Okay... I officially HATE my job.

[JTG of the PRB]

Previously, on a thread nobody saw this morning...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=105&topic_id=6852689&mesg_id=6852689

So, i wasn't thrilled about going to work today. As it turns out, that must have been some sort of premonition.

I left for work at 7:00am. It is now 9:26pm. I got home from work 30 minutes ago.

I worked the entire 12 hours the store was open - a good 6 1/2 hours longer than I was scheduled to work, because my replacement - who wasn't supposed to come in at 1:30 - didn't show up. So there I was - standing at the register for a good 12 hours today.

Did I mention I handled over $5,800 worth of business BY MYSELF? Yeah. it was a fucking busy day, too. Stupid college move-in.

So I don't complain to my supervisors once. Not one. Damn. Time. At the end of the day, I could my overloaded drawer alone, and clock out. I say goodnight to my supervisors, hoping I will be thanked for all the hard work I did today.

What did I get? One statement of "See ya," and then nothing from the other. I was HOPING I could at least get a single, "Thanks for everything today. Have a good night." but no.... NOOOOO! That was too much, too good for me! Such a kind little note of appreciation was FAR too much to give a lowly, humble cashier like myself!

So I made up my mind. I'm putting in my two weeks' notice tomorrow. To hell with the consequences for now, I need a change! I'd like to see how they do without me once I'm gone. I swear... Sometimes I'm the only one that keeps that store running smoothly. I hardly understand how THAT'S fair.

$8.50 an hour isn't remotely enough for all the crap I put up with at this job. I'm sick of always being there for everybody when THEY need ME, and having nobody there for me when I need THEM. I'm fed up, and I;'m through. Two weeks from tomorrow will be my last day at this job, and when that day comes I will do a dance when i get home and get on with my life.

Work sucks. x(

[skygazer]

1. We saw it

We just didn't care. :P


No, no, just a joke, really. :hug:

I'm sorry, that sounds like a crappy, unappreciated day. I work retail and it sucks at the best of times and that sure doesn't sound like the best of times.

I hope you find something better soon. :hug:

[JTG of the PRB]

2. Thanks, I appreciate it.

:hug:

The job isn't always bad, and it never used to be this bad, but it's been getting worse the past three months and I'm sick of it. They give me the responsibilities and expectations of a manager without the title or the pay. The cashiers are the most disparaged people at the store, not always intentionally, but it happens nonetheless, and without us, all the precious floor people and the managers would have to run the registers themselves and THEN we'd see how well the store would run.

[Gold Metal Flake]

3. Find a better job, but don't quit yet.

It's easier to find a better job when you dare not out of work.

If I were your boss I would have recognized your service. I'd have made sure you had food and drink. You would not have been ignored. Every once in a while there is a hard day, but the folks who slog it out deserves the props.

You deserved it. I know it. They knew it but are too self-absorbed to make the effort. Or, I don't know. Whatever the fuck. Assholes, right? So look for a better work sitch, but keep earnin while you do. Trust me, it works out better that way.

[DarkTirade]

4. I've been in a situation like that. And when appreciation wasn't shown, I was out the door.

Despite the fact that I had kept the store running a few weeks previous when everything went to pot and the incompetent supervisor (who was fired shortly afterwards) was incapable of keeping things going, and despite the fact that I was one of the few employees there who was reliable enough to be scheduled to work on Friday and Saturday nights. (our busiest nights) So I said screw that. I was earning a whole ten cents above minimum wage, I wasn't getting paid enough to be as responsible as I was, and yet be treated as crappily as I was being treated.
And the next time I was at a job where I quite literally kept the place afloat (my boss had been arrested for drunk driving, so I had to run the entire store myself, despite the fact that I was only a 7.50 an hour employee), he just handed me 50 bucks when he got back a few days later. Just as a way of saying thanks.
Between that and the overtime I got, well, that was a decent portion of the money I was saving up to get a car with right there. :) Bumped me up a month or two ahead of schedule.
Guess which job I stayed at longer?

[JTG of the PRB]

5. Sounds very familiar to me...

At least the first part about your previous job. I'm just sick of not getting any respect/help/support from those in management. They say they're there to help me, but when the chips were down yesterday, I was the one who ended up having to stay at the register from 8am to 8pm. Nobody took over for me, despite the fact that we had at LEAST three other people in the store at all times capable of running the register.

A while after my replacement was supposed to be at the store, we had eight other people on the floor. EIGHT. I personally trained four of them to run the registers, so it's not like they wouldn't have a clue how to do things up there. Instead, I stayed up there, not feeling great, watching as they all left one by one.

I know that if the store manager who was fired back in June was still here, HE would have thanked me a couple of times for staying and working so late for the good of the store. Sigh. Time to start a job search, I guess.

[grace0418]

6. I'm so sorry.

And I'm right there with you. I'm so burnt out I feel like a pile of ashes.

[JTG of the PRB]

8. I hear ya.

My feet are killing me right now. It would have been okay if I could get away from the register to stretch my legs a bit, but I was stuck in my little 4' by 2' cubicle for stretches of almost 2 hours at points yesterday because we were so frickin' busy. I got home and pretty much crashed at 10:30, sleeping straight through to 9:00am.

[City of Mills]

7. Ever see "Clerks"?

Wow...what a lousy day. Just FYI - the harder you work, the less you are appreciated. Oh, and NEVER feel guilted or trapped into working when someone else doesn't show up - that's when your boss needs to call someone in or man the register him/herself. You don't get martyr pay so don't EVER sacrifice your own time or needs for some idiot boss, unless you need the job to feed yourself/others. Good luck finding something else :) Hope you can tell your boss to screw soon!

[JTG of the PRB]

9. Absolutely. I LOVE that movie!

In fact, I have a day off tomorrow. I think I'll watch it, since it's been a while. The only issue is that since I'm the "Cashier Supervisor," it gives the managers an excuse to say i have to stay and work. Because I "supervise" the cashiering position. So I've been suckered in to staying late/working days off quite a few times.

Suffice to say, I'm rather sick of it and I'm probably not going to accept any sort of supervisory position in my next job unless the terms are just right.

[Javaman]

10. Change is always good....

I maybe following you out the door soon, myself.

[JTG of the PRB]

14. Yes indeed.

I even went out and got a haircut today, and I shaved off my beard. Just because I needed a change.

Also, because I need to look nice if I'm going to be doing a job search.

[Orrex]

11. Unfortunately

You should develop the habit of assuming outright that you'll receive no praise (or even thanks) for any extra effort you put forth. Most jobs I've worked have had this mindset: The absolute maximum that you can do is the very least that we expect of you.

It sucks, and it's demoralizing and dehumanizing, but it's consistent in my experience across several industries and in several states.

At most, you might hope that a particular supervisor will thank you sincerely for your hard work, but don't piss yourself off by waiting for it.

Of course, there may be businesses in which such effort is formally recognized, but I've never held such a job.

Sorry to hear about your bullshift.

[grace0418]

12. That's totally what has happened at my office.

When I started 7 years ago, we would design products and do some simple mock-ups of them. They weren't perfect, they were just intended to give an idea of the final product. Everyone got along just fine with them. Then as the department grew we hired a guy to do the mock-ups who is not only incredibly talented but also very quick and a total perfectionist. Now our mock-ups are so perfect that they often look better than the final manufactured product. And upper management has come to expect total perfection, even in preliminary stages for internal meetings. It's ridiculous and a complete waste of time.

The guy doing our mock-ups is totally burnt out and plans to give notice next week. Which I don't blame him for at all. But upper management is still going to expect perfection and now the rest of us will have to take that on in addition to a huge workload that got really out of hand when they fired several people earlier this year.

"The absolute maximum that you can do is the very least that we expect of you." Totally describes my company. All for shitty working conditions, shitty salaries, shitty raises and shitty benefits.

[JTG of the PRB]

13. See it wouldn't be such an issue if they didn't thank OTHER people who worked hard.

There was a day a few weeks ago when one of the cashiers didn't show up for his shift. They called me, but I didn't get the call because I had lost my phone. So, the two floor people and two managers had to run the register while doing their orders and all. All the people who worked that day got certificates for free sodas, OFFICIAL-looking coupons that say "Good Job!" on them.

I never got one for anything, and I've cashiered there every day I've worked at the store since May of 2006. I've had to do some hard work with very little support while working long hours. I've worked above and beyond the call of duty - even what they might consider the "bare minimum" - and only one manager has ever thanked me or given me praise for my hard work.

I don't care about getting coupons for free sodas. I just want these people to appreciate what I do because, evidently, I AM a human being.

So I put in my two weeks' notice today. Didn't talk to anybody about it today, so we'll see what happens on Friday when I work next.

[Orrex]

15. Yeah, that sucks

In the other example you cite, I'd guess that the difference is that managers were inconvenienced, so that anyone who appeared to contribute positively to that particular shift was disproportionately recognized for the effort, simply because it made the managers' day a bit easier.

So did your effort, I would say, but because you apparently weren't lucky enough to help carry the managers' load directly, your contribution was seen as less significant.

It sucks, and it's a variation on the old "squeaky wheel gets the grease" mantra.

Years ago I worked at a 7-11 with a woman--Cheryl--who was responsible for the twice-weekly dairy order. Each order took her an entire 8 hour shift, and at the end of it she made sure that the manager knew how hard she'd worked and how much effort it had taken. Well, one day she unexpectedly called off sick, so I had to do the dairy order, despite having no direct idea of what it entailed. From start to finish, including the necessary self-training on the procedure, the ordering process took me about 45 minutes. When I later mentioned this to the manager, he said "Thanks--I'll have Cheryl double-check your numbers." In essence she was not only praised for wasting 15 hours per week; my extra effort was assumed to have failed.

Incidentally, about one in three 7-11 stores don't have the security camera hooked up to anything. It's basically a dummy lens with a blinking red light on it. And if you're shot during a robbery, chances are good that the corporation won't acknowledge any responsibility or help with your medical bills. Or compensate you for time that you take off during your recovery.

Kudos to you for putting in your two weeks' notice! I hope that you find something better, and fast!

[Wapsie B]

16. Unfortunately, unless you get to be one of those fortunate few

who have a job made in heaven for them you're gonna have situations like that happen all the time. And it really doesn't matter whether it's $8.50 an hour or $85,000 a year. There's just shit to deal with at work. Thanks at the workplace? I helped build a medical practice into what it is today and never once did I get a thank you. On top of all that I had a castrating (vernacular for female) promoted over me to run me off. Not to make light of your situation, but many of us have been there. Look for a better job while you're employed. Just remember having food in the fridge is good. Having a roof over your head is good.