What jobs have you had?
Have you ever had a job that you didn’t enjoy? I mean, one that you really didn’t like at all? What comes to your mind? Can you picture it clearly? Well, I can. It was a doozy.
Let me set the stage… My first two jobs after college were at churches. I either led the music or looked after the youth. Eventually, I realized that line of work wasn’t for me, but they were somewhat enjoyable jobs.
My horror story job came not after that. It was early 2003 when I stopped working at the church. It had been obvious for a while that it was time to leave, so I took a leap and quit without any plans or fallback options. It was time to find a new job.
I started sending out resumes and applying for jobs. However, for some reason, my sociology degree didn’t seem attractive to prospective employers. I ended up working at a Thomas Kinkade art gallery for a little while, which wasn’t really my style. After that, I worked at Pizza Hut. It wasn’t exactly a step up in the world, but at least I got to enjoy free pizza.
After those two “wonderful” experiences, I stumbled upon one of the worst working environments I have ever encountered. I got a job spraying yards for a company in Oklahoma City. There were early signs that it wouldn’t be a good job, and boy, was I proven right.
Let me break this down into three sections, with the third section being the reason for the title of this post.
- Not long after starting work there, I found out that employee retention was poor. Being young and a bit naive, I initially thought it might have been the employees’ problem and that I would do better than they did. However, I soon discovered that the management of the company was unfit to handle their roles. They frequently used guilt to make employees stay late and do more work than they should have.
- At that point in my life, I was juggling two jobs. I worked for the grass company during the day and delivered pizzas at night. I remember one instance when my work truck broke down along the side of the highway. I knew I would be late for my evening job, but I thought that if someone could come and pick me up, I might still make it in time. When I called the company, they had me describe the issue. They told me there was no one they could send to fix the truck and that they would guide me through fixing it. The “solution” involved taking one of the shoestrings out of my shoes and using it to bind part of the throttle to the engine. Redneck for sure. To be truthful, I wasn’t upset about having to work on the truck on the side of the road; I was upset because my day job showed no consideration for anything I had planned outside of their activities. On a side note, I was pretty pleased that I managed to get the truck running with my shoestring.
- The worst part about working there was what was tolerated within the workspace. The guy who trained me was a full-blown pornography addict. It was all he could talk about. I spent my training time riding in a truck with a guy who tried to engage me in the most uncomfortable discussions I’ve ever had in my life. He loved using descriptive language. He even went so far as to pat me on the rear end in front of one of the managers. I looked him straight in the face, right in front of the management, and told him that if he touched me again, I would break his face. I think he finally got the message. The managers never said a word.
Why am I telling these stories this evening? It’s good to remember. It’s good to remember where we come from and what we’ve gone through. It serves as a reminder of how far I’ve come and how much I have to be thankful for.
As an older man, I now know what I am willing and what I am not willing to accept in the workplace. The stories I told you predate the modern era of HR policy. I know the workplace environment should be much better than what I have described. I’m thankful for that as well.
If you find yourself in a place where you’re uncomfortable, you’re not alone. Know that you have skills and abilities, and there are options out there if you’re willing to be persistent and look around. I am proof that even with an undergraduate degree and a field I had no desire to work in, you can find things you love to do and do them well.
David Willis 