anybody ever feel like they're stuck and can't get anywhere? (WARNING:COMPLAINING))

[yepimonfire]

so i just felt like rambling a bit about my current situation. maybe someone can offer advice or at least some words of encouragement.

i'm 19, still live at home and i'll be turning 20 in about a month. i think the whole "turning 20" has alot to do with my frustration, it's like, i won't be a teen anymore, and it kinda sucks. anyways almost a year ago my parents decided to move do delaware, before that i lived in massachusetts, i really liked MA, the atmosphere was nice, the people were nice, my job was actually something i enjoyed, i had friends. ever since i've moved here it seems to just be one thing after another, anything i try to do to better my quality of life blows up in my face lately. when i first got here getting a job was easy strangely enough, i actually had an interview set up and everything before i moved. i work at a grocery store doing all sorts of various things, working in whatever departments they decide to put me in.

about four months ago, my main job there was working out in the lot bringing carts up, now its not like i particularly hated that job, i actually liked the laid backness of being able to be outside all the time and not having to deal with grumpy manangers, grumpy customers, etc. i just stayed outside and made sure the carts were kept up on, as long as i did that no body bothered me. four months ago i was asked to work in the general merch department, basically the dept involved with everything that's not food, shampoo, OTC meds, and other non food items. i thought "great, i can get off the front end and work on the floor and have extra stuff i can put down for experience on a job app" the manager over in that dept started training me to manage the dept when she went on vacation, which in my opinion, was a big thing because if i could show i could manage the dept for a week, number one, it would look good to the higher ups in the store and its something i could put down on a resume when i applied for another job, i mean obviously if i'd had managerial experience it would look good to another retail employer. so anyways for about three weeks i worked over in that department, was learning how to do all the things i'd need to do to run it for a week in june, and then they took some other kid who had just recently been hired within the last month and put him over there, i figured he was just being put over there for extra help, which at first he was, basically just doing the same things i was doing, stocking the shelves etc, then, i stopped getting as many hours over in the GM dept. they started putting me over in grocery (which i hated because the manager of that dept is a bitter *** hole, hates his job and basically does whatever he can do to make his employees lives harder) putting me up front running register, etc. for awhile i was only in the GM dept once, maybe twice a week. by that time i had already learned everything i needed to learn to run the dept.

then the time comes where the manager is going to go on vacation, i go upstairs to check the schedule and see when i was working next week and im freaking on GM all of twice that week, and this random kid has been put as the manager. i was pretty angry and upset about that because i felt like i busted my *** to learn everything i needed to learn to get that position and then it's just given to someone else. same thing happened last week too, the same kid was put as GM manager, even though i specifically asked to have that position, and its not like im some sort of dumbass who doesn't know what theyre doing. im plenty competent and work hard. when the GM manager returned from vacation she was complaining about how "a mess" the dept was, well honestly i know if i had been given the position it wouldn't have been like that, i couldve done a way better job of it. i mean this kid was asking me what to do several times when i was over there working with him, and he was supposed to be the "manager". idk, just seems really frustrating to me.

i'm really beginning to hate my job, i mean don't get me wrong i'm thankful i have one right now but it just seems like situations like this keep popping up there, i often feel like im busting my *** for nothing. i'm constantly getting crap from everybody there and it really doesn't matter what i do, it seems like i'm always doing something wrong. lately i've been getting crap from the head manager over the dumbest stupidest crap. for example, we were given these moronic lanyards to clip our name tags to, well honestly this is the dumbest idea in the world considering i'm constantly bending over, lifting things, doing physical things, it's gotten caught on things more times then i can count and one time it broke because it got caught on the end of a shelf, so i ended up having to clip it to my shirt and the head manager basically went into a "rage" because i wasn't in "dress code" because my lanyard was broken, and i tried explaining to him why it wasnt clipped to the lanyard, i told him i had asked for a new lanyard but that we didn't have any. i've gotten written up twice for not performing what they call "greet offer thank", well the problem with that is the way you get written up for something like that is when a customer shops there, they're asked to take a survey, and in that survey they ask if they were greeted, offered assistance, and thanked for shopping there. if the customer answers no, and the department you're working in is the department they shopped in, or if you were running the register they checked out in, you automatically get written up. now i know for a fact if i see a customer, i greet them, ask them if they need help with anything, and thank them. i literally have no way to defend myself when it comes to that. and as of lately, enough write ups for it and it's grounds for termination. yup, that's right, i can LOSE MY JOB because a customer says they weren't greeted, offered help, or thanked on a stupid survey with no proof whatsoever. lately my hours were cut, i was getting 30+ which equals out to about 800 a month, that's like the minimum amount i need to survive and pay my bills, this week i was cut down to 25 because for some idiotic reason they didn't schedule me to work in GM. that's 150 a week, which leaves me with just enough money to barely pay for rent and gas, then i'm broke the rest of the week. theres alot of other BS that goes on there but i don't feel like turning this already long post into a book.

i guess mainly the crap going on at my job is what's getting me down, and the fact i have been looking for a new job for awhile now and i haven't had any luck. the other issue is the fact i'm still stuck living with my parents, and at this rate it doesn't look like thats going to change anytime soon due to financial issue, i figured it up the other day and to get out on my own in this town (which is more expensive then living off the coast) would cost me a MINIMUM of 1200 dollars a month, and thats living bare bones paycheck to paycheck, the only way i'm gonna get income like that is a full time job, which are all but non-existent in this state. a studio apartment here runs ~800, not including utilities, then transportation issues, and food. even if i had the money to get out my parents at the moment rely on my extra 375 a month, my dad has a masters in business admin. but is stuck working at walgreens because there are no jobs in that field here. i wanted to go to college here, but if i do that i'd have to change my availability at work, and the last time i did that my hours were slashed, they want people who are available any time and if you're not, they'll find someone else to do your job. it doesn't help that since i've moved here i have had absolutely no luck making friends, which is honestly a first for me, i can honestly say i have no friends, and most of the people i've met since ive been here aren't people i'd even want as friends, i honestly have yet to meet someone in this town that is "friend material" someone i could get along with and have common interests with. i dont know, it just seems like ever since ive moved to this town i've had no luck, it's just been a crappy experience altogether, i keep telling myself things will change but they never do. i just feel stuck here.

anyways thats my long rant. i could go on about more but i won't. just hoping someone with more life experience can give me some encouragement or some sort of advice.

thanks for reading.

 

[Adam]

I've been there. Not the same specifics, but I've definitely felt that way at work before. I'll say this - while the present sometimes feels like it'll last forever...it doesn't. I use to feel unappreciated and unfairly unrewarded at my job, but now I like it. For me, some of it was that I changed, and some of it was that my management changed. I got better about expressing what I wanted to do, but I also learned that complaining to management when I was given something that I didn't want to do never helped. Maybe that'll strike a cord with you, maybe not. Everybody's situation is a bit different.

Long story short, things change. At 19, you've got a lot of years left. I think that you're smart sticking with your job until another opportunity arises. Quiting is easy, but the alternatives to sticking with your job for now seem worse.

If you haven't already, try having a sincere conversation with your boss. Let him/her know what your aspirations are (e.g. to run a department) and ask what you need to do to earn it. Saying that you want to do something is one thing, but if you leave it at that and they don't think you're able to do it, then probably nothing will happen (which you might interpret as a put down). Show them that you're willing to do what it takes to be able to do it, and they just might give you that opportunity.

 

[yepimonfire]

I've been there. Not the same specifics, but I've definitely felt that way at work before. I'll say this - while the present sometimes feels like it'll last forever...it doesn't. I use to feel unappreciated and unfairly unrewarded at my job, but now I like it. For me, some of it was that I changed, and some of it was that my management changed. I got better about expressing what I wanted to do, but I also learned that complaining to management when I was given something that I didn't want to do never helped. Maybe that'll strike a cord with you, maybe not. Everybody's situation is a bit different.

Long story short, things change. At 19, you've got a lot of years left. I think that you're smart sticking with your job until another opportunity arises. Quiting is easy, but the alternatives to sticking with your job for now seem worse.

If you haven't already, try having a sincere conversation with your boss. Let him/her know what your aspirations are (e.g. to run a department) and ask what you need to do to earn it. Saying that you want to do something is one thing, but if you leave it at that and they don't think you're able to do it, then probably nothing will happen (which you might interpret as a put down). Show them that you're willing to do what it takes to be able to do it, and they just might give you that opportunity.

i've tried that. in the past when the other manager was working there i could actually do that and she actually cared about my opinion and did her best to work things out for me, thats how i got in GM anyways, but the head store director we have now is a total idiot, and a jerk. he doesn't give a damn about anybody but himself.

i once called out because i had the stomach flu, i was scheduled to work lot service, instead of using his brain and going up to the front end and having one of the people who bag groceries go out and get the carts, because god knows they have nothing better to do, he goes out and gets them himself, then proceeds to yell at me the next day for it, saying he had to go out and get carts all day because i called out and he didnt beleive me that i was sick. like i said, he is both an idiot and a jerk. half of the people i work with, especially those in management, i can truly say without saying it just to be mean, are total morons. how they got into management in the first place is beyond me.

thankfully i work in a union, so most of the BS i deal with is just getting bit*** at, but it still starts to take a toll on your outlook on life, especially when you spend 6 days a week at work.

 

[Shock]

When I used to work in retail I quickly learned one very important thing. No matter how hard you work, or how much time you invest in performing well, no one will notice. And if they do on the off chance of saying "good job", well, that's all you'll get. Poor managers will always try to put you down because if you actually had their job you would be doing 75% less work and getting paid 75% more. They know this, so they will purposely keep your morale low so hopefully you'll end up quitting and some slacker will take your place and they won't feel threatened you're not a mouth breathing retard like themselves.

If there's any compensation it's this, when they go home they live horrible lives, with very little to be happy about. You can bask in your feeling of well being knowing the **** they're handing you is being dealt 10 fold to them through karma.

 

[markw]

Not to sound like a old fart, but I am one.

So, if you don't mind, I'll talk to you like I did to my grandson, who just graduated high school.

This world is not a fair place. You're gonna wind up working for a bunch of people who you see as idiots in this life. Some, in fact, may be idiots.

Your only hope is to make yourself better, and possibly indispensable. This isn't the world it was when I graduated high school in the '60 where you could make a living with hard work and a good attitude alone but even that idea ran out of steam about 15 - 20 years ago. You needed a piece of paper to be even considered for most good jobs. You can't even answer a phone at Enterprise rent-a-car without a bachelors degree.

For what it's worth, I worked my way up in computer programming without any college. I started playing with the original RatShack TRS-80 computers in '78, found I had a knack for programming and got very lucky by being noticed by some friends/customers in the field. I did great as an applications programmer until the early 2000's until the Y2K bug was eradicated and most programmers were let go or outsourced. Here I was, in my early 50's and my resume, with no college, was summarily ignored in favor of young kids with current papers. My 20+ years of real-world experience counted for nothing.

Nowadays, you need a knack. Go to school. If you don't see a profession in your future, learn a trade. Even lawyers, doctors, accountants, bankers, and financial advisors need a skilled tradesman when the toilet backs up, the power goes out, they need a room added to their house, their car doesn't run, or their HVAC goes on the fritz.

You're still young and, if I read correctly, still living at home. This is the time to do some thinking about where you want to be in the future, make some sacrifices now, and learn some skills, maybe do an apprenticeship, and do what has to be done to prepare you for a fruitful life.

If you don't want to do that, and are gonna depend on working in an unskilled job that depends on a union for it's security, you're gonna be sorely disappointed in a few years. I'd start practice saying "Do you want fries with that?" in front of a mirror. But, even then, your idiot manager will probably have at least a four-year degree.

 

[Shock]

Funnily enough, managers at Mcdonalds make more money than people who come out of university with an english degree. However how much you make means nothing, when you hate your job and in turn hate your life.

 

[yepimonfire]

So, if you don't mind, I'll talk to you like I did to my grandson, who just graduated high school.

This world is not a fair place. You're gonna wind up working for a bunch of people who you see as idiots in this life. Some, in fact, may be idiots.

Your only hope is to make yourself better, and possibly indispensable. This isn't the world it was when I graduated high school in the '60 where you could make a living with hard work and a good attitude alone but even that idea ran out of steam about 15 - 20 years ago. You needed a piece of paper to be even considered for most good jobs. You can't even answer a phone at Enterprise rent-a-car without a bachelors degree.

For what it's worth, I worked my way up in computer programming without any college. I started playing with the original RatShack TRS-80 computers in '78, found I had a knack for programming and got very lucky by being noticed by some friends/customers in the field. I did great as an applications programmer until the early 2000's until the Y2K bug was eradicated and most programmers were let go or outsourced. Here I was, in my early 50's and my resume, with no college, was summarily ignored in favor of young kids with current papers. My 20+ years of real-world experience counted for nothing.

Nowadays, you need a knack. Go to school. If you don't see a profession in your future, learn a trade. Even lawyers, doctors, accountants, bankers, and financial advisors need a skilled tradesman when the toilet backs up, the power goes out, they need a room added to their house, their car doesn't run, or their HVAC goes on the fritz.

You're still young and, if I read correctly, still living at home. This is the time to do some thinking about where you want to be in the future, make some sacrifices now, and learn some skills, maybe do an apprenticeship, and do what has to be done to prepare you for a fruitful life.

If you don't want to do that, and are gonna depend on working in an unskilled job that depends on a union for it's security, you're gonna be sorely disappointed in a few years. I'd start practice saying "Do you want fries with that?" in front of a mirror. But, even then, your idiot manager will probably have at least a four-year degree.

at one point in time i was learning a trade when i worked for a guy who did contractor work and mainly flooring. but that went down the drain. as far as college, like i said its something i want to do, but several life circumstances will have to change before i'm able to do that. i can't sacrifice my own family's well being for myself. i don't know if you caught it in my OP, (does that sound rude? not my intention) but my whole family relys on my income to make it and if i start college it means i lose most of my hours at work because my availability will change. don't get me wrong, i have absolutely no hard feelings about it, i mean they took care of me for 18 years, we're a family, and it would just be completely against everything i believe in to leave them hanging.

i'm also, to be honest, worried about spending 4 years and a huge load of cash on college and still being stuck in retail. i mean, that's what happened to my dad. he's never been out of retail and he has an associates in IT, a bachelors in business mgmt. and a master in buisness administration with a specialty in finance, and he works at walgreens because there just are no jobs aside from retail out there. one of the managers at the place i work at has like 5 degrees, and he told me he works there because there just are no jobs outside of retail. i mean, honestly out economy is downgrading into a service economy, its obvious. everyone in this town either works in retail, works in food service, works at the casino, or works at one of the various auto dealerships here.

there also really only one thing i WANT to do with my life if i went to college, and that's electronics engineering tech, honestly i can't see myself being happy doing something else, and that profession is pretty hard to get into nowadays. my biological dad has a degree in that, and he's all but f***** right now. the company he works for hasn't let him cash a check in months, all of the buyers for his products defaulted and are no longer able to buy products or they themselves went out of business, the company is also about to be sold, so after that happens he is SOL.


i honestly don't mind retail work, in fact, the last store i worked in i absolutely loved my job, but really it's just dependent on the people you work with, it's not so much i hate my job, because i don't hate my "job" it's certain people that make it suck. and aside from that one manager i mentioned (who is also in the military and is actually pretty good to work with if you can handle his sarcastic jokes) none of them have degrees, the way you get into management there is when a position opens, you "bid" on it, based on experience, seniority, and how well you do during the interview for the position, is how you get it.

it's not just the people at work, i have yet to run into a decent person in this town, its really the whole town, and i'm not being pessimistic, i just know from experience here it's the "atmosphere" of this place. it's so "dry" and stagnant i could vomit. and the people are just as dry and stagnant as well. it's one of those places where i feel like i don't fit, and don't belong, not because i think something is wrong me "me", but because something seems to be wrong with everyone else and i just can't see myself relating with the kind of people i'm exposed to here. i can't exactly put my finger on it but something is definitely "different" about this town. everything is different, and certainly not in a good way.

basically, several things need to change for me to be able to actually make any progress, or what i consider progress.

my familys financial situation
MY financial situation (i really need a stable full time job) i need something with more stable hours so i can schedule college around it, not having to change everything due to my completely random work schedule that changes sometimes by the day.
and to be honest, i gotta get out of this town. there's nothing here for me.

 

[jeffsg4mac]

I can only say this. GO TO SCHOOL, GO TO SCHOOL, GO TO SCHOOL. If you don't the chances are you will be in this same situation when your 30, 40, 50, etc. Find a field that interest you and DO IT!. Quit whining, quit complaining and get off your @ss and get in college. I did it at 43 with a wife and kids so you can do it at 20 and single.

 

[Adam]

I can only say this. GO TO SCHOOL, GO TO SCHOOL, GO TO SCHOOL. If you don't the chances are you will be in this same situation when your 30, 40, 50, etc.

Shhhhh!!! You're jeopardizing the future bagging of thousands of people's groceries.

The good of the many outweighs the good of the few...or the one.

 

[yepimonfire]

Shhhhh!!! You're jeopardizing the future bagging of thousands of people's groceries.

The good of the many outweighs the good of the few...or the one.

i dont bag groceries.

 

[Adam]

i dont bag groceries.

Not yet.


Just having some fun with ya! I meant what I said yesterday, and the others are right - you've got to build a foundation. School is a good way to do that, and so is a trade. Shock nailed it, too - money usually won't outweigh hating what you do several hours a day. Think about what you like to do. If you don't know, yet, don't worry. I didn't know at your age, either.

 

[Rickster71]

Hey Mark, excellent post!

If I may add a point.
Look into the Community Services, or Career Services Dept of a community college.
They will offer aptitude testing along with career and personality assessments that will help determine if college or a trade best suits you.
I'm a firm believer in the fact that college isn't for everyone.
Best of luck!

 

[jinjuku]

at one point in time i was learning a trade when i worked for a guy who did contractor work and mainly flooring. but that went down the drain. as far as college, like i said its something i want to do, but several life circumstances will have to change before i'm able to do that. i can't sacrifice my own family's well being for myself. i don't know if you caught it in my OP, (does that sound rude? not my intention) but my whole family relys on my income to make it and if i start college it means i lose most of my hours at work because my availability will change. don't get me wrong, i have absolutely no hard feelings about it, i mean they took care of me for 18 years, we're a family, and it would just be completely against everything i believe in to leave them hanging.

i'm also, to be honest, worried about spending 4 years and a huge load of cash on college and still being stuck in retail. i mean, that's what happened to my dad. he's never been out of retail and he has an associates in IT, a bachelors in business mgmt. and a master in buisness administration with a specialty in finance, and he works at walgreens because there just are no jobs aside from retail out there. one of the managers at the place i work at has like 5 degrees, and he told me he works there because there just are no jobs outside of retail. i mean, honestly out economy is downgrading into a service economy, its obvious. everyone in this town either works in retail, works in food service, works at the casino, or works at one of the various auto dealerships here.

Basically what you have described is the cycle of poverty. I know they are your family, but hard choices will have to be made if you / family want to break it.

You may have to stop thinking of yourself. If you had a child would you want them in the same position as you now find yourself? It's called sacrifice. No one in your family has made that sacrifice yet because they are tightly holding on to the little that they do have. They haven't realized, like Tarazan, that you have to sometimes let go of the vine your one to make any progress.

Basically put you need a skill set that others are willing to pay for. CBS Sunday morning had an expose about a guy that did 7 years in prison for armed robbery and after his release went to school and has recently taken the bar exam. No excuses.

 

[Adam]

Sounds like your dad has a good education. How far away has he looked for jobs, and are you all willing to leave the north east? Delaware and Massachusetts are pretty close to each other. Has he looked farther west? I'm guessing so, but I wanted to ask. It's a big country, after all.

 

[Midwesthonky]

Ok, my $.02. I got a call when I was in college from my dad. Basically, "Sorry son, we are broke." "Gee, thanks Dad, wish you had told me before I bought that new pickup since I owe the university $2500 before the end of semester."

I found a way. Wasn't easy, but I sure paid better attention in class!

Sounds like you are also fighting depression. That doesn't help. You need to to start looking forward and figuring out a future and a path to get there. It is not going to be easy. It may mean looking specifically for 2nd or 3rd shift work so you can do a class or two during the day. It may mean taking a two stage approach: getting a skill so you can get better pay to allow you to afford the next stage of education to get where you want to go.

Since you mentioned electronics tech, you may want to seek out opportunities as an electrician apprentice. You learn a skill at sucky wages but the better you get, the more you will make. Doesn't mean you have to stay in housing for jobs either. You could branch out into security installations, telecommunications work, etc. All that fancy electronics stuff all needs electricity and it all needs to be physically installed. More than one electrical engineer coming out of college couldn't tell you how wire a doorbell or replace a light switch. It could really help you with a solid foundation for an electronics tech job in the future.

So you are in retail, maybe start looking for job opportunities where you specifically state that you want to work odd hours, evening hours, etc specifically so you can go to school. Can you look online to see about warehouse/distribution jobs? Many of those have 2nd shifts and are always looking for people to work them. Pay sucks, maybe $10/hr but if you can get 40 hrs consistently and it frees up your daytime for pursuing education...

Don't let the area drag you down. I've lived in areas I didn't exactly "fit in." It happens. Accept it, set yourself up for a future to get to a place where you do fit in. Make it happen. Find a way.

If you were in Indiana, I'd say check out one of our facilities there. We need good, hard workers willing to work 2nd shift/3rd shift for crap pay. Do good, you move from temp to permanent and it still lets you keep your day open for school. We have a few workers doing that.

 

[Chu Gai]

If you're going to stick in retail, I think you should look for employment with a different company. Perhaps the reason you were passed over for a management spot has to do with your being stereotyped due to your past experience there. My son, who is in advertising/marketing, had a part time job while in college testing applications on browsers. When he got his degree, he naturally wanted to move up within the company doing things more appropriate to his field of study. Unfortunately, the sorts of positions he was offered were relatively low level and that was largely viewed (by him) as being typecast as 'browser boy'. He left that job, as well as several others, using the skills he'd acquired as stepping stones for the subsequent jobs. Just a thought.

 

[yepimonfire]

guys, i just quit my job due to a bad situation that went down today.

applying for college tomorrow.

if you want details as to why just ask.

 

[Midwesthonky]

guys, i just quit my job due to a bad situation that went down today.

applying for college tomorrow.

if you want details as to why just ask.

Consider it asked.

If you are going to go to school, make sure you leverage your family situation to try to get grants and such to help cover the cost. Not just loans, but any grants you can get.

 

[yepimonfire]

so basically i was filling in on my own will in a department today that i wasn't even scheduled to work in because work was piling up. a manager from a completely different department comes up to me and starts *****ing to me saying i need to get the damn freight up because its been sitting there for days, he says it real sarcastic like saying "you ever gonna put up that freight? or are you just gonna let it sit there for days?", now of course obviously the freight not being put up isnt my fault and he knows that, i havent even been in that department, the guy is over-stepping his bounds because he doesn't even work in that department, and he isn't in charge of it. i was in charge of it, being the only one in the dept. automatically makes me the "manager" by default while i'm over there (yes, officially that's how it works). this guy has given me alot of issues before even when i was working in other depts, once again, depts he has no control over and has nothing to do with. it's been happening more and more frequently as well with him. so i just simply asked him, i said "what department do you work in?" and he goes off into a rage, gets about 3 inches from my face, stares me down and starts threatening me asking me who the f*** i think i am, screaming like a drill sargent (not exaggerating in the least) tells me "he runs the show around here" told me he has the power to send me home and fire me etc. so i just left, told him fine i'll go home then, punched out and went and sat out front. now after i punched out he proceeded to follow me outside and ***** some more. at that point basically i told him just to leave me alone, said i wasn't on the clock anymore and to leave. now the entire time i remained calm, didn't raise my voice, nothing. i'm not gonna go into every encounter with him i've had, but lets just say they are continously escalating, between him and the actual person who is in charge of the store, i just made the decision i can't continue to subject myself to this. so i left. i just decided i've done everything i can to make my situation better, made sure i had all my crap straight, and obviously the problem isn't with me, it's with them.

i told both my parents what happened and they are also aware of the previous issues i've had with him (one of which involved him pushing me from in front of a box compactor so he could put his boxes in like some sort of school bully because he decided he had more rights to the box compactor then i did, even though i was right in the middle of using it. this has happened twice.) and they both think i did the right thing by leaving.


its no big deal. no job=plenty of time for school.

i'm going to try and get another part time job, but i'm going to make school more of a priority now, before i wasn't because i was making my job too much of a priority (which i didnt really have a choice not to if i wanted to keep it).

i have no regrets.

 

[stratman]

I'll give it to you in a nutshell: Unless you win the lotto (check those odds), the only way out of your predicament is school. Make it your priority above everything else (partying, friends, hobbies, etc.) after you're done all those things will still be there. Learn to have a good attitude, there are many many more far worse off than you with NO hope.....take this opportunity and run with it, don't waste it, time is your most important asset, use it wisely.

I started working part time with my dad during summers (busboy) as I got older I worked at Winn-Dixie, I always put school first, worked retail, while at school got a part time related to my major......worked for same company after graduation, spent 12 years there....went on my own, haven't looked back, I've done well for myself.

Hard work+ diligence + ethics= success......DON'T SQUANDER YOUR TIME.