Random School/Work-Venting Post

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We've got this guy at work who's studying the profession and he's so damn lazy and unefficient that it's driving me nuts. What's worse is that I seem to get the blame if something's misplaced. I just hope it just seems that way and they're not really thinking that...I'm getting these weird vibes that the regulars might have have a little beef with me but I just hope I'm being paranoid. I love the job that I currently have and I might want to start a career as a librarian, but it might seriously hamper my plans if I'm rubbing my co-workers the wrong way without even realizing it. I'm doing my job, I'm quite good at it, but if the boss'll hear some strange b-s behind my back and base her evaluation of me on that, then I'm as good as knee-deep in s**t-creek.

 

Well, today we were "in party tray HELL" as my Supervisor called it. Right out of the gate I was shanghaied to help get maybe thirty trays ready for orders today - the specials start a 'new week' on Saturday, so I was surprised to find a couple of the new ones were marked down a little, but came with free 'cracker' trays (something to put beside your cheese tray, or similar). So really it was more like twenty, but also had a bunch of this 'addon' cracker trays.

Apparently no one had done more than maybe one or two before; I did my first one that morning...and discovered I was quite good. A gentle hand to get the sleeve of fragile crackers out of their plastic wrap and laid out without more than a couple cracking or crumbling, fitting all five varieties nicely despite the absurd requirements set down by Head Office (kinda like taking a a five-gallon bucket, then trying to put three gallons of sugar, three gallons of salt and four gallons of flour into it all at the same time )

After a couple, for 'getting the hang of it' I was whipping cracker trays out like nobody's business, fancy garnish and all. (no cut corners on MY watch, gosh-darnit! ) Once the orders were filled, I suggested (and was encouraged) I do up a few extras in case someone suddenly dropped by with a flyer in hand wanting to get one of the trays on special (that comes with the cracker tray).

Heh. And of course the order due for pick up at 11am (I started at ten) we were rushing around to finish...got pushed back by the customer to 4pm (and was still waiting for pickup at 6pm ) - that's always the way, if you get everything done on time, the customer will be late (for a fully legitimate reason - stuck in traffic/other things to prepare for the party/event the tray is for), but if you're falling behind, they show up twenty or thirty minutes early for that order and stand around...WATCHING you while you're rushing.

But that was another reason I waited to take my first break (of two breaks in an eight-hour shift) for four hours; there really wasn't any moment that I wasn't doing something (and something important, too). At least it went by fast in a blur.

 

Aaaargh! I left one job because they cancelled all my training and took me out of uni, which is the only reason I ever went there in the first place and returned back to my old job where I was told I could resume both. Now I'm back there and I've politely been told that they can't afford to send me back to uni, and they've already got too many people on training to send me until the end of next year! Sometimes I want to kill!!!!! AAAARGH!

 

Ouch, that sucks Uri, you should of got the training thing put in writing before you took the job. That way you could of taken them to court or somethin.

 

Well, for what it's worth, I've been doing that for two years now, and my co-workers merely avoid me, is all - maybe my hard-work and quick, efficient and appealing food preparation is overriding my bosses' concerns?

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Okay, I have a new pet peeve:

people who speak to you in hushed tones usually reserved for a funeral service while IN the church, instead using this whisper in a crowded, bustling supermarket, with a big-BOOTY salad case between you and them, Xmas music blaring out of the P.A. (I actually took a meter to work; last week it was spiking over ninety dB) and usually a couple of large fryers at work only a couple feet away, as well as the vent hood over them roaring to clear the steam/smoke they're putting out. Add to which, I'm losing my hearing, but that's something they have no way of knowing...

The conversation goes something like this:

Cx: Yes. Could I have a small coleslaw?

Me: A SMALL COLESLAW? (not shouting, but speaking loudly to kinda drop a SCUPPERING hint)

Cx: yes.

Me: Which kind? (we've usually got three on display)

Cx: that one. {pointing to one of the three, in a manner that puts their hand 'behind' the opaque metal top of the case}

Me: (after dodging down to maybe catch a glimpse of their hand and the direction it's pointing, and then guessing which salad that signifies) Ah, the CREAMY COLESLAW? (and holding my spoon right over the salad in question)

Cx: yes.

Me: (dishes same up, while I'm weighing and tagging same, I'll ask) Anything else?

Cx: no.

Me: Right then; have a good [day/evening/night]!

Cx: (some mumbled expression of gratitude...or at least I think that's what it is, since they've usually turned away and I can't even read their lips anymore )

{In retrospect, this would've been better indicated by varying font sizes, but it's not worth all the added coding - and added chaos here afterwards - just for that }

Note that I'll be keeping a cheerful tone of voice throughout (typically I'll be cooking with the fryers, so a chance to get away from them for a couple of minutes and lean into a cold display case is a treat for me! ) but may well frown once or twice as I'm straining to hear their meek little voice over the dull roar of the store.

My rage is stoked by the people who continue to speak in what I perceive as a whisper even AFTER I've indicated in every way short of a button that says "please speak up; he's deaf as a post!" that I'm having trouble hearing them. That smacks of being either extremely insenstitive and rude or more self-centered than a spinning top to be unaware of the problem they're causing me.

...and some day I'm going to hurl myself over that salad case in a rage and carve out their un-used vocal chords with a spoon!

 

This sucks. The wife signed us *both* up to work overtime on new year's eve...and the worst part is, we're not even getting double-time for it; you have to work Dec. 31st and Jan. 1st to get double-time...and because of that, they don't want us to work both nights.

I wanted to get drunk off my arse and party this year.

 

Well, I'm workin both and cos of the way my pay scheme is set out I'd get paid for New Year's Day even if I didn't work, as it is I get paid about $40 per hour for 6.5 hours!! Can anyone give me a w00t?

 

I hate my job. I don't even know specifically what to rant about so I'll just leave it at that.

 

Dwindling productivity here, I'm supposed to be working hard, but I can't seem to focus on the stuff, interesting hough it is.

 

Belated rant, but what can I say? Not having a lot of time previously to post may have had something to do with it...

Anyway, last Friday night we had a frickin hypnotist putting on a show at work, I was meant to finish at 2130 just after the halftime break in the show and so of course I was the only staff left who knows how to use the damn coffee machine in the damn coffee shop so I got sent in to make "a coffee" for a customer and ended up finishing 30 minutes late!! Without even being asked either!! Gonna have to have a word to management about this crap

 

It's a tough job this, being a librarian, a lot of interesting women as customers and I can't do diddly squat about it. It'd be unethical to ask them out for a cup of tea/coffee, and of course they won't ask me out since it's not the custom for women to ask guys out, let alone guys who work in customer service. Dang.

 

As hinted at in RB, we just recently lost a damn fine staff member due to the sheer spitefulness of another staff, our bistro's head chef actually...

Basically what happened was that a couple of months ago, for god-alone knows what reason, the head chef in the bistro was also put in charge of the rostering for our coffee shop. Never mind that he's a complete f-wit with no people skills whatsoever - he regularly rants at customers, in the public area of the bistro just because they weren't happy with their meal.

Anyway, when he took over the coffee shop roster he cut one of the staff - an absolutely wonderful girl loved by staff and patrons alike - back to 2 shifts per week just because he didn't like her (apparently). This then lead up to her calling him some variation of d**khead at our staff Christmas party at the start of last month. He then just stopped rostering her on, basically forcing her to quit rather than fire her. How gutless.

Mind you, our Secretary Manager wasn't much help. When this lovely young lady started he was absolutely wrapped in the fact that she was so good at her job, so friendly and pleasant and so loved by staff AND patrons. Do you think he did anything on her behalf as a result of this latest faecal storm? Of course not.

So while I still love my job, I'm very quickly losing faith in the higher-ups

 

homework. i hate it.

 

Not enough time now...bleeeeh.

 

This sucks...I have to write a 15 page research paper. The crappy thing is, I have to think of the subject I'm going to be researching.

Besides not wanting to screw myself over with a hard subject, my mind just keeps going blank whenever I try to think of something to write about.

 

I submitted an online assignment, feedback was that it was submitted... Then when the automated grading comes in after the due time, I got a 0 because apparently I didn't do it. That's not good for me.

 

@kit

why not something computer related? I'm sure you could think up 15 pages easily on that stuff.

I hate doing homework. Its not that theres too much of it or that I have no time for it, its just that I haven't done it in so long that its such a chore!

 

I have a sodding 9am lecture the morning after the weekly Rock night. I shall be tired on the morrow.

 

Sad night at work last night...my absolute favourite co-worker had her final shift...very sad indeed.

I absolutely loved this woman, not an a romantic sense at all but in a very-deep-respect way, she trained me when I started work experience there, basically made me into who I am as a barman in many ways. And she's gone. A lot of our best staff have left recently actually, makes me wonder what's gonna happen to the whole place now.

Anyway, management put on a big show for her, flowers and the works, big ups for how long she'd been there and how hard she'd worked. Very widely respected in the Club. What really brought a tear to my eye though was that when she was given the microphone to make her little thank you speech, she made mention of those she had worked with who she loved working with, mentioning each by name, then she made particular mention of me. Now I know she had a greaqt respect for me as a co-worker and friend but to tell the whole assembled staff and patrons in the Club...just blew me away.