I got hired at Walmart to work in the electronics associate section, and I really didn’t think it would be such a terrible job that would impact my mental health. The first week of working there, it was pretty nice and chill. My coworkers started off nice and supportive. By the fourth week, it was just terrible. All my coworkers started acting rude and annoyed. The store started getting more rude customers, to the point I came home so frustrated. I got cursed at, insulted, and reported for the most stupid things. For example, for not having a conversation with a customer when I’m helping impatient people who can’t print out papers. I was called stupid and fat. There were so many gross old men asking me to date them and flirting with me. I usually ignored them, but it made me so uncomfortable.
The fast environment was awful. People would get so impatient if I didn’t hurry up. I sometimes had 5 people I was helping at once. Many of the coworkers working with me would leave me alone, to the point I had to deal with all the customers myself. I seriously started hating the job. I couldn’t sleep at night, and my anxiety increased, and I already deal with anxiety and take meds for it. I hated the job so badly that I would stand outside every morning for 15 minutes, debating if I should go in or not. I started making excuses about needing the bathroom when difficult customers showed up. I couldn’t eat or think. On my days off, I would sleep all day long because of how tired and drained I was. I couldn’t take it and asked to be moved to another department. I was told they would. I asked for a department with less customer interaction. Those people didn’t change me, and I broke when a customer came and started yelling at me and recording me. I kept trying to calmly ask if I could call someone for help. I felt my throat closing from how badly I wanted to cry.
The worst part is none of the coworkers helped me. No one helped me. Everyone watched as this woman kept screaming at me and throwing insults because her daughter was ignored. I was trying to tell her the section was full, and I was helping a woman who had a bunch of pictures to print, while also doing passport photos because our department handles that. I was opening crates of electronics, and I was even doing cashier work, but this woman didn’t let me speak. She just kept insulting me and screaming loudly, and I broke. I didn’t say anything. I left to the bathroom and cried for 1 hour while talking to my sister to vent. After crying, I went to speak with the manager and told them what happened, and that I wanted to be moved to a department with less customer service. That’s when I admitted I have anxiety. I didn’t want to say it before because mental health isn’t taken seriously in retail.
The manager was awful. She didn’t listen to my concerns at all. She kept saying that in retail I would get abused by customers and had to get used to it. She said all sections that didn’t deal with customers were full, which I knew was a lie because just last week she sent people to work in the back rooms as stockers because they were short staffed. This manager kept going in circles. When I asked about sections I knew had less customer interaction, she always had something to say about how they still interact with customers. She even said I couldn’t work in the back rooms because that was for males only. She made me realize these people don’t care, and they wanted me gone because the place they were transferring me to had more customers and was more stressful. I believe that after they heard I have anxiety, they decided they didn’t want me working there. Since in Toronto, Ontario, workers can’t be discriminated against, they moved me to a worse section so I would quit immediately and they won, because I didn’t go back the next day, and no one ever called me.
The worst part is no coworker checked on me after that woman screamed at me and recorded me. No one said anything. Everyone in that department was just awful. I guess I should have expected that, since they all complained about how much they hate working in the electronics section. I also believe they were treated better than me because almost the whole store is run by Indian people. I’m not trying to be racist or anything like that, but I noticed the majority of workers and interviewers were all Indian. There’s a very small percentage of other races in that store. In that section, me and another worker were the only ones from a different race. I’m Latina, and the cleaning team was also from a different company and different races.
Of all the retail jobs I’ve worked, this has been the worst. The managers don’t protect employees. That lady who screamed at me and recorded me nothing was done to her. Even though I need the money, I would rather starve than go back to work at Walmart. I never in my life want to work there again or even set foot in one. That’s how badly traumatized I feel.
For people who struggle with mental health, I advise you not to work at Walmart. That place will break you if you aren’t strong enough. I would advise people to find a different job. Don’t work at Walmart for minimum wage while being insulted every single day. It is not worth it. This is just a vent because I wanted to share my experience. I do acknowledge different Walmart locations can be different, but the one I worked at was literally hell.