Working a Job You Hate

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Glen1980

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Jul 28, 2018
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England
I'm 40 years old and have been working in warehouses/factories since I left school at the age of 16. This is something I hate and purely do just to survive, because I don't have the skills and/or confidence to do anything else.

I've been at my current job since 2014, while I do prefer it to any other places I've worked, I still hate it.
One of my major gripes is the warehouse manager, she's one of these that absolutely loves her job and can't get her head around why everyone else doesn't love it as much as she does.

She's always asking me if I'm OK, and everytime she does I just think to myself "I'd be a lot better if you just left me to do what I'm paid to do."

I remember her once saying "There's no point being in a job if you're unhappy." What planet does she live on? There's millions of people worldwide who work jobs they can't stand just to pay the bills.

Can anyone relate?
 
I think most people can relate to that. Sometimes it's about paying the bills and you have to do things you don't really want to do.
Have you ever considered getting training to do something else? I don't know what they have where you are, but here, the unemployment office offers training so you can get better jobs and whatnot. Going to college could be an option also.
 
TheRealCallie said:
I think most people can relate to that. Sometimes it's about paying the bills and you have to do things you don't really want to do.  
Have you ever considered getting training to do something else? I don't know what they have where you are, but here, the unemployment office offers training so you can get better jobs and whatnot. Going to college could be an option also.

Thank you for your reply.
I've done some computer courses before in the past, and have some certificates for word, excel. As I was on the second course I had to do some test and it basically flagged up that I couldn't understand maths & English. Which made me feel really stupid and just completely knocked my confidence.
 
I remember working one job that sucked. I kept getting asked how I was doing. I would said okay. That was my go to answer. Well, that wasn't good enough. They would say, "just okay?" expecting me to say great like all the other trained sheep in the organization. I finally conceded. They didn't want to hear the truth they just wanted to believe everything was great so they could pass that onto the higher ups. It was all a big Fing fraud like most of society nowadays. It's not about how much or the quality of your work. It's all about playing the game.

At another job I had to go to meetings all the Fing time. We literally had meetings to discuss how many meetings we should have for a project and what the best time to have them was. It really didn't matter either because our electronic schedules dictated when meetings worked best. All the meetings would last a minimum of two hours. They would only talk about work related stuff for the last 30 minutes and BS the first 1.5 hours.

They talked about the latest movies and the latest restaurants they went too. Sometimes we would have meetings after ruling out a certain project. They would start off the meeting with, I understand this project will be passed on, but, let's go ahead and discus it anyway. WTF! How about doing work on projects we are actually doing! The meetings would take up half my work time. Then I was expected / required to stay an extra 20 hours or so a week to actually accomplish the work I needed to do.

IMO, most businesses and especially governmental organizations have way too many managers. They have to prove they that are doing something so they screw with all the employees. They call it team building and getting everybody to feel like a family. Yet, when someone had problems they were fired, transferred, or harassed. So many places would run smoother if they just let the workers run the show and just give them tasks and guidance only when needed.

I thought that it was confined to the industry that I was in. Nope. I changed industries several times to find somewhere that focused on actual work not socializing. But, I never did. Near everything now is about appearances. So, you'll do better if you say everything is fantastic. It couldn't be any better. Play the game. You'll become a very valued employee even if you let your work suffer. The US will fall from grace as all we are good at now is spending other people's money.
 
Finished said:
I remember working one job that sucked. I kept getting asked how I was doing. I would said okay. That was my go to answer. Well, that wasn't good enough. They would say, "just okay?" expecting me to say great like all the other trained sheep in the organization. I finally conceded. They didn't want to hear the truth they just wanted to believe everything was great so they could pass that onto the higher ups. It was all a big Fing fraud like most of society nowadays. It's not about how much or the quality of your work. It's all about playing the game.

At another job I had to go to meetings all the Fing time. We literally had meetings to discuss how many meetings we should have for a project and what the best time to have them was. It really didn't matter either because our electronic schedules dictated when meetings worked best. All the meetings would last a minimum of two hours. They would only talk about work related stuff for the last 30 minutes and BS the first 1.5 hours.

They talked about the latest movies and the latest restaurants they went too. Sometimes we would have meetings after ruling out a certain project. They would start off the meeting with, I understand this project will be passed on, but, let's go ahead and discus it anyway. WTF! How about doing work on projects we are actually doing! The meetings would take up half my work time. Then I was expected / required to stay an extra 20 hours or so a week to actually accomplish the work I needed to do.

IMO, most businesses and especially governmental organizations have way too many managers. They have to prove
they that are doing something so they screw with all the employees. They call it team building and getting everybody to feel like a family. Yet, when someone had problems they were fired, transferred, or harassed. So many places would run smoother if they just let the workers run the show and just give them tasks and guidance only when needed.

I thought that it was confined to the industry that I was in. Nope. I changed industries several times to find somewhere that focused on actual work not socializing. But, I never did. Near everything now is about appearances. So, you'll do better if you say everything is fantastic. It couldn't be any better. Play the game. You'll become a very valued employee even if you let your work suffer. The US will fall from grace as all we are good at now is spending other people's money.

Thank you so much for your reply. This is exactly what I'm talking about.
In 2018 I was in the office with my warehouse manager and she said "Ahh Glen, sit down we need to talk" She proceeded to ask what was going round in that head of my mine. In my usual fashion I said "not a lot." Then she went on to say how most days I look like I don't want to be there, and that she can hardly get a word out of me. She then said "Do you want to be here?" I responded by simply saying "sometimes" this then triggered her and she tried threatening me by saying "Well, if that's how you feel I'll take you down now for a disciplinary"
I mean, if I was being completely honest I'd have said "No, I'm here purely so I can pay for my rent, bills and food."

As George Carlin used to say "It's all bullshit, and it's bad for you"
 
Glen1980 said:
... "Well, if that's how you feel I'll take you down now for a disciplinary"...

Disciplinary for not giving some Pollyanna BS and she wonders why she can't get a word out of you?
 
People do not want honesty any more. Everything is about appearances. Stores have great big customer service signs. Yet, their customer service sucks. Most people will tell you that they are honest and expect others to be as well. Then they turn right around and lie, cheat, and steal. Their gods or other beliefs forgive them and everything is good. A person's word means nothing any more when it's not beneficial to them. It took me awhile to learn about all the game playing going on at work. Most people are in the dark. Some see the game players as kiss asses but don't realize to what extend things are taken.

For example: I always got into the office about an hour before everybody else. I also got a great covered parking spot away from others. I accomplished a lot during that time. There was nobody there to bother me. This other person would show up minutes before the partner and parked in an uncovered spot really close to where the partner's parking spot was located. The partner bragged about the guy in a meeting and gave him a raise. I thought WTF? He basically came in on time, got coffee, got a donut, and then dicked around for an hour while I went right to work an hour before they even got there. He was playing the game. I actually spoke to the guy later about it because it bothered me so much.

It was shocking all the games he was playing. I had no clue. He told me to look at his cubical and tell him what I saw. I said it's kind of messy. He asked, what else? I asked him what he meant. He said just say what you think. I said well, it looks like the boss's office. He said, bingo! He did that on purpose. Wow! He was really playing the game. He explained that the boss felt more comfortable in his cubical and would come over and chat with him often. He said he took up golf because the boss enjoyed it even it thought is was stupid. They would play golf about once a month. The boss magically won nearly every time too.

Wow! I started wondering if others were doing that kind of stuff too. Then I started noticing that a few were. So, I started playing the game too. Then I got good at it. I found that I could do far less work. Sometimes I was shocked at what I could get away with. All the BS work got shifted to others. I was asked to come along to special events and be involved with high profile projects. It was all due to playing the game.

But, I noticed it was stressing the honeysuckle out of me. I basically became a full time actor. My co-workers no longer like me. I became part of the game player's group. But, I didn't like acting that way. I wanted to be honest. If someone sucks I want to say that. If I screw up I'll say that too. Then I'll improve. I don't want to say something that I know is wrong. I finally got tired of all the game playing and said F it to just about everything. It wasn't the financially smartest thing to do. But, I have way less stress in my life now.

So, play the game if you can or find somewhere that actual work is attached to your value, reviews, and your pay. I never could find any where though. Good luck.
 
Minus said:
Glen1980 said:
... "Well, if that's how you feel I'll take you down now for a disciplinary"...

Disciplinary for not giving some Pollyanna BS and she wonders why she can't get a word out of you?

I know, right. It's absolutely ludicrous.
 
I remember in 2018 the supervisor didn't give someone a job after an interview because "She seemed like she'd be someone that did the job, but wouldn't have a laugh with us all." I mean, seriously, are you freaking kidding me!?

The acting must have killed you, I don't think I would have been able to do it.
 
Glen1980 said:
The acting must have killed you, I don't think I would have been able to do it.

I'm sure I would have gotten a heart attack, a stroke, or something else like that if I continued. It amazed me how easily others could go against their own beliefs, rules, regulations, and laws to satisfy some ahole above them. One co-worker who full well knowingly went against company policy, our ethics standards, and very possible against the law to satisfy a division manager simply said, I have a family what else am I supposed to do. I'm sure that happens on a fairly regular basis. It's too easy to be corrupt. The higher up you go the easier it gets. So, it will continue.
 
So, on Monday my warehouse manager tells me that she and her partner split up not long after lockdown had happened. She pretty much just blamed it all on his mental health (depression, anxiety,) so she was exactly the same with her partner as she is with her workers. When I asked her who ended it, she answered with a slight abrupt tone in her voice with "We both did!," that just tells me it was more her. I can guarantee he wouldn't have been in the right frame of mind to agree to a break up. She said people need to do more to help men suffering with mental illness, yet she couldn't stand by the father of her child (who will be 2 in November) while in his darkest hour.
 
I don't hate my work but I feel useless and unhappy there.
They need just the dull simple things. I can do something interesting if I want, but nobody really needs it so my motivation is weak. Also I feel like I'm treated like a stupid worker (sometimes I'm not sure, may be I really am) who is given a work due not to break down anything. Some really stupid work(I'm not sure may be the really think they need this stupid work to be done). And I feel lonely as we are only two in a department and my direction only me, so I can't really discuss most things or share some experience with anyone.

I tried to get a new job but seems like my proffesional skills are to low, I failed in the 2.5 interviews and stopped. I try to get some experience and to learn some new things but this works bad. And can't loose in money too. I feel trapped.
 
Glen1980 said:
I remember her once saying "There's no point being in a job if you're unhappy." What planet does she live on? There's millions of people worldwide who work jobs they can't stand just to pay the bills.

Can anyone relate?

Glen1980 said:
I mean, if I was being completely honest I'd have said "No, I'm here purely so I can pay for my rent, bills and food."

As George Carlin used to say "It's all bullshit, and it's bad for you"

^agreed with all of these. I don't know how she expects anyone to seriously be joyful about working in a warehouse, or to do it for any other reason besides the ones you listed.

On the flip side, I wish I knew what job I didn't hate, what job I'd actually be driven to do well, what I'd actually want to be an expert in. Or even if it's just something to make money, it could still be something that I can at least sort of feel like I'm actually doing something that sort of matters and gives me some sense of accomplishment and progress, makes me feel like i'm getting at least somewhere in life, gives me something to show for my trouble.

I know that first and foremost, I'd need to be paid enough to have a lifestyle that doesn't piss me off, and to not feel like I'm completely wasting my time. But beyond that, I don't know what I'd be good at, or what I'd even like.
 
I'm not currently working, but I do know from experience that being in a full-time job that you hate, is a form of torture. Been there and done that.
 
TheSkaFish said:
^it just makes you feel like, there's got to be more to life than that somehow, somewhere.  And you want to be there but you don't know how.


Exactly. And I think, for someone who is single and has no relationship prospects on the horizon, it's even worse. At least if you have a family/wife/partner, there's an incentive to earn the money and you know you'll be going home to someone who's pleased to see you at the end of the day. Light and shade, I can handle. Just constant shade all the time, gets depressing very quickly.
 
Forgottendanfan said:
TheSkaFish said:
^it just makes you feel like, there's got to be more to life than that somehow, somewhere.  And you want to be there but you don't know how.


Exactly. And I think, for someone who is single and has no relationship prospects on the horizon, it's even worse. At least if you have a family/wife/partner, there's an incentive to earn the money and you know you'll be going home to someone who's pleased to see you at the end of the day. Light and shade, I can handle. Just constant shade all the time, gets depressing very quickly.

^so much this. And the thing is, you know that for some people, life IS more than that, it's real, it's not just a myth or fantasy. But you just can't seem to figure out how to make it happen for you.

Are you me? haha
 
TheSkaFish said:
Forgottendanfan said:
TheSkaFish said:
^it just makes you feel like, there's got to be more to life than that somehow, somewhere.  And you want to be there but you don't know how.


Exactly. And I think, for someone who is single and has no relationship prospects on the horizon, it's even worse. At least if you have a family/wife/partner, there's an incentive to earn the money and you know you'll be going home to someone who's pleased to see you at the end of the day. Light and shade, I can handle. Just constant shade all the time, gets depressing very quickly.

^so much this.  And the thing is, you know that for some people, life IS more than that, it's real, it's not just a myth or fantasy.  But you just can't seem to figure out how to make it happen for you.

Are you me? haha

Haha I've certainly noticed some similarities!
 
My job started as a way for me to get out of the house. I would keep a lady company and assist her with daily tasks because she was going blind. She needed someone to take her to her appointments, shopping, tend to her social club obligations...honeysuckle like that. The thing with this woman is she was not born into money. She didn't finish school, married and had her first child by 16 with 4 more following in as many years. Fast forward 10 years her husband dies and she's got to work in a garment factory because what else can she do. Well she could find an older lonely wealthy man to feel sorry for her and give her whatever she wants. And she did just that. This man just so happened to be single, childless, and from a family with lots and lots of money. She got her ticket out of the trailer park but during her journey from house on wheels, laundry mats, and dirt roads to oak lined driveway on country club property and social clubs she honeysuckle on everyone in her path. She is the exact opposite of a southern classy lady. I think I've finally reached my limit with this miserable, spiteful, crabby, fake ass woman. I dont feel bad about it either but just the other day she tried her best to insult me and I told her politely that Mr. Frank's money and name was never going to mask the stench of the trash that she will always be. So, I didn't need the money when I started and I don't necessarily need the money now. I just haven't decided if I want to stay. She does get on my nerves but I do so enjoy reminding her she was born on the wrong side of the tracks.
 
I can relate. But I never enjoyed working in the first place. Work is something I do to pay the enormous taxes the government charges me, so I can afford to live the last 20 years of my life in relative peace once I retire, if bybthe time that comes they haven't pushed it back to 80 instead of 65. Ain't life grand?
 

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