working title

Working a Teen's Job

“<insert name here> called in. Can you stay late tonight?”

I was asked this at least once per week.

There are specific jobs for teenagers, namely jobs at grocery stores or mall shops or fast food restaurants. They’re minimum wage jobs with just a little responsibility. For some reason, I end up stuck in these jobs with these kids. I did it myself when I had my first job – I called in sick when I just didn’t feel like working and I slacked off when I just didn’t feel like working. As an adult, though, it can get super annoying working with teenagers. I’m constantly asked to stay late or come in on my day off because some teenager called off or just didn’t show up for their shift.

Most places will consider it a resignation if you don’t show up without calling, but not all. There are places that are so desperate that they’ll let the teenagers walk all over them, calling the shots over their managers and supervisors. The bosses just can’t say the word, “No,” or better yet, the phrase, “You’re fired.”

Maybe because there aren’t a lot of people applying for these jobs. It’s hard to keep people in a job where they work hard but get paid very little and are constantly being taken advantage of because their coworkers don’t do their jobs.