Hello hivers, It's another week for the Hive Learner feature post, and the amazing topic for this week has something to do with our personal lives. The topic here is: What's that one job that you'll never do? No matter how attractive the pay is, you won't still do it. Why that job in particular? Do you have a bad experience with it in the past?
As I read through the topic, the first memory that came to mind was a very unpleasant one, and I would like to share with you that job I can never go back to. I am sure some people might have experienced it, but why don’t you sit back and relax as you read through.
In 2020, after the world-wide lockdown, everyone in my country was out of school and business. This left me at home with nothing to do but eat and watch news about what was going on in our country and other countries. At a point, I knew I couldn’t just sit at home doing nothing, now that my savings had been spent. I went out in search of a job, and I got one at a gas station where petrol and other crude oil products are sold.
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At that time, the restrictions had been reduced, and people could move around a bit more freely. At the beginning of the job, I was employed to be an attendant who would sell gasoline to customers who needed it. At that time, I was a graduate, and I already had my degrees, but the company wouldn't open, and I needed the money, which was what made me do the job.
As an attendant at the gas station, I have a day-on and a day-off kind of routine. I would resume at 6 a.m. and close at 11 p.m., then take the next day off. It was going fine until the manager started sacking some staff, and I don’t know why. It was then that we started the two days of duty and one day off. It was a tough job because you have to be at the petrol pump from 6 a.m. until 11 p.m. without taking a break unless you want to pee or eat. I have to stay under the sun no matter how hot it is because I am not allowed to leave the place of my duty.
The next day, after I am done with my duty, I will have to do the account for the petrol I sold the previous day to the manager. If the account is not balanced, the outstanding money that is remaining for it to be balanced will be deducted from your salary, so one has to be very careful.
Apart from the internal management affair issue, there are some customers who are so disrespectful. Just because they see you in the attendant uniform, they talk to me like I have no future. Gas station attendants are mostly looked down upon and are easily disrespected.
There was a day I was home, and I got a call from the manager telling me there was a woman who came around saying I sold her the wrong gasoline. He said she initially wanted to buy 1 thousand naira worth of petrol, and she claims I sold 100 naira. I was told the gasoline was sold to her and it would be deducted from my salary without even asking for my own explanation. My account was balanced, and I never did so, but here we are. It was then that I knew that the management would always put the customers above their workers.
Things went back to normal after most of the restrictions were removed, and I stopped working there. No matter the amount offered, I would never go back there to work. A light-skinned boy like me, who was so handsome, became dark, and no lady would even want to talk to me because they believe all gas station attendants are illiterate. Also, I can say with all confidence that such a place is not a good working environment for someone that wants a sound mind