anyone else underwhelmed with the 18-55mm?

ok, so i'm not a pro, but this lens is mediocre. i understand it's a kit lens and all, but i thought i would be able to use it, but i can't. the distance is ok, the wide angle is all right, but it's not sharp, has bad depth of field and doesn't focus all that well.

its a good general lens, but i can't get anything impressive out of it. where's the sweet spot with it? almost everything i take with the 50mm 1.8 turns out fantastic, but the ones with the 18-55 look like decent point and shoot. it's just nothing special. from the reviews and comments on here i thought i would be using it a lot more.