It seems I have made a terrible mistake.

[Dr. Freeman]

In order to pay for college/misc. things, I looked for a job at a number of places. The only one that got back to me was McDonald's, and I, for whatever reason, am now currently employed there. Approximately one month later I am suffering from intense anxiety issues and would have quit were there any better job opportunities. Somehow, the job manages to be more boring than staring at a wall for eight hours. (Not that I've tried, but it certainly sounds like something I'd prefer right now.)

I'm really at a loss for what to do here.

 

[DrGregoryHouse]

get yourself fired?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e8pLQvzHFow

 

[Dr. Freeman]

get yourself fired?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e8pLQvzHFow

I would, but I need the money and a positive reference for future jobs. (If I leave this one, it has to be to another job.)

 

[Absurdity]

How does the intense boredom lead to anxiety? I'm a little confused.

 

[Hawkeye]

It sounds like you know what you have to do.

"Good luck out there buddy; your gonna need it"

 

[Jennywocky]

What other jobs (or type of jobs) did you apply for, and what kind of skills do you bring to the table?

Job hunts are no fun, I know.... and very often frustrating.

Along with what Hawkeye says, if you're unhappy, no one else will fix your life for you. Either you stay and work the job you dislike, or you find another. There's no way forward except by "through."

 

[Dr. Freeman]

How does the intense boredom lead to anxiety? I'm a little confused.

I should have been a little more specific. A large amount of the anxiety comes from my interaction with coworkers. (Many of whom seem to be bent on doing as little as possible, which exponentially increases the difficulty of my work.) I can usually occupy my time by thinking about pretty much anything else but what I'm doing, but the inconsistent pacing makes that sporadic. When we run out of food because someone else was lazy and I still get blamed/held accountable, it's a little stressful. (There's a number of other things, but they're less consistent.)

I do plan on leaving the job, but I'll need to stay for around another month if I want to get a decent recommendation. (I applied at large retail stores like Best Buy and Target, as well as some restaurants.) I've been at college for a year, have lab experience (I was a research assistant in the physics department. (Yay positron spectroscopy!)) and spent a month selling knives.

 

[Reluctantly]

Have you considered employment as a Fobbit? They pay for college...lol.

 

[Brontosaurie]

any ideas as to why you receive unfair blame and how this could be changed?

 

[Dr. Freeman]

any ideas as to why you receive unfair blame and how this could be changed?

The people who actually assemble sandwiches take the cooked food (specifically meat) from a number of trays. They're supposed to take meat from a single tray until it is empty (the tray is indicated by a light), but quite often they just don't care enough to do that. The end result of this is running out of multiple trays simultaneously, which means that they can't do their job. As it is my job to keep the trays stocked (with either grilled or fried products), I take the blame for running out of (for example) chicken nuggets, when it could have been prevented by a small amount of effort on their part.

 

[Brontosaurie]

The people who actually assemble sandwiches take the cooked food (specifically meat) from a number of trays. They're supposed to take meat from a single tray until it is empty (the tray is indicated by a light), but quite often they just don't care enough to do that. The end result of this is running out of multiple trays simultaneously, which means that they can't do their job. As it is my job to keep the trays stocked (with either grilled or fried products), I take the blame for running out of (for example) chicken nuggets, when it could have been prevented by a small amount of effort on their part.

ah, so it's pretty much part of your job to take blame. tricky.

 

[redbaron]

The people who actually assemble sandwiches take the cooked food (specifically meat) from a number of trays. They're supposed to take meat from a single tray until it is empty (the tray is indicated by a light), but quite often they just don't care enough to do that. The end result of this is running out of multiple trays simultaneously, which means that they can't do their job. As it is my job to keep the trays stocked (with either grilled or fried products), I take the blame for running out of (for example) chicken nuggets, when it could have been prevented by a small amount of effort on their part.

Tell them to stop being daft cunts and take from the right tray.

 

[Cavallier]

Egads. Low level, no education needed, dead end jobs are probably the most likely thing to wittle you to suck the life out of you.

However, lazy and idiotic co-workers whose behavior affects your own job performance is going to be a lifelong battle. I have never worked a job where there was not at least one lazy or stupid asshole. Learn strategies for dealing with it now while working inconsequential jobs and you'll be better able to deal with it later in life with jobs that are more important. I don't mean to be jaded here. Learning to deal with it now really will help you avoid anxiety issues in the future.

I think you've got a few choices here: Confront the lazy co-workers with a basic "dude do your shit" sort of conversation (it might be awkward and there might be bitchy consequences). You might be surprised at how well that tactic works though. You could learn to live with it and avoid working shifts with the lazy co-workers in question. Neither of those two choices are perfect and they both cause their own anxiety. I've gone with the avoidance option most of the time but that isn't always the best option. Avoidance works in the short run but causes its own problems in the future. Finding a way of training your co-workers in such a way as to fix your problems might work. However, you might find they just don't give a damn. You could pick up their slack but you'd overwork yourself. That isn't always feasible and they aren't worth it anyway.

 

[Dr. Freeman]

Egads. Low level, no education needed, dead end jobs are probably the most likely thing to wittle you to suck the life out of you.

However, lazy and idiotic co-workers whose behavior affects your own job performance is going to be a lifelong battle. I have never worked a job where there was not at least one lazy or stupid asshole. Learn strategies for dealing with it now while working inconsequential jobs and you'll be better able to deal with it later in life with jobs that are more important. I don't mean to be jaded here. Learning to deal with it now really will help you avoid anxiety issues in the future.

I think you've got a few choices here: Confront the lazy co-workers with a basic "dude do your shit" sort of conversation (it might be awkward and there might be bitchy consequences). You might be surprised at how well that tactic works though. You could learn to live with it and avoid working shifts with the lazy co-workers in question. Neither of those two choices are perfect and they both cause their own anxiety. I've gone with the avoidance option most of the time but that isn't always the best option. Avoidance works in the short run but causes its own problems in the future. Finding a way of training your co-workers in such a way as to fix your problems might work. However, you might find they just don't give a damn. You could pick up their slack but you'd overwork yourself. That isn't always feasible and they aren't worth it anyway.

I have confronted them on multiple occasions, and, surprisingly, it seems to be slowly working. I'm perfectly willing to work with people who dislike me if they just do their jobs. It's not too much to ask. Every time I catch them doing it (which only happens, regrettably, when things aren't going quickly enough for it to be an issue, anyway) I make a point of calling them out on it, and they do seem to be improving. And to avoid an anxiety overload, I've asked for reduced work hours. (Right now, that translates as working fewer days, but I would prefer to work four to five hours a day five days a week to working three, eight hour workdays.

 

[Affinity]

I will give you one tip that will go a long ways in terms of job satisfaction with any job.

Get along with your coworkers and try your best to befriend them.

 

[Dr. Freeman]

I will give you one tip that will go a long ways in terms of job satisfaction with any job.

Get along with your coworkers and try your best to befriend them.

I don't go out of my way to antagonize them, but it's hard to do my job when they aren't doing theirs.

 

[Affinity]

I don't go out of my way to antagonize them, but it's hard to do my job when they aren't doing theirs.

Understood. You seem to be going about things the right way. I would also emphasize with them that not only does it effect your job but theirs as well because I'm sure McDonald's is the most strict as far as order fulfillment times are concerned in the fast food world. What I'm trying to get at is that it may be beneficial just to show a little interest in your coworkers as well as make an effort to greet them and what not when you see them. A lot easier to get what you want this way and avoid issues of making your life more difficult in the future IMO.

 

[Dr. Freeman]

Understood. You seem to be going about things the right way. I would also emphasize with them that not only does it effect your job but theirs as well because I'm sure McDonald's is the most strict as far as order fulfillment times are concerned in the fast food world. What I'm trying to get at is that it may be beneficial just to show a little interest in your coworkers as well as make an effort to greet them and what not when you see them. A lot easier to get what you want this way and avoid issues of making your life more difficult in the future IMO.

I will make more of an effort.

 

[Cherry Cola]

Just hold out for a while and then you will automatically level up in the hierarchy, retarded but thats how a lot of workplaces function. Blame the new guy!

 

[Vrecknidj]

I will give you one tip that will go a long ways in terms of job satisfaction with any job.

Get along with your coworkers and try your best to befriend them.

Excellent advice. And, in particular, if you can befriend anyone who, in the context of this, "outranks" you, nurture the relationship.

Oh, and, this is great for your character. You'll have war stories later. Most folks I know who work at a fastfood place long enough have excellent grease scars and amazing stories.

 

[EditorOne]

I think you're on the right track.

One possibly useful question to ask them: "Why is it easier for you to do it wrong than to do it right? It looks like exactly the same amount of work to me." You haven't called them obstructionist dipshits or willful contrarians, but even thinking about the question for 15 seconds should allow them to grasp the pointlessness of their behavior.

 

[EditorOne]

Another alternative: Why, indeed, are they doing what they are doing? Do they get in a position where they are in each other's way if they are drawing from the Number One bin instead of Bins One, Two and Three simultanously? Check the system u nderlying the production, very often it's like the architecture of a building, it influences behavior and channels activity.

 

[Happy]

I once saw where McDonalds meat comes from. Not pretty.

 

[Happy]

Anyway, in all honesty, whoever said stick it out and you'll get promoted is right. It seems to be the way fast food joints work. However, those who said to look for a new job are also right. Its up to you man.

Unskilled jobs are easy to get when you're at university. You probably just have to analyse why the only one you got was at Mickey D's. Maybe your CV could do with some work. Last time I applied for unskilled work, I got 7 offers in the space of a week. I swear the only point of difference was that I went into all the places I was applying at and had a chat to them for a while. Getting a job is one time where forced extroversion is a good thing IMO.

Also, I'd suggest looking for work outside of large companies. That's if you want to have even the slightest amount of job satisfaction. In my experience, working for these companies boils down to little more than trading your precious time of which you only have so much for an unfairly small amount of money. Fair trade? I don't think so. Don't undersell yourself.