No little tales, just a description of the three-ring circus my job was -
I worked as a customer service advisor in a call centre for a finance company which specialises in short-term, high interest doorstep credit for people with few alternatives, i.e. a respectable, legalised loan shark. My job was based in a 'team' environment with all that entails - cramped offices in a high rise block, constant sensory discomfort, irritating empty-brained coworkers, being micromanaged by an overpromoted harpy, and being forced to deal with incoming calls from the desperate, abusive and pathetic day in, day out. The straw that broke the camel's back was having the few accommodations I had requested to prevent my head exploding [a workstation close to a window with room to pace, a fixed shift pattern] constantly thrown in my face every time I was unable to adapt to changes in working conditions - I finally decided life would be easier if they paid me to sit at home after being ordered to work overtime with 40 minutes notice, at the end of an extremely busy shift. Fuck that. I worked it then rang in sick in the morning, and after three months off at the company's expense terminated my contract.