working in fast food

I wanted to hop on here to see if I could get any advice from an outside perspective because i feel like I’m not always thinking clearly due to extreme social anxiety.

I have worked at 1 other fast food place in the past (for almost 6 months) and now I am working at Tim Hortons, which has been fine but extremely stressful for me. I want to first explain the context of my social anxiety. first off, like almost anyone else, i want friends and seek social relationships. I just struggle making conversation and my body overreacts to social situations and my heart races, etc. it’s not that im stuck up in any way, i just struggle to come up with things to say and have sort of an off putting energy about me. which is fine, i’ve learned to just accept it and keep practicing.

The main reason I’m writing this is because after 3 weeks of working in fast food again, I am really really struggling with my anxiety and when I wake up i cry every single day and when I get home I cry some more. Mostly as a way to release all the built up emotions after being treated like crap at work by mainly customers, but also sometimes coworkers for not being fast or good enough. (still training by the way, haven’t been taught everything yet) I’m trying my hardest and i guess that’s a good thing, but it’s becoming too much for me. Seeing as i don’t want to be stuck in fast food forever, I need to find a career option asap. I might be being dramatic but this industry kills my soul and I really need something better where I don’t have to talk or socialize all the time. It’s exhausting. I feel stuck because I feel like most careers are built for people who are extremely social and able to easily fake their emotions and personality. That’s just not me though, and i need something that’s a right fit for me.

Posted Dec 9, 2025, 9:33 AM UTC

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