I am tired of working and having to deal with people. In the past, I’ve mainly worked in food service jobs but now I currently have one desk job on campus and another job where I work as a cashier. Both jobs require me to talk/deal with customers often which is of course fine. The only thing is I find it very draining having to deal with people sometimes especially since some customers can be rude at times. Of my two jobs, I very much prefer the campus job since it doesn’t require any physical labor and just has to deal with people for the most part. But when it comes to my cashier job I absolutely hate it with my whole heart, since it basically has a combination of both physical labor and emotional labor, with having to work 5-7 hours shifts, standing up the whole time, with having the expectations of giving a smile and happy attitude with each and every customer, while also having to deal with some customers complaining about something every 20-30 minutes. By the end of the shift, I’m always so drained and tired, my feet and back hurt and all I wanna do is just go to bed and sleep.
Although my current job of working as a cashier is still very draining I very much prefer it from when I was working at Starbucks. That job for sure was one of the most emotionally and physically draining jobs I have ever worked. It was one thing to deal with the long lines and customers complaining about how long their drinks were taking, but then at one point, my job was also short-staffed so there would literally be times when I was all by myself for a large portion of my shift. Regular shifts were draining enough but being the only one there in the middle of the summer with a long ass line of 20+ people is when I was really done with everything. As if things were already bad enough on their own, some customers would be complaining about how long their orders were taking. Those moments would frustrate me the most because instead of telling them the truth of how you can literally see the line and other people waiting for their orders before you, of course, I instead have to say “I sincerely apologize for the inconvenience I’ll get that out for you as soon as possible.” I will never miss that job for a second.
Unruly Bodies 
I find myself relating heavily to this post. Customer service jobs often require a sinister mix of emotional and physical labor that leaves laborers with no energy left and with rarely enough money to live comfortably. The locus of responsibility is always put upon minimum wage workers who “should be able to work harder” instead of corporations benefitting from the exploitation of workers under monopoly capitalism. The readings and discussions we have had in class have got me thinking about how so much of disability is either created or exacerbated by the way in which capitalism assigns worth to a human person based upon the amount of labor they can perform. This leaves me wondering, will there ever be a time that we are able to work to live instead of living to work?
I completely relate to this. Working in customer service can be so draining, especially when you have to juggle multiple jobs and deal with different types of people all day. It’s tough when you’re expected to be upbeat no matter what, even when you’re exhausted or dealing with rude customers. And standing for hours while trying to manage both physical and emotional labor is no joke, itt’s mentally and physically taxing. I’ve definitely been there, especially working in veterinary medicine, counting down the minutes until the end of my shift. That Starbucks story sounds rough too, being short-staffed in the middle of a rush is basically a nightmare. That’s basically every single shift for me.
I relate a lot to what you’re saying like the previous comments. Working in customer service, especially any job where you get busy and/or short staffed (sometimes at the same time!), it can take everything in you to not crack in front of customers. I’ll be honest and say that I have done exactly that, or I’ve been honest before about how short-staffed the place was, only to be met with dismissal from customers or questions of why we have so little employees on staff. Guess what — I’m asking the same thing! Asking that question unfortunately doesn’t lessen the load of what I’m doing at the moment. Sometimes it’s okay to not cater to every whim of a customer’s needs, and I’ve been lucky to have been in jobs where management has the employee’s backs when customers are being rude. That’s probably my biggest recommendation to anyone working in customer service jobs. If it’s possible to have management that has your back, it makes dealing with the public a lot easier.