Lessons from work. Today was a rough work day. I hate 8 hour work days. I realize there will always be someone with it worst than me. I hate the store that I work at. I hate that I seem to work in the worst part of town. I think I am tired of working around so much disfunction. THere are so many drunks, prostitutes, mentally ill, and people who aren't the brightest stars in the universe. It sometimes feels like the store of the defeated population. It is so hard being cheerful in such an unhappy place. THere is this sense with some people that work there, that they got stuck there and it seems to take a bit out of them. Nothing points to me more, that education and a future is important. I don't want to settle on any future but I don't want this to be my future either. A lifetime in dead end jobs like that could kill me and wear me down. I'm still young and have that sparkle. Something that always bothered me about my job and just about the world in general is that I feel men and women aren't treated equally. Perhaps men have no place bickering about inequality but at what point would it be acceptable to consider that there is some issue. Personally I am all about respect and treating the person as my equal. I want all of us to be equal. But that is not the world we live in unfortunetly. It is both sexes fault I think. In my job I am a clerk and all the clerks at my store are male. We do all the stocking and heavy duty work. We also have to ring when necessary or when breaking the cashiers. The cashiers are all women. The photo dept and cosmetics and pharmacy counters are all manned by women. THe thing that has always bothered me is that since we are all paid the same from the start we should all have the same amount of responsibility. As a clerk I do my primary job of filling the shelves and am able to do the work of a cashier and when called for work in Photo or Cosmetics, yet the same are not required of the other areas all filled by women. Most of the cashiers couldn't tell you where something in the store is. Almost all the cashiers couldn't stack or find half the things in the store. When we have too many cashiers they are supposed to help us, yet when any customers come to them they come to us and we help them to help the customers. The thing is we cashier without any help from the cashiers, shouldn't the cashiers be able to do our work as well as theirs if we get paid the same. It bugs me cause today I was extremely busy dealing at times with 3 people at once. It gets stressful, what's worse is when we have to help a counter person who can't find anything in the store and is another person to pull you away from doing your primary function of filling up the store with things to buy. I work really hard making sure there are things are on the shelves but I can't when I am litterally dropping everything every other minute. Our store is 24 hours so it is not like we can close down to restock. The guys who I work with , all drink a lot, now I know why. None of the full time Female Cashiers have any drinking problems as far as I know. I am always happier when I am ringing than when I am on the floor. I for the most part only have to take one personality at a time. It is easier being nice to people and focusing cause there is only one set thing I need to concentrate on while I cashier. I am not saying a woman couldn't do my job, I think they could. Most women I think wouldn't want to though. For those that would I really tip my hat to them. It is not the fault of any sex but just is the fault of the place I work which has set up this work environment. My thing is though, if they were going to set it up this way, shouldn't clerks get paid more than the cashiers. Especially if we are required to be able to do their jobs as well. THe thing is, a clerk is always called upon to do the work of a cashier while the cashiers no where perform those of a clerk. Basically in a clerk you get 2 for 1 and a cashier is only 1. THey might have intended it to be equal but it isn't. This happens at my other job too. I always get jobs that involve getting dirty and heavy lifting. I have a great deal of computer skill and can do quite a bit of things. THough I am often given the labor job while a girl is given a job behind a computer in a nice air conditioned room. The worst is when you know you can do it better than the other person and they ask you for help. I had this girl ask me how to do this spreadsheet which I helped her with while also moving the things they asked me to. I am not some huge built guy, but I do the work. I am so tired of these double standards. I'm tired of more being asked of me because less is asked of another. I want what is asked of me to be asked of another and vice versa. I am all for equality, true equality. There is helping your fellow person and then there is uneveness. I feel I live in an uneven world. I know there are girls that can kick my ass. I respect that they are stronger than me, I believe there is a line between being a gentleman and just insulting a girl by making her feel like she can't do it herself. Sorry to go off on this tangent, it has been something that has been bothering me. I guess I dislike the men who perpetuate this and the women who go along with this and people who do both. Ok I feel better getting all this out. In love I look for an equal, not someone who is better or someone I am better than, just an equal. Someone I respect who respects me. Sounds so simple doesn't it.