My mom checked in telling me that I have to hang onto this job for my own good. The truth of the matter is, I’m doing it more for hers than mine. I mean, I like going out and all, but I’d rather be doing something else. I’m just not too sure of how to go about doing it, or to even dare to think about doing it in the first place.

Funnily enough, the people I seem to work with—I think are great. And this always happens with me—I always find the good in others, except if it’s really hard to, and try and get along with as many people as I can, but when I’m feeling like this, I’m just really critical of certain people, like the aforementioned ladies, even though I’m sure they’re just fine, but right now I don’t like them too much. And it’s not even them that I don’t like, but just the way they took their calls, or a part of their call.

Smile. Even if it's forced, a smile begets smiling. Stand up from your desk every hour. Stretch your arms. Tilt your head back.

Other people won't change, and while they can rub us the wrong way, if they aren't doing anything directly to us, ignoring them can be not just protective, but blissful. It takes a little training to find assholes amusing, but if you can change your mindset so that you chuckle when people grind death out of the end of a phone line, and you're not really chuckling at their action or your superiority, but at the situation that would transpire to make such a person act so on such a day, then tough jobs can get easier, fast.

I worked in a game factory where we assembled Super Magna-Shapes, a toy with a magnetic base and about a hundred little bits of metal with which kids could build "sculptures" out of magnetism. The job entailed pulling four to ten bits of metal (mostly nuts and washers, but some specially milled little triangles or squares or cylinders) from each of a dozen bins and putting them in a plastic bag, then sealing the bag, putting it in a bin, and starting the process again. We were judged by our hourly output, and the boss was crazy: whether we were working fast or not, she would come in every fifteen minutes screaming that we were lazy or stupid or, worst of all, saboteurs. I watched the clock a lot.

The thing was, the situation was so ridiculous that I couldn't help but smile every time I saw her. Her anger was completely inappropriate, and I treated it as if it were a little joke between us. She'd scowl at me and I'd smile warmly in return. Eventually one day she came out to holler at us and I turned away from my work and beamed at her. She caught my eye and couldn't help but giggle; she turned bright red, tried to reclaim her stern mien, failed, tried again, pointed at me with a faux rueful look, and left the floor laughing and shaking her head. She never yelled again on my shift.

I eventually quit the job because the boredom had me on the brink of insanity: the clock had somehow become a conduit for telepathic instructions Charles Manson was sending me from his jail cell, and most of the messages told me to quit, so I got a job washing dishes, which was a lot more satisfying.

Oy. That sounds rough Hadji.

I worked as a dishwasher for something like 4 or six months, and I didn't like it there. Some people were nice, the others were complete assholes. But I did my job. I dragged myself there on time, and worked my shift.

I ended up getting fired for being "too slow." This meant that I didn't finish early, which they prefered their dishwashers to do, as it meant paying them less. They didn't realize I was working there to make money, so their constant encouragement to "finish early, so you can go home." had little to no effect on me. Jackasses.

I ended up getting a pretty sweet deal working as a custodian for a church my mom works as a secretary for. Really relaxed. My coworkers/superiors, Dave and Dave, actually encourage taking more breaks than I'd do on my own. It's amusing.

Just stick with it. Either things will get better, or you can search for a better job, or a better work environment, and go there. But smile! Have a positive attitude! I find that in the morning, making a concious effort to be upbeat and energetic actually causes me to become upbeat and energetic. You just need to give it a little push to get the momentum going.

Thanks you guys!

*hugs Hugh and Citrus*