The single worst decision of my life was quitting school after my sophomore year to work retail full time. I didn't know what I wanted to do, and so I took the opportunity to turn my part time job working at a record store while I was at college into a full time assistant manager's gig.
It was fine at first- I was living in a shitty college town making what was good scratch for 1998. Then they offered me my own store. I thought- why not? Might as well make MORE money for what is really not that tough a job, right?
WRONG. It started out ok, but in retail, the higher your level of responsibility the worse off you are. First off, you don't have a set schedule. You CERTAINLY don't get two days off in a row. If there's something extra that needs doing, guess who gets to do it? The salaried manager, that's who. You'll work more than 40 hours most weeks but not be compensated for it, because you'll potentially qualify for bonuses that are realistically impossible to reach. You'll work for people that have no clue what the **** they're doing, and will demand that shit changes every six months just because. You'll deal with unreliable employees that will probably be stealing from you. You'll fire some of them and just work their shifts until you can find someone else shiftless enough to hire. This will become your usual existence.
The absolute worst part about it, though, are the customers. They're bitchy, stupid and ignorant. They think because they happened to walk through the door with money that it entitles them to treat you like shit. And guess what? It does. If you try and stand up for yourself, nine times out of ten your boss will tell you "just give them what they want". Your boss, you see, doesn't want to hear from these ****ers. Chances are he either A) started out in the field and now relishes the fact that he doesn't have to deal with the sheeple or B) has a degree and has never had to deal with the great unwashed populace so doesn't understand where you're coming from. Hell, he might even believe that "THE CUSTOMER IS ALWAYS RIGHT". That's bullshit, though.
After about 7 years of retail management, I had had enough. I was a wreck- I was bitchy towards employees, the few decent customers that would come in, and my friends worst of all. So last October, I quit. I've hardly worked since, and am planning on going back to school full time next year to get a degree in journalism. Because of my experiences, I am now a meaner, more bitter and less trusting person. I have gotten a little bit better since I quit, but working in that system for that long has fundamentally changed me as a person, and not for the better.
To the OP, do what you want to do. Ultimately, it's your choice and you'll have to live with the consequences. However, if I had it to over again, I would have stayed in school and toughed it out and just gotten a damn degree.