My Old Boss

Today, one of my former coworkers from my days at WinCo Foods (Ryan) stopped by with his family. Naturally, I had to say hi to him while I took his order, and he told me our old boss from the deli (Ruel) has left the building.

From what I heard, the boss quit of his own accord, but he was on the brink of getting fired anyway. That's the rumor, at least.

Well, I was a bit surprised, but not by much. I was even wondering how much longer the man would last since he was prone to doing things for which we'd get in trouble in a snap. It was almost like a double standard: we can't do it because we're the employees, but he can do it because he's in charge.

I don't want to paint him as a bad guy, but out of all the bosses I've had thus far, he was by far the worst. He was the reason I quit WinCo in the first place.

He wasn't the devil incarnate or anything, but let's just say he was one of those people who probably aren't cut out to be in charge. To summarize, he treated us more like machines than people (working us as hard as possible for as long as possible, and practically breathing down our necks the entire time), he focused much more on what we did wrong than what we did right, he almost never expressed any appreciation for our hard work (I, for one, was lucky to hear a simple "great" from his lips), he would do things for which we'd get written up if we did them, and he promised way more than he delivered; he was more talk than action.

In my case, the straw that broke the camel's back was when he gave me only five or six hours a week (the entire week) while everybody else on the deli team got more, and he got a nice, cushy 40 hours on his plate. I was literally the bottom of the barrel, and he kept promising and promising and promising more hours, for at least six months straight, but nothing happened. Even when I applied for an additional position as a cashier, my luck didn't change.

Talk of more hours still left me and my bills unpaid.

It got to the point where I might as well have not been there at all, so after finding another job elsewhere, I officially threw in the towel. I've a sneaking suspicion they were trying to get me to quit on purpose.

Unfortunately, WinCo does have a high turnover rate. Employees are going as quickly as they're coming, and that's not good for a business in the long run. From what I was told, WinCo doesn't like to hang onto anybody for too long because the longer you work for them, the more they'll have to pay you.

My mom suspects they were discriminating against me, and I could have even taken them to court for it.

As far as I understand, my only real "crime" was not being as fast as they believed I should be. Yes, I knew I shouldn't take all day, but I'm a naturally cautious person and some things do require a little time and care; plus, you shouldn't hurry with things like wet floors and full garbage cans and piping hot trays of food. You want to get the job done right the first time, because fixing it later costs more time, money, and trouble.

Other than that, I did everything else I was supposed to do. I always did my assigned tasks, I never left until the task was done (unless they excused me and had someone else finish it for me), I never complained or talked back, and I was always punctual; I never missed a day of work and only had to leave early once due to throwing up. Sometimes I went a little into overtime (and more than a little) but I figured it was better than having a messy deli the next day. I even did the little important tasks that almost everybody overlooked, including the boss, like checking the temperature of the meat, cleaning the slicer, checking the outside floor for any spills or slipping hazards, and checking the soup pots.

But, clearly, I wasn't good enough for them, so they worked me as little as they could (and worked me as hard as they could when I was there), until something just had to give.

Now that my old boss is gone, a part of me wishes him luck while another part says, "Good riddance."

WinCo is still a nice place to shop, and I'll still buy stuff from there from time to time...but I have no intention of ever working there again. Once was enough.

Here's hoping I can make it with Kneaders. All grueling work aside, Kneaders has been better to me than WinCo's ever been. As far as I'm concerned, WinCo's loss is Kneaders' gain. 

Chris and Mike's Eagle Award Ceremony

Tonight was the night my two brothers got their Eagle Awards in the Boy Scouts program, so here are the pictures I took with my handy-dandy Smartphone! I may not be that much of a photographer but I can snap a nice shot here and there.

Uncle Jeff was nice enough to come and fill in for Dad. And they brought in a real, live bald eagle named Liberty, which was a real awesome experience! Learned a few nifty facts about bald eagles, and it was funny to learn that the turkey almost became our national symbol. According to the guide, it was Benjamin Franklin's idea, but somehow a turkey just doesn't quite hold a candle to an eagle as far as power, majesty, and sheer beauty are concerned.

Then we headed down to Chick-fil-A for a little celebratory dinner, and now here I am, adding the pictures to my blog so they can be viewed on a larger scale with slightly better quality.

So, congratulations, Chris and Mike! This is most definitely something to be proud of.

Be Nice to Your Retail Workers

They say you don't know a person until you've walked a mile in their shoes.

Likewise, you don't know how tough some workers have it until you've worked a job like theirs.

Granted, my experiences at work haven't been that bad; I'm sure there are loads of people in a myriad of different jobs whose lives make mine look like a fairy tale.

And I love the job I have now, by all means. At any rate, it's better than my previous jobs and my current boss is among the best I've ever had. Pay is certainly loads better, although I still can't afford to make it on my own yet.

And most of the customers are perfectly friendly...but there's always that select few that's not quite so friendly.

There's always that one person who makes your job way, way more complicated than it has to be. And today, I was unfortunate enough to run into six such people, all in the same day.

The first three came about around breakfast.

We're known for our Chunky Cinnamon French toast (I had it myself a few times and it's really good stuff, but also really rich and very filling), and you're allowed free refills up to a certain time (11:00 AM, to be exact), but you can only get a refill for yourself or for that one person who's having the French toast. For example, say you're on a breakfast date with a friend and you get the French toast while your friend gets an Italian omelette. You can get a free refill for yourself, but not for your friend; if your friend wants the French toast, too, your friend will have to pay for a separate order.

Unfortunately, people misunderstand the concept of "free stuff" and it often gets to the point where we lose more merchandise and profits that way.

So, we do have a line to draw.

This morning, three teenagers (all boys) showed up for breakfast and only ordered two plates of French toast that they divided amongst themselves. From what management told me later, these three boys come in here quite often and try to sneak free food without making a "scene" about it. Typical kids who think they're being super clever and don't realize what they're doing is actually quite serious.

Two of my workers told them they couldn't have any more free refills, but apparently they waited until those workers had walked away and then one of them came up to me and asked for two refills, and not knowing what was going on at the time, I got those refills for them.

One of my workers caught that boy joining his companions at the table with a rather smug smile on his face, and it didn't take her long to figure it out. So she took the liberty of going up to them herself and telling them off, and since she's one of the managers (which makes her one of my bosses), she could have kicked them out then and there. I wasn't there to see it but the smug boy visibly deflated, and the trio left the place rather quickly after that.

So, those boys tricked me on purpose.

They deliberately took advantage of me and my "ignorance," and luckily for me, management took my side and they were even angry on my behalf.

This isn't the first time I've seen teenagers behave like this, either. I well remember one girl asking for a water cup, but when I passed by her table a few minutes later, that clear cup was filled to the brim with a suspiciously dark, bubbly liquid. I told my boss about it later in private, and she admitted that she does see people steal soda from time to time and it rubs her the wrong way, too.

I was also told that a guy once filled a water cup with soda from McDonald's (without paying for the soda at all), and he spent the next 30 days in jail.

Some people may wonder what the big deal is, but stealing is stealing, and even a little soda can go a long way.

Even if a place allows free refills, you still have to pay for the drink to begin with, and the only reason I can drink all I want is because I'm one of the employees. We don't get lunch breaks; we don't even have a break room, so they make it up to us with free drinks all day and an employee discount whenever we shop there ourselves. Sometimes it makes a world of difference to just step into the back for a bit and have a refreshing swig of Dr. Pepper or even orange juice.

Anyway, back to my story of less-than-savory customers.

After those three little tricksters, a man who came in for lunch gave me an earful about the menu. For lunch, you can get a gourmet salad with a cup of soup, or a sandwich with a little bowl of a deli salad, and apparently he confused the "gourmet salad" with the "deli salad." When I tried to explain the difference, that a gourmet salad and a sandwich can't be sold in a "bundle," he went so far as to ask me if the menu itself was wrong. He hardly let me get a word in edgewise and spoke to me in a painfully condescending tone. By the time he finished his order (or changed it) and went on his way, I could feel my face burning and I couldn't look him in the eye anymore.

Then there was a lady who wasn't really rude, but she came in after breakfast had been over for more than three hours, and she expressed disappointment that we didn't have breakfast "all day" like some places do, like IHOP.

One of the things that always puts a sour taste in my mouth is when people are constantly comparing our store to another store; they claim this place does things this way, and it's like, "Hello, we're not them! We do things our way, not their way! They have their policies! We have our own!"

Like the time I worked at a thrift store (my first job) and people would always compare us to Wal-Mart, and I'd ask them in my mind, "If you think Wal-Mart does it better, why are you shopping here?" But, of course, they wouldn't dream of shopping anywhere else because where else will they get such fabulous deals? Where else can they find something so nice at such a cheap price?

So, yeah, haggling and unnecessary comparison to other places have never sat well with me.

If you like another store better, that's cool. If you think our business would be better if we mimicked other businesses, that's not.

And finally, we have reached that time in the year when our customers can start placing orders for Thanksgiving stuff: breads, rolls, pies, cheesecakes, cookies, the works. We have these long yellow order forms for the holiday goods, but under no circumstances are we allowed to allow customers to fill out that order form themselves. We're the ones to mark the boxes, list the quantity, and write down the general information.

We don't give these papers to the customers to even look at; we tell them what's available and they tell us what they want.

Well, one lady decided she wanted to check out the list with her own eyes, and she actually pulled my entire pad out of my hand (right there at the register) and ripped the top sheet off with a deliberate flourish, in a "there, you're too late to stop me" kind of fashion.

I just stood there in complete disbelief. Like, "Did that seriously just happen?" Once again, management was sorry for me and mad on my behalf, much to my good fortune. All they could tell me now was that if that lady came back with the paper all filled out, we wouldn't accept it.

That wasn't the end of it, either. When she did come back (I kind of ducked away so I wouldn't have to deal with her again), she hadn't filled out the paper, but she thought she wouldn't have to pay for the holiday goods that day. She thought she could make some kind of reservation and then hand over the money on the day of pickup. We had to tell her that wasn't how it worked; she would have to place an order and pay now, and then she could get the goods later, when they were good and fresh.

So she gave up and walked away. Can't say she was a happy camper, nor was I.

Did it ever occur to this lady that her actions could have gotten me in trouble, even if management did see what happened for themselves? Maybe not very big trouble; likely enough, I would have just gotten a verbal warning. All the same, this lady should have known from the start that we have certain rules for a reason, and all I'm doing is my job at enforcing them.

I've been told more than once, "Well, it's a stupid rule, or a stupid policy!"

Maybe so. All the same, people, rules are rules, and with all due respect, keeping my job sort of takes priority over making you happy.

Bottom line: be nice to your retail workers. For that matter, be nice to everybody. It shouldn't be that hard but we're the ones who complicate it so much.

At least one good thing happened today. My next-door neighbor came in for lunch (naturally, we told each other hi, and I got the honor of taking her order) and I met up with an old school chum. She recognized me first and mentioned our old elementary and junior high schools, then it all clicked. I told her, "Yeah, I was that girl who drew and wrote a lot! And I still draw and write a lot; this is just a job that keeps the bills paid!"

Always nice to see a familiar face, even if it takes you a minute or two to recognize that face!

Welcome November and NaNoWriMo 2019!

Five years and still going strong!