…you can clock out any time you like, but you can never leave.
I find this meme very classist.
Like unironically, right SMCF?
I’m not sure what unironically means, sorry.
I worked for Walmart in the mid 2000s.
It’s not classist. That place is a hellhole. There’s a reason so many people who work there are on food stamps.
It’s classist to be mad at people who live in food deserts and can’t shop elsewhere. It’s classist to be fine with the system that puts people in jobs that don’t actually support them. It’s classist to look down on folks who get stuck in those jobs. It’s not classist for someone to be unhappy that they got stuck in such a job.
Fuck Walmart.
(I worked there and was a CSM before being able to move to a better job in 2010.)
Yes Walmart is a shithole but don’t begrudge the people trying to make an honest living. It’s classist, it’s punching down at the wage worker by calling them a clown rather than punching up at the corporation for being a shithole.
Easier to get a job if you have a job. Probably should use the earnings to see a therapist to deal with the job application anxiety.
That’s exactly what I did.
Got an underpaid shit job that was forced to take anyone.
Went to therapy for a year to overcome application anxiety.
Started a job application marathon.
Landed my dream job half a year later.Took me nine months of applications. Nothing for 7 months, suddenly 3 offers in a month. I got a hell of a good step up from my part time IT gig though, so it was worth the trouble.
That’s really great to read. Congrats! I’m very happy for you.
Wow you are the success story I needed to hear. I’ve been struggling with depression and unemployment for more than a year, and recently got a plebe job at Famous Retail Chain. I did some therapy and it helped but I’m now running out of government support for it so I won’t be able to afford it anymore. I’m considering a psychologist online in my country of origin which would be substantially cheaper.
Taking initiatives … It’s hard for most of people.
That, and society does not like it when you do so, and the more you get off the beaten path, the harder it gets.
We are all just prisoners here
Of our own device
The last panel caught me by surprise and got a good laugh.
I knew a woman who took a job in a porn shop while she worked on her book (a children’s book), and depression set in when she realized she hadn’t touched her manuscript in 2 years and her career was being a porn clerk.
She ended up becoming the manager of three stores.
Edit: This was back in the ‘90s, when people bought porn in stores.
Did she ever finish her manuscript?
When I was working my way out of retail jobs I took a job at a callcenter making a pittance. It beat retail and came with actual responsibilities and expectations which I liked. A few months in some management type shared a random feelgood blogpost by someone who stated they’ve been working in a callcenter for 6 years. I remember commenting at the time “yikes why would you keep working in a callcenter for that long?” (I think at the time I hadn’t even been an adult for 6 years)
3.5 years later I put in my notice from that job and started rocketing my career upward. I spent my last year working part time while I worked on an IT degree, and had become very relied upon at the callcenter. My old boss from there actually keeps asking me to let her get me a job on their IT team, but I know that I can get better pay and benefits elsewhere. But most importantly, I kept my initial horror at the idea of working in a callcenter for 6 years in the back of my mind and made sure to get out long before reaching that point myself.
In my current job I encounter people in similar positions. They’re underqualified and living in small towns with limited employment options so they put up with pretty nasty working conditions in (for example) meat packing plants in order to take home the best pay and benefits they can. I heard one of the field employees I support mention that they haven’t been home for over 6 months, and they said this to me whilst I was sitting in my cushy office job working from my own home while my toddler slept in the next room not 8 feet away.
I graduated in 2011 shortly after the shit hit the fan in '08. I remember moving back home and trying to get my shit together. My mom starts hounding me about needing to go back to work (I had worked as a cashier at a grocery store seasonally while getting my degree) I told her I wasn’t going back to that job n wanted to get a career job. After a month of not getting said career job in the worst economy since the depression she threatened to kick me out if I wasn’t working in the next 2 weeks. So I went back to that shit ass retail job… For 4 fucking years.
I worked at the grocery store, got a promotion and still made next to nothing wage wise. After a couple of years it was a real hindrance in interviews. I would get questions like "you graduated 2 years ago, why are you still working at a grocery store? Eventually a friend got a job working in an office at a limo company. I was able to piggy back off him to get a job there. It was shady, and I had no healthcare, or benefits compared to my previous employer, but it was a desk job. I was only at the limo company a little more than a year before I managed to get a career job elsewhere and work my way up. I sincerely think that having that crappy retail job on my resume was holding me back.
It pisses me off that I wasted 4 years on a retail job when I absolutely could have/ would have/ should have been in a better job. I have told new grads multiple times not to fall into this trap. Don’t get a bridge job if you can avoid it. It’s going to suck up all your time, and having the work experience isn’t going to help your career. You’re better off just quitting and pursuing your career in any way you can. Unless you absolutely cannot make rent and will be homeless, fucking don’t do it. Also, now with driving Uber / door dash as an option, I’d recommend it before doing retail. You can actually network driving Uber and talking to folks.
