Comment by brailsafe
21 hours ago
My time as a barista doing various behind-the-counter jobs was kind of fascinating. I really couldn't do the job as well as other people, I'm not sure if it's because of memory problems from adhd or concussions or what, but I was most effective due to head-cache when I didn't switch from Frappuccinos to hot drinks to till very frequently.
I'd literally forget how to make cold drinks vs hot drinks when I switched, like I'd never done it, until I got into a new flow, and everyone found this to be hilarious, since I'd already been a software person and it was a regression being there.
I took the job because I needed some money and to make social connections, but I mostly just wanted to see if I could do it, and I couldn't.
Since then, I've learned to give myself a bit of grace when switching contexts. If I have a day zoned in on one part of the code, and someone brings up something I worked on a month ago, I'll have to stall for time while I hydrate my cache again. This limitation is somewhat debilitating, since adult life depends on constantly being anxious about invisible obligations and other bullshit that simply aren't in my conscious mind unless I'm specifically grinding on them.
Heh. FWIW, I've only ever been fired from one job. I lasted 3 whole days at a bagel bakery.
I had the exact same issue switching from bakery, to line, to register.
Everyone else seemed to have this "context switching superpower". I watched two peers (we were all in high-school) seemingly effortlessly go from line to register and back to line 3x within the same shift. I couldn't.
I could do all of the jobs and was (subjectively) the best on-the-line (real-time 3D Tetris + flavor), but I could only be good one-job-at-a-time.
Yep, very relatable. I do feel like there's a bit of a difference when I'm able to "own" something, in the sense that my job is to always know how everything's going, but not necessarily get locked into anything for too long. I do wonder how medication affects this, because I've since been in positions where I'm responsible for a bunch of varied tasks getting completed, but I still think I'd fail at switching between things that have specific sequences of steps that need to be followed while interacting with people. I tend to not be able to only devote part of my attention to something, and so I avoid group chats like the plague.
Ownership whether actual or cultural is big for me too. I can't speak to any specific medication protocols.
Truth regarding combining this with social interactions. Though I've never done it, I suspect my anti-job would be a bartender.