Topic : Stress at Work

I'm a single mom of 2, in Charlotte, NC.  My boys are 12 & 8 and are eating machines. Lol.  So I need my paycheck and benefits as you can imagine.  I work in a high volume call center and I'm just frustrated with my life.  I'm very intelligent, trainable, personable, friendly, etc...... and I desire a brighter future for myself and boys. So, if anyone out there has any ideas of how to gain more income, without a huge start up investment...... please let me know.  Thanks! 

You posted this in May, I hope that you have come to a resolution. If not stop and consider what you would really like to do. It is obvious that you can not just quit your job as you have bills to pay. Remember it is always easier to find a job when you have one. This is where you need to be proactive.

Here's a good stress source: Crime!

 

I was at work today and checked on my accounts, and lo, I noticed about 3 major purchases from the gap, a bookstore, and a mobile phone shop. Man, I practically hit the roof. it's such a hassle just getting credit cards cancelled. I'm even considering closing the account entirely.

 

 

That's so horrible, and frankly, I hope it never happens to me. You should probably close those accounts, and maybe get a trustedid to monitor them as well. Id thieves can even access medical records, so it's imperative that you get yours up. Previous victims can also get special forms of protection from the various avenues available.

 

Hopefully you'll be one of the last, they're using even AIs to track account activity, so the arms race is heating up in favor of the good guys:

 

http://blog.trustedid.com/?p=646

I am coming up on my 16th year of being a police dispatcher.  I hate my workplace.  The backstabbing, the favourtism, the "if you get along with this person then I don't want to get along with you because I can't stand that other person" (kind of like elementary school stuff).  I have great medical benefits and good pay, but I literally cannot stand walking into the building anymore.  I have been calling off sick because I don't want to go in anymore.  Will that work against me if I look for a job elsewhere?  Do I have to tell a new employer about my past history with this current workplace?  I haven't looked for another job because I'm afraid of what my current employer might say (maybe I could just give them the number to my H.R. department).  Any advice, tips,etc would be very helpful.  Thanks!

My co-worker just admitted to me that whatever soap I use bothers her.  For one, I take offense with this because I have asthma and it has taken me awhile to find the soap that I use, as it has a very light scent that goes away fast and it doesn't bother my asthma, like a lot of other soaps that have all that crap in them.  I told her that I use a body moisturizer that might be doing it but again, it is really light and the only one that I have found that doesn't go rancid on you. Also, the company that makes it does not test on animals and it is very hard to find products like that.  I had some so I let her smell it.  In the bottle it doesn't bother her but when I put a little on, that was what was irritating her nose.  So, how would you handle this?  Seems that I now have to go out and find another moisturizer.

Does she sit near you? Maybe the solution is some separation.  Based on what you wrote on the other board about her, separation sounds like a good idea.

Believe me...I feel for you.  Don't do anything drastic till you have something lined up, honestly!  I left a good paying job because of stress.  I was working 70 hours in five days plus work done at home and it made me physically sick.  I found a new job within about three days and thought all was well.  It wasn't...it was hell.  I spent most of my time in a warehouse with no heat because management would not repair the second computer in my office and my supervisor would work there.  We had no soda machine, no break area, I was not allowed to leave for lunch (just find 10 minutes to eat was what I was told after I took the job), worked six days a week (off only on Sunday), no microwave (they're less than $75!), and my subordinates were treated like criminals, mainly I think, because they were Hispanic.  They were definitely not criminals...they were the hardest working individuals I had ever worked with.  I was constantly harassed and finally one day I just had enough after getting so upset I literally threw up, I did not come back in the next day. 

Now, I cannot draw unemployment, I have no job prospects and down to two months of living money.  My daughter is in school and if I don't find employment, at least enough to sustain us, she will have to leave school.  We are facing living in our cars because our family could care less.  I can't even get a job at Walmart or Kmart!  They see my work history and salary and won't even consider that this person just may need to eat regardless of past careers. 

This is what its like to hit rock bottom.  Unemployable, no job opportunities anywhere in the area, just a total failure.  I get up in the morning, jump on Monster.com or Careerbuilder, search the papers, the internet and always come up zero.  How can I tell my daughter that her mother is a failure and keep her respect?  How can I tell her she has to quit school, and since she goes to a technical college, her tuition and books have all been covered with grants and such, but Mom can't subsidize her expenses even with her little part time job?  I am just overwhelmed, and here it is Christmas, which should be such a happy time of the year.

I am afraid to go any lower than I am now but I am grabbing at straws here an just have no idea what to do.

I don't understand why I feel so stressed when I'm working. I feel like I'm being talked about behind my back and a certain person in the department tries to get me in trouble for nothing. I'm the youngest next to a 36 year old woman. I' am a female who just feels discriminated. They are giving me a Decision Day at work because of this person. What should I do? I don't want to lose my job. The person that is doing this to me is a man in his 50's. Any suggestions?