I want to pull someone’s hair out. Mine maybe, but there are other targets I’d consider. I just got a new job this week after being unemployed for a month. I’m working in a local bookstore’s café. I felt really happy and excited when I was hired, since this was one of my preferred positions that I applied for (actually I just wanted to work in the bookstore, not the café, but I was just thrilled to get a job offer). Day 1 of training was tough, but that’s to be expected one the first day. There seemed to be so much information and I got overwhelmed. But I went home and thought about what I’d learned and what I needed to ask more questions about and I felt better this morning when I headed to work. Then there were problems.

(Skip to the end if you don't care about the details. This got longer than I expected.)

First: it’s an opening shift, so I’m up at o’dark hundred. Not a big deal by itself, but I have to walk through a mostly deserted part of town to get from my car to work (I have to pay for parking) and there was a creepy guy following my coworker this morning. That could just as easily be me.
Second: Our pilot light went out so we had to mess with the boiler or whatever it’s called and the label on the side said “don’t try to light the pilot light if you smell gas” and we definitely smelled gas but my trainer still tried to light it. I could have been blown up. Apparently this happens all the time. I just kept thinking “I don’t want to die for this stupid job” Why is lighting the boiler even my responsibility? Isn't there something in OSHA about my safety?
Third: I don’t understand, nor do I care, why it’s necessary to froth milk for espresso drinks. This is a difficult and superfluous action. If frothing milk somehow enhances the flavor of the drink then I imagine that it requires the milk frothing to be done with some amount of skill. As it is I wasted half a gallon of milk just trying to produce enough foam for one latte.
Forth: My trainer has no patience, and therefore should not be training. She talks very quickly and if I ask her to repeat herself she sighs heavily. If I ask her something that she covered earlier but I don’t remember she says, “remember I already told you?” And if I ask her something she thinks should be obvious she either laughs or says, “you should know that.”
Fifth: I dealt with no less than 3 crazy people today. Maybe that’s not the politically correct way of putting it, especially on this particular forum. I’m not sure how else to put it though. One seemed unaware of personal space boundaries and actually touched my shoulder. Maybe I’m overreacting but it seems uncomfortable when a customer touches me in a familiar way. The second one had some kind of breakdown over water or something and started babbling nonsense about Jesus until a manager came and walked her out of the store. The third was actually just demented, not crazy. Her dementia seemed pretty severe. My concern is that this person drove. How did she even remember where she was going? She couldn't even remember that she’d already ordered something half a minute prior.
Sixth: The recipes I’m expected to follow to make things like soups are incomplete, outdated, or have unclear directions. I’m supposed to be able to make these by myself without supervision. If all I have is a list of ingredients with no directions than I’m just going to throw them all in a pot. How am I supposed to know that the spinach goes last when it’s the first thing on the list? Or that there are no tomatoes in this recipe even though they are on the list?
Seventh: And most important, I can’t keep my multi-tasking in order. I have no order slips to work with, we don’t put names on coffee, we have no numbers for the tables, but I need to remember who ordered what, which one had the skim vrs which one had the whole, and where they’re sitting. Maybe for some people this seems easy. I can’t keep it straight.

That last bit had me thinking I’m an idiot. I had to remind myself of my college transcripts just to get through the day. But still, if I can’t do that one basic requirement for this job, should I really let myself stress and struggle to reprogram my brain for a part time minimum wage position? I have my application in at fifteen other places. I have a few more I’d like to apply for. I really think I’m going to quit.