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6 too-real comics show what happens when work gets too heavy

Finding a good balance between working and relaxing can be difficult, but it doesn't have to be.

Image courtesy of College Humor

A reason to be late... tasty treats.


Everyone gets antsy about their jobs sometimes.

Maybe you notice you're less motivated than usual. Maybe you acknowledge that you're no longer going the extra mile, and you're not quite sure why. Maybe professionalism is a term you've long since forgotten.

For many of us, the struggle can be so, so real. That's why Willie Muse wrote these all-too-relatable comics for College Humor, illustrated by Karina Farek.


These six funny comics perfectly illustrate what a typical first day at your job looks like versus the 101st day:

1. Who doesn't look at at least one viral video a day?

music, work, employee rights, jobs

To tune or not to tune.

Image courtesy of College Humor

2. You suddenly find the time to fit in a breakfast sandwich.

breakfast, fast food, time

How do you miss out on a breakfast quickly served?

Image courtesy of College Humor

3. You go from wanting your boss's approval to hating his or her guts.

boss, employee, friendship, community

Getting to know your coworkers...

Image courtesy of College Humor

4. All the details that were once so important become nuisances.

job requirements, nuisances, work vacation

An evolution in responsibility and ethics?

Image courtesy of College Humor

5. Your (lack of) motivation can take you from hero to zero — quick!

motivation, work-life-balance, career

When an opportunity evolves into a responsibility.

Image courtesy of College Humor

6. And you most certainly DO NOT want to end up like this.

advice, labor, qualifications

Getting on the right side of fear.

Image courtesy of College Humor

Let's be real: These comics are funny, but they also aren't ideal.

In a perfect world, we'd all have jobs that still look and feel like Day 1 on Day 101. And one of the only ways to get there is to intentionally strive for a life that's full of work-life balance. We really do have the power to not let things play out like this.

What can we do?

At a most basic level, we can make sure we're getting enough sleep, eating well, and doing at least a little exercise. We also shouldn't underestimate the benefits of detaching from computer screens and smartphones every once in a while. Plus, we can also minimize our stress levels by not multitasking and instead concentrating on one task at time.

The most overlooked advice for maintaining a healthy work-life balance is to actually take time off.

Disconnect from your daily work routine. Make a conscious effort to recharge.

Perhaps if we dedicate more time to enjoying life outside of work, there's more of a chance that we'll be on Day 1 for months, feeling grateful for our jobs rather than impatiently waiting for the clock to strike 5. Let's get to it!


This article originally appeared on 10.25.16

Photo by Danial Igdery on Unsplash

Do we need to redefine what we mean by "low-skill" labor?

A software engineer who used to work at Taco Bell has prompted a debate over “skilled” and “unskilled” or “low-skill” jobs and how much value we place on workers based on those labels. A post on Reddit shows a screenshot that reads:

“Idk man I’ve worked at Taco Bell and as a software engineer and the job that takes way more skill is not the one u would expect lol. Making a quesarito during lunch rush is 10x harder than writing any sort of algorithm. Service jobs are not ‘low skill’ bro lmfao.”

Others who have also worked service jobs weighed in with their thoughts and experiences, with some agreeing with the tweet and some vehemently disagreeing.


Some said "low-skill" doesn't mean easy, just not something that takes long to learn.

“Low skill doesn't mean easy. It just means that it doesn't take long to train.

Low skill jobs are usually hard AF, because a lot of people can do them, often it's physical and the profit margins can be low. So, people get exploited.

High skill jobs can be very easy. If the profit margins are high, the job is mostly mental, and there aren't that many people that can do it then you get treated better. A doctor at the end of their career is generally not stressing themselves out taking patient appointments.”davidellis23

“Yes, they are low skill.

I was trained to be a waiter in 3 days, and there wasn't much difference between myself and waiters with 10 yrs experience.

I studied 4 yrs for a CS degree, have been working and learning for for awhile as a dev, and I still don't know sh*t about sh*t.” -Sonmi451-

“The spirit of what this guy is saying is right, he’s just using the wrong words.

IT jobs are way more skilled than service work. But service jobs are far and away much more difficult than IT jobs to actually do day in and day out. Service work is emotionally draining and soul crushing

IT jobs test knowledge, service jobs test will.”

In some ways, it’s an issue of semantics, and the actual definition of “skill” doesn’t make the discussion much clearer. Merriam-Webster defines "skill" as “the ability to use one’s knowledge effectively and readily in execution of performance,” "dexterity or coordination especially in the execution of learned physical tasks” and “a learned power of doing something competently: a developed aptitude or ability.”

While it’s true that the training involved in jobs like food service is not nearly as long or involved as becoming a computer programmer, calling that work “unskilled” or “low-skill” doesn't really go along with the definitions of the word. It can also seem to devalue the skills necessary to be good at various kinds of jobs. Is multitasking not a skill? Is anticipating needs not a skill? Is handling difficult customers not a skill? Is problem-solving on the fly in a fast-paced environment not a skill?

“Food service in the kitchen especially is ALL about multitasking, efficiency, and pivoting. I got four orders coming up, what can I prep now so it's ready with the rest of the next two customer's food? Ope now there's five. Customer says they had a large fry but cashier didn't ring it up or they didn't order it, gotta put more fries down either way.

Any mistakes or poor choices moment to moment mean everything gets slowed down. It's much less like one task and more like 20 where in most cases you have to do things out of order because stuff takes time to cook but you don't want food to get cold.” Hawkatom

Some suggested using alternate terms that feel more accurate, such as "credentialed" or "specially trained."

"I prefer 'credentialed' or not. Whether or not you need a certificate before your on the job training is an orthogonal concept from how much job specific training or skill is required." Bakkster

"In economics 'skilled labor' means jobs that require training/apprenticeships this it's doctors, plumbers, lawyers, masons et al.

Unskilled labor does NOT mean that the job requires no skill only that you don't need certification or training to claim the title."No-Appearance-9113

Much of the discussion boils down to the fact that we place more value on certain skills than on others and pay accordingly, despite the fact that we rely on the people who do those difficult "unskilled" or "low-skill" jobs all the time (while there are plenty of highly skilled jobs that only benefit a small portion of the population). We need all kinds of workers, of course. We just need to be mindful of not judging some jobs as less challenging, less important or less valuable simply because they are labeled as "low-skill."

A man cries out in rage while working on his laptop.

There’s a strange thing happening in the U.S. economy these days. Unemployment has been at its lowest in decades, and layoffs remain modest. However, people who are looking for work are having a hard time getting hired and it’s frustrating to send resume after resume and never hear anything back. What gives?

Business Insider says that despite a strong economy, employers are cautious about hiring more employees until they’re sure inflation is under control and that the Federal Reserve will eventually lower interest rates.

"It feels like the job market is in a bit of a holding pattern," Daniel Zhao, a lead economist at Glassdoor, recently told Business Insider.


YouTuber Levi Flemming had fun with the frustrations many people experience while job hunting these days in a new video called “The Typical Job Search Experience. Painful.” In the video, Levi has to go through the daunting task of filling out applications on countless websites and then when he finally gets an interview, he has to go through the gauntlet of middle management interviews, only to be rejected.

The typical job search experience. Painful.

Like many job seekers, Levi began his journey on LinkedIn. "We need to make a LinkedIn profile, by the way. It's like Facebook but more professional," he says in the video with nearly 2,000 views. Soon, he was off to the races and mindlessly filled out job applications on Indeed, Workday, Monster, Glassdoor—the list goes on and on.

Why does the auto-populate never work on these sites?

"Got to create my 800th Workday account and I need to upload my resume,” he continued. “Drag and drop successfully uploaded, and the auto-populate didn't do anything, so now we have to … manually enter the dates do you have at least 5 years of experience."

And there are all the strange questions:

Do you have experience with C++?

Have you ever been terminated from a job before?

Have you ever stolen from your employer?

Have you ever committed terrorist acts against the United States?

Finally, Levi lands an interview that quickly turns into what feels like a speaking tour of the entire company.

“Hey, look these guys are actually going to give me an interview. Go through the first interview with the hiring manager," Levi said. "Second interview with the boss's boss. Third interview with the senior boss. Have to do this take-home written assessment that takes me 4 days to do—got myself a fourth interview with the junior director. A fifth interview with the senior director and now we're waiting just waiting, waiting, waiting. Yey look, they finally emailed me back…”

And it’s a rejection letter—time to start all over again.

The video resonated with a lot of folks in the comments.

"Man! This is spot on. So much of my personal data floating around in company website job portals!" Jackbits6377 wrote. "Looking for work right now and the amount of tests I had to do for a f’ing customer support position was ridiculous. I just closed the application, lol," NowayConway added.

"Painful to watch, yet so damn true..." Pastilance wrote.


Photo by Elevate on Unsplash

How to know the bartender is flirting with you.

A handy guide to answering the age-old question "Is the bartender flirting with me?" went viral on social media this week, and we're here for it.

Titled "Why the Female Cashier Is Being Nice to You" and offering two possible answers (either "She is uncontrollably sexually attracted to you" or "Because that's literally her fucking job you cretin"), the entire pie chart was filled in to mark the latter answer at 100%.


Exeter's Beer Cellar shared the photo alongside a message asking men to please stop trying to kiss their female bartenders' hands.

Also, "don't try to kiss strangers' hands" is just good advice in general. (For what it's worth, calling people "cretins" should probably be avoided, too).

The sign is incredibly relatable for anyone who's ever worked in the service industry — as demonstrated by the replies it got.

From the befuddled to the irritated to the thankful, the replies addressed the reality that people who work in food service face, especially women.

"[As a woman,] you're obviously pressured to give A+ customer service, and loads of people would interpret common hospitality as romantic interest," Charlotte Mullin, the sign's designer, told Mashable. "I wanted to make it clear that female staff are nice to you because they have to be! And, of course, most of us are decent human beings and would be nice to you anyway, but in no way does this mean we're dying for your dick."

That pressure to give "A+ customer service" is partially because bartenders and wait staff rely on earning tips from customers. This kind of harassment is just one more reason to get rid of tipping altogether.

In an industry where workers rely on tips, employees often find themselves in situations where they don't feel comfortable rebuffing someone's advances for fear of lost pay, lower tips, and possibly even employer retribution. It's a sticky situation and one of the major arguments in favor of moving away from that system.

@BeerCellarExe "what does not paying people a livable fucking wage and making them work for tips look like?" - for $800— Ara T. Howard (@Ara T. Howard)1495764814.0

Beer Cellar made sure people knew that yes, their employees get paid a living wage.

Really, that should be a standard worldwide. But until that's the case, remember to tip, and not touch, your bartenders.

Easy enough to remember, right?

This article originally appeared on 05.26.17