Needing some extra cash, I went to work at A Major Retailer That Shall
Remain Nameless. They were opening a new store in town, and I figured
that I might have a better chance of getting hired when they had to hire
a lot of people in a hurry. It turned out I was right.

At first they put me on a 4AM shift, which I didn't want or ask for. It
was miserable. My theory is that humans were not meant to function at
that hour. But I eventually got off that shift from hell.

The quality of the workforce wasn't the greatest. These companies get
tax credits for hiring people who have been on welfare, food stamps, or
who have even been convicted of a felony. One of my coworkers was
either bipolar or had borderline personality disorder. Needless to say,
working with her wasn't fun.

This is an unintended consequence of welfare reform. Maybe we are
better off paying some people to stay out of the workforce, rather than
forcing them to work, with the result being that they interfere with the
people who want to be productive.

A lot of the workers are 20-somethings with bad attitudes. They are
deliberately rude to everyone, but you don't dare to tell them off,
because they will turn the tables to make it appear that you were the
aggressor and they were the victims. It's soooo pleasant to interact
with a generation that was raised with the concept that they could turn
in their own parents to the police if they dared to discipline them.

There are cameras everywhere, always watching and recording everything
and everybody in the store. But the security of the video system is
vulnerable to hacking. There was an incident in the backroom where an
employee broke the sprinkler system, and the video, obviously recorded
by a store camera, ended up on Youtube. This had to have been an
inside job, as no one else would have known of the incident. So, don't
be surprised if what you thought were private activities (as either a
worker or a customer) end up on the Internet.

I believe it was Woody Allen who said that if you can't get paid for
doing what you want, take a menial job that leaves your mind free. I
should have listened to that advice.

But I jumped at the opportunity for a promotion, to try to make some
extra money. Huge mistake. For starters, the boss I had to report to
was absolutely evil, and he seemed to have it in for me. And, the
position entailed more responsibility, which I don't mind, but at the
same time my hands were tied behind my back, so to speak. I was
supposed to do the work of two people, but without enough hours to do
it. I felt I was being set up to fail and would end up being a
scapegoat.

So I left. I've learned my lesson, If I ever get a job like this
again, I will be content to do whatever menial task they assign me, even
if it is for less pay and fewer hours. The more you do, the less
thanks you get.