MY FIRST EXPERIENCE WORKING [SPOILER: IT WAS FATAL]

Currently, I'm trying to save money for two reasons. The first is because I want to make an important trip to a country where I would like to settle down, and the other is to be able to travel to other countries and explore them. Planning for the first goal, I had to work this year and two more to achieve at least a decent amount. So, I asked my father for a job because, to be honest, where I live there aren't many job offers.

In the end, we agreed that I would start working in his ice cream workshop in February 2024, doing a bit of everything: manufacturing, preparing, cleaning, etc. That day came, and when I entered, I felt somehow welcomed. Those were the first days where things seemed to be going well, but that tranquility began to deteriorate over time.

At first, I learned basic things; however, like in any job, one becomes responsible for more things over time. One of the things I never took into account was that I had never been so good at math in my life. I got my grades, but many times, I was close to failing in school, and this job was, in a way, about accounting. So, as you can imagine, doing the inventory to send out the product and make ice cream involved using numbers.

An important point in this story to tell the problems that occurred is the fact that my father was not in charge of the workshop. Yes, he was the owner and boss, but the one giving orders was a man (whom I won't name to respect his privacy) and his son. However, unfortunately, that world where things were going well turned into a nightmare for me because problems arose with the man, whose personality at work was quite demanding. He liked things to go well, and if you made a mistake, he would call you out in a way that made you feel bad. Despite having been an apprentice once, as my father mentioned in a comment, being new, the weight of his dislike for wasting time on things that were obvious or simple for him was evident, without understanding that I had a lot to learn, like formulas, types of cups, tool usage, etc. But there was the son, who was empathetic and gave off good vibes when he wanted to know about something. Although he sometimes reprimanded me, it was in a less harsh way, and sometimes jokingly. However, decisions were handled with the man, as he was the one who received the orders on his phone.

One of the first problems was that at the beginning, I didn't know what to do in the business, and sometimes there were times when I didn't perform an activity. In the second week, I think it was a Tuesday, the man had gone to do something, I don't really remember, but I do remember that I decided to take a walk to observe things in the workshop, like the machines, safety signs, where the products were, and, tired, I sat down to wait for the next task. Unbeknownst to me, the secretary was monitoring the cameras and noticed my absence at work, so this complaint was reported to my father, who, on a couple of occasions, mentioned it seriously and even said that to make me realize that life isn't easy, they would give me too much work so that I would suffer while packing and see that things are not simple. If you ask me, there was a time when there was a lot of product, but I think it was normal for the job, not something they asked for so that I would suffer because, if you ask me, it would be unnecessary to ask for product if there is product.

The second problem occurred when I received more responsibility in terms of placing products to take to the business, that is, doing the inventory. And although it may seem unbelievable, numbers are also used when placing how many cups (and types), spoons, straws, among others, will be taken. Obviously, being new, I didn't know much, and unfortunately for me, the man who started to guide me was the man. At first, he explained it to me, but I'm not someone who memorizes things easily, so I really learn when I repeat them many times. It was always a problem to do the inventory because everything had to be correct. There couldn't be any margin of error, because even the smallest mistake was reported, and it was a reprimand for the man, who could see his salary affected. I had to be careful in that part, and on the other hand, I also received reprimands when something I had been taught I didn't know, and if it was something new to place, it was always a reprimand. Furthermore, when placing things, they had to be in a carton and put in order for technical reasons so that nothing would be damaged, something that was understandable, however, I didn't know how it was done. So, at the beginning, I did it wrong for the man, and the reprimands were always "I already taught you how to do it." There were two problems with the inventory. The first was that the sent cones that were broken had not been checked, which included me when I hadn't even done that activity the day before. And in the end, it was concluded that it was the fault of the son or the man.

The third problem arose, and it was a little more serious than the previous one. It was when, when doing an inventory, "strangely" I hadn't placed a product (which I don't remember having noted as packed). And the excuse when calling the man was that I had forgotten to send them on a trip to one of the locations that was very far from where the workshop was, a one-hour trip. The next day, the man reminded me, although when looking at the notebook, it was crossed out, something strange if you ask me because I don't usually cross out. But regardless of who was to blame, a truth that I mentioned when commenting on the situation is that when doing the inventory, it should be checked whether everything was taken before packing. However, I also don't blame him because being the one in charge, he has many things to do that sometimes don't leave him time, although that doesn't change the fact that he could have checked at the end of his shift, since I still was an apprentice, no matter if I had been working for 2 or 1 month. Only on the day when I knew everything 95%, could it be said that I knew how to manage the workshop, but I was always at 56%.

The fourth problem could be said that initially my father had promised to pay me every Saturday (discounting days in case I didn't go to work), the money would be 50 dollars. Although at first, it was like that, with time my father forgot. In the end, I lost the days I went to work, and when I decided not to go anymore, it was agreed that he would pay me 120 dollars. If you ask me, I should have received at least 200, but I didn't even receive that, and I will simply receive that payment, which may serve me, but it was not the money I planned to receive. I admit, I felt disappointed and cheated by my father.

And to finish, the fifth and least important was that I started to harass myself and wake up every morning. I have always been someone who sleeps late, but with the previous problems and feeling less important in the business every day, I started to feel useless. One night, in my thoughts, I couldn't take it anymore, and I decided that I didn't want to continue working in a place that, instead of motivating me, depressed me more.

So one day, I simply told my father that I didn't want to work. He simply understood the situation, somewhat sad because, deep down, it made him happy that I was doing an activity outside the house and doing something productive. But by declaring it, I stopped going.

I felt relief to be able to get out of that nightmare and headache that it had caused me. Somehow, I reached the mental and physical collapse that working caused me. But it was done, and although I felt bad for not being able to continue earning money, it wasn't worth staying there working for suffering. And although my dreams drifted away because of this action, I will continue on my own looking to earn money, even if on the internet this is difficult.