Nose to the grindstone

When you're a kid, you're presented with very few jobs that you could pursue in the future. Everyone wants to be a doctor, spaceman, or cop, but all of these occupations pale in comparison to being a firefighter . Gun to my head, if I had to choose one of the “babies first dream job” jobs, the firefighter would be at the top of my list. That's not just because of their rad calendars or because I'd rather be a house fire victim than become a doctor or a cop. I feel like firefighters have a prett…

The one thing people expect from their employers is to be compensated for their work in a timely manner. Can you imagine what would happen if, after purchasing something in a store, you reached into the cash register to take your money back? Or what if you turned in your rent and then cancelled the check before it could be cashed. Do you think your landlord would let that slide? Of course not. Under no circumstances should a company be able to “reverse payroll” on their employees. This is exact…

This humble redditor's tale of retail hell has it all—the entitled Karen who makes demands minutes before closing and leaves a nasty review when she doesn't get her way. The unreasonable boss who expects the employee to do the work of ten people but chews them out if they log even 15 minutes of overtime. And the triumphant workers who show their boss the meaning of malicious compliance .

There's nothing worse than a boss who has it out for you for weird personal reasons. In a satisfying tale of malicious compliance, redditor u/Vanna-Black explains how she became the object of her manager's jealousy, and how she was able to escape.

Remember to be nice to workers this Black Friday

It is normal to ask yourself occasionally, “does my job contribute anything substantive to society?” When I worked as a security guard at my college's library, I would have to watch unattended items on the security camera to make sure they weren't stolen. After almost a year of working at these libraries and countless hours watching footage of unattended laptops sitting on a table, I never saw an item get stolen. Never! Not once! My watching it had no positive impact whatsoever. That really mad…

This insurance guy was approached by a recruiter for an insurance sales position at a company. Despite his repeated protests that he was overqualified for the role they were hiring for, they refused to take no for an answer and aggressively entered him into the interview process. As the interview progressed, it became increasingly clear that the hiring managers had no idea what they were on about. They repeatedly handed him wrong information and asked him to do things that he knew were complete…

This job candidate was asked by the recruiter if they would negotiate a lower paid rate, which turned out to just be a way of trying to get them to take the original offer. The recruiter's actions have drawn the ire of the internet after photos of the exchange were posted online. This thread was posted to Reddit's r/antiwork subreddit by Reddit user u/Jbeez4117 who shared the thread, which featured screenshots of the exchange, to the popular sub. They posted the thread with the title “That soun…

When I was in high school, I made enough money babysitting for 12 hours that I was able to buy illicit substances that will remain unnamed. Friends of mine saved thousands over the span of a year just taking care of rich peoples' children in their own neighborhoods. While I don't remember my exact wage, it was definitely at least $10 per hour. For a teenager in the early aughts, that was a pretty reasonable amount of money – just two dollars less than I made at a fish market in the summers. If…

Being a nurse is not for the weak of heart. There's nothing more difficult than dealing with the public, especially if the public is feeling sick and angry. It's even worse when they're taking out their frustration on you, an innocent party who has not caused their present suffering. It gets to another level when you're simultaneously trying to deal with a distressed person's emotional needs while administering treatment for them. That's not to mention that you have tens of unique patients that…

Nobody wants to have a medical emergency , yet sometimes we get shamed or scolded when we do. It's common for people, especially women, to be accused of faking or exaggerating symptoms. Why? Who knows. Usually, the accusation goes that a woman in severe pain is trying to get drugs, attention, or both. It is incredibly dehumanizing to those suffering from excruciating ailments to be dismissed or told that they're making it all up. This kind of dismissal doesn't only happen within the confines of…

There's nothing worse than waiting to get paid by a shady corporation . When I worked at a restaurant during my senior year of high school, my boss told me that the clock-in system was broken. He told me not to worry and that he would ensure I got the time I worked during those shifts accounted for. I did as I was told and didn't clock in for about 5 or 6 shifts during the Christmas season. Little did I know that I would never see any of that money from those shifts. I don't know if my boss for…

Another day, another dollar

Jobs can be a lot like relationships. When a person finds the right one, it helps them grow, makes them feel supported, and generally makes life better. But when you find yourself in a toxic workplace, it can do exactly the opposite - make a person feel stressed, anxious, depressed. Basically miserable. But just like in a relationship, it's easy to stay in a toxic situation because it's comfortable. There's something easy about suffering in a way that's familiar. While some people lean into the…

It's IT meme time! I know what you're wondering: Do you mean IT, the classic Stephen King novel and 2017/2019 films about clowning gone wrong? Absolutely not, you stupid baby! It's IT time as in, the actually important IT, which stands for Information Technology . Now I will be honest with y'all. I am not a diva of the IT or computer science or programming persuasion. I am merely a humble former English major hoping that the STEM kids in the room accept these memes into their hearts. Even if I…