I might delete this IDK yet. I work two jobs and have done so for over three years (almost four). I work at a hospital full time and one day a week at a thrift store (45-50 hours a week). I am going to school in the fall (I got into the program I wanted) so we will see if I can even keep the thrift store job.
I have worked since I was 16. I started in hotels as a housekeeper. I have had jobs in retail (associate), offices (receptionist), kitchens (line cook) and now I work in medical as a CNA. It took me a long time to figure out what I am good at. It's been a long road but I have finally come into my own and am ready to take the next step into a career with better pay.
I worked through COVID in the isolation units. I remember how insane that time was for me, the staff and patients. I also noticed the way people started treating each other. I remember going into a grocery store, a gas station or another essential business and watching people treat those behind the counter SO badly. I believed it was due to the craziness of the pandemic and hoped that it would pass when lock down ended. It didn't.
This summer specifically has been very hard at both my jobs. The thrift store has seen four managers since I started. We have cycled through multiple assistant managers too. I have had coworkers come and go. Some I was not sorry to see leave, others were tough to watch go. The hospital is crazy too. It's been a lot to manage.
One thing that has been constant is the worsening behavior of the customers. It used to be that I maybe had a rude person at the thrift store once in a while. Now it is a regular occurrence. Multiple customers have been particularly unkind this month. I am not sure if it is the heat, the fire smoke from the wildfires we are experiencing, the cost of living currently or something else. But it is embarrassing to watch grown people get crazy upset when we can't take something they want to donate. I have seen grown adults have a meltdown and call us names over not taking bed sheets stained with urine, or an item covered in mold or spiderwebs. Be serious! It's garbage. The company that owns the thrift store has strict guidelines on what we can and can't take. We also cannot throw things away for people in our dumpster per company policy.
I am trying to isolate myself more and more just to stay away from people on my precious few days off. If I don't have to go into a store I won't (I love curbside pickup). I try to keep to myself. But it's almost a daily occurrence that I see someone in a gas station pop off over the price of a corn dog. The small co-op grocery store I go to I have even seen morale among the staff go down because people are so rude to them. I think we are all in this terrible economy together so why are we fighting among each other? The managers don't do anything unless the person is stealing.
I'm exhausted every day after my shifts. My feel and legs ache. But mostly my soul feels a little more lifeless. I thought I would be making a different and helping people at the hospital. I don't feel that way now. The thrift store is darn near intolerable at times. I'm just so so tired of people's entitlement.