It's been a rough week. I feel worn out and beaten down. I caught a horrible cold, missed some work, and spent three days in bed. My lungs still hurt and I'm still exhausted, but I'm heading back to work in the morning.
Bear with me, I'm still groggy so I'm having a bit of a ramble today. We all went to the store a few weeks ago. My daughter needed clothing for her new job. It was late in the afternoon and we were lucky enough to get rain. My daughter ran in with the baby and I was a bit disappointed because I wanted to point out the rainbow for him. My husband and I lingered in the parking lot a bit longer to gaze at the rainbow. It seems I saw them more frequently in my childhood. Perhaps that's due to an ever present drought. The rainbow was strong and complete, and became a double rainbow before we went inside. Beautiful.
Grandbaby loves pizza. He doesn't, at his young age, look down on his grandpa for working such a lowly job. One evening my husband called me after work to ask if I needed anything. Grandbaby was sitting on my lap and when he heard Grandpa's voice he smiled and pointed at the phone and said "Pizza." When my husband arrives home at night Grandbaby and dog run to the door to bark together. When I open the door and he sees the car he yells "Pizza pizza!" He also wears the uniform hat any chance he gets. Whenever we introduce a new food to the baby I suggested that we cut it in a triangle shape and call it pizza.
I know I've discussed work before but I've never wanted to get so specific that someone figures out who I am and where I work so I can be fired, but sometimes corporate ideas are so stupid that you have to vent. I take my job seriously. I do the best I can possibly do. I consider myself quick, efficient, and kind, and I have never had any problems or complaints. I work in a grocery store and as I myself am a shopper I think I have an idea of what people want. I want to get in, find what I need and get out. I want fresh product on the shelf, plenty of sale items to choose from, and a quick checkout. I do not want entertainment. I don't want to be followed about while I shop. Get in, get out, that's me.
We have someone new in corporate. He has new fresh ideas to take us to the next level in the shopping experience. He thinks we need a heart shaped bulletin board in our break room to share our great ideas about doing good things at work. He thinks we should do videos and photos of employees at work and post them to the company website. He suggested employees use their smart phones for this which really amuses me because a previous communication warned employees that cell phone use on the sales floor both ON and OFF the clock was forbidden.
They also want us to fist bump and high five each other when we pass on the sales floor. The worst idea ever--they want us to drop whatever we are doing when our new store song is played over the intercom several times a day and dance and sing. I was hired for customer service and cashiering. I will not leave my customers waiting in line while I dance. Fire me. This is not a Texas Roadhouse, or a strip joint. It is a grocery store, ask a few shoppers what they actually want, better yet go back to school.
This is in a store that needs some improvement. Dairy products are often found a week or more out of date, equipment breaks down, proper rotation isn't always followed, sale stickers are left on the shelf from the previous week, and I suspect product in some departments is relabeled with a new date so they can sell it past the sell by date. It's not pretty. You could add a few employees so there would be more time and attention spent pulling products and setting up the sales. You could stop freezing the pay raises of your lowest paid employees. You could hire someone just to inspect the store on a daily basis to ensure there are no out of dates. But no, you have the best idea, a little song and dance will fix all that.
One last note, company loyalty and pride is never forced. It is earned after learning how to treat employees fairly and doing the right thing. It is earned after treating your customers well. Song and dance? No thank you, I'll go elsewhere where I will be appreciated, dignity intact.
Showing posts with label working conditions. Show all posts
Showing posts with label working conditions. Show all posts
Thursday, July 7, 2011
Thursday, January 20, 2011
Faulty Towers vs Reality
A few years ago I found a job in a hotel. Working in a hotel was something I had never done so it was an adventure to me and a chance to add something completely different to my resume. Some low wage workers, just like actors, don't want to be typecast into only one type of role or job.
I loved working there most of the time. I learned new skills and truly like the people I worked for. I worked the overnight desk position. I checked in a few guests, did the night audit, and then the next of the night was mine until I set up the breakfast. It was the first job I ever held where my manager told me to bring a book, set up my computer and relax after my work was done. You don't get that with other jobs. Restaurants want you to stand at attention during slow times when there isn't any cleaning to be done. Retail workers must be on their feet at all times and will be reprimanded if caught chatting or leaning, even if it is only for one moment. This was a different world.
Now, I will tell you the dark side. There must be a down side after all. One thing I learned about hotels was all the different types of travelers. I had traveled for business and for vacations before. Some workers live in hotels almost year round. Truck drivers, construction crews, road crews, utility company workers and many others travel from one work sight to the next. Their companies often choose a mid-range hotel to put up all the workers. When I was a retail manager we were often put up in higher range hotels when we had training or meetings. They needed rooms for two to four districts worth of managers and ballrooms for lectures and dinners.
I learned that drug dealers also travel from hotel to hotel to conduct their business. You would know that you had one when you would see the traffic coming into and out of the room on cameras late at night. Some would not care what kind of attention they attracted and would have loud parties. Some workers warned me that one of my guests would conduct his business in the back parking lot while he carried a loaded gun openly. We had to kick him out. The police warned us to be careful because they knew him to be extremely dangerous.
One night some young people were partying in a room. One guy who came to visit the two girls who rented the room became upset. He slammed their door and punched every single light fixture on his way down the walk way. There was broken glass and blood everywhere.
Speaking of blood, on another night when I came to work three people were sitting on the bench by the check in window when I clocked in. The evening shift person left and I locked up. I watched the people out front because something wasn't right. I looked out and one of them ran away and there was a big knife and a puddle of blood on the sidewalk. The police came and the ambulance picked up the injured man. He slit his own wrist because his wife was at our hotel with another man.
I learned a useful skill at that hotel. How do you get large quantities of blood out of concrete? You pour straight bleach on it and scrub and rinse with lots of water. It's a skill I have used at my current job. I had a customer who had to pick up money from Western Union. He filled out the paperwork and then he proceeded to bleed. He bled on the counter and on the floor. Instead of taking care of it he continued to bleed until he collected his money. I grabbed surgical gloves and the bleach and cleaned for quite a while after he left. What is wrong with people?
Oh by the way, the cheating wife and the new man called to say their air conditioner wasn't working. They exchanged keys for a new room. We called the old room and her kids answered so we kicked them out for scamming so they could get a free room for the kids to sleep in while they partied in their own room.
One more thing that happens in hotels unfortunately is what is referred to as a crack whore. This is a deranged, drug addled and unkempt woman who frequents hotels but doesn't get a room of her own. The woman will walk up and down the walkway, knocking on doors at two to three in the morning looking for business. They look for hotels where large numbers of construction or road crews are staying, hoping to earn a little money from men who are far from home. Once again, you have to put your book away and call the police. Before I moved I got a room in the hotel where I worked. We had the moving van packed and we only had a few hours to sleep before we took off early in the morning. Sure enough, as soon as we fell asleep there was knock on the door.
Well there you have it. More strange stories from life in the lower class. Hey, If I hadn't have worked there, I wouldn't have known. This was a clean decent hotel too. It happens everywhere.
I loved working there most of the time. I learned new skills and truly like the people I worked for. I worked the overnight desk position. I checked in a few guests, did the night audit, and then the next of the night was mine until I set up the breakfast. It was the first job I ever held where my manager told me to bring a book, set up my computer and relax after my work was done. You don't get that with other jobs. Restaurants want you to stand at attention during slow times when there isn't any cleaning to be done. Retail workers must be on their feet at all times and will be reprimanded if caught chatting or leaning, even if it is only for one moment. This was a different world.
Now, I will tell you the dark side. There must be a down side after all. One thing I learned about hotels was all the different types of travelers. I had traveled for business and for vacations before. Some workers live in hotels almost year round. Truck drivers, construction crews, road crews, utility company workers and many others travel from one work sight to the next. Their companies often choose a mid-range hotel to put up all the workers. When I was a retail manager we were often put up in higher range hotels when we had training or meetings. They needed rooms for two to four districts worth of managers and ballrooms for lectures and dinners.
I learned that drug dealers also travel from hotel to hotel to conduct their business. You would know that you had one when you would see the traffic coming into and out of the room on cameras late at night. Some would not care what kind of attention they attracted and would have loud parties. Some workers warned me that one of my guests would conduct his business in the back parking lot while he carried a loaded gun openly. We had to kick him out. The police warned us to be careful because they knew him to be extremely dangerous.
One night some young people were partying in a room. One guy who came to visit the two girls who rented the room became upset. He slammed their door and punched every single light fixture on his way down the walk way. There was broken glass and blood everywhere.
Speaking of blood, on another night when I came to work three people were sitting on the bench by the check in window when I clocked in. The evening shift person left and I locked up. I watched the people out front because something wasn't right. I looked out and one of them ran away and there was a big knife and a puddle of blood on the sidewalk. The police came and the ambulance picked up the injured man. He slit his own wrist because his wife was at our hotel with another man.
I learned a useful skill at that hotel. How do you get large quantities of blood out of concrete? You pour straight bleach on it and scrub and rinse with lots of water. It's a skill I have used at my current job. I had a customer who had to pick up money from Western Union. He filled out the paperwork and then he proceeded to bleed. He bled on the counter and on the floor. Instead of taking care of it he continued to bleed until he collected his money. I grabbed surgical gloves and the bleach and cleaned for quite a while after he left. What is wrong with people?
Oh by the way, the cheating wife and the new man called to say their air conditioner wasn't working. They exchanged keys for a new room. We called the old room and her kids answered so we kicked them out for scamming so they could get a free room for the kids to sleep in while they partied in their own room.
One more thing that happens in hotels unfortunately is what is referred to as a crack whore. This is a deranged, drug addled and unkempt woman who frequents hotels but doesn't get a room of her own. The woman will walk up and down the walkway, knocking on doors at two to three in the morning looking for business. They look for hotels where large numbers of construction or road crews are staying, hoping to earn a little money from men who are far from home. Once again, you have to put your book away and call the police. Before I moved I got a room in the hotel where I worked. We had the moving van packed and we only had a few hours to sleep before we took off early in the morning. Sure enough, as soon as we fell asleep there was knock on the door.
Well there you have it. More strange stories from life in the lower class. Hey, If I hadn't have worked there, I wouldn't have known. This was a clean decent hotel too. It happens everywhere.
Thursday, December 30, 2010
They Have Us Where They Want Us
TOO YOUNG AND POOR TO RETIRE
We are now in an era where jobs are hard to come by including "pink collar" or "Joe jobs." Workers are holding onto their jobs in fast food, retail, restaurants, and the few remaining factories. Many of us are holding onto whatever jobs we have for dear life. We realize new jobs are hard to come by, especially for older workers.
It seems younger workers are favored by many corporations at this time. They can pay them less, and some may not ask as often for pay raises or more hours. Some will put up with unfair working conditions longer than an older person who may speak out against certain practices.
There are some terrific younger workers out there who deserve jobs. All I am referring to are the older workers who are still quick, hardworking, experienced and well...mature, who are being overlooked when companies hire.
THE SCHOOL YARD BULLY ALL GROWN UP
In some jobs a bully makes the workplace very unpleasant. Under normal circumstances the bully is dealt with by management, written up, counseled, and eventually let go. When the bully becomes friends with the manager (also another bully) things become very stressful.
The bully I know of is a very strong former construction worker with a prison record. He lost employment with the building trade when the economy tanked and had to try restaurant work. He walks about with his chest puffed out and his arms flexed pushing others out of his way to prove he's alpha male.
His manager sometimes joins in the bullying. The two of them cornered a younger and smaller male worker in the walk in cooler and acting serious said they were going to "have fun with him" and they proceeded to unzip. Then they had a good laugh and joked about the young man's white face and shocked expression.
That walk in cooler is for more than storing food. On another occasion that same manager went into the cooler and dropped his pants so he could take a photo of his naked backside which he then showed to several of his employees both male and female.
The bully likes to corner other male workers against a wall, punching an arm or getting someone in a headlock. I know it is assault but there are so few jobs here they are afraid to rock the boat. One former employee is already on unemployment and hasn't found work yet.
FORCED OUT
The bully hated a former co-worker, the oldest one there. After a year of searching the man found another job so he could escape. He is now earning less money but isn't constantly harassed. It got to a point where the bully would chant, "Send him home, send him home, send him home." until the manager listened and sent him home early. So what if he only worked two hours and so what if they got busy and needed him later, at least the bully was happy and somewhat quieter. Now my husband is the oldest...
One of our money saving techniques is sharing a car. I went to the back door, a few day ago to see if my husband was ready to leave. He was walking between the oven and a work table when the bully stepped into his path. He pushed close to him and whispered something to him and then looked back at me and laughed. My husband didn't want to repeat what he said but I insisted. He said, "Do you want me to violate you in front of your wife?"
There are things going on at my place of work that shouldn't but it is nothing like this place. It's a nightmare.
You used to be able to leave one job, fill out three job applications, and have your choice between two new jobs four days later. Now it will take four months to a year of constant search to find a part time minimum wage job. It's discouraging and we the poor feel beaten down, tired, and defeated.
FEMALE WORKERS NEED NOT APPLY
A friend works in a department store. They dropped her hours and moved her to a different department. She used to make thirty hours a week and now she makes three. This is how they force people to quit so they can't collect unemployment. This same company has a rule that jobs must be posted for a week before they fill a position. A male was moved up to fill a management position that was never posted. Several female workers had been asking to move up. Many of then had been there for years and the man had been there two months. One manager told several workers point blank that they had wanted a man for the job. My friend has a lawyer.
I've told my husband to document things, put notes on a calendar or something. He may need it one day. I wish I could afford a hidden camera. At the end of the day he just doesn't want to dwell on it. It's already affecting his health, mine as well, and I don't even work there. We are just holding on for now. Go in, collect your pay, come home and attempt to de-stress.
We will have changes. Even if the economy doesn't improve here, we will go elsewhere. Somewhere, they must be getting ready for an explosion of jobs. I could get back into retail management, and my husband could find another pizzeria or restaurant he would enjoy working in. I don't care if we are shoveling poop off the sidewalk for a living as long as we are happy and there are more job choices out there. I want travel, and fun, and peace. There is so much to see yet we always seem to feel trapped by poverty. Not for long, we will climb our way out. World, here we come.
We are now in an era where jobs are hard to come by including "pink collar" or "Joe jobs." Workers are holding onto their jobs in fast food, retail, restaurants, and the few remaining factories. Many of us are holding onto whatever jobs we have for dear life. We realize new jobs are hard to come by, especially for older workers.
It seems younger workers are favored by many corporations at this time. They can pay them less, and some may not ask as often for pay raises or more hours. Some will put up with unfair working conditions longer than an older person who may speak out against certain practices.
There are some terrific younger workers out there who deserve jobs. All I am referring to are the older workers who are still quick, hardworking, experienced and well...mature, who are being overlooked when companies hire.
THE SCHOOL YARD BULLY ALL GROWN UP
In some jobs a bully makes the workplace very unpleasant. Under normal circumstances the bully is dealt with by management, written up, counseled, and eventually let go. When the bully becomes friends with the manager (also another bully) things become very stressful.
The bully I know of is a very strong former construction worker with a prison record. He lost employment with the building trade when the economy tanked and had to try restaurant work. He walks about with his chest puffed out and his arms flexed pushing others out of his way to prove he's alpha male.
His manager sometimes joins in the bullying. The two of them cornered a younger and smaller male worker in the walk in cooler and acting serious said they were going to "have fun with him" and they proceeded to unzip. Then they had a good laugh and joked about the young man's white face and shocked expression.
That walk in cooler is for more than storing food. On another occasion that same manager went into the cooler and dropped his pants so he could take a photo of his naked backside which he then showed to several of his employees both male and female.
The bully likes to corner other male workers against a wall, punching an arm or getting someone in a headlock. I know it is assault but there are so few jobs here they are afraid to rock the boat. One former employee is already on unemployment and hasn't found work yet.
FORCED OUT
The bully hated a former co-worker, the oldest one there. After a year of searching the man found another job so he could escape. He is now earning less money but isn't constantly harassed. It got to a point where the bully would chant, "Send him home, send him home, send him home." until the manager listened and sent him home early. So what if he only worked two hours and so what if they got busy and needed him later, at least the bully was happy and somewhat quieter. Now my husband is the oldest...
One of our money saving techniques is sharing a car. I went to the back door, a few day ago to see if my husband was ready to leave. He was walking between the oven and a work table when the bully stepped into his path. He pushed close to him and whispered something to him and then looked back at me and laughed. My husband didn't want to repeat what he said but I insisted. He said, "Do you want me to violate you in front of your wife?"
There are things going on at my place of work that shouldn't but it is nothing like this place. It's a nightmare.
You used to be able to leave one job, fill out three job applications, and have your choice between two new jobs four days later. Now it will take four months to a year of constant search to find a part time minimum wage job. It's discouraging and we the poor feel beaten down, tired, and defeated.
FEMALE WORKERS NEED NOT APPLY
A friend works in a department store. They dropped her hours and moved her to a different department. She used to make thirty hours a week and now she makes three. This is how they force people to quit so they can't collect unemployment. This same company has a rule that jobs must be posted for a week before they fill a position. A male was moved up to fill a management position that was never posted. Several female workers had been asking to move up. Many of then had been there for years and the man had been there two months. One manager told several workers point blank that they had wanted a man for the job. My friend has a lawyer.
I've told my husband to document things, put notes on a calendar or something. He may need it one day. I wish I could afford a hidden camera. At the end of the day he just doesn't want to dwell on it. It's already affecting his health, mine as well, and I don't even work there. We are just holding on for now. Go in, collect your pay, come home and attempt to de-stress.
We will have changes. Even if the economy doesn't improve here, we will go elsewhere. Somewhere, they must be getting ready for an explosion of jobs. I could get back into retail management, and my husband could find another pizzeria or restaurant he would enjoy working in. I don't care if we are shoveling poop off the sidewalk for a living as long as we are happy and there are more job choices out there. I want travel, and fun, and peace. There is so much to see yet we always seem to feel trapped by poverty. Not for long, we will climb our way out. World, here we come.
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