To think it’s ignorant to say “I’ll just work in Tesco”

[atmylowest34]

So I went to dinner with a friend who has according to her a demanding job (not saying she doesn’t but I don’t work in that field and have no experience of it).

And she’s said well I’ve considered quitting and just getting a job in Tesco instead but then I’d just get bored.

Aibu to think that it’s ignorant to think working in a supermarket is an easy and relaxing job? I did it as a student and it was horrible, people shouting at you, complaining, having personal comments said about my looks (both negative and positive), hours weren’t great. And that was all before covid and cost of living crisis.

Basically what I was saying about it being more of a phrase than literal.

Like, in the FIRE forums, a phrase is "BaristaFI". Luckily, people realise it is just a phrase and don't tediously jump on it all the time.

I think she probably means that loads of jobs now are demanding your entire life and mental health off you for barely anymore or even exactly the same wages as a checkout job.

I would absolutely go back to shop work if it paid the same as my current job. At least when you clock off you really do leave it till tomorrow

exactly the same wages as a checkout job.

I think the days of sitting on a checkout all shift are in the past now. Cross trained across every area so everyone has to do everything and cover.
That's why I think people have the wrong idea of what work in a supermarket is like in 2022.

I've tried to get a job at Tesco 3 times, the last time I actually worked at a supermarket already! I'm not sure how anyone gets a job there tbh!

Did you put that you were available 24/7? That seems to be what's required!

I used to love my job at Tesco, but agree it wasn’t easy at all. The general public are awful and I was reduced to tears many times and shouted at over absolutely ridiculous stuff like not having their preferred coins for change. My job now is much more stressful (in my opinion), but people who make these comments are usually ignorant as to how hard retail workers actually work, I find.

Retail is hard soulless work
I admire all retail staff and always say thank you for your time when they serve me

It's the brain thing and less decision making on some of the positions.
I know someone who went from £40 an hour (that was like 8 years ago) to nmw at the time because she just had enough. She then went onto different career from there because she had head space to breath.
I did shop work, I did demanding office job.
The jobwhich made me most tired was call centre! Mentally absolutely exhausting! I was surprised

I'll admit that this thought has crossed my mind in the past, that working in a supermarket would be preferable to my current stressful role. I don't mean that the job is easy or stress free, just that I wouldn't lie awake worrying about it. I wouldn't have the worry about costing the company 10s of thousands by making the wrong call and what eould happen if i did that. I think it would be easier to leave the job behind when I walked out of the door and it wouldn't ruin my free time by spinning around in my head the way my job does.

No, you posted at 16:59.

How dare you surf the internet 1 minute before clocking out ;)

Or shock horror, you're adult enough to decide how to spend your time!

It's not easy or relaxing but it is boring.
I've worked in retail. It's hard, stressful, and boring. Hence why most people don't aspire to it.

I might sound a lightweight , but the worst thing is being on your feet for so many hours in one go! It is exhausting

I must be the only one who thinks that a job at Tesco would be far harder and more stressful. I often look at the poor souls going hell for leather, or having to deal with grumpy people.

So I went to dinner with a friend who has according to her a demanding job (not saying she doesn’t but I don’t work in that field and have no experience of it).

D'you like this friend much, OP?

I mean, you're complaining her about her fairly mild throw-away comment about Tesco being 'ignorant' because she's never worked in retail. But when she tells you that her job is demanding, YOU'RE not willing to simply take HER word for it. You've got no experience in that field, so what's stopping you simply taking her statement about her job at face value?

Having worked in both a retail environment and a stressful role where I can never switch off, I would seriously take the retail role if the money was the same. At the end of a retail shift you can go home and not work until your next shift. My job means I work into the small hours every night to keep up with the paperwork that's been generated during my paid working hours. Retail was a breeze in comparison.

As I said it has it stresses and it isn't always possible to leave it behind you no longer just sit on a checkout or stack shelves. You have targets you have to hit. So if you are on home shopping you have to hit X number of picks an hour, if you are on a checkout you have to hit x number of items scanned per minute. Failure to do so can result in dismissal. You have to be alert to age restricted products, knowing that even if the person is over 18 if you fail to challenge them and they are 24 there is the potential to lose your job because they are under 25. So yes people do go home worrying about the job. Ok it might not be a cost the company thousands or result in major catastrophes but on a personal level it is enough to cause worry and stress

Coming back to the Karen thing. This is probably a whole other thread in itself but I do find the evolution of "Karen" interesting.
She seems to have gone from a retail worker in joke...to a personification of racial antagonism...to a folk devil devoid of meaning or context.
You can see whole "Karen" footage on Youtube and Tiktok where middle aged white women are so emotionally disregulated that it must be the result of serious mental illness or (hopefully) staged.
I do push back on it by talking about the kinds of situations where customers have been rude or unreasonable and comparing it to the outlandish senarios they see on social media.
In real life people get most upset about credit cards getting declined; gift cards or coupons not working; and customer deals not applying when they were expecting them to. I explain that to my kids and point out that people are short of money and it makes them feel sad and scared. Hopefully that gives them a more realistic idea of how conflicts happen and why people might lose their rag.

People sneer at such jobs because they're seen as service roles. However I've personally known a few people who would be considered well educated who couldn't do them. One person, an Oxford graduate, got fired from a role in a hotel because she literally could not do the job to a basic standard, despite trying really hard to.

Worst Job I ever had was in a chain restaurant kitchen / cleaner
Treated badly and non stop, I only managed a few months of this !

People who say this kind of thing… omg if they could see the application process for retail. Big companies like the supermarkets spend a lot of money on their recruitment process too. Aldi’s for example, is… intense. That’s before the interview and, presuming you’re successful, the training. The expectations and standards are high (as they should be, arguably), higher than some people think. And while it’s not rocket science, it’s hard work.

Yeah I’ve heard that sort of comment before usually someone in a trained profession that thinks if they wanted an easy life I can go a work in Tesco . Yeah cause it’s soo easy working in a supermarket especially at Christmas I bet it’s great fun . It’s actually insulting people’s intelligence that anyone can work at Tesco as actually no you couldn’t and I speak for myself too , I did it years ago but the public are rude and I’d end up throwing something at someone.

I don't think it's ignorant at all. The fact is its a low skill job with little pressure other than grumpy customers.

I work in health care, so many of my colleagues have left nursing to work in a supermarket it's similar pay, nobody's life is at risk. Yes some customers are awful, but when you work in the NHS you're used to dealing with people who aren't happy.

Hmm. I worked retail for seven years and I didn't find it a hard job. Very low responsibility. Occasional arsehole customers but many jobs have that. Always got my breaks and finished on time. Didn't have to do any work outside my set hours or think about work in any way. Took pride in my customer service and the appearance of the shop. Enjoyed selling.

I'd definitely do it again.

I've been turned down for supermarkets mostly because I couldn't work the hours or just a crappy interview
It's not easy to get these jobs.

I see the wider point of a job in which you do it and go home - the second you clock out literally nothing is your problem anymore. When I worked in a café the dishwasher began leaking about 5 minutes before my shift ended, I closed the door and left. Literally couldn't give a toss, had it been the start of my shift I'd have breathed a heavy sigh then seen to what the issue was.