I used to work in a shoe recycling shop. It was sole destroying.

Behind the Groan

A Job That Wears You Down

“Soul-destroying” usually describes work that drains a person's energy or enthusiasm. Moving the joke into a shoe-recycling shop lets “sole” replace “soul,” turning the complaint into a literal reference to the bottom of a shoe. The past-tense opening makes the speaker sound relieved to have escaped the job. Keep that dry, weary tone through the setup, then give “sole” a clean pronunciation without overexplaining it. The familiar phrase lets listeners catch the footwear switch immediately.