mini freak out.

[12lawliet12Snickers, Truffle]

I'm 18 years old, never had a job before, never really learned how to socialize, I don't know how to drive or do math, or do anything other than cook, clean, sew, garden and draw, and I just applied for a job. Now I'm starting to regret it. I only just now got to the point where I can place my own orders at restaurants. The job I applied for is a pet store. That's retail. That means people. Lots of people. I freak out at family reunions, and I *know* them. And there's two guys who work there. Men scare me. One is really tall(to my 5' self) and the other looks like comic book guy from the Simpsons. Comic book guy scares me, but not as much as tall guy. And I've never had more responsibilities than taking care of my pets and plants and keeping the house clean. I don't know if I can handle being an adult. I can't even multiply, how am I supposed to do the taxes I'll have to do if I get a job!?! I couldn't even handle working in groups at school, I got too scared and ended up doing all the work myself just so I wouldn't have to talk to people. I fainted when I had to do a presentation in front of the class. Why can't there be a pet store job where all I do is take care of the animals!?! Oh god what if I do get a job but there's too many people who come in and I freak out and someone asks me to get them a goldfish or something and I just stand there for five minutes because I'm too scared and shy and I get fired on the first day and I never learn how to be around humans and I end up being a crazy cat lady in the middle of the woods or something and parents tell their kids if they don't behave I'll come get them and feed them to the cats and they make a Disney movie and I'm the villain and dvgrdfbhtfbht4dcfbhgngy

People scare me. I just want to be around animals all day... that's what I've been doing for the past year. I stay inside taking care of my pets and plants while my mom goes to work. Have any of you seen Tangled? I'm the real life Rapunzel, right down to talking to animals like they can understand me.

 

[Moochyesh]

I was homeschooled and struggled alot with the same type up problems, Just dont turn out like me and run away from it all on a whim to florida at age 18 haha

Its ok, heres what i did.... Fake it. I cant pass a middle school math class alot of the reason beacause i was never i school. But if you ask me what 8x9 is i will gladly and confidently say 14 and who cares if im wrong =] never learned to spell correctly as you can tell but i dont care anymore lol its just the way i am and if i want to fix it one day i will.

First thing to remember is there is nothing wrong with YOU. You just have a different way of dealing with things and nobody said it was wrong. it actually could make you the right fit for alot of jobs! in our area of florida there are SOOO many farms and things you can do working with maybe 1 or 2 people in a nice quite inviroment. I would just explain your situation and that you are looking for work, and you have experiance in so and so and dont give up till you find something you love. Its not about the money.

My daughter LOVES animals but has alot of disabiltys that will make it hard for her to funtion in a work place. I am going to fight and write letters of recomendation untill my baby gets herself a voulnteer job with wildlife, I dont care if she ever gets a paycheck a day in her life, but i know going out and facing the world is her best, and if she does that she has done her best =]

Just do something that makes you proud of you at the end of the day, weather thats working at a store, or working on a farm or if its voulnteering in a shelter,

 

[LakeCondo]

I agree. You might want to get some practice with a job by doing volunteer work at a local animal shelter or rescue.

 

[12lawliet12Snickers, Truffle]

I used to do farm hand stuff to pay for riding lessons a few years back, and I'd like to do that again, but people would rather hire their family members... I'm just so scared of people, especially men. And I couldn't work at a shelter... my heart couldn't handle it. That's why I decided against being a vet. I really just want to be a housewife and stay home taking care of my pets and plants but my boyfriend said I'd have to have a job before we moved in together...is there any job that's just animals?

 

[whitelop]

Yes I agree with a shelter or rescue. That way you're around animals and you're getting a little people interaction too. That way you can get used to talking to and being around people.
You could try to find a farm to work at also. Even if you're just mucking out stalls, you're doing something with animals and you won't have to talk to people.
There's nothing wrong with being shy around people or being afraid to work in a retail environment. When I worked in a restaurant I was nervous at first, but soon over came that and became the conflict resolution person. haha.

You're be fine in whatever you do, you just have to believe in yourself. As for your issues with math, I think there is stuff you can find online to help you with the more simple math. Or you could buy a math text book and teach yourself. For your taxes, just do turbo tax online and it basically does it for you, you just fill in the blanks.

Also, never be afraid to ask for help or ask questions. I ask questions all the time and ask for help doing things all the time. There isn't anything wrong with asking for help. You don't learn until you ask, its the easiest way to learn.

Good luck!

Are there any animal rehabilitation places near you? Like for wild animals? We have a Raptor Center for the wild raptors(hawks, eagles, vultures, owls basically all birds of prey) that get injured. People bring them birds and they rehab them until they can be released. I'm sure there are others who rehab rabbits and other wild animals. I met a lady once who helped song birds. I went to her house to pick up something for an orphaned baby duck and she had a house full of song birds with broken wings and broken legs. She had a whole cage filled with young starlings that she raised by hand, it was amazing. Maybe you could look into something like that. ? I would like that job too.

 

[Anaira]

Me several years ago. Not that I'm rubbish at maths, or anything, but just ridiculously shy; plus I have an anxiety disorder which kinda makes things worse. It took me awhile to find my feet, and get used to people, and public. I had a few part-time jobs; first I had to help this lady with her cleaning once a week, which was a horrible job for me; but maybe you could do that? If it's just during the day, when presumably a man would be out working, cleaning wouldn't be so bad. You could apply for anything, I moved onto cleaning a playcentre, which was better yet because I cleaned when no one was there. I did office work for a bit, and that was good; didn't really need to know much, just basic computer programs like excel, and no customer contact at all. Ahhh. Dream job.

Only other job I had was at a Muffin Break store. Man that was hell. I worked two weeks, and ended up getting no sleep because I was having job related nightmares.

It's a learning process. You will get better around people, but only by being around people. It's hard, but it gets better, and it is better in the long run. I too would love a hermits life, but sadly it can't happen. Mind you, I'm not at all domestic, so probably have a worse chance than you at just being a housewife lol.

You could even try working from home. Something like copywriting, maybe? If you're good at sewing, why not train to be a seamstress? Or something.

 

[12lawliet12Snickers, Truffle]

There's a wolf preserve nearby, but it's a 30 minute drive and my mom wouldn't be able to afford the gas. I am a seamstress, but lately I haven't gotten any commissions, so my money's run dry. I'm just so scared of people. I don't know why. I'm even scared of some family members, and I freak out when there's more than 3 or 4 people in a room. I can function just fine when I'm with animals, whether it's just one little mouse or a herd of horses. I even clam up and get lightheaded talking to a friend sometimes. It doesn't help any that my natural speaking voice is barely above a whisper, which means people will ask me to speak up but I can't, because it feels like I'm yelling and hurts my throat. Sometimes I think I was meant to be a little mouse.

 

[Ape337]

Is the pet store a part time job? Maybe you could work there 1-2 days a week so it won't be like throwing you out to the wolves. Ease into being around people more, it doesn't have to be all or nothing. I see you are in fl? Do you have any plant production facilities around you? This would be where ornamental plants are grown. You would have less contact with people there, except for co-workers, and could take care of plants all day. Just a thought. Good luck!

 

[12lawliet12Snickers, Truffle]

I don't know yet, they haven't called back or anything. And like, a nursery or something? There's not any that I know of, but there's tons in Louisiana where my boyfriend lives. I just really wish there was a pet store job where all I did was feed, water, and play with the animals.

 

[Julie Bunny]

What about trying to get a seamstress job at a dress shop or a dry cleaners? Some places pay seamstress to do alterations.
You would have some contact with people but it would be minimal.
What about sewing custom harnesses, aprons, purses or anything like that and selling them on line? Not a steady income but it would be some money that you could save and no contact with people expect on line.
I am just trying to throw out some ideas out there for you.

 

[kmaben]

There's also vet clinics you could try. Sometimes they need kennel staff. You wouldn't really have to interact with anyone and it is rewarding to help the animals wake up from surgery. My clinic would get abandoned puppies or kitties that needed bottle feeding also. You could try talking to the head vet or office person and see if you could work something out. Good luck to you hun. Life can be really scary but there are some decent people still left out there.:hug2:

 

[Ape337]

I don't know yet, they haven't called back or anything. And like, a nursery or something? There's not any that I know of, but there's tons in Louisiana where my boyfriend lives. I just really wish there was a pet store job where all I did was feed, water, and play with the animals.

Yes, I was thinking nursery because you mentioned taking care of your plants. Production facilities are like nurseries but are usually not always open to the public. They are usually suppliers to garden centers and places like home depot. It wouldn't work for you if you really wanted to work with animals though