What's the worst job you ever had?
What's the worst job you ever had?
We've all had one... what was yours?
What's the worst job you ever had?
We've all had one... what was yours?
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Personal assistant for the elderly. It should have been a rewarding job but it wasn't. The pay was awful, I spent more time travelling between homes than helping anyone, and the clients weren't the elderly people but the family who often just wanted a free cleaning service (it was a charity).
It was sad to see the elderly rot in their homes. The only excitement being my weekly visits that usually lasted only an hour. They rarely had anything else going on in their week and just had the TV playing in the background.
The families usually didn't bother with them. If they even had a family. And a lot of the people should have been in full time care but obviously didn't qualify for whatever reason.
I spent a lot of time wading through filth and piled up trash which hampered their mobility. A lot of my time was clearing it for them to be able to move uninhibited.
My final client I visited in the hospital just before they died. I'd spent a lot of time around them and it was difficult watching them die. I technically wasn't supposed to visit them but I figured it was the right thing to do. And when they died I sought another job. It was too emotionally taxing and wasn't paying a livable wage so I just couldn't continue with it. Ended up handed in my notice before I had something else lined up.
I can only pray that when I reach that age I won't end up in the same position.
I'm in the safeguarding world, the elderly are horribly mistreated. Care is poorly regulated, and they're mistreated and abused in many ways. It can even result in their death, but is impossible to prove as so many staff are involved. What predators are realising is that if they target a young person, then the young person could get pregnant or credibly disclose at any point in their lives... elderly there's no pregnancy, they've less time to live and may have conditions that make their memory unreliable. It's awful
Well, that's a pretty horrifying thought.
Yes it is. So I totally understand why it was a terrible job for you, you did well doing it.