29 Comments
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Anita's avatar

Everyone who’s ever worked in any kind of hospitality job knows the solace of the walk in freezer. I also worked in customer service for years and years. I was good at it. The thought of doing it again literally nauseates me.

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Jonathan Edward Durham's avatar

i could never go back. The trauma.

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Carol Mapley's avatar

It’s 4.30am here and I’m awake because of pain and because I’m also allergic to the world being on fire. My brain does not like it. Anyway, this has provided me with some laughs (okay they were smiles as I didn’t want to wake the cats), and some comfort that I’m not as different as I often feel. Thanks for that ☺️

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Jonathan Edward Durham's avatar

Thank you for reading!

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Judi's avatar

This made me laugh so hard, it brought tears. I started out gift wrapping for office supply at 16, worked at Univ. Of Houston while studying. Wound up with associates degree in computers( never used)went in to optical warehouse, then Toys R Us( which I did love, in spite of the corporate hoo ha), and then to Petco ( I adore, in spite of all the corporate hoo ha) because every day I pet kitties, puppers, and many other animals.

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Jonathan Edward Durham's avatar

The animals make it all worth it I'm sure (well mostly lol)

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Linda Wilson-Gordon's avatar

I have loved each of my cats. And I have loved each of my dogs, too. Worked my way through college waiting tables, so completely agree with you there. Some jobs I had to have to support myself... liked not so much. Some I literally cried on the way to work I didn't like them that much. But for the past 15 years I have been self-employed on straight commission and I LOVE it. I get to work from my home office. I get to stop and play with my cat or my dog whenever they need it. (I need it!) I set my own hours, pretty much. I'm doing something good for small and mid-size business owners. I will never, ever go back to working for someone else again. Hang in there, Jonathan. You'll get through this too. I'm old. I have perspective on these things.

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Jonathan Edward Durham's avatar

I'll figure it out lol

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Scott Whitmire's avatar

“I want you to think about allll of those books as well as alllll of the cookbooks, reference books, comic books, and more. And I want you to understand that all of those books were actually about attempted murder, because at some point, each and every one of them tried to kill the person who was writing it.”…usually aided and abetted by an editor.

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Lori's avatar

I get it with the being unsettled by change. I just got a great raise and had a huge amount of work taken off of me, so naturally I'm paranoid as hell. Two good changes within a week of each other? Obviously something is up.

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Jonathan Edward Durham's avatar

I smell a trap

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Scott Whitmire's avatar

One of the major life lessons that I didn’t want to learn is that anytime you attempt to make a living doing something you really like, it becomes a job. And that takes all the fun out of it.

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Jonathan Edward Durham's avatar

Sometimes, yes...but not all the time

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Niamh Noale's avatar

Perfect. Love your writing.

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Jonathan Edward Durham's avatar

Thank you for reading!

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Maruta Kelers's avatar

I've been pretty lucky. the only job I had that I actively hated was trying to sell useless things to people on the phone. It didn't last. I have a very hard time forcing myself to do things I hate.

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Jonathan Edward Durham's avatar

As you should lol

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Stephanie Edward's avatar

Oh my... I laughed-cried while reading this one so many times. You are hilarious! My three favourite parts:

"and for some reason, the amount of time I have to dedicate to thinking about Greenland is also up like 700%. So, I’ve got that going for me."

"Sometimes you get burned out. Sometimes you feel undervalued. Sometimes you get shot in the face a little bit."

"It’s this one. I prefer this one. The cat one."

I'm sorry you are struggling a bit but, also, thank you for doing what you do and adding so much light to the world.

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Jonathan Edward Durham's avatar

Thank you for reading!

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Pamela J Detwiler's avatar

After laughing and relating HARD, I have to say that I do understand. I've been in my job for 30+ years. I came into it thinking it was a temp job. And here I still am. I truly love what I do. But some days......

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Jonathan Edward Durham's avatar

Some days, and some weeks, and some years...

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Diane Ennis's avatar

"One of the worst things in life is finding out you’re good at a job you hate."

Why, WHY is this so f***ing true?! It's the story of so much of my life. And the one job I absolutely loved doing paid nearly nothing and ended up poisoning me. THANK YOU for making me laugh and feel seen at the same time. ❤️

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Jonathan Edward Durham's avatar

You're very welcome!

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Amy B. Horton's avatar

One of the most relatable (and hilarious) things I've read in a long time. Thanks for that!

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Jonathan Edward Durham's avatar

Thank you for reading!

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Scott Whitmire's avatar

Brilliant! Brought up memories of some on the jobs I had over the 50-odd years. Many were kind of fun, some only in hindsight, though.

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Bananies's avatar

The Fall of Rome…that’s what we are experiencing now. The Emperors had the Coliseum to keep the populace diverted and we have social media.

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Mary R's avatar

I like the metaphor that all jobs are like cats. I have never loved a job. Liked my coworkers (usually), liked my customers (sometimes), liked the structure (once I got past what is essentially my school phobia that never healed). But the jobs: nah. But I have loved all my cats.

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