"Normal" jobs unbearable?

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So, fortunately I'm still studying, but it's summer holidays here now and my mother wanted me to get a small job, so I did. I'll only be there for 9 days, and today was the first, and what should I say.. it was terrible.

I've had 3 internships before, and I found all of them exactly like the work I did today: boring, frustrating, exhausting.

Today I had to check circuit boards for errors. I had to stand the entire time (6 hours) and use a magnifying glass that made my head hurt after a while, plus it was very hot and noisy. After two hours I already thought "OH GOD PLEASE RELEASE ME FROM MY SUFFERING". When one of the ladies who showed me how to do it mentioned that she had been doing this - this exact job - for 17 YEARS now, all I could think was "holy crap". I wouldn't be able to stand it for more than a month.

Do you feel the same about jobs?

Yes, during my first job I found people that did the same thing for 10+ years and were happy. It was a struggle to just make it through the day from me some days. Given how many people drank and smoked heavily though I'm sure I wasn't alone.

I felt the same. Used it as motivation.

for what exactly?

to get a better job

Exactly me too.
I've had some intensely cool jobs but that didn't help beyond extending my time to about 4-5 months. Especially because of coworkers being weird (or normal?).

Bean self-employed works very well for me though. =)

But peering at tiny boring things through a single magnifier (what -do they give you a pirate patch for one eye?) in a yukky atmosphere, would melt my brain and crush my soul (for real) in about the same time.

17 years is just plain insane.

This is like the 7th level of hell. This is like a factory job circa 1910.

Look, if you want to stick it out one more day to see how it goes, that's fine. If you want to quit now, that's fine, too.

You could just say, 'I'm not going to be able to do this work. This work is bad for my eyes.' And I think it would be bad for a lot of people's eyes. Probably the end, but outside chance they'll find you another job at the same place.

You can also say, 'I'm not going to be able to work anymore. I have a family situation I have to take care. [no, I can't tell you what it is, but it's something I have to take care of]' This is kind of the more adult, mature way of calling in sick.

Parents seem to think any job, stick it out, don't quit. And I don't get that. Professional poker players learn you have to fold, sometimes even promising hands. And it's the same with jobs.

So, the main social question, may be how to interact with your parents regarding this. Maybe other people can make some good suggestions about this part.

Are there any internships that you would enjoy doing? For example if I could do that I would intern at Marineland
working with dolphins. Try real hard to find something you enjoy doing because no matter what it pays if it is boring
it will always suck.

Let me pitch a job to you. Working at H&R Block taught me I'm really pretty good at working with clients.

Now, it is an unethical company because they do not adequately disclose substantial negatives of their loan and bank products.

But . . . I felt it was a less unethical company with me working there because I did make an effort to disclose to my clients.

So, it's taking a class in the Fall or passing a test on your own, and then about 5 weeks of work in January and first week or ten days of February, and that's basically it, and then you can chalk it up as a success.

Now, one year out of four (Block and this other place), I was fired, in my judgment because I was proactively calling clients not approved for the loans instead of waiting for the clients to storm the store (of course a different reason was used). That means, 3 years out of 4, I wasn't fired, and I'll take those odds. And I felt my primary loyalty was to my clients and my immediate co-workers and not to the company hierarchy.

I learned I was good at distilling information and presenting it to people. If I was a younger person, I would seriously think about medical school (yeah, really!). I try and keep the explanations brief. And one thing, I assume the person is actually slightly smarter than I am, they just don't happen to know this particular information.

I completely disagree with your point of view. It's only 9 days. If you get into the habit of thinking it's OK to quit any job after 2 days, then you'll make yourself unemployable. Realistically, is there any summer job for an 18 year old that doesn't suck?

Jason.

Not if it hurts your eyes. A headache is a sign of at least some amount of eye strain.

I have a job witha food service institution. It is Very blue coller. It is a struggle everyday. I work with a lady that has been at my work for forty years. I told her that if I was there that long I would want someone to put me out of my misery.

Yes, I find them physically and emotionally draining. All I do is sleep when I get home and I become depressed. I usually have a hard time socializing with people at work.

That's what it was like the time I had a part time job cleaning, except for the socializing part until right before I quit. Most of the time I was working alone but at the end there was a school break and I had to do different things and work longer hours and other people were there and I couldn't handle it and quit.

Then my friend that worked there and drove me there quit 1 week later so I would have had no way to get there and would have had to quit anyways.

That's why I don't have a job, the boredom is unbearable.

Dude, you get to check circuit boards? That is awesome. I work at CVS/pharmacy and it sucks.