I just started working at walmart... theyre having me work 8 hour shifts 5 days a week... I don't mind the job at all, its not difficult, but this is my señor year of high school and soon everyone I know will be gone and off to college... I want to spend the summer mostly with them, not working all this time... at the same time this job is a good situation for me because of the wages I'm making... after a month or 2 (like right before summer I'm thinking) if I asked to reduce my hours to 3 days a week do you think theyd let me do that? Sorry if this is kind of vague

Umm 40 hour work week for someone still in school? I think that's illegal. Especially if you are not yet 18.

However, if you prove yourself and that you are a responsible employee they may allow you more flexibility during the summer.

Actually getting to work at Walmart 40 hours a week is more the unusual since many only get less than 35 hours.

But if you are a senior, then when you graduate, you are no longer in school, and this is it, so you need to start working, and OK, it is 40 hours a week, you have 2 days you don't work, and 16 hours a day you don't work on the work days So you need to start understanding what work is, and the responsibility you have when you work.

Yeahhh but these are the last days I'm seeing these people... and I have the rest of my life to figure out what work is and everything else. And I don't mind the work. It's the not seeing my friends that I care about. I'm going to college in the fall... I have the rest of my life to waste working... so I've pretty much decided that I'm going to stick with the job till the end of school... and if nothing can be worked out with the hours then oh well.

Thanks for the advice none the less

You have the rest of your life to "waste working"? What a work ethic you have already. So, cut your hours at Wal-Mart, lose some money and be with your friends. Lots of fun to be had, you are only young once and only go around the merry go round of life once. Right?

Once you get to college you can settle down and be the good student. Right? What is to say that once you get to college that you will feel the same as you do now? Missing out on the buddy time? Once you finish college and start a "real job" - the one where you will be wasting your time on - maybe your cohorts want the beer at the pub and clubbing. What is wrong with that? Fun, fun, fun. Right?

I realize that being a Senior in High School is a big deal - I was one once. And I worked from 5 p.m. until to a.m. Monday - Saturday. I had responsibilities to take care of and I needed a savings account to go to college with. Oddly, most of my friends were working too. By the time we got to be Seniors, our focus shifted to becoming an adult and adult behavior. That is just how it goes. Sure there were fun times - and there always were those few classmates that had more money and more time than all the rest and they did the party-harty thing. But there has to be a balance. The time comes to dust off the teen years and start on the accepting what we all have to deal with - life.

I would echo what Scott said about your hours and your age - check to see if that is being done legally. Unless you are already 18 - then no worry.

Work hard and impress the people who are in a position to make a change like that happen. The better they think of you, the more likely they are to work with you when you want something. If you're habitually late, underperform, or have a bad attitude while at work, they won't have any reason to try to help you out. Just remember that they did hire you on to work full time, and that's what they expect from you. Asking to change that so soon is going to look really bad to them.

This is going to be the case anywhere you work for the rest of your life.

One thing you should think about is rather than cutting your hours, switch to first shift and work during the day once school ends. You'll have your nights free to spend with your friends, and remember that they're going to be getting jobs too, so you won't be seeing them nearly as much as you think you're going to.

In the end, you'll be better off with the money in the bank from working when you head to college... it's amazing what a difference that will make for you, especially if it can keep you from having to work during the semester to make ends meet.

Hahaha... you don't know my friends... very few them are going to be getting jobs during the summer

And to shygrnyzs, I think your getting the wrong idea about me. While I've been working there, id say I've shown quite a good work ethic. I've approached the entire thing with a positive attitude, done my best with the assignments I've been given, and once I've completed what I'm supposed to do, I've always asked my co workers if there's anything else I can do to help them out and make their lives a little easier.

So please, don't confuse my work ethic with my desire for fun or w/e else... when work that is essential needs to be done, I get it done and it gets doen well... and by essential work I mean things like school work, not a job at wal mart, which is strictly a secondary thing which provides me with a bit of extra cash

When I say I have the rest of my life to waste working, I mean the simple reality that the next few years of my life are the prime years of my life... and then its mostly all downhill or at the very least nowhere near as fun... so you've got to live it up while you can

Walmart, they are usually flexible, especially for students. You should ask them to reduce your number of hours.

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Originally Posted by frustration17

when i say i have the rest of my life to waste working, i mean the the simple reality that the next few years of my life are the prime years of my life...and then its mostly all downhill or at the very least nowhere near as fun...so youve gotta live it up while you can

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I had to comment on this. You really have no clue about life. I accept what you said about your work ethic. But if you think that its mostly downhill as you approach 30 or nowhere near as fun, you show you just don't have a clue. Life is what YOU make of it. There are different kinds of fun and different ways to enjoy life. The "simple reality" is that life is a series of adventures, from birth to death. The attitude you use as you enter into those adventures has a major affect on how you enjoy them. If you coontinue with the negative (and unrealistic) 'tude, then you won't enjoy the adventure.

I can accept everything you said, frustration, but if you use your prime years to live it up, what do you think you will reap out of that?

If you think these are your prime years then you need an attitude adjustment. Your at the bottom of the totem and have a long way to go before you even know what fun is. I worked 40 hrs my senior year and never missed a thing and have enjoyed most of the things I've done and at53 I am having the best time of my life and if your smart so can you. Keep working bud, its good for you and I'll bet you won't miss anything important, but will be glad when your standing on your own two feet and those partners of yours are calling you for beer money because they didn't work when they had the chance. Your mom and dad must be loaded to pay for your college and partying.

Scotgem, don't you think saying I don't have a clue about life is just a bit of an overstatement? I can accept the possibility that your years in life past age 30 could be the best years of your life... but right now I just don't believe that. I only accept it as a possibility because yes, I'm only 18, I'm not as expierienced with life as all you 30+year olds... however after I thought about it I realized your thoughts about life and the things around you change frequently as you get older and more mature. For example when were young we always think boys are better than girls and want nothing to do with the opposite sex, yet as we grow older or thoughts gradually change about that matter, another could be, again, when your young your parents tell you of how your going to go leave home and go away to college... this idea may scare some kids and they'll say that they'll never leave home and stay there forever... again as you grow older your thoughts change when you realize of how good of a possibility this is.

So it could change as I grow to that age, but how would I know? I'm no where close to that age yet, and the idea of being 30, out of school, away from all your friends working long hours every week, paying bills etc just doesn't sound as fun to me as the next few years of college do.

So yeah, it could be the best of times, but right now it just doesn't sound that way to me, the only way for to find out really is to go live it and then let you know how it all turned out haha, but yeah for you to say I have no clue about life I think is really unfair (no offense)

Sorry, but no I don't think its an overstatement or unfair. However your other comments give me some hope that you aren't entirely clueless. The answer to your question about how you know, is you listen. You look at your parents and your friend's parents. You open your eyes to the broader world around you, not just the tighter circle of your friends. You started to do that in considering how your life and attitudes have changed from childhood.

But the main point is that you need to approach the future with optimism not pessimism. If you approach the future thinking that life will go downhill after 30 it will become a self-fulfilling prophecy. But if you approach things with the attitude that you will always find some fun in what you do and that you will continue to enjoy and make the most of your life, you will. I'm not saying not to enjoy your youth. But, as George Bernard Shaw said; Youth is wasted on the young.

Jesus, this kid is only 18 years old guys, he's not 25+ working on his masters degree... What did all of you do your last years of highschool/first years of college? Don't you remember what it was like? I know I didn't work a 40 hour job when I was in school.. I worked at 6 flags on the weekends while in high school and then I pulled 35 hours in during the summer, and I went out with my friends at night. Then when I got to college, what did I do? I studied and went to class 2 days a week, worked the other 3 and partied on the weekends and at night. I didn't start growing out of that until maybe my 3rd year of college. Then the "work ethic" kicked in. Now I have a great job, and a great work ethic. He can still work a job pulling in 20 hours a week and have a life with his friends. I think it is wrong to assume that at 18 he will be a poor worker and have a bad future because he is lazy or whatever, because that is what you are all saying. This is his time to have fun, and be a bachelor, before life starts kicking him around and he has to grow up.. the years from 18-22 are the best. Go out and have fun, meet new people, date some girls, but don't let it effect your schooling, that's what I say. Work enough to pay your bills if you have any and try to stay at or above 20hours a week... you'll be fine.

You are only 18 - enjoy your time. I think there is plenty of time to settle down and work. I don't think asking for a cut in your hours is off base at all. The real world is always going to be there - ready to slap you in your face! Enjoy this last bit of freedom before this happens.
Before you know it - you will be out of college, have a spouse, mortgage and kids - the days of hanging out with friends will be over. So, don't let this time pass you by. When the day is done - none of us think - Man, I wish I could have worked more!

Well scotgem, I guess you and I can just agree to disgree ;)

OK you say to look at my parents and my friends parents... what do I see? Honestly they don't look at all like they're having a lot of fun. While there are indeed fun times for them, most of the time they're all too burned out from work at the end of the day to enjoy themselves on a regular basis... then when they come home they have their kids to take care of and make sure were all OK and not on drugs or anything, which I would think are just basic responsibilities of being an adult. As I said, the only way for me to really tell if its any good or not is to actually live it

Also I know it may sound like I'm approaching the future like it's a total drag, but I really don't see it as all misery haha

I mean certanly there's going to be some positives, I really do look foreword to and hope there's a time in my life where I can be a father... few things about the future excite me anywhere near as much as that idea..

And thanks to the last 2 posters... its nice to know I'm not alone with some of my views

If I was you I would definitely go 4 my frendship and quit that stupid job...
Well I suggest you try talking to the manager there and if he says no than leave the job...
It is not worth it AT ALL!
My mum is a full time worker and only works 4 35 hours ( think ) well it is definitely not 40! Or more
I think that you should be higher paid as well if you are doing that job!