I'm struggling with my job. Help.

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I am a 16 year old girl in the UK with Asperger's and I have had my first ever job as a cashier with a big supermarket chain for 2 months now. As I've recently began to realise, I am struggling with this job the longer I have it. I work 12 hours a week - Saturday, Sunday, Monday, each day a 4 hour shift with no break on the checkouts. It's exhausting. I encounter so many unpredictable people and it's quite fast pace but the hours go slow because I sit at a chair scanning items for hours on end. I am seriously thinking about quitting, but I don't want to give notice, I just need to stop because otherwise my brain will explode. I'm too awkward to talk to my supervisors about this though to see if they can help in any way, I don't know how to talk to colleagues at work because school has taught me nothing about having a real job, and this is a very big shock. I feel as though I am a late bloomer because sometimes I feel like a child, sometimes I feel like a late bloomer and that I'm a few years mentality behind my peers, and then sometimes my maturity, understanding, and passion for world issues makes me 30+. I also do not want to quit because I shop there regularly and would never be able to face them ever again if I quit after 2 months. I just cannot go back because it makes my anxiety very high and I hate sitting and talking to people and having to pretend that I am normal just like them (when I applied for the job I didn't tell them about my diagnosis because I thought that was the reason I wasn't getting jobs, but as soon as I took it off applications I got interviews), work just do not understand. Could someone who has been through the same situation or who thinks they might be able to help please give me advice, neurotypical or not, I would love to hear both sides to what people have to say about my situation. Thank you.

My first job was as a supermarket checker. I'm neurotypical, but I was not allowed to go to school when I was a kid, so social things and memorizing were hard for me to get back into. In the US they make you stand instead of sit, but it hurts just as bad. And it's the same here- 4 hours with no break. If you work 6 hours you get a 15 minute break in between so they purposefully schedule you for 4 hours. That way they can slide another checker after you and that one won't get a break either.

I suggest sticking with it and asking to get scheduled for every other day, and for more than 4 hours so you can have a break in the middle, if possible. If you quit it will be harder for you to make it through your next challenge. That may not sound kind, but it's true. You can always keep looking for an easier job, but it's best not to quit one until you get another.

Believe it or not, this will probably be the hardest job you ever have. As you get more experience and education, you'll have more career options and people will treat you better.

Working retail as a teen was the hardest, most exhausting, most awful job ever. Followed very closely by being a secretary. I think pretty much all menial jobs are horrible (or, rather, are for me because I'm really really not a people person).

However, my crappy jobs at 17, 18 and 19 provided me with excellent motivation for doing well in school/college... I knew damn well that if I didn't succeed academically, I'd be stuck in menial job hell for the rest of my life.

SocOfAutism, why weren't you allowed to go to school? I would stick with it but it's just making my anxiety so bad and even if I don't have a "conversation" with them I still encounter them, which gives me another thing to process before I sleep, which makes it harder to sleep. Just being in the shop is torture - the fluorescent lights, the noise, so many things to see on the shelves. The only reason I go in there for actual shopping is because I don't like not going and my mum going on her own, I want to know what she's buying and have a say in what to get. I can't ask to go up 6 hours to get a break, because that's even longer that I'm in the shop, plus then my entire weekends are spent at the shop (and Mondays I couldn't anyway because I will start school in September in a different town so I won't be able to get there quick enough).
CateJayne, I think I have all the motivation I need for getting the job I want when I'm older, because I've experienced enough time on a till to personally last me a life time. It's just the worst thing I've ever done. Before I was applying for jobs for 10 months straight after I turned 16, but now I wish I never applied so I never got direct debits I applied for as soon as my first pay check came in. It's awful! But my 17th birthday is coming up so my mum is going to pay the rest of my 12 month cinema direct debit for it, and then she said she will pay for a writing magazine that charges you every 3 months because she was going to do it anyway, but I'm too impatient so I done it myself with my own money. I guess I am very lucky and I am very grateful but also feel guilty because she is paying for the cinema one that she never offered to pay for anyway, but I think it's the only thing I'm having for my birthday and it's the same money my brother had for his 17th so it's okay. Sorry I'm rambling now, I'm just trying to get my head around it all.

I would start applying to better part time jobs again now that you already have one. You'll be much more likely to get hired. If you just stop working, this experience will be burned into your mind as what working is like, and it isn't. It's one of the hardest jobs there is, especially if you're a teenager. An adult who is a checker is treated better.

If money isn't an issue right now, could you volunteer someplace? You could volunteer in a library or zoo and build experience that would be pleasant and help you figure out what you'd like to do as a career.

It's legal in many US states for parents to keep kids home and not educate them under the guise of "home schooling." My mom didn't work and was lonely being home all day so she made us still home with her.

I sympathize and empathize with you, OP. I wish you had other options--like working in a pet store or something. That would be more your speed. Supermarkets are a fast-paced environment.

Think of it this way, though....at least you have money to spend on yourself.

SOC-Autism: You WEREN'T ALLOWED TO GO TO SCHOOL?

Were you home-schooled?

How fantastic thaat you have completed the hurdle of ontaining your first job.

I totally understand that this job is not stimulating and may seem boring after several months.

I urge you to speak with your supervisor about your concerns. You must adovcate for yourseLf. Thry cannot help you or accommodate your needs if they do not know. Maybe they could allow you to stock shelves for a few hours a day. They have to work with you. Always be honest and proud that you are an Aspey. Be upfront with people and they will be upfront with you. You are more than your dianogsis, but you must work with it not against it. The people you are checking out are simply trying to make a connection. Good Luck!!

If you do these things and you still feel the need to resign, you should not feel weird about shopping there. No one will hold it against you.

Good Luck )