Jobs that require physical work are hard to some extent, but nothing can beat emotional labor. When one works physically others can see him/her working and they know their body is being utilized for the job. Emotional labor is more of behind-the-scenes labor that only the person going through can see and understand. If you’re physically tired from work, you can sleep it off and be better the next day. But the emotional level affects mental health in a way. For example, when I was working at chipotle which was my first job, I had to deal with a lot of emotions. While I was physically working, I would constantly get scolded by the managers for being “too slow” or giving “bigger” portion sizes. Or sending me to clean the tables off because I wasn’t good enough to be in the lane to prepare bowls. All of that took a toll on me because it was hard to manage my emotions and work in a busy environment. It was almost as if I didn’t even have time to unravel anything. That kept going on every day and the emotions kept building up. Physical labor was never an issue but the emotions that came with it didn’t do me any good. It is better to leave that job than it letting it get to your mental health because some of these people will keep reminding you that you are not good enough and can be easily replaced. However, I feel like some people are targeted and taken advantage of because they don’t retaliate in a serious situation and let the managers treat them however they continue to treat them. Not only that, but the race could be another reason, a try to get a certain person to stop working there by emotionally torturing them. I feel like sometimes, the managers and coworkers automatically put certain people in categories by how able they are, and I was “less able” for that job. It is human nature to judge people based on certain visible things and categorize them into categories and assume that they’d be bad at some tasks just because of the things they noticed in them. There is a lot of discrimination in the workplace which can lead to emotions being built up and starting to affect mental health.
Unruly Bodies 
Physical labor is temporary which can get healed quick, but emotional labor can be long-term or even permanent which can take a big toll on us. If I had to deal with a job that gave me emotional labor, I would just quit and find a place that has good work ethics and cares for their employees.
This is so true, I also worked at a job which really required me to smile A LOT and be very sweet to people that didn’t even acknowledge me. I didn’t even consider or realize the emotional labor part of my job. Until I started to notice after work I would just randomly cry for NOO reason. Maybe its my zodiac sign, but its most likely the emotional labor.. or both?
At my old job I remember one of my last days working there I heard my manager talking about me before I had even walked out the door. She was mad that I couldn’t stay later than my shift because I had homework. It’s an awful feeling putting on a smile all day to be able to keep your job and ending the day shutting your car door and bursting into tears the moment you are alone. No job should be that emotionally demanding, but for a lot of us it is and it sucks.