New job, schedule sucks, job sucks

Post Reply New Topic

Yeah this is just a rant. Took a job, pay is okay at 10/hr but my schedule is all over the place. Some days I have to get up at 4am to work at 5:30am and other days I'm at work til 8pm. I can't set up any time that I can reliably wake/sleep to get used to this. Also the job is in a busy hospital cafeteria, my tasks always changing, the people I work with always changing and it's a huge sensory overload. My first week I went home sick the fourth 8 hour shift day in a row after lasting almost 3 hours. I had a splitting headache and went home and slept for three hours. That was on Thursday. This morning I started to feel better.

It's incredibly dry and hot at work and I'm dealing with literally hundreds of customers a day. I will not be working a regular schedule, just all over the place from 5:30 am until who knows, 3 am? I already want to quit and have used 2 of my allowed 7 sick days in a calendar year. I'm already an "unreliable" employee because I can't stand working there and they want me to work more hours! Also they can schedule me whenever and I'm supposed to check daily for changes so I could check in the morning to find out I have to work that afternoon.

I have tried self-talk, bribing, guilt tripping myself, everything I can think of but I cannot see myself showing up for work tomorrow morning. I can't make a decision because I can see too many negatives of staying there compared with the positive of making money. It's not like I can just go and get another job today that will make it not necessary to work tomorrow.

Yeah yeah and I'm sure people will just tell me how lucky I am to have a job at all, I should just suck it up and get up at 4am and go in to work get overloaded and pass out or get fired at some point because I can't cope with the demands of the job. After 30 jobs in the past 20 years, that's just not realistic anymore.

The problem with people on the spectrum taking very difficulty/traumatizing jobs for the sake of a better life/money is, we never, ever forget. My first job was god-awful and I took it and stayed for three months, despite incredible stress, simply to please other people who thought I should be working at that point in life. Unfortunately, pushing myself to stick through it led to an overwhelming disdain and fear of all work. I honestly believe that if I'd found a job that was at least mostly bearable, I would still be happily working today (whether it be that place or somewhere else). (disclaimer: I'm not a lazy person, while at the warehouse, I was the hardest worker there, and last summer, I loved every minute I spent landscaping under the sun for my Mom's Montessori). I think if the sensory overload of this place is actually making you ill, something's got to change...your mental and physical health is worth much more than $10/hr. Don't listen to me though perhaps just knowing that you can quit without fear at any second will help you either make it a few more days and earn a bit more money or maybe even a few months. All I know is, you're a brave soul for taking the gig and you've lasted a lot longer than I would have.

Thank you for your kind words windtree; I suppose I have been leaning lately to making money in more nontraditional ways. I love landscaping, and earned a few hundred doing it this summer just for family. I feel at this point that working for someone else is just not a viable option and I have a few opportunities to make small amounts here and there. I've lived on $10k or less a year since I was a teenager, I'm sure it will all be fine.

Well I never went in to work today, I'm done with that job and continuing to apply for cooking positions wherever there are any. I'm done with being in the front of the house, done serving customers, I want to be back behind the scenes making food. It's easier to get along with other cooks than it is to please the customers. Besides, in a kitchen, if you're not a little weird you don't really fit in anyway!

Have you considered calling in and saying you wont be in tomorrow?
Have you tried talking with your boss about your schedule?

I already did that and there is no talking about my schedule, it's per diem (means, as needed). I suppose I could just not get hours. But not having a job and not having hours to me are pretty much the same, they both equal no money.

An on call job like that can be very tough. I would try to look for something better, then quit.