[_broody]

There's a number of professions where the crunch time is insane. There's a lot of differences between that and service work, though.

- Those people such as doctors, lawyers, programmers, etc. are paid an order of magnitude more for their time. Without counting the benefits which service workers don't get.

- They're not just working to earn a living wage. Their work propels career advancement.

- Their work is usually much more pleasant/interesting and they like it, which helps bear with crunch time.

Usually in a highly demanding, high-paying career you'll be able to advance relatively quickly and find yourself in a managing position which gives you a lot more slack. You'll also be able to retire rather soon. In light of all of this, the effort is more than worth it. But low-wage jobs... The only place service work leads you is to waste away.