Finally Graduating
I finally graduated from high school and enrolled into a college. Both my father and stepmother demanded I get a job because they did not want "adult bums" living in their house, and they did not want to support me. To continue enrolling in college classes and purchase needed textbooks, I needed income, so it made sense in my mind to get a job.
My First Job
In 2019, I landed my first job at Subway. My pay per hour was $7.25. On a daily basis, I had to deal with my manager berating the generation of people he hired (Gen Zs). He never said anything to their faces, but went on a joyride behind their backs. In addition to this, the unexpected schedule changes caused an inconvenience to me and my lifestyle. I did not want to adapt to my job; My job needed to adapt to my lifestyle. I could not thrive in a hostile environment, so I quit.
Flipping Burgers
Within the same year, I landed a job at Burger King. The pay was not any better. $7.50 per hour was the rate I was given. On my first day of working there, I was sexually harassed my entire shift. I quit the same day.
Tower Service
I applied to work at Walmart, and was hired six months later. $11.00 per hour was what I earned. I worked as the only Pickup Associate for the store. I was in charge of delivering phones, tires, food, photos, toys, stuffed animals, beauty products, and other items to customers when applicable. Depending on the size of the items, they could be stored in either the Pickup Tower or the Pickup Lockers, and the customer could retrieve their items without assistance. If the item was stored in the Pickup room or at the back of the store, I had to retrieve the item for the customer.
During my time there, I was treated poorly by both other associates and managers. Multiple individuals from the eCommerce section of Walmart sabotaged me. They misplaced items, hid items from me, improperly stored items, never stored certain items, lied to customers about their orders being available, repeatedly trashed the room where pickup items were stored, stole both the printer and handheld device I needed to complete my job, and more.
In addition to this, no one wanted to help me service customers during the Rush. The Rush started in the beginning of November and ended on December 24th. It was a period of time where an unhealthy and egregious amount of Pickup Orders entered the store. On one occasion, 24 pallets of Pickup Orders entered the store. It was impossible to get all of those items staged within a week. I was forced to work shifts without a break, and had to frequently clean up after the eCommerce associates that sabotaged me. On multiple occasions, I was blamed for things I did not do. I tried to claim my innocence, but no one bothered to listen. I was written up, and eventually fired.
Dealing With The Chatterboxes
I landed a job at Ingles. I received $11.00 an hour. I worked as a Scanning Coordinator. A Scanning Coordinator is basically an individual that ensures all the price tags in every single department are up to date. They spend hours walking around the store replacing old tags, creating both normal and discount signs for all departments, editing prices in the system, changing the weekly ad every Wednesday, and checking in vendors.
What I hated the most about this job was that I had to communicate daily with three individuals (The Store Manager, Co-Store Manager, and Lead Scanning Coordinator) that gossiped about every single associate and customer that entered the store. I had to talk to them or else I could not complete my job responsibilities. They were the worst individuals I worked with.
At the time, only four scanning coordinators were hired. One quit, and the lead scanning coordinator got sick from COVID-19 and stayed home a few weeks. The other scanning coordinator quit when she was informed the store manager, co-store manager, and lead scanning coordinator gossiped about her. The only one left was me.
Although both the Store and Co-Store Manager knew how to perform scanning coordinator responsibilities, they made it clear to me they were not going to help me. They watched as I fell behind in tags, did not have time to change the weekly ad, struggled to print all the normal and discount signs for each department, check in vendors, and more. The prices on the shelves were wrong, but the prices in the system were correct. When cashiers rang up customers' items, the prices surprised and misled customers, which led to complaints. All the store manager did was put a sign up saying that she acknowledges the prices on the shelves are incorrect, and demanded none of the associates touch them.
To make matters worse, the managers from the Deli and Produce departments made my job harder. The Deli manager accused me of not creating her normal and discount signs. I told her multiple times I created them and placed them in the designated basket. She proceeded to tell me that there was no need to lie, and it's okay that I don't know how to do my job. An associate that worked in the Deli department retrieved the signs before the manager could. I never received an apology.
The produce manager made my job harder by lying about what signs she needed me to create. She gave me a list of items she needed signs created for, and listed if they had to be normal or discounted signs. Once I returned to the produce manager, she told me I made the signs wrong, and switched which signs needed to be normal and discounted. She did this five times in one day, and even had the audacity to snap her fingers at me like a dog.
The store was filthy and improperly maintained. The white floors were covered in dirt, the bathrooms were not cleaned regularly, dead mosquitoes and flies covered dairy and frozen products, and the demeanor of multiple associates were uninviting and inappropriate. On one occasion, all the freezers in the Frozen department shut down for three days. Once the power was restored, the Store Manager checked the status of each freezer. NONE of the products were removed and discarded. One of the Meat department managers even complained to the Store Manager about the fridges not being cold enough to store meat, leading to spoilage and wasted food. She did not take any action on this matter.
I quit because the environment was too hostile for me.
A Miserable, "Weird Old Lady"
I obtained a job at Sally Beauty and earned $10.00 an hour. Everything was going well until the manager repeatedly overstepped boundaries and broke her own rules. My manager:
- Frequently changed my schedule without notifying me
- Told me I could not wear certain clothes that were well within the dresscode
- Frequently gossiped about me and the girls I worked with
- Repeatedly interrupted us from eating during our single 15-minute break
- Spent hours eating lunch in the back of the store
And a plethora of other things.
I wanted to keep working there because I enjoyed earning income for myself. I also did not feel safe at my home, and this job was a way for me to temporarily escape what I experienced there. However, my father demanded I quit my job because helping family is more important than helping myself.
Hindered
At this point in time, I was fed up with my family members. They have both sabotaged and prevented opportunities for me. My father and stepmother wanted me to give up on my dreams and help everyone else get to theirs, and I did not like that. I did not want to work a 9-5 job for the rest of my life, so I wanted to create a business that would allow me to remain financially stable. I couldn't even spend the money I made from my jobs on things I wanted. Majority of my income went to my father, stepmother, and their kids.
My family members did everything in their power to prevent me from becoming successful in any endeavor. I thought about creating a bonnet and scrunchies business, so I purchased materials such as fabric, sewing needles, thread, bobbins, and more. Once I managed to create three bonnets and six scrunchies, my father demanded I stop and toss everything away. I was not provided a reason.
I thought about working with epoxy resin and selling keychains. I purchased materials and practiced. I managed to get a customer that wanted 16 keychains of the letter "C" from me. I ran out of UV resin to create projects, so I purchased more. My father told me if I didn't make $80, which was the amount I spent to buy the materials and UV resin, I had to stop working with resin. The customer cheated me and only gave me $40. I'm pretty sure you can figure out what happened next.
I continued to be disobedient towards my father and stepmother. I was not using their money to purchase materials; I used mine. It was going towards a good cause, and I did not want to give up. I thought about creating and selling natural, diy beauty products. I researched various topics, purchased materials, and got started with the creation process. My stepmother frequently complained to my father about me wasting both time and money, and needing to stop what I was doing. I was told to throw away all the materials, supplies, and projects I completed.
I thought my father and stepmother did not like the ideas I had in mind, and wanted me to choose something more suitable for myself. However, that was far from the truth. I could not express my creativity around these people, and I was convinced my only reason for living with my father and stepmother was to serve them and their children. They did not care about me; They only cared about what I could do for them. I was tired of living with those miserable and hateful people, and managed to move out with the money I saved from working.
My Next Move
I finally had the time and opportunity to create. After some consideration, I decided that I wanted to create both digital and physical products. I spent years planning and creating various products such as courses, guides, journals, memoirs, phone wallpapers, and more. While I created these products, I kept in mind that I wanted them to serve the purpose of helping people or solving a problem. I hope anyone that visits this website likes what I have made so far.
My Point
In conclusion, do not feel pressured to fit inside a box that someone assigned to you. You are in control of your life and have the right to make your own decisions. If you feel and know that the individuals around you are unsupportive of your dreams and decisions, avoid telling them about your plans. Get far away from them as soon as possible. The only thing they will do is discourage you. Love is not performative nor a transactional prize. You should never feel that you are stuck in a situation. Negative situations do not last forever, they come and go.