Since I was 16, I've had jobs that require some sort of 30+ hour certification; lifeguarding, substitute teaching, and nursing tech. I work with adults (usually 40 years old and up), and sometimes I find it hard to enjoy work because I simply have no place in common with those with whom I work. They're talking about their kid's soccer game, mortgage payments, who they're cheating on and with whom, and wasn't that a fun time in 1984 when we went to that Billy Idol show?

I feel like I can't go anywhere in my county without seeing a co-worker, thus, I always feel the need to suppress my 'wild side;' I was walking out of a headshop that was not even in my county, and a co-worker walked down the street towards me with a skeptical kind of glance, and I had to make up some dumb excuse that I was buying stickers for my car because if my job suspects I smoke, and they test, I get fired.

I constantly am judged at work for stupid stuff like my car (it's got a good amount of stickers on it), my choice of scrub tops, and my general young adult-ness. I'm not disrespectful, rude, nor a smartass. I kind of wish I worked a regular job, even once, like at a Subway or Target, but it never came around.

Granted, this is most certainly not a career, but more of a job,and I'm only doing this because I like kids, and the money pays better than anywhere else I know. It is temporary, for at most 3 more years. I don't mean to soundy whiney at all, I'm happy I have job security and a good salary, but I feel so trapped to behave in a rigid manner because all of my co-workers are conservative baby-boomer management types.

Are there any teenagers/young adults here who have a 'professional' kind of job where you tend to feel stifled?
Purple Banana Reviewed by Purple Banana on . Professional jobs Since I was 16, I've had jobs that require some sort of 30+ hour certification; lifeguarding, substitute teaching, and nursing tech. I work with adults (usually 40 years old and up), and sometimes I find it hard to enjoy work because I simply have no place in common with those with whom I work. They're talking about their kid's soccer game, mortgage payments, who they're cheating on and with whom, and wasn't that a fun time in 1984 when we went to that Billy Idol show? I feel like I can't go Rating: 5