This 21-Year-Old Recent Grad Just Went Viral for Crying About Her 9-to-5 Job

Dolly Parton said it best: “Working 9-5, what a way to make a living / Barely getting by, it’s all taking and no giving.”

She may have first sung those lyrics back in 1980, but the sentiment is still just as relatable. Let’s face it—jobs can kind of suck. No matter how great your actual work might be, the whole process of commuting, taking lunch breaks, and, you know, just fitting in other things like cooking and cleaning and socializing can be utterly draining.

A TikToker recently captured just how wild the 9-to-5 schedule can actually be. In a video that showed her crying, Brielle Asero, a recent grad who is 21, explained her shock at starting her first 9-to-5 office job.

“This is my first job, like, my first 9-to-5 job after college and I am in person and I’m commuting in the city and it takes me fucking forever to get there,” she began. “There’s no way I’m going to be able to afford living in the city right now, so that’s off the table.”

“I don’t have time to do anything,” Asero went on. “Like, I want to shower, eat my dinner, and go to sleep. I don’t have time or energy to cook my dinner, either. Like, I don’t have energy to work out, like, that’s out the window. Like, I’m so upset, oh my God! Nothing to do with my job at all, but the 9-to-5 schedule is crazy!”

She added, “How do you have friends? How do you meet, like, a guy? I don’t have time for anything and I’m, like, so stressed out.”

The video quickly went viral, inspiring a heated debate in the comments section. Is this girl just a wimpy Gen Z learning about the realities of surviving in our capitalist society? Or, maybe, does she actually have a point?

“Welcome to ADULTHOOD,” one person commented.

Another wrote, “Welcome to life. Love Gen X.”

Okay, harsh.

Others, however, agreed with the recent grad.

One person even wrote: “I had a crisis when I got my first 9-5 job. Literally I couldn’t believe this was life.”

As Asero’s video and the response to it proves, there is something fundamentally wrong about the way we work.