The bad
Have you ever had a bad job? If so, tell us about it. Why was it bad and what positive things you learned from doing it? Write a post of at least 300 words that answers the question.
Immediately after I finished high school, my sister's friend decided to employ me in his store so I could help him manage his phone booth business as he was occupied by other things.
It is a custom to wait for a few months at home after high school, to get the West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE).
The WASSCE is a unified West African examination for all in senior high school three which confirms their graduation from secondary school and without it one might never get admission into any tertiary institution, to get into the tertiary institution one needs to purchase a Jamb form, The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) is a Nigerian entrance examination board that anchors examinations for tertiary-level institutions. JAMB ensures that prospective undergraduate writes the entrance Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination to be admitted into any Nigerian University.
I didn't want to stay idle at home as most of my mates were already working, I wanted to work and earn too, so I never thought of the Pros and Cons of the job.
After all, many people hustle to get a job, and here I am without any certificate, enjoying the perks of having a big sis whose friend is an employer.
Long story short, I started the job excitedly, I remember how I woke up pretty early on the first day of resumption, a naive young girl who was excited to work.
When I got to work, my boss enlightened me on how the job works, and he handed me a cell- phone and vouchers for sale.
He told me "Customers are always right no matter what, never talk back at them, apologize even if they are wrong, remain polite, and wear a smile".
He also told me to ensure I stay alert as many people will want to take advantage of me being young to intimidate me by giving me fake currency, buying vouchers without paying for them, and exhausting the calling card on the phone while denying they ever reached who they called.
Why it was bad.
Honestly, my boss wasn't toxic, maybe because I was his friend's younger sister, however, my job location was toxic, how does that affect the job you may ask?
Firstly, the job was located in a very rowdy place, a garage to be precise. A typical Nigerian garage has a lout usually known as (Agbero), they are very violent, Abusive, aggressive, and ill-mannered. They chase after buses to get a commission on every passenger that boarded the bus.
A typical Nigerian garage is extremely noisy, with noises from buses, people, grinding machines, and all sorts you can picture in your head.
It is also polluted by car fumes and cigarette and other pollutants.
(Mind you, when I say phone booth, picture a table and a chair under an umbrella in a garage, where people come to make calls and get charged per minute or where they choose to buy a call voucher to recharge their phone to make calls)that was where I worked.
it is so sad that I do not have a picture of it as this happens many years ago after high school, I never had a smartphone then, but I definitely cannot forget the memories.
Secondly, these louts (Agbero) would come to make calls with cigarettes in their hands, I definitely can't chase them away, I have to attend to them. Some might even want to start touching me inappropriately which I get pissed about, so they'll report me to my boss that I'm rude.
While others, wanted me to be their friend, so I had to play along to make sales before you know it, I started speaking like them oh, 🙊🙈" twaale mama" (they jump up and raise their arms in the air) that's their usual way of hailing😁, "Ha! Kilo fa gbogbo rubbish yi", " emi, omo ni le".. (I'm just trying to state how I mimicked them so badly.) I started becoming lousy like them.
The sun at times can be scorching as the umbrella wouldn't provide enough shade and the same for the rain.
In addition, I could be enjoying my day in the garage under my umbrella, and all of a sudden I'll just see people running shelter skelter all in the name of riot, either from the area boys or from the agberos, I'll just pack up on fear and run for my dear life, sometimes I get injured, other times, I lose my vouchers and it kept going on like that.
Soon, I started to display this lousy attitude at home, whenever I get home, I'll jump up, raise my arms in the air, and say "twaale mama", an unusual way of greeting her, and some other bad traits, my mom got upset and asked me to stop the work, that the environment was gradually influencing me negatively,
Honestly, the job was affecting my mental health and my manners, and even my health as I was a secondhand smoker( inhaling cigarettes fumes through the air as it was all in the air)
Positive things I learned
I learned how to tolerate people, as everyone had their excesses, I learned how to be social, I used to be a very shy person, but working in such an environment taught me to be jovial and outspoken.
I also learned to be smart, "shine ya eyes" that's how we say it in Nigeria, or else people will outsmart you.
I learned to be polite to customers, that's helping me now that I own my fashion store.
I learned that our environment has a role to play in our reasoning or behavior, which is why we need to avoid toxicity at all costs.
Well, thank God I was able to secure admission into the University after a few months of leaving that job, I had fun working there, but it wasn't good for me as a lady, a young lady at that and it wasn't good for my health.
I unlearned the bad and kept the positive traits of working in that place.
This is my entry for this week's prompt by @galenkp
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Gosh, i think, if its me, even if it is jusy my first day, I will already run and find new job somewhere else. I really hate crowded place and it might affect my performance too. But you, you were able to tolerate it all, goodness. At least, your stay there gave you a lesson that you can use or maybe you are using it now to the new people you are facing.
Yeah I learned the good and unlearn the bad, thanks for stopping by.
This is a scary experience, oh, you're really strong.
Thanks for visiting my blog.
Lol....the environment really did shape you negatively as you were being influenced by the agberos lifestyle
Hahaha, I'm a perfect gentle lady now.