Yea, yea yea, your soul is yours, but even if your soul is yours, a bad job/hours/people/condidtions can wear YOUR SOUL down…
I have had jobs almost as bad as even sven’s. And let me tell you, some managers need to have employees to suddenly quit, leaving them in the lurch. I often dreamt of doing it to one boss especially. It’s especially delicious when the other employees won’t be easily pressured by the boss into working the overtime (“I have to get home to my kids now, bye.”). A few of my bosses deserved such treatment. (But I never left them in a lurch.)
As far as energy-sucking horrible jobs, I’ve had my share. I finally found a job that isn’t perfect, the pay is low, but it is far less stressful (most of the time) than any other job I’ve had so far. It’s worth the low pay (to me, at least) to not be stressed out all the time, and to actually feel alive enough after work to do stuff that is important to me. So, some dead-end jobs aren’t that bad after all.