My past places of employment haven’t necessarily offered me the best experiences. My previous job was in retail, and my manager was always longing to be involved in my personal affairs. She always wanted to know each and every detail of what was going on in all of our lives, and quite frankly, it started to get old. I don’t like when people know everything about my personal life, especially in work settings. The last straw for me was when my manager made me cry near the two front registers as I was folding clothes from the fitting rooms.
Managerial figures who have no problem making a scene in front of customers are definitely a red flag. Work is work, and while retail or restaurant atmospheres can be humorous or relaxing if it is a slow shift, you still have to be professional. Drama and gossip at work is probably the worst part of working a part-time job. My two top rules for starting a new job are to not to date your coworkers and to avoid the drama. Trust me, dating your coworkers is never the answer. It causes a lot of drama and if things end badly between the two of you, you will find the awkwardness infiltrating the walls of wherever you work. I never actually dated a coworker, but I had a flirtatious relationship with a guy from a past job and it was practically the talk of the town.
I currently work at a restaurant and it has been a good experience (so far). I have worked in both realms of employment, both retail and restaurants, and have found that working in a restaurant fosters an environment that is less dramatic. It is often so hectic at work that none of us have the time to even talk about our weeks, rather mindless drama. Obviously I do not have on rose-colored lens, and realize that there is always going to be tension or drama between coworkers. I just choose not to associate myself with it anymore. My friend at my current job once told me, “I just come here to make my money and go, I don’t care to make friends or deal with the drama.” This is important to realize if you feel ostracized at your job. Of course I have experienced this, where I feel like nobody likes me at my job. In fact, I have felt this recently. There are times where I feel like people are annoyed by me, but that just comes with my self-conscious personality. In reality, you can never gauge your relationship with a coworker solely based on your work interactions. People are often stressed at work and say or do things that they do not mean. I think it is important to have outings with your coworkers if you are truly interested in being friends. If not, make the money and go! But if you long for relationships with the ones you see a few days a week, you might want to make an effort to hang out outside of those four walls.