I’ve started my first job, working as a kitchenhand and tea trolley pusher in a nursing home. While the specific details of my gender aren’t important, my workplace assumes I am a cis male, and I have a relatively androgynous appearance, further accentuated by the hairnet and mask I have to wear.

It’s my first shift, and my coworker is showing me around the place as I do the tea trolley run — the oldies love their hot beverages — and introducing me to all the residents. It’s a fairly normal process (my coworker does most of the talking), until…

Coworker: *As we enter one of the rooms* “Hello, [Resident]! This is [My Name]; he’s our new hire!”

The resident in question is an elderly lady lying in bed. She squints, so I move a little closer, thinking she might not be able to see me well.

Resident: “Are… are you a lady or a man?”

Me: *Without thinking* “Uh… yes?”

Resident: “Oh, I see. Carry on, then.”

I work in assisted living. I was requested by my supervisor to stay overnight after I’d already been there literally all day because nobody else could be bothered to come in.

Supervisor: “Oh, you can just sleep there if you want.”

I was almost in tears. I wound up being there for more than twenty-four hours straight, running medications for fifty to sixty people by myself.

I quit the moment a replacement showed up. They called me for the next three weeks after I quit, begging me to come back in. I gave them the firmest no I’d ever given in my life.

I deliver pizzas for a restaurant. Sometimes, I have to set the bag down on the ground. I wish I had three or four arms, but unfortunately, I don’t. For large or heavy orders, it’s pretty much physically impossible for me to not put the bag down.

Today, I deliver to a physical rehabilitation place, and I call the customer to let her know I’m at the front desk. As I’m waiting, I set the bag down on the floor because I have a couple of sodas and I need to get the credit card receipt out and pull out my pen, etc.

As the customer walks up, she says:

Customer: “Do you think setting that on the floor is sanitary?”

Me: “It’s an insulated bag, and the pizza is in a box. I don’t want to drop anything while pulling it out.”

Of course, she stiffed me on the credit card slip, but she probably would’ve stiffed me, anyway; rehab places and nursing homes are notorious for not tipping or tipping poorly.

I’ve heard this now two or three times over the past couple of years, and it’s always inside a nursing home or physical rehab place. Over the thousands of deliveries that I’ve done, we’ve never had a single issue with food poisoning.

Many moons ago, I was a Registered Nurse working in aged care at a brand-spanking-new facility owned by lawyers and run by clowns. In the short time that I was there (around eighteen months), we had eight or nine managers, each wanting to put their own stamp on the way things were run.

One such manager started cancelling already approved leave and implemented a rule that we had to provide a full week of notice for sick leave.

Umm, what? I challenged this because, like most of us, I often don’t know I’m going to be unwell until I wake up that day. Nope, the rule stays!

Well, about that cancelled leave…

I had booked four days off for my brother’s wedding. Instead of haggling over it or simply not turning up, I decided to follow the rules.

Exactly one week before the wedding, I called in with notice for sick leave.

Manager: “What’s wrong with you?”

Me: “I’m not sure yet.”

Manager: “What do you mean, you’re not sure? You need a reason for sick leave.”

Me: “You require a week’s notice, so I’m giving that to you. I’ll be sure to bring in a medical certificate when I return.”

I had an amazing time at the wedding, had my doctor sign off on sick leave as they viewed my time off as essential for my mental health, and about a month later, I handed in my resignation. Funnily enough, I heard the policy was revised not long after I left.

Lately, it’s been hard for me to get a job. I apply and go on interviews, and they always say they’ll call me back and they never do, or they hire me and then hire someone else to replace me before I even start. I apply as a cook in a retirement home, and I get a call.

Lady: “So, I see you’ve worked in [Restaurant]? When did you quit?”

Me: “A few months ago.”

Lady: “Why?”

Me: “I moved here.”

Lady: “And in those few months, what did you do?”

Me: “I was looking for a job.”

Lady: “You were looking for a job?! People are hiring everywhere and you couldn’t get one?”

I explain about going on interviews and never getting called back, etc.

Lady: *Scoffs rudely* “Surrre! I don’t think you should work with us!” *Hangs up*

I wouldn’t want to work with you, either, lady. I reported her to the job platform I used and moved on.

Thankfully, I got hired soon after by someone nice! I pity the fool who gets that rude lady.