Jobs that suck out your soul

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

I’ve been working in construction for about four years now and while its not bad work, I’ve been feeling myself changing as a result of it. I used to be highly creative and optimistic, my English teacher said I had a future in writing but as a result of needing to make money, I had to stick with being a highly-paid monkey going to wherever there was work in insulating. What I dont like about it, is that I’m scared of losing my previous personality altogether as a result of this work, a job in construction pretty much guarantees you wont be called upon for using the right-side of your brain as much. Maybe its just me but has anyone else seen themselves change dramatically (for better or worse) as a result of the jobs they were in? I really would like to rediscover my old talents but I’m having a hard time because of the money trap and I fear one day I’ll look in the mirror to see a complete stranger and this scares the hell out of me.

Do any of you work in jobs like this? And have you been able to hold onto your sense of self throughout?

2

Your environment, the people you associate with (by choice or not) have a direct influence on you as a person. We do continually evolve and, yes, I have experienced major changes in my personality and my perceptions as a direct result of whatever I was doing for a living at the time.

The last several years I have sold advertising internationally. Believe me, the travel has changed me and I am certain that selling always changes people. It’s a tough way to make a living. There’s an old saying amongst sales people. “Working straight commission is like looking for a new job every day.”

Don’t be discouraged. You can stay with your current occupation because it pays decently and find other creative things to do in your life. It’s not impossible.

If you are truly worried about losing touch with things you care about then consider moving into a different field or just plain relocating. There are a lot of options. Sometimes you are just standing too close to see them.

3

Anything ** RETAIL**!!

I’m deadly serious. I did that for nine years of my life and I now hate customers! The last few retail stores I worked for were of the ahem… cough adult variety cough and I got to see the worst side of (sorry to say it, don’t shoot me with that 1920’s style death ray!!) men.

– OK, note to porn-shoppers: Do NOT expose yourself within the actual store or surrounding parking lot. Do NOT try to use lubrication inside the store. Buy it and GO home! Do NOT leave bodily fluids on the checkout counter! Do NOT steal porn, you will be caught (damn, it’s fun to catch shoplifters!) and do NOT cry when you are caught! Be a MAN! Do NOT hit on the female clerks, they think you are a loser and laugh at you behind your back when you leave the store (I’m evil, heh!). –
Now, this may sound funny but it all happened to me while working, much of the time while I was alone on shift. NOT FUNNY!

In essence, I lost my faith in men. The other few years of retail made me lose my faith in the rest of humanity. People are stupid, myself included, but now as a customer, I try to help the clerk when I can. I help them do their job by alphabetizing the CDs or books. I don’t make a scene or a fuss. I wait patiently in long lines and don’t give the “evil” eye when it’s finally my turn. I know what all that is like. I don’t write CHECKS, not ever, not in line! BAH! That one always sucked serious goat butt! You know what I mean.

I know for a fact retail changed me for the worst. I’m mentally judging everyone I meet and I can’t stop it. At least I’m still outwardly cordial.

4

Kitty cat flattener.

But really, why can’t you exercise your brain in construction? I’m in construction/remodel and am constantly having to both figure out things and come up with creative ideas.

Learn how to read blueprints (if you don’t already know), this gives you some insight on what’s going on the other fields involved on that project.

Get involved in some specialty crafts. Like trim carpentry, faux finishing, tile mosaics, etc…

Get involved in conversation while doing the mundane work. Many construction workers I know have quite the varied interests outside of work. From music, religion, astronomy, to almost any feild of human endeavor…
My condolences to you, though, if you’re stuck working with those trash talking, predjudiced, poo flingers with the radio on full blast that I’ve seen on some job sites. Fortunately, in my line of work (mostly remodel) and area (Midwest and Southern USA {yeah, I do tend to travel around alot}), you see a pretty good class of true craftsmen.

5

Yes.

After high school, I tried for several years to pursue a career as a drummer with various bands. During this time I held various inconsequential “day jobs” such as burger cook, delivery driver, mailroom monkey, usually being paid minimum wage and often enough with band mates as co-workers.

Then I got a “real” job. I became a reactor operator in a chemical plant. There was some small level of enjoyment derived from the work in that it was my first job that required tackling new knowledge and using some analytical skills.

But mainly it was the money that kept me there. For another thread recently, I calculated what my then wages are in 2002 dollars, and I was making the equivalent of $55,000 in last year’s dollars. For a 20 year old with no college, no debts and used to minimum wage living, that was good money.

I bought new drums, I bought a sports car, I picked up a lot of bar tabs.

But I also worked in an environment where I had no contemporaries. My co-workers lived near the plants (out on the Ship Channel) and were generally lifers whose fathers and uncles and brothers all worked in the plants. Driving in from west Houston everyday, I was their token furriner (I know, I know - one of the "forbidden words, but think of a lone hippie in a sea of rednecks).

Scheduling rotations, distance and even, I think, income disparity all contributed to my gradually losing touch with my music buddies, which I could see happening.

After being burned in an industrial accident at the plant, I spent many weeks in the hospital. It gave me time to think, and I realized that my paycheck was herding me into a lifestyle, and life, that was foreign to my desire, as well as taking me away from what I thought was the good part of my life.

It scared and depressed me. I realized it would be foolish to just quit. So, while in the hospital, I came up with a plan. I decided to save as much as possible until the following fall, at which point I’d quit, move to Austin and go to college.

Which I did. I’ve never looked back.

Good luck with it all, raizok.

6

Hrm. After I graduated college, I took a year off just to rest my brain and “center” myself (whatever that means). So I continued working the job I had while a student: radiation safety technician. Although it seems really neat on paper, this is the most soul-sucking job I’ve ever had, and I have done retail.

This job mainly consists of waving around a magic stick that picks up fluctuations in the ether, which you are then required to dutifully write down like the monkey scribe you are. Then, you draw a box, with smaller boxes in it, and label them with words such as “workbench” or “fume hood.” After that, you swipe dirt off of tables with 1 inch diameter swabs, which you then place in vials of fairy liquid which gives you magic numbers (also, to be written down dutifully by same monkey scribe). Finally, you make copies of your report, rubber stamp it, and send it to your superiors. Absolutely scintillating.

As far as holding my personal self separate from my job, I found it rather easy to do. Since it required none of my creative talents, I let these foster elsewhere outside of work, and I’ve always been one to separate my public work-life from my private peresonal one. However, you really do have to make the effort to engage yourself in these activities. I relied on school and classmates for a long time to engage my brain, which worked wonderfully, but once they’re gone and you don’t have the peer groups that you normally depend on, you’re forced to stick with yourself. That’s one reason why I enjoy discussion boards such as this, because I can still engage people with similar interests, but maintain a public persona of “diligent worker” (though my boss may have some issues with that particular label).

Anyway, I’ve caved, and have decided to go to graduate school (which was part of my plan all along, in a way) and am going back to the crutch that is stimulating environments and interesting people. If you can’t have either of these, you are really forced to create it yourself and take the effort to stay creative and interested in learning about the world around you. Good luck, and keep writing, I’m sure that you’ll thank yourself later.

7

SpyderWoman
Thanks for the advice, truth be told I really would want to leave my job for something better, but I can never for the life of me figure out exactly what “something better” would be for me. This is what I’m struggling with on a daily basis, I wish there was a foolproof method of saying “okay you have such and such skills and you’ll definetely enjoy work as a power engineer” for instance. As it stands, I’m going to be stuck in this for a while I think.

SanguineSpider
Thank god I dont shop for porn, except around xmas time when I like to surprise my cousin with midget porn as his gift :slight_smile: At least it seems you haven’t become a man-hater or anything I hope!

NoClueBoy
Nope, I can’t get creative with an insulating job. I’m not sure if you’re familar with it or not, but basically we do the same things day after day.

Yep I can read blueprints, but it would make little sense for me to request that I read them, only rarely does the foreman actually hand me the prints and asks me to insulate a particular line, most of the time its pointed out to me and off I go.

Speciality crafts as you said aren’t what I’m looking for, what I’m looking for is something outside of construction altogether if possible :wink: I live in Canada and you have no idea how much fun it is to be working outside when its minus 20c or worse. Also not to mention I have been developing some back problems as a result of a car accident last year, thereby motivating me to find something a lot less physical to do for a living.

And yes, we have some real dick heads working with us sometimes, and yes you’re also right, other people DO have deeper interests which are always fun to discuss. In fact this is usually the saving grace of my job, it helps the day go by a little quicker when I’m engrossed in a good conversation with the right ones.

Ringo

I think you of everyone here mirrors my situation the closest. And thats what I’ve been doing lately, saving saving saving so I can afford an education after I leave my job. I’m hoping by Xmas I’ll have enough in the bank to go to school. Problem is, I have no idea what I want to do. I already hold a certificate in graphic design but the money in that field doesn’t pay as much as my current job and would be extremely difficult to live off of.

Congratulations on your move to Austin, I wish you luck, and thanks for your story.

8

Rayn

Thanks, you’re absolultely right, I would have to put a lot of effort into staying creative, which is what sucks the big one. It used to be so effortless and now it just feels like a chore that doesnt really have to be done.

9

<<basically we do the same things day after day.>>

Ah… I was wondering if you were stuck in one of those niches. Bummer. (Much large scale commercial work sucks, IMHO. But, someone has to do it. :frowning: )

To anyone thinking of any of the trades or crafts: Dedicated, skilled people will always be needed. So, don’t be afraid of joining a crew.

Basically, my line of work now is really cool. And I have a lot of friends with varied interests. But, I have had to do the high, hard, and heavy commercial stuff before. And that ain’t fun at all. The heavy labour itself makes the evenings dull because all you want to do is rest, not create or think. I feel for you, man.

10

Not a problem, raizok. When I headed off for school, I had little idea of what I wanted to do. It was the same for many, as is the fact that I wound up in a career I don’t think I ever tought about until very near graduation.

But I will tell you I felt immensely better almost immediately. While I wasn’t sure where I was headed, I was moving ahead with life and escaping the boxed in prisoner of a paycheck life at the plant.

11

Yeah but I live in Canada, we don’t have colleges quite like you do, they’re usually for a specific occupation rather than majoring in something particular. So I would have to take something specific rather than hoping to stumble across my career as **Ringo ** says.

NoClueBoy
Now you know my pain :wink: actually to clarify, I’ve been doing more industrial type work rather than commercial. Big ol’ power plants, oil refineries, etc. Here in Alberta we’ve got tons of work in the industrial sector, especially at oil refineries which is where I am right now.

12

Whats the secret then to being happy with your job?

I have had the retail, the customer service and I hated it at the time. I throughly enjoyed school (university at least) however…

Now I have a moderatly well paying job in the corporate world. All indications point to me going places within the corporation and I have managed to impress the right people and be very good at what I do. If I stay the course I will be promoted and live very comfortably financially…

but I hate it.

I hate being the corporate worm I swore I would never be. I hate forcing people to do work that is mind numbing but ‘optimal’. I care nothing about the particular business. The people are great and the work is not at all stressful to me. By all accounts I have what most people would consider a great job - certainly comparred to some of the above it’s a step up…

What is life sucking is the lack of passion I have. I am not motivated by the work. I am motivated only by the artificial incentive of money. I think this is the true cause of my unhappiness and of yours in the above positions as well. I want to wake up with an interest in what my day will be. I want to strive for excellence and be the best at what I do - but how can I do that if I can’t find anything about the job that instills passion in me.

I think properly motivated anyone is capable of astounding things… the question is how to find and harvest that passion.

13

Three weeks of working at a fast food joint will leave you bitter, angry and halfway homicidal.

And you’ll have fallen arches too.

14

Good luck to ya, raizok.

I have a soul-sucking job too. It pays a little too well for me to up & leave now, but I have a plan. In 1 year I’ll have no debt (including paying off my car) and can leave if I can’t bear it anymore - or if I can hang in there for 1 additional year, I could be debt-free plus have about $10,000 in the bank. Then I’m going to Nursing School (I think) and moving to Georgia.

Ringo, thanks for your post. Even though it wasn’t directed at me, I got a lot of encouragement from reading it. It’s good to know someone made it out. :slight_smile:

15

Do a Pit search for Kmart, and then look for posts by your’s truly.

Thank GOD I got out of there.

16

You go, Slainte!

17

I wanted to be a Labor and Delivery RN and got my dream job 2 years ago…delivering babies in a high-risk unit of the 5th largest birthing center in CA.
I lasted nine months.
12 1/2 hour days, no breaks, lucky to get to the restroom, splashed with every body fluid known to womankind.
Delivering babies, being part of the most important day in the lives of many people vs limping home from work and crying with the emotional and physical exhaustion.
I transferred to the postpartum unit; no stillbirths, no hemorrhaging.
It’s a good thing.

18

Yea, my retail job was sucking my soul away, because I was too tired to do ANYTHING at the end of the day besides stare mindlessly at my computer and blow up stuff in games just to de-stress and THEN, when I finally relaxed, it was time to do it all again. I have less money now, but god, the simple pleasures of being able to watch a football game on Sunday or not having my feet ache constantly are well worth it.

19

The most soul sucking job I ever had was doing inventory for a company that they bring in when they need an independent inventory count. We had to start at like 4:30 in the morning, and it was totally mindless and repetitive. I lasted about 6 months.

20

I bartend.

I don’t know if I’ve lost my soul, but I’ve lost a lot of heart.

I used to be a lot nicer to people, a lot less judgmental, a lot less inclined to assume that if you give people a chance, they’ll screw you over. I thought that most people were basically nice, good-intentioned folks.

And now I know better.

And it’s the smallest things that prove it. I’ve seen thousands of people from all walks of life get wasted; I’ve seen them sober, I’ve seen them tipsy, and I’ve seen them fall-down-drunk. And they conform to certain behavior patterns that are, honestly, very sad. I could write a book about what I’ve learned about human nature. :smiley: Some of it’s good, but most of it isn’t.

Most days I think I’m wiser now than I was before I took the job…you have to develop a thick skin behind a bar or you won’t survive…but there are those days when I wish I didn’t know now what I didn’t know then. :shrug: