Place on the internet to commiserate and get support about crappy jobs.
April 4, 2014 8:51 AM Subscribe
As the title says, I was just wondering if there's some place on the internet where people unhappy with their jobs can congregate, rant, commiserate, get advice, get support, support others, feel accepted and not alone, etc. It should preferably be an active place, not a forum that gets a single new post every few days or weeks. I know it's not healthy to just rage and complain all the time about a situation. Sometimes, however, you've just got to get something off your chest and know that someone is listening. And girlfriends and parents can only take so much of this, productive or not, because they're so much closer to you. This is more about just meeting people that are experiencing similar difficulties in life and having an active, understanding support group.
Let me first go ahead and say that I am already taking steps to work on my situation. I'm not looking just for a place to rant and magically expecting that to cure anything. I'm seeing multiple counselors IRL, where part of what we're attacking is this work stress and frustration from different angles. One angle is on how it affects my relationship with my girlfriend and the other is how to stop being so codependent with the job/family business/my dad. I'm also looking for ways to improve my workflow and reading books on how to deal with the stress and the emotions and get things done. I'm doing a lot of different things down on the ground here.
However, in the meantime, while all that stuff takes time to succeed or fail, oftentimes I just want to be around people who know what it feels like to be in a shitty work situation and just have to deal with it. I'm NOT quitting my job, at least not right away. It's complicated (see my other questions if you need details), and I want to give see where the counseling and self-help stuff takes me. Sometimes people suggest I keep a journal of my daily thoughts, but I think I'd like to know if anyone out there actually has the same experiences and maybe some comfort or even advice as opposed to just writing only to myself.
I don't know where to look for this place if it even exists. I don't know if there's an active message board somewhere that fits this bill or if there's someplace on Reddit (I know very little about Reddit) or if I should start a blog or journal someplace where other similar people will see it. I kind of like the idea of being able to have a journal of my thoughts since some days aren't so bad, and many days I learn things or come up with ideas I'd like to pass to others.
As far as snowflake details: I'm an engineer as you can see from my previous posts. Every engineering forum I've come across would probably berate me for not sucking it up and “being a professional;” they’re best suited for specific technical questions, not general work discussions. My experience fits somewhat closer to working in a shop than working in a big corporate office environment, but I'm glad to listen to anybody that doesn't mind listening to me. Let me know if there's anything out there that might in any way fit what I've described. Thanks, guys.
Let me first go ahead and say that I am already taking steps to work on my situation. I'm not looking just for a place to rant and magically expecting that to cure anything. I'm seeing multiple counselors IRL, where part of what we're attacking is this work stress and frustration from different angles. One angle is on how it affects my relationship with my girlfriend and the other is how to stop being so codependent with the job/family business/my dad. I'm also looking for ways to improve my workflow and reading books on how to deal with the stress and the emotions and get things done. I'm doing a lot of different things down on the ground here.
However, in the meantime, while all that stuff takes time to succeed or fail, oftentimes I just want to be around people who know what it feels like to be in a shitty work situation and just have to deal with it. I'm NOT quitting my job, at least not right away. It's complicated (see my other questions if you need details), and I want to give see where the counseling and self-help stuff takes me. Sometimes people suggest I keep a journal of my daily thoughts, but I think I'd like to know if anyone out there actually has the same experiences and maybe some comfort or even advice as opposed to just writing only to myself.
I don't know where to look for this place if it even exists. I don't know if there's an active message board somewhere that fits this bill or if there's someplace on Reddit (I know very little about Reddit) or if I should start a blog or journal someplace where other similar people will see it. I kind of like the idea of being able to have a journal of my thoughts since some days aren't so bad, and many days I learn things or come up with ideas I'd like to pass to others.
As far as snowflake details: I'm an engineer as you can see from my previous posts. Every engineering forum I've come across would probably berate me for not sucking it up and “being a professional;” they’re best suited for specific technical questions, not general work discussions. My experience fits somewhat closer to working in a shop than working in a big corporate office environment, but I'm glad to listen to anybody that doesn't mind listening to me. Let me know if there's anything out there that might in any way fit what I've described. Thanks, guys.
http://www.reddit.com/r/TalesFromTechSupport
http://www.reddit.com/r/TalesFromRetail
http://www.reddit.com/r/TalesFromCallCenters
http://www.reddit.com/r/TalesFromTheFrontDesk
etc.
posted by Jacqueline at 9:46 AM on April 4, 2014 [1 favorite]
http://www.reddit.com/r/TalesFromRetail
http://www.reddit.com/r/TalesFromCallCenters
http://www.reddit.com/r/TalesFromTheFrontDesk
etc.
posted by Jacqueline at 9:46 AM on April 4, 2014 [1 favorite]
Oh I have this same problem, MeMail me whenever you want and I'll totally listen and support you. I am a big-time job complainer, and in fact my first MeFi question was about a job I hated (though I had the mods delete it because man were people mean to me!). I am still learning how to vent properly, so having a friendship dedicated to job hatred would be pretty awesome.
posted by masquesoporfavor at 9:49 AM on April 4, 2014
posted by masquesoporfavor at 9:49 AM on April 4, 2014
Secret has lots of people who complain about their jobs.
posted by jeffamaphone at 10:34 AM on April 4, 2014
posted by jeffamaphone at 10:34 AM on April 4, 2014
In my experience, don't be surprised if a large dose of this doesn't make you feel worse.
posted by randomkeystrike at 11:10 AM on April 4, 2014 [4 favorites]
posted by randomkeystrike at 11:10 AM on April 4, 2014 [4 favorites]
Response by poster: Jeffamaphone, I'm sorry for being dense, but I don't really understand your answer.
Randomkeystrike, I understand that risk, but at the very minimum I'm just curious where places like this might be found. I can always assess whether I like the place or not once I know it exists. My goal is still to work from the bottom up with my professional counselors to find permanent solutions. Some days, though...
posted by KinoAndHermes at 12:10 PM on April 4, 2014
Randomkeystrike, I understand that risk, but at the very minimum I'm just curious where places like this might be found. I can always assess whether I like the place or not once I know it exists. My goal is still to work from the bottom up with my professional counselors to find permanent solutions. Some days, though...
posted by KinoAndHermes at 12:10 PM on April 4, 2014
Oh, I know - not knocking the content, just saying sometimes when you're living with it yourself reading about other people who are stressed out is NOT cathartic. YMMV.
posted by randomkeystrike at 12:50 PM on April 4, 2014
posted by randomkeystrike at 12:50 PM on April 4, 2014
Secret has lots of people who complain about their jobs.
Jeffamaphone, I'm sorry for being dense, but I don't really understand your answer.
"Secret" is an iPhone app for posting anonymous status updates. Think Twitter without the usernames.
posted by Nonsteroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drug at 1:16 PM on April 4, 2014
Jeffamaphone, I'm sorry for being dense, but I don't really understand your answer.
"Secret" is an iPhone app for posting anonymous status updates. Think Twitter without the usernames.
posted by Nonsteroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drug at 1:16 PM on April 4, 2014
http://retailretales.wordpress.com/
I will suggest you consider reading things like Dilbert. I think finding humor in it and looking at it as a situational thing can help.
I dreamed up a comic I wanted to do when I had my job but didn't start working on it in earnest until after I left in part because every single "joke" I was coming up with was something really awful about my job. I was concerned that publishing it might get me fired.
So, consider the possibility that venting too much and too publicly might get your fired.
posted by Michele in California at 2:13 PM on April 4, 2014
I will suggest you consider reading things like Dilbert. I think finding humor in it and looking at it as a situational thing can help.
I dreamed up a comic I wanted to do when I had my job but didn't start working on it in earnest until after I left in part because every single "joke" I was coming up with was something really awful about my job. I was concerned that publishing it might get me fired.
So, consider the possibility that venting too much and too publicly might get your fired.
posted by Michele in California at 2:13 PM on April 4, 2014
At my last (terrible) job I kept a daily log of work related issues, that quickly snowballed into a sort of angry venting.txt file. Most mornings would start with me drafting a 500 word ask metafilter question on how to get out of the situation I was in. I also joined a very private subreddit where people would make venting posts about what was going on in their lives, terrible jobs being a part of that, and people would offer support. I also channeled my feeling into the art/video games I made, with some success.
posted by hellojed at 4:43 PM on April 4, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by hellojed at 4:43 PM on April 4, 2014 [1 favorite]
I quite like the Not Always stable for this.
The stories posted are selected for readability and humor (although sometimes the only humor available is your shocked laughter that Ohmygod, there are actually people out there who behave like this?) which I think helps avoid the problem randomkeystrike mentions.
If you're in a customer-facing job try Not Always Right or there's Not Always Working for venting about colleagues and bosses.
posted by the latin mouse at 10:40 AM on April 6, 2014
The stories posted are selected for readability and humor (although sometimes the only humor available is your shocked laughter that Ohmygod, there are actually people out there who behave like this?) which I think helps avoid the problem randomkeystrike mentions.
If you're in a customer-facing job try Not Always Right or there's Not Always Working for venting about colleagues and bosses.
posted by the latin mouse at 10:40 AM on April 6, 2014
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posted by kmennie at 9:11 AM on April 4, 2014