Cocoabeans,

I had a huge reaction when I read you posts. I disagree with you. I am a supervisor at a large non profit organization that helps kids with special needs. It can be stressful in that I deal with family satisfaction issues, staff issues, and helping staff deal with difficult behaviors if the kids we work with.

All that being said, I could never (and have never) work in fast food for several reasons. And because of that, I have respect for people who do. I have social anxiety, especially with groups of people. There is no way I would be able to handle fast food during the meal time rushes. I am also a perfectionist. With the fast pace and high number of people served, it is likely that multiple mistakes will be made daily. That would greatly increase my anxiety and further decrease my self-confidence and self-esteem. I also suffer from major depression, and during bad episodes, it is very hard to work at a fast pace or be around a lot of people.

I am happy with my career because I don't need some of the skills I would need if I was in fast food. Different jobs require different skill sets. I am successful with my job because it fits me. I would NOT be successful in fast food. I feel as though your posts have been very judgmental and discouraging towards the original poster and anyone else in entry level positions. What stresses out someone is different from person to person. For example, fast food/retail would stress me, but being a supervisor and working in a research lab (my degree is in biology, so I worked in a lab before becoming a supervisor at the non profit) is much less stressful. For others, the opposite may be true.