Should I be working?

[rosedahlia31]

I starting working a McDonalds 2 weeks ago, just trying to save money in order to move to Seattle from Wisconsin. But the stress is getting to be too much. I've already had 2 breakdowns because of angry customers yelling at me. Last night I thought I was going to pass out I was breathling so shallowly. Everyone says it will get better, you'll learn to deal with these people. But I'm so sensitive and extreme pressure causes me to breakdown. What happens when I hyperventalate and can't talk or function in the middle of a particularly busy time? I don't know if it's worth it. I need the money, it's so hard to find a job nowadays, but isn't my health more important. I really hate myself and what this job is doing to me.

Please don't say it will get better, that I'll learn to deal with assholes because my mind is so fucked up I can't stand the stress. Does anyone understand this?

[Leebeeboo]

Working in a customer service position when you have social phobias, anxiety, or even low self esteem is very hard at first. This is compounded with the fact you're working at the type of place (fast food, retail) where the employees are notoriously treated like dirt by the public. I totally get where you're coming from. One of my earliest jobs was at a discount shoe store (like Payless) and I had a rough time dealing with the irate customers. I once had a woman throw a shoe at my head because I wouldn't accept a return for a pair of shoes that had been bought months before, and were clearly worn and filthy.
As you acclimate to the job, you'll become more confident that you are doing your job right and adhering to company policy, and that the customer is being pissy because you aren't falling for their scam, or giving them something for nothing. If you find that after having adequate training you still can't deal with the public, ask to be transferred into a position in which you're cooking instead of dealing with the customers directly.

[Fargin]

I worked in the postal service and from the first day, I knew I couldn't handle it, but I stayed there for more than two years anyway.

I thought I needed the money(when do we not?), but I was constantly balancing on a breakdown and it left me with no energy to look for a better job. My life just consisted of work and sleep. I ended up being so stressed out, I couldn't remember the day before, if someone asked me. There where just a black hole, when I attempted to remember. Because I couldn't relax in my weekends or weeks off, I started taking more and more overtime. One day after my mail van's electrical system broke down and the locks short wired and left the keys locked inside in the ignition, I later went home and knew I'd never be able to work there again. I felt I'd given everything I had and felt totally dead inside. The whole two years I felt like I was doing damage to myself, but with a long history unemployment, everyone in my family and my friends cheered me on, happy and relieved I was working.

If you've had a couple of breakdowns already and are constantly tested to your limits, maybe the damage and pain you're forcing upon yourself everyday isn't worth the money. I wish I had quit the job after my first day, because I knew it was only a question of time, before the job got the best of me. the postal service had a revolving door, because many new employees couldn't handle the stress and left in days or weeks. seriously, why didn't I? If you think there's a chance it'll get better, stick with it, but if you'll looking for someone to give you permission to quit a job, that's killing you, I'll be honored to comply.

Don't stay there, if staying there means breaking down or constantly being in a controlled state of panic. It'll take so much energy, you could use of finding another job. I'm not saying the other jobs will be much better, but it can't be much worse either. I also think it can also be positive to stand up for yourself and say: I refuse to work under these conditions.

Best of luck

[talkthedog]

Can you ask to work in the back on the grill or fries or something? Wash dishes? If not Try thinking "what would I have to go through to act like they are acting right now and what are they going through." Another one that sometimes works for me by Debbie Ford is when someone is pointing at you (imagine they are pointing at you if they aren't) and they are "accusing" you of something that they have one finger pointed at you but they have three more pointing back at him/herself. So if they are saying you are incompetent then it is because they feel they are incompetent x3. And if that doesn't help do the old "picture them in their underwear. LOL

[oak]

OP, I have so been where you are, so you are not alone.

The others offer excellent, kind advice.

To answer your question, yes you should be working, especially if you want to move across the country.

The implied question (if I can put words into your mouth) is:

Should you be working in your current role?

If nothing can be worked out as far as roles, should you stay at your current employer?

If I were you, I would suggest meeting immediately with your supervisor. They are paid more to manage. As their employee, you have the defacto right to bring up your concerns, especially considering that you are in such distress.

You may have a wonderful manager who listens, takes immediate action, and follows up.

Or you may have a manager who doesn't give a damn, who knows that there are 50 people she/he can call the same day to replace you.

Whatever the response of your manager, you owe it to yourself, your coworkers, and your employers to express that the current way things are going can't continue.

All that being said, it is a shame that customers treat other human beings that way.

Nothing that could reasonably happen at a McDonalds is worth raising one's voice for.