Whether it’s at fifteen or twenty five, your first job is always something to remember.

For most of us, it’s unlikely that our first jobs are even related to our career goals – instead they’re usually stop-gap jobs, keeping us financially supported before we move on to bigger and better things.

And that’s exactly the approach that the man in this story is taking to his first job: he is committed to the role, but also has strict boundaries that help him achieve his real goals.

So when he finds that his colleagues are ignorant and his boss is lazy, it’s no wonder he got a little downhearted.

But it was what happened next that truly shook him.

Read on to hear about his rocky introduction to the world of work.

AITA for doing my job and no more?

I am a 21-year-old man, and I found my first job through my mom’s friend.

My mom is open about me and my dreams to her friends so my boss had to have known my strong drive to be a musician.

During the hiring interview I specified to my boss that this is my first job, and that I would need heavy guidance and communication to learn how everything works. I also told her that I intend to take this job more casually as I want to build a career out of my music, that I would do the tasks, but not going above and beyond.

She agreed. She said that she will direct my colleagues to teach me the craft and to keep me informed, however none of that happened.

Let’s see how this arrangement panned out as he settled into his new role.

I was taught the most barebones basics in the first month, but then I was left and ignored, seemingly annoying my colleagues when I asked questions or offered help.

My main colleague kept dismissing my help and my initiative to learn more, always just doing everything himself, getting angry at me when I insisted on helping. I was left in a spot where I just couldn’t do more even if I tried.

My colleague even harrassed me for doing stuff “wrong,” even though I did it exactly how he taught me, or even if I didn’t do the thing he was accusing me of at all.

Things I did out of my initiative that would please my boss were shut down by my main colleague. To add fuel to the fire, he has started making more and more mistakes, as he’s getting seriously old.

And he really wasn’t okay with the newcomer noticing his mistakes.

When I notified him of his mistakes in a friendly manner, he either got mad at me, ignored me, shut me down and dismissed ever making said mistake – even though I literally saw him do it.

He even dismisses my authority, changing projects that I am supposed to have the final say on without my knowledge,  and sends it off as a finished product.

When I mentioned this to my boss, she acted as if nothing was wrong even though something going seriously wrong because of him is getting more and more likely everyday.

But what happened next left the man feeling very unsettled.

The last year and a half has been chaos – and recently my boss announced to me that once my contract is up, she won’t be renewing me. The reasons that she specified were that I wasn’t reliable.

I understood that I made mistakes, but I got very confused when she went into the details. She specified that she wanted someone who would always know what to do, wouldn’t ask questions, and wouldn’t need to be supervised.

Isn’t that something a boss is supposed to do? Isn’t a boss supposed to supervise their employees, inform them on what they should do?

Instead, she scrolls on her phone or goes around having conversations with strangers with a glass of wine in one hand. Meanwhile, her employees are left confused as they don’t know what they are supposed to be doing (since their boss didn’t tell them).

And the hypocrisy really started to upset him.

Another reason for me being “fired” is that I’m not doing enough – but I’m doing all I possibly can during my work hours.

Once I enter the building I start working and keep on working. I feel guilty taking one five minute break just to breathe, I feel guilty taking a lunch break – I even feel guilty going to the bathroom, meanwhile I hear my colleagues and my boss yapping for tens of minutes at a time.

I’m doing all I can as fast and as effectively as I can and I am always barely making it, yet she says I’m supposed to be able to do much more during these short shifts.

She also never acknowledges my work, never says “good job” or shows any sign of gratitude, no motivation, only threats – and this is all for minimum wage?

Read on to find out the conflict that remained in this poor man’s mind.

Initially, my boss agreed to me having this job and my music career 50/50, not sacrificing everything for my job.

I seriously don’t know how I’m supposed to feel, I’ve tried my hardest to be good at this job and do everything that is required of me, only to hear that I should have done more.

I often didn’t even know about things I was supposed to do, because noone told me – they barely answered my calls, replied after hours, or didn’t know themselves.

I was confused during my shifts because I wasn’t told details of my duties even if I asked. Yet somehow it’s all my fault.

AITA?

This really seems to be the case of a toxic workplace in action.

If this man is doing his best and not getting support, that’s on his boss, not on him.

It’s clear that he’s done his best to learn but the simple fact that no one is prepared to help out is hindering his progress.

Let’s see what folks on Reddit thought about this.

This person called out the toxicity of this workplace.

While others told him what to look for in his next job.

And this Redditor used psychology to call out the boss and point out that, unfortunately, his effort seemed to be futile.

They failed him.

If you thought that was an interesting story, check this one out about a man who created a points system for his inheritance, and a family friend ends up getting almost all of it.