Our most stressful days happen at night when the restaurant is packed with hungry and demanding customers. We keep up with orders and push through the stress. #workstress
My first few jobs were at restaurants and cafes. Even though I work an at an office now I still think back to nights of bus bins piled up 2 feet high and mornings with lines of irritated people waiting for their morning coffee, with me and my team working as fast as we could.
In an office things still get stressful but you have fewer people to answer to and threat of someone completely flipping out at you is definitely lower. Nothing quite like the anger of someone who has to wait an extra 3 minutes for their morning latte...
Like many, I have been in the unfortunate situation of abruptly finding myself without a job. I don't mind telling you, in the moment, it's a completely demoralizing experience. When this did happen to me, there were a few steps I took so I could move forward productively:
I was gracious -- I thanked my employer for the opportunity and offered to expedited any needed transition. Why was I so nice? I don't believe in burning bridges. You're going to need former colleagues/co-workers for letters of recommendation and other references.
The very next day I went to my local unemployment office to make sure I was set for collecting unemployment and to check what resources they had to help me get back on my feet. I wanted to be as educated as I could be on what support services were available to me. Knowledge is power!
I took some time for self-reflection. It's not an easy thing to do -- it's a lot easier to feel hurt or angry and just stay that way. But that's not particularly productive. Unless your entire company/department was let go, I feel certain there are things about your own history (real or perceived) that can inform future behavior. Ask the hard questions! What could I have done differently to prevent this? Why me and not someone else? Take those answers and learn from them -- it will help prevent repeating the same behaviors in the future and minimize the chances that this happens more than once!