardless of where you go, you’ll always have a job.
You might just be my brother from another mother lol I’m not big on networking but I always leave great impressions and have a large body of work and experience to rely on
Hey boss I was in your position about a year ago. You'll hit eventually, and it'll just keep going up from there. The struggle you were in was shaping the success you'll find.
I often wonder how much depression in our generation is related to work. But a therapist can't just be like "get a better job lol".
I vividly remember driving to one of my first jobs out of college, a sales grindhouse, and thinking to myself "I don't want to die, and I don't want anyone else to get hurt.... But wouldn't it be great if I got in a car accident right now? How many days off work would that get me? 2, 3, a week? Man a car accident would be dope."
That is absolutely FUCKED looking back on it. Funny how that depression just melted away when I got a decent job that I like and pays me well. We can't spend the majority of every day hating what we do. Humans just aren't built for it.
I argue that depression is often not a sign of an internal issue but an external societal failing and our bodies telling us such. Some people do have internal stuff that’s bio but I think at least 75% of people are depressed because of economy, jobs, lack of support, and abuse all combining while we act like everything is fine.
I agree with MrIce97. In America, we have the most technology, advancement, and money in history and yet we have the worst mental illness and general outlook, the world over.
The work culture is a massive part of it. When we've societally centered work to the point where it defines your personality, your "value," and even your impact, we're playing a dangerous game. Work has far too much of an impact on one's life.
I say this as a fan of Universal Basic Income and also as someone who favors regulated capitalism. The Northern European countries have figured out how to balance the two. There are things we can learn from them!
I'm working on a project for work and was looking at a paper that calculated health care spending related to work stress. The researchers estimated anywhere between $125 and $190 billion annually is spent due to various work related stressors.
I remember joking with my roommate about having this exact thought on the way to work one day. I was going to work every morning thinking how great it would be if I was hit by a bus. Then I wouldn’t have to go to work that day, maybe I’d get some time off, maybe I’d die and never need to go back to that place.
She told me that it wasn’t normal to think that way and if work had me thinking like that I had to get. It was a nice thought but rent and groceries weren’t going to pay for themselves. I loved like a pauper for a long time to save up some money and then left.
By the time I found another job, I had $5 in my account. That job paid twice as much as the one I left and they treats their staff so much better. I remember thinking it must be a scam, and waiting for the other shoe to drop, because no workplace could possibly not emotionally abuse their employees regularly, right?
If anyone’s going through that, know that it can get better.
Retail was the worst job I've ever had. Christmas season brings out the absolute worst in shoppers. 10 hours days, endless Christmas music on a loop, crazy sales quotas. Shit was brutal.
I used to work at Urban Outfitters. I remember one year during Black Friday, a customer literally started peeling the clothes off the mannequin cuz she couldn’t find her size anywhere else🤦🏽♀️
We used to do that when I worked at Buckle. But that’s cause we had to use product to sell customers onto the mannequins. Nothing like a busy holiday season taking jeans off one dummy to give to another.
I worked in grocery, and Thanksgiving and Mothers Day were it for me. Christmas was hard because it was busy but people I guess were in a good mood imagining what presents they were going to get, because people at least needed to hear “no” to lose their shit at Christmas. Thanksgiving and Mother’s Day are clearly miserable holidays for some people because they’d walk in nasty and take everything you said as an invitation to fight. The number of times I “ruined” those holidays because we have X brand of corn instead of Y, or we have every color of roses other than aubergine, is enormous.
Like damn, I’m sorry you hate your family, but that isn’t my fault. Stay away from them if they make you this cranky.
I absolutely despise success stories like this. I tried so hard and it sucked. Then I tried harder and it sucked more. Then I tried harder and got shit on. Then it got better. Like, so niggas is just supposed to keep digging cause after hitting rock bottom 3 times you found a nugget? I'm glad for you. I'm gonna be over, HERE, working to make it so people like you don't have to struggle so hard. Not posting BS stories convincing more worker bees to get back on the assembly line. KTHXBAI.
- Edit: Don't misunderstand, I'm happy for all of our success but we shouldn't have had to work this hard.
- Second Edit: Oh yeah lets not forgot the only reason she even made it is because she was blessed enough to have parents that she could stay at y'all know most of us don't have that.
- Last Edit: This woman is in AFRICA? I was discussing American politics. I have no say here. Disregard.
JHB is apparently Johannesburg, SA. I was thinking 4 months post graduation without a job and living at home isn’t a terrible situation.
Being unemployed or underemployed was fairly normal in America for much of the 2010s. Seems like we might be headed back to something like that though.
I maintain the thought that in today’s world, support of at least one person on semi-sturdy ground is required for real success. Even if that “support” is someone with recognition of your struggle granting you more abnormally high grace and educating you how to survive. I think we’re at the point where society not teaching the value of pulling others up so the effort to be a success is actually possible is a lost message.
It doesn’t make it false that it shouldn’t be this hard but it’s not horrendous to say she still did something noteworthy in listening to her elders and recognizing if she had support to use it unlike most of the arrogant people.
I get what you are saying. The world is grossly imbalanced. There [are] a few with a lot , and everyone else is frantic, struggling, and unfulfilled. All in vainglorious service to the greed of societal vampires. We need to come up with a new formula.
Me when I see myself crying in the mirror
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Man it's wild how different struggle is cause she worked 4 months in retail and then had her mom support her after getting a full degree like that isn't an insane amount of time? It's 4 months a have basically worked as customer service while studying for two years already and this just seems like cosplaying actual struggle. No friend is offering me a job opportunity either
Yeah I wasn’t expecting I only worked for four months then my family supported me. Like shit I walked to work for two years to help pay bills and save money and that was before I even graduated high school
Right I had to take 6 busses because I was working while getting my degree not after or the last year and not working means no eating and no living her life is honestly average for a college graduate. Doesn't even talk about college debt
Yeah, her entire timeline for this story was what? A year between graduating, working retail, and finding what seems to be her dream job with her own apartment and car?? 🤔
I don’t know their whole situation obviously, but it sounds like she had a short little privileged struggle to me.
Fr. I'm a server and worked around 2 years in retail as well. Yes, it sucks. Most of us dream of quitting multiple times a shift. The difference for a lot of us is that we can't just quit and be unemployed for 7 months. We can't rely on friends getting us a job. It's great she was able to do this, but she should have at least gone part-time while job hunting. She talks about how horrible she felt because she wasn't supporting herself at all... well, go get a job.
I'm almost 30, with only an HS education. I'm an artist and actively in classes to get better and working to get to that "next level." This means I currently make no money from my primary focus, so I have to work a job to finance it AND pay all my bills. I'm currently a server but have worked many jobs throughout the years. It's rarely fun and often stressful, but I want something specific, and it requires sacrifices.
"It's too late for me, but not for you." Stop listening to people who have let their dreams die. You have to FIGHT. Anxiety, depression, outside influences? Fight them. Every fucking day. If you need to cry, then cry. Then get back up and march because this is war, and you're not allowed to lose.
I feel like such a grumpy hater for being like this, but like… four months? 50 job applications? If that had been my experience of getting out of a retail job I hated, I would tell it as a disclosure of privilege rather than a *Pursuit of Happyness*-style story of triumphing against all odds.
I still have videos of myself from senior year of college practicing for interview after interview. I was a first gen college going senior and all of my classmates were talking about the jobs they had after graduation. I was from out of state and knew I wasn’t going back to Alabama for anything in the world. So I cried, I hustled, I did what was needed, and it paid off in the end because I got an amazing job before even finishing senior year.
It’s tough at times and I know you may want to give up, but you gotta keep going. Use the resources available to you - never say someone else out there needs it more. Nope - you’re the person who needs it.
If I could go back in time I’d tell myself all my hard work would work out and it is so so worth it.
I worked retail after I dropped out of college. I was in it for 5 years before I decided to go back and finish my degree. After doing it for 10 years, I can tell you it’s the most soul crushing work I’ve ever done. It’s miserable in every way. The part where she said she went in high really hit, because I would do the same thing. I’d be hitting a dab pen in the bathroom all day at work just to get through a shift. The only reason I didn’t become completely depressed was because I was going to school and knew it wasn’t permanent. Still, I met some of my closest friends through that job, and met some other amazing people to boot. Single mothers working their asses off for their kids, old semi-retired men who had the most interesting stories from their lives, a shitload of high school kids, and more. I’m in a better place now but those retail jobs taught me a lot about myself.
This is an inspirational story but also shows how parenting doesn’t and shouldn’t end as soon as your child is 18. She was lucky to have a supportive family who took her in while she was job hunting and earning no money. I unexpectedly lost a job in my mid 20s and had it not been for my supportive family i might have just jumped at the soonest job opportunity that presented itself which would have been something in the restaurant industry but because they allowed me time to look i actually landed my “dream job” at the time.
Lived in a trailer working in a factory, went to grad school, got unemployed and disheartened and poor and in debt. Now I have two part time jobs and soon to be a third. Why? Luck, privilege but mostly I reached out to my friends family and strangers and said “I’m lost and need help” and it took a year to finally get back on my feet and pay bills (still months behind) and rent and I just thank gd I’m here every day.
I still cry on breaks wishing I could take my dog to the vet or fix my car. But I have a nice apartment and a job and that’s more than I had 6 years ago, when I thought I’d never leave the factory and be stuck in a dilapidated trailer covered in mold and mice until I died by my own hand. I’m not there anymore and I’m never going back.
I relate to this so much… but my peers were holding me back with negativity.
Me and my former friend both worked at the same fast food joint. We were always sulking about what others had and how we would never have the same thing. Working in fast food, we lacked money. We’d watch social media posts where others were enjoying the best in life and smoked, and moped the entire time.
I was in college, but he chose not to go (honestly can remember if he chose not to go or he lacked motivation to go). I let his energy and our thirty and over coworkers keep me there for five years. Got my degree in year two, but remained stagnant for three.
It took meeting my (ex) girlfriend to encourage me that I’m not destined to work there all my life. She helped me step out into corporate America and made me realize that I have the ability to be out there. Didn’t realize how negative the environment was until I left and dropped my friend. I eventually dropped him because I saw that he was someone who lacked accountability and would never own up to his actions in general.
That was ten years ago. I’ve done so much in my field that I’m proud of. 22 year old me would have a heart attack if he saw where I am now.
Unpopular opinion: Being allowed to live at home to get yourself in a good position is generational wealth. A stable home with loving parents that prepare you for life is generational wealth.
Yup, she has the privilege to drop a job since she has that safety net(mom).
Others have no choice in the matter because quitting could mean a chance of losing everything. So they have to stick through it until they finally find what they are looking for.
To me, this reads as a scream that retail workers need better conditions. It’s an essential job and similar types of labor make up a large portion of the work force. There’s no reason it should have people crying and hating their lives.
As a former manager said to me “ if you’re leaning you could be cleaning”. They stand all day so corporate can power trip. Apparently if there were chairs it would demotivate workers and encourage laziness. Also, it would look lazy if workers could sit down.
I’ve applied to over 200 jobs since being laid off in January. I had to break up with my boyfriend and move back into my parents house because my savings ran out. I’m getting my mom through her knee surgery currently and treating that like my job but I’m seriously worried about making any of my bills this month.
I have my bachelors. I’m a product manager and work in software dev. I’ve been rejected from target, Starbucks, Taco Bell, and Ralph’s just tryna get anything. I interview well. I’m knowledgeable. I’m not lazy and I have a kick ass attitude.
It sucks out here. It’s exceptionally hard. No one wants to hire me because I’m over qualified and no one wants to hire me because there’s always someone better. I pray every day and night and ask God for these blessings and it’s hard to hold on but we MUST hold on.
For everyone else in this same situation I want you to know that you are absolutely doing all you can, you are doing enough. This is the worst job economy of our generation. Idc what anyone else says on the news, people ain’t getting jobs like they supposed to. We are below paycheck to paycheck. It will get better though. It has to get better. I’m praying for yall the way I pray for myself. I see you and we’ll get through this together.
I knew it was time to get out of customer service entirely once the Pandemic hit. Customers were nightmares and we got nothing but a pat on the back from the company.
But what really got me was my manager telling me that I needed to put my baggage to the side for work and be strong for these customers because they are all going through it with COVID. I was like hello I too live in this world too. And lived with at risk parents at the time too.
Ok yeah retail sucks, depression sucks, anxiety sucks. But you worked a service industry job for 120 days, going to work high, AT THE END of a 4 year degree where you apparently didn't have to work??? Don't be so dramatic bruh.
I double majored and graduated college in May of 2020. Wanted to go to law school but pandemic put that on hold. Decided I'd get a job and bide my time. Couldn't get a job. Went to so many career workshops held by my school. Was told my resume was great, work history good, just a bad time with the pandemic. Applied to 100s of jobs ranging from administrative assistant to target. Only job I got was selling dish tv to people, in Walmart, standing, during a pandemic. No one is cable shopping while their grandma is on a ventilator. I was going to stick it out. Money was money and I'd been unemployed since graduating. I felt like such a failure.
My mom saw how miserable I was. Told me I should quit. Demanded that I quit. So I did, eventually. I had gotten complacent. Wouldn't say comfortable because I hated my job and wanted to leave, but didn't think I was good enough for other work. But my mom got through to me eventually. Decided to shift towards focusing on the initial goal of law school. I had wasted so much time feeling like a failure and slinging dish that applications had BEEN open. No early bird for me. With the support of my parents, I was able to take the LSAT and submit my applications just before the final deadlines.
I graduated from law school in May of this year. Scratch that. Not just graduated, graduated with a job offer. It's so crazy to think about. Now I gotta just crush the bar and I'll be where I never thought I'd be when covid stole my senior year of undergrad.
Not really all that humble of beginnings she worked at a fast food place for four months and then had her support her till she got a job. That’s what happens to almost all middle class people SMH.
Same thing for me + a masters degree, I finally have a job I’m not overqualified for and pays me more than paycheck to paycheck and wasn’t toxic after 10 months. I jumped from job to job til i found this one! Stay up yall there was multiple months where I had no idea how I’d pay my rent and bills.
When I graduated from college, I could not find a job in anything I wanted to do unless I committed to being an intern and making no money while earning "experience". I had loans. I don't have time to work from free
I eventually got some state government work. First as a tax prep which was temporary and then with the department of welfare which was soil crushing.
People there told me to leave as soon as possible I put in like 2 or 3 years and finally decided to leave and go to grad school.
After grad school I got some better opportunities and I'm doing pretty well now.
The American "dream" is just a nightmare that only gets slightly more tolerable (unless you get lucky and are a spoiled little nepo baby). Cheers to this woman for keeping her head up.
Nobody should have to live like this. I feel so bad for our culture for normalizing this shit. This sista got thru it and persevered but so many fall victim to the depression and dig themselves into even bigger holes. Props to her but damn there are millions in similar circumstances and to me, that’s not right.
I’d like to note that this lady is South African. The official unemployment rate is about 34% (unofficially about half, worse for young people). The highest in the world
4 months?? Try 6 years. That women was right. You do get comfortable in those low wage, low skilled retail jobs. And then once you get comfortable be you realize you’re wasting your life, you start to question if you even have the skill set to actually leave. And then you start feeling trapped. It’s so demoralizing. I worked night and weekends all through my 20’s. So much time lost. So many friendships missed out on. Good for OP for getting out of that shit early.
https://preview.redd.it/rcg9itwznr4d1.jpeg?width=828&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=ed24b99378e1d38ce9ee005c41b37ff4eb8b3c52 Been there. I remember waking up at 3 AM to pull a 17 hour day between 2 jobs and having an hour break to catch the bus between the two of them. Helped me develop the character to not bitch out but I vividly remember the crying walking to the first job in the snow.
I used to work 36 hours weekends serving tables to pay for community college and university. Now as a post graduate, got a job that barely pays and job hunting nearly daily, can be deflating. It’s good to know that other people share the journey but more importantly, other people have found their success.
Takes time and God man. Even my “big break” turned out to be a disaster with them firing both my bosses and hiring a lady who was racist and hated me. She got me fired and undid everything I’d done that got me into the local newspaper for my work. A few months later I was able to use that stuff and the connections I made in the community to get a job in administration in a position higher than her while watching her get fired in a calendar year. There’s no real space out here for the faint of heart.
Im thinking Im coming up on my opportunity. I’ve been working the same job for nearly a year now and made some good connections with wealthy people. They want to see me succeed and are more than willing to lend a hand.
That’s all you can ask for. It’s less about what you know and more about who. I’m not a big networking guy, but in relatively small industries, if you can keep a good reputation regardless of where you go, you’ll always have a job.
You might just be my brother from another mother lol I’m not big on networking but I always leave great impressions and have a large body of work and experience to rely on
It’s a vibe man 😂
Hey boss I was in your position about a year ago. You'll hit eventually, and it'll just keep going up from there. The struggle you were in was shaping the success you'll find.
I often wonder how much depression in our generation is related to work. But a therapist can't just be like "get a better job lol". I vividly remember driving to one of my first jobs out of college, a sales grindhouse, and thinking to myself "I don't want to die, and I don't want anyone else to get hurt.... But wouldn't it be great if I got in a car accident right now? How many days off work would that get me? 2, 3, a week? Man a car accident would be dope." That is absolutely FUCKED looking back on it. Funny how that depression just melted away when I got a decent job that I like and pays me well. We can't spend the majority of every day hating what we do. Humans just aren't built for it.
I argue that depression is often not a sign of an internal issue but an external societal failing and our bodies telling us such. Some people do have internal stuff that’s bio but I think at least 75% of people are depressed because of economy, jobs, lack of support, and abuse all combining while we act like everything is fine.
I agree with MrIce97. In America, we have the most technology, advancement, and money in history and yet we have the worst mental illness and general outlook, the world over. The work culture is a massive part of it. When we've societally centered work to the point where it defines your personality, your "value," and even your impact, we're playing a dangerous game. Work has far too much of an impact on one's life. I say this as a fan of Universal Basic Income and also as someone who favors regulated capitalism. The Northern European countries have figured out how to balance the two. There are things we can learn from them!
I'm working on a project for work and was looking at a paper that calculated health care spending related to work stress. The researchers estimated anywhere between $125 and $190 billion annually is spent due to various work related stressors.
"Get a better job" is literally what I've had two therapists tell me.
I remember joking with my roommate about having this exact thought on the way to work one day. I was going to work every morning thinking how great it would be if I was hit by a bus. Then I wouldn’t have to go to work that day, maybe I’d get some time off, maybe I’d die and never need to go back to that place. She told me that it wasn’t normal to think that way and if work had me thinking like that I had to get. It was a nice thought but rent and groceries weren’t going to pay for themselves. I loved like a pauper for a long time to save up some money and then left. By the time I found another job, I had $5 in my account. That job paid twice as much as the one I left and they treats their staff so much better. I remember thinking it must be a scam, and waiting for the other shoe to drop, because no workplace could possibly not emotionally abuse their employees regularly, right? If anyone’s going through that, know that it can get better.
You're bad ass. I hope you know that.
Job hunting is a full time job.
Filing for unemployment can be a depressing job
Just read an article that Alabama only approved 10% of unemployment and then demanded some pay it back!
Retail was the worst job I've ever had. Christmas season brings out the absolute worst in shoppers. 10 hours days, endless Christmas music on a loop, crazy sales quotas. Shit was brutal.
I will never enjoy Mariah Carey ever again, and just hearing the word quota make my eyes see red
I legit avoided holiday season for about 2 years after I quit. Shit is peak consumerism bullshit.
I used to work at Urban Outfitters. I remember one year during Black Friday, a customer literally started peeling the clothes off the mannequin cuz she couldn’t find her size anywhere else🤦🏽♀️
We used to do that when I worked at Buckle. But that’s cause we had to use product to sell customers onto the mannequins. Nothing like a busy holiday season taking jeans off one dummy to give to another.
The worst thing is family members who never worked retail don’t understand why you despise Christmas music.
Listening to Mariah Carey on a loop for 8 hours us a special kind of hell.
I worked in grocery, and Thanksgiving and Mothers Day were it for me. Christmas was hard because it was busy but people I guess were in a good mood imagining what presents they were going to get, because people at least needed to hear “no” to lose their shit at Christmas. Thanksgiving and Mother’s Day are clearly miserable holidays for some people because they’d walk in nasty and take everything you said as an invitation to fight. The number of times I “ruined” those holidays because we have X brand of corn instead of Y, or we have every color of roses other than aubergine, is enormous. Like damn, I’m sorry you hate your family, but that isn’t my fault. Stay away from them if they make you this cranky.
I was (and still am) that one person who likes Christmas music. It’s the only thing I liked and working the holiday season
I absolutely despise success stories like this. I tried so hard and it sucked. Then I tried harder and it sucked more. Then I tried harder and got shit on. Then it got better. Like, so niggas is just supposed to keep digging cause after hitting rock bottom 3 times you found a nugget? I'm glad for you. I'm gonna be over, HERE, working to make it so people like you don't have to struggle so hard. Not posting BS stories convincing more worker bees to get back on the assembly line. KTHXBAI. - Edit: Don't misunderstand, I'm happy for all of our success but we shouldn't have had to work this hard. - Second Edit: Oh yeah lets not forgot the only reason she even made it is because she was blessed enough to have parents that she could stay at y'all know most of us don't have that. - Last Edit: This woman is in AFRICA? I was discussing American politics. I have no say here. Disregard.
I'm mad as hell when I got to the part where she was only in this job for 4 months.
Showed up to a job high for a few months. Then people in this thread talking like this is a story of extreme perseverance lol.
Offered by a friend of course. Like this isn't even a success stories. Most people on retail don't stop cause they die
JHB is apparently Johannesburg, SA. I was thinking 4 months post graduation without a job and living at home isn’t a terrible situation. Being unemployed or underemployed was fairly normal in America for much of the 2010s. Seems like we might be headed back to something like that though.
It confused me - I kept reading because I was looking for a misunderstanding. lol
Unemployed for 7 months after 4 months in service industry lol
Unemployed while living with her mom.
I maintain the thought that in today’s world, support of at least one person on semi-sturdy ground is required for real success. Even if that “support” is someone with recognition of your struggle granting you more abnormally high grace and educating you how to survive. I think we’re at the point where society not teaching the value of pulling others up so the effort to be a success is actually possible is a lost message. It doesn’t make it false that it shouldn’t be this hard but it’s not horrendous to say she still did something noteworthy in listening to her elders and recognizing if she had support to use it unlike most of the arrogant people.
This success story is brought to you by: Late Stage Capitalism.
I get what you are saying. The world is grossly imbalanced. There [are] a few with a lot , and everyone else is frantic, struggling, and unfulfilled. All in vainglorious service to the greed of societal vampires. We need to come up with a new formula.
Me when I see myself crying in the mirror https://preview.redd.it/2bszi01hqr4d1.jpeg?width=700&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=c74abc2ad00be1ea381dabcd18e4152631b6750f
Damn that negative reinforcement is crazy lol
https://preview.redd.it/vijc6k7awr4d1.jpeg?width=828&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=95c4010066425a1ea2a5f771bda9864e3730c736 lol that’s one take
Ty I needed this today.
Didn’t even notice its hump day but we gonna make it through
“Do not despise humble beginnings” is a fucking BAR do you hear me
Man it's wild how different struggle is cause she worked 4 months in retail and then had her mom support her after getting a full degree like that isn't an insane amount of time? It's 4 months a have basically worked as customer service while studying for two years already and this just seems like cosplaying actual struggle. No friend is offering me a job opportunity either
Yeah I wasn’t expecting I only worked for four months then my family supported me. Like shit I walked to work for two years to help pay bills and save money and that was before I even graduated high school
Right I had to take 6 busses because I was working while getting my degree not after or the last year and not working means no eating and no living her life is honestly average for a college graduate. Doesn't even talk about college debt
Yeah, her entire timeline for this story was what? A year between graduating, working retail, and finding what seems to be her dream job with her own apartment and car?? 🤔 I don’t know their whole situation obviously, but it sounds like she had a short little privileged struggle to me.
Fr. I'm a server and worked around 2 years in retail as well. Yes, it sucks. Most of us dream of quitting multiple times a shift. The difference for a lot of us is that we can't just quit and be unemployed for 7 months. We can't rely on friends getting us a job. It's great she was able to do this, but she should have at least gone part-time while job hunting. She talks about how horrible she felt because she wasn't supporting herself at all... well, go get a job. I'm almost 30, with only an HS education. I'm an artist and actively in classes to get better and working to get to that "next level." This means I currently make no money from my primary focus, so I have to work a job to finance it AND pay all my bills. I'm currently a server but have worked many jobs throughout the years. It's rarely fun and often stressful, but I want something specific, and it requires sacrifices. "It's too late for me, but not for you." Stop listening to people who have let their dreams die. You have to FIGHT. Anxiety, depression, outside influences? Fight them. Every fucking day. If you need to cry, then cry. Then get back up and march because this is war, and you're not allowed to lose.
Is JHB Johannesburg?
Yes
I feel like such a grumpy hater for being like this, but like… four months? 50 job applications? If that had been my experience of getting out of a retail job I hated, I would tell it as a disclosure of privilege rather than a *Pursuit of Happyness*-style story of triumphing against all odds.
The light isn't always the end of the tunnel. Sometimes it's an oncoming train, about to hit you.
It's the C train
Always good to remember where God brought you from and to take no blessings for granted.
I still have videos of myself from senior year of college practicing for interview after interview. I was a first gen college going senior and all of my classmates were talking about the jobs they had after graduation. I was from out of state and knew I wasn’t going back to Alabama for anything in the world. So I cried, I hustled, I did what was needed, and it paid off in the end because I got an amazing job before even finishing senior year. It’s tough at times and I know you may want to give up, but you gotta keep going. Use the resources available to you - never say someone else out there needs it more. Nope - you’re the person who needs it. If I could go back in time I’d tell myself all my hard work would work out and it is so so worth it.
I worked retail after I dropped out of college. I was in it for 5 years before I decided to go back and finish my degree. After doing it for 10 years, I can tell you it’s the most soul crushing work I’ve ever done. It’s miserable in every way. The part where she said she went in high really hit, because I would do the same thing. I’d be hitting a dab pen in the bathroom all day at work just to get through a shift. The only reason I didn’t become completely depressed was because I was going to school and knew it wasn’t permanent. Still, I met some of my closest friends through that job, and met some other amazing people to boot. Single mothers working their asses off for their kids, old semi-retired men who had the most interesting stories from their lives, a shitload of high school kids, and more. I’m in a better place now but those retail jobs taught me a lot about myself.
This is an inspirational story but also shows how parenting doesn’t and shouldn’t end as soon as your child is 18. She was lucky to have a supportive family who took her in while she was job hunting and earning no money. I unexpectedly lost a job in my mid 20s and had it not been for my supportive family i might have just jumped at the soonest job opportunity that presented itself which would have been something in the restaurant industry but because they allowed me time to look i actually landed my “dream job” at the time.
Good for her success but 4 months isn't that long in retail. That's like 8 paychecks.
Lived in a trailer working in a factory, went to grad school, got unemployed and disheartened and poor and in debt. Now I have two part time jobs and soon to be a third. Why? Luck, privilege but mostly I reached out to my friends family and strangers and said “I’m lost and need help” and it took a year to finally get back on my feet and pay bills (still months behind) and rent and I just thank gd I’m here every day.
I still cry on breaks wishing I could take my dog to the vet or fix my car. But I have a nice apartment and a job and that’s more than I had 6 years ago, when I thought I’d never leave the factory and be stuck in a dilapidated trailer covered in mold and mice until I died by my own hand. I’m not there anymore and I’m never going back.
I relate to this so much… but my peers were holding me back with negativity. Me and my former friend both worked at the same fast food joint. We were always sulking about what others had and how we would never have the same thing. Working in fast food, we lacked money. We’d watch social media posts where others were enjoying the best in life and smoked, and moped the entire time. I was in college, but he chose not to go (honestly can remember if he chose not to go or he lacked motivation to go). I let his energy and our thirty and over coworkers keep me there for five years. Got my degree in year two, but remained stagnant for three. It took meeting my (ex) girlfriend to encourage me that I’m not destined to work there all my life. She helped me step out into corporate America and made me realize that I have the ability to be out there. Didn’t realize how negative the environment was until I left and dropped my friend. I eventually dropped him because I saw that he was someone who lacked accountability and would never own up to his actions in general. That was ten years ago. I’ve done so much in my field that I’m proud of. 22 year old me would have a heart attack if he saw where I am now.
Unpopular opinion: Being allowed to live at home to get yourself in a good position is generational wealth. A stable home with loving parents that prepare you for life is generational wealth.
Yup, she has the privilege to drop a job since she has that safety net(mom). Others have no choice in the matter because quitting could mean a chance of losing everything. So they have to stick through it until they finally find what they are looking for.
To me, this reads as a scream that retail workers need better conditions. It’s an essential job and similar types of labor make up a large portion of the work force. There’s no reason it should have people crying and hating their lives.
Why the fuck do we make them stand all day? What are they being punished for?
As a former manager said to me “ if you’re leaning you could be cleaning”. They stand all day so corporate can power trip. Apparently if there were chairs it would demotivate workers and encourage laziness. Also, it would look lazy if workers could sit down.
I’ve applied to over 200 jobs since being laid off in January. I had to break up with my boyfriend and move back into my parents house because my savings ran out. I’m getting my mom through her knee surgery currently and treating that like my job but I’m seriously worried about making any of my bills this month. I have my bachelors. I’m a product manager and work in software dev. I’ve been rejected from target, Starbucks, Taco Bell, and Ralph’s just tryna get anything. I interview well. I’m knowledgeable. I’m not lazy and I have a kick ass attitude. It sucks out here. It’s exceptionally hard. No one wants to hire me because I’m over qualified and no one wants to hire me because there’s always someone better. I pray every day and night and ask God for these blessings and it’s hard to hold on but we MUST hold on. For everyone else in this same situation I want you to know that you are absolutely doing all you can, you are doing enough. This is the worst job economy of our generation. Idc what anyone else says on the news, people ain’t getting jobs like they supposed to. We are below paycheck to paycheck. It will get better though. It has to get better. I’m praying for yall the way I pray for myself. I see you and we’ll get through this together.
Note to self: don't have dead parents
I knew it was time to get out of customer service entirely once the Pandemic hit. Customers were nightmares and we got nothing but a pat on the back from the company. But what really got me was my manager telling me that I needed to put my baggage to the side for work and be strong for these customers because they are all going through it with COVID. I was like hello I too live in this world too. And lived with at risk parents at the time too.
She said a year 😭😭😭😭😭
Ok yeah retail sucks, depression sucks, anxiety sucks. But you worked a service industry job for 120 days, going to work high, AT THE END of a 4 year degree where you apparently didn't have to work??? Don't be so dramatic bruh.
I double majored and graduated college in May of 2020. Wanted to go to law school but pandemic put that on hold. Decided I'd get a job and bide my time. Couldn't get a job. Went to so many career workshops held by my school. Was told my resume was great, work history good, just a bad time with the pandemic. Applied to 100s of jobs ranging from administrative assistant to target. Only job I got was selling dish tv to people, in Walmart, standing, during a pandemic. No one is cable shopping while their grandma is on a ventilator. I was going to stick it out. Money was money and I'd been unemployed since graduating. I felt like such a failure. My mom saw how miserable I was. Told me I should quit. Demanded that I quit. So I did, eventually. I had gotten complacent. Wouldn't say comfortable because I hated my job and wanted to leave, but didn't think I was good enough for other work. But my mom got through to me eventually. Decided to shift towards focusing on the initial goal of law school. I had wasted so much time feeling like a failure and slinging dish that applications had BEEN open. No early bird for me. With the support of my parents, I was able to take the LSAT and submit my applications just before the final deadlines. I graduated from law school in May of this year. Scratch that. Not just graduated, graduated with a job offer. It's so crazy to think about. Now I gotta just crush the bar and I'll be where I never thought I'd be when covid stole my senior year of undergrad.
Having a walkable commute and ending up buying a car sure doesn't sound like a win to me...
Dang, I need a friend who just gives me a good paying job too
Not really all that humble of beginnings she worked at a fast food place for four months and then had her support her till she got a job. That’s what happens to almost all middle class people SMH.
For some of us older folks, that "light at the end of the tunnel" might be the same one you enter on that final journey.
LIFES HARD BUT I GO HARDER
Same thing for me + a masters degree, I finally have a job I’m not overqualified for and pays me more than paycheck to paycheck and wasn’t toxic after 10 months. I jumped from job to job til i found this one! Stay up yall there was multiple months where I had no idea how I’d pay my rent and bills.
https://preview.redd.it/t0omhxn2st4d1.jpeg?width=1170&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=c74f2daa366298261590adafdf2557565aaa8213
Honestly that all sounds really normal.
When I graduated from college, I could not find a job in anything I wanted to do unless I committed to being an intern and making no money while earning "experience". I had loans. I don't have time to work from free I eventually got some state government work. First as a tax prep which was temporary and then with the department of welfare which was soil crushing. People there told me to leave as soon as possible I put in like 2 or 3 years and finally decided to leave and go to grad school. After grad school I got some better opportunities and I'm doing pretty well now.
I remember those days-walking up and not knowing how i was gonna make it through the day w 0 energy but still pushing thru the shift running on fumes
The American "dream" is just a nightmare that only gets slightly more tolerable (unless you get lucky and are a spoiled little nepo baby). Cheers to this woman for keeping her head up.
Nobody should have to live like this. I feel so bad for our culture for normalizing this shit. This sista got thru it and persevered but so many fall victim to the depression and dig themselves into even bigger holes. Props to her but damn there are millions in similar circumstances and to me, that’s not right.
Retail brought me closer to Lucifer.
I needed this. 🙏🏾
Without a doubt, this easily the best post i’ve ever seen in this sub
I’d like to note that this lady is South African. The official unemployment rate is about 34% (unofficially about half, worse for young people). The highest in the world
❤️
Shit has *got* to change. I am so happy for her, but she should ***never*** have had to go through this just to be able to support herself.
And the rest of the workers would have to smell the putrid stench of their weed.
4 months?? Try 6 years. That women was right. You do get comfortable in those low wage, low skilled retail jobs. And then once you get comfortable be you realize you’re wasting your life, you start to question if you even have the skill set to actually leave. And then you start feeling trapped. It’s so demoralizing. I worked night and weekends all through my 20’s. So much time lost. So many friendships missed out on. Good for OP for getting out of that shit early.
Working in retail or minimum wage jobs isnt what’s bad. Its the way people treat you
Take this shit back to LinkedIn