Week 31 Day 6 - Five Reasons Why Working In Retail Sucks

7:17pm



I'm 26 years old, and I'm ready to retire. Is that bad? I would imagine everyone is ready to retire, probably even earlier than me. If you don't already know, I work for a supermarket, as an apprentice meat cutter, or a butcher basically. It's a very stressful job. I don't just stand back there and cut meat. There's a lot more to it. Every day I wear a pedometer, to measure the amount of steps I take. On a normal day, not working, I will take on average, 2,000 to 4,000 steps. On a day that I work, which is always 8 hours, I almost never take less than 10,000 steps, sometimes up to 15,000 steps. I am usually exhausted when I get home. Between waiting on customers, ordering supplies, cutting meat, filling the cases, cleaning, and taking our two mandatory 15 minute breaks, and one hour lunch, there's no time to lose. We don't have enough help either. Tomorrow for example, there are only 3 of us there until 2pm. On a Sunday, the busiest day of the week. How can 3 people keep up with a couple thousand customers? It's what's expected. Here's a few reasons why working in retail sucks.

1. My hours are all over the place. I never have a set schedule. One day 2pm-10pm, the next 7am-4pm, the next 12pm-8pm. Crazy. Not good for having a family, especially newborns.
2. Customers are A-holes. I hear everything from "Thanks, you are the nicest person!" to "Why the F don't you have any chicken gizzards?" I just work here. I don't own the place. 
3. High employment turnover. Most of the employees are kids. Just working to make a couple bucks while they are still in school. They don't care about the job, or the next person. 
4. You won't get rich. Wages are generally pretty low. Unless you are high up on the totem pole, you probably aren't going to get very far. Luckily for me, my job is Union, and it's the highest paid department in the store. Though, I could still use more money. But who couldn't?
5. Daily changes. Sales change weekly. Standards change daily. You have to relearn your job every week. That's stress. Emotionally, and physically.