Massive Duck. C.M.
Banned
Yeah, it'll probably turn out like the letter from prison thread.
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The Atlantic - "My Life as a Retail Worker" AKA Retail Work is Demeaning and Sucks
- Thread starter NYCmetsfan
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Yeah, it'll probably turn out like the letter from prison thread.
The Broken Ska Record
Member
I was interested in this at first and the more I read the more upset I got. Where does he work where he's under this totalitarian regime?
Monocle
Member
I know exactly what you mean.
NYCmetsfan
Banned
Its always been a large part of the country. The moralizing of poverty and crappy situations.
It will keep going for a long time, the shit just gets internalised and then propagated by those who are its victims.
D
Deleted member 13876
Unconfirmed Member
It's not exclusive to America. Unemployment benefits are getting cut in duration here in Belgium and now you see a bunch of already retired people bitching at the current generation entering the workforce, calling them entitled parasites and what have you.
NYCmetsfan
Banned
That's a bit different than what I'm describing.
Its looking at the poor and dividing them up to the undeserving poor and the deserving poor. Its the people who see a criminal or someone or dropped out of college and instead of wanting to help him see's his current situation as entirely justified and his own making rather than consequences of his poverty and desperate straits. The ones who bemoan the poor's lack of worth ethic or motivation. Those who see ghettos as entirely the fault of those that inhabit it. It sees poverty is some kind of justice or punishment for perceived sin or failure.
Its an excuse for the collective responsibility we have for the systems we've constructed which cast many out. Its an extreme manifestation of 'personal responsibility'
It seeks to say "I made it on my own (which often means due to circumstance and resources), so anyone can and if they don't its because they didn't want it". Its a really protestant work ethics that has always run through this country. It might exist elsewhere but I'm not really qualified to speak on that.
The problem you describe is more universal. IMO
D
Deleted member 13876
Unconfirmed Member
It would seem that way because I only vaguely described it, but when you go imto why these people think the unemployed are parasites things are quite similar. Gut feeling rules over hard data. For instance when people argue that even if all job openings were filled today there still would be 150k (sizeable part of population) unemployed they change the subject and start ranting about how immigrants can do the dirty jobs but the spoiled youth can't.
Young people either aren't really trying to get a job according to them or they aren't lowering their standards enough as they should as "there is always work if you're willing". They made it, so they can't see why someone else can't in this environment and they are more than willing to cut any social service as they only see it as taking their hard earned money out of their pockets to help out the losers who could not make it on their own and supposedly created their own problems.
Meanwhile more people than ever, especially the older population, are sick and unable to work for lomg periods of time as retiring early has become much more difficult and cutting jobs has increased the workload of many leading to more burnouts.
It's retail, that's how it is.
I worked it part-time for extra money a while back, as have friends, and while my boss wasn't as insane I still got yelled at regularly for being tardy. I'm not talking 15-20 minutes, I mean 1-2 minutes. We all got told to show up early, we didn't because that was bullshit and we told them that. Or working the closing shift, after managing to finish literally everything that needed to be done, staying an extra 15 minutes doing jack shit because management or corporate said so. Then there's arguing about hours every week, they never cared if you had class or another job they'd still put you on to work hours you couldn't possibly make. On top of all that the dress code and rules were only enforced if you weren't buddy-buddy with management because god-forbid you wear shoes that don't make your feet bleed.
Working retail is literally the worst thing in the world. It's easy as all holy hell, but they pile on things that aren't your job, pay you shit, treat you like crap, and then you have to get shit on by customers and take it with a smile. I saw a cashier get yelled at by a customer for following store policy (had she done what the customer wanted she would have been fired instantly), then get yelled at by her boss for pissing off the customer by following the rules.
These are horrible jobs that no one should have to work to make a living. These are the kind of jobs that students and retirees should be working for extra spending money. I'd never suggest it to anyone though. I could never even imagine doing a job like this full-time. I lasted six months of part-time, while working another job, before I quit. I couldn't take the constant blows to my pride day in and day out, it wasn't even my primary job and I still felt trapped, like I'd never escape it.
So none of what this guy writes surprises me. It's standard shit and it's disgusting the way people are allowed to treat employees.
soundscream
Member
He needs to do retail for a decade and then he'll know what pain is. Had to show up to work a day after I had a shoulder surgery, a nose surgery, and two concussions (all separate). Wasn't able to use sick leave since my company mandated you call out three times unpaid before you could use sick leave. Guess what happens if you call in three days for unpaid leave? You get replaced. Thank Allah I got out.
videogamer
Banned
Lying doesn't sound like a good way for the writer to start out.
Looks like he might not have even given 2 weeks notice.
I worked a retail job up until last year that payed $7.25 and had to drive 25 minutes there (so 50 minutes of driving total) every day I worked. My car has shitty gas mileage as well, so about the first hour of every day was just working to cover my costs of going to and from work for that day.
The problem is that I lived in shitty suburban sprawl USA where literally any kind of store or place of employment is at least a 15 minute drive away. It's like that in a lot of places in the country.
You kinda need to in order to get this kind of job. They don't want anyone smart or talented with a huge resume, they want someone who will shut up and do what they're told without questioning it. They want someone they can easily push around.
As far as two weeks notice goes, even if he had given it they wouldn't have started looking for a new guy until the day after his last day.
Somehow I doubt you've ever worked a job like this.
No kidding.
I'm always terrified something like this is going to happen to me.
What is the expression, you're only three tragedies away from homelessness?
Something like that?
Yea it's not rocket science but it can be draining at times. I still can't believe how certain people behave in some stores and what they try to get away with. Just the other day our lp guy caught two guys stealing and I was told one of them said: "It's just $40". I've seen little kids wandering around with no parents in sight. I've heard of stories of other nearby retail stores getting robbed which leads to our store being a potential target. You cannot make this stuff up. I've been working retail and going to school for awhile now and overtime I have elected to work less days because it just takes a lot out of you. I love the people I work with and the beauties that shop there, but the job is another story.
This is strongly making me think that I'd commit suicide potentially in a few years if I lose my job and end up in this boat. I've literally lived on as little of my income as possible in fear of this life, sacrificing any hope of a family.
We live in a dystopia ,and I really see no hope for the future.
We live in a dystopia ,and I really see no hope for the future.
Audiospawn
Banned
While I'm a bit more optimistic, I would probably consider suicide under those conditions as well.
As soon as it becomes cheap enough, these bastards will replace every single retail worker with machines. And wonder why they break down so often.
I'm not saying I'd just give up on losing my job (I have one chance left- my time in the military saved my ass) , but if I couldn't land something decent in a few years (and my definition of decent is very reasonable- I could live on $25k/yr if I had to), I'm not going to exist just to be miserable.
When the machines come, the masses will get their share one way or another. I actually think the plutocrat oligarchs would resist machines just for that purpose. They'd rather have the proles working shit jobs that sap them dry than unemployed and desperate with energy to do something about it
Discotheque
Banned
holy cow i swear i almost felt the onset of PTSD reading that article. i hope to never work retail again. it's dogshit.
Rentahamster
Rodent Whores
It's stories like this one and others that make me think we need to add finance to the education staples of math, science, English, and history.
How would that have helped?
Rentahamster
Rodent Whores
It wouldn't have hurt.
Knowing good finances allows you to budget better to save on expenses. It allows you to better analyze your work and time to make good cost/benefit analyses to help determine what activities are the most productive uses of your time. It can help you use the money you save during good times to grow faster than the normal shitty bank interest rate, and provide a larger cushion during hard times.
I'm not saying it's a cure-all, but it helps. I see a lot of people on the internet and IRL who don't know jack about how to save/grow their money, or at the least how to utilize it more frugally and economically. For a 40 year old dude to go from a well-paying Politico salary to broke in the span of months (even with alimony payments) is something that could have been avoided with proper planning in his earlier years.
Way to miss the ENTIRE point of the article.
Out of Working Order
Member
I've worked retail for several years now, and whilst I really like my colleagues (and they really have kept me sane), it has drained me of any sense of self-esteem or real worth.
I've had one person throw down rubbish at my feet, so I turned around and pointed out that there were several bins within 6 feet of the guy. He responded by telling me that it was "my job to pick it up". Just the other day somebody made a remark about my job when passing, sneering "job of a lifetime, that is".
You'll encounter awful people wherever you are in life, but retail seems to draw them all to you. You're the butt of everyone's joke. I will say that you get some lovely customers, though.
I've had one person throw down rubbish at my feet, so I turned around and pointed out that there were several bins within 6 feet of the guy. He responded by telling me that it was "my job to pick it up". Just the other day somebody made a remark about my job when passing, sneering "job of a lifetime, that is".
You'll encounter awful people wherever you are in life, but retail seems to draw them all to you. You're the butt of everyone's joke. I will say that you get some lovely customers, though.
Rentahamster
Rodent Whores
Dude, I know what the point of the article is.
oneils
Member
Liljagare
Member
Heh, working in retail is "easy".. Worked for too long in it, got alot of fun stories, but the "easy" part?
Work in a hardware store, people expect that you know how to build a house.
Work with electronics, people expect you to know the insides and outs of every single item in the store, and precisely how any item would work with anything in the customers home.
Work w. heavy equipment, naturarly, then you can also build roads.
Never worked in the clothing section, but I expect people should know everything about all different sizes and whatnot there too, and magically know the customers size by looking.
The only thing I got out of it, was that I am a walking encyplodia of knowledge, hardly need to use google..
So nice to have moved on to other things..
Work in a hardware store, people expect that you know how to build a house.
Work with electronics, people expect you to know the insides and outs of every single item in the store, and precisely how any item would work with anything in the customers home.
Work w. heavy equipment, naturarly, then you can also build roads.
Never worked in the clothing section, but I expect people should know everything about all different sizes and whatnot there too, and magically know the customers size by looking.
The only thing I got out of it, was that I am a walking encyplodia of knowledge, hardly need to use google..
So nice to have moved on to other things..
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