Current location:	Leeds
Current mood:	bitchy
Current music:	none
Entry tags:	rant, work

Work Rant

I’m really beginning to ask myself if it’s all worth it. I used to really love my job even though it was a shitty fast food joint it was fun to work, I had good friends, and the job wasn’t hard, ok yes granted it could be trying at times with customers but that was it, but things have seem to have taken a different turn lately.

I still have some very good friends, some that I couldn't imagine being with out, some people that I didn’t think I'd get to know well enough to become friends and I have so, I have to give the job that for its pro's

However the cons they..... Really are doing my head in, that’s all I can say. I’m meant to be learning how to be a supervisor at work which is probably where I should start off since that’s the area where I’m not very angry at cause I understand... Kinda. I'm also at uni at the moment so I understand that it taking me a lot longer to learn things because I’m not here half the time. but I was told that someone would be checking up on me to make sure I was learning however that just hasn’t happened and I realise that the guy is very busy but I'd be good if someone else was teaching me, but no one is, either they don’t have the time or they cant be arsed, so it kinda makes me feel "what is the point!" (You’ll hear that line a lot in this rant!)

So anyway what is the point of me training to be a supervisor, when;
1) No one is going to teach me anything new
2) No one really respects me as an authority since I’m hardly here anyways.
3) None of the supervisors/managers really bother backing me up apart from on the odd occasion (once again I understand that they are really busy with their own jobs that they need to control)

I want to become a supervisor, I think it would be good for my CV, and I do, do things, I've noticed a lot of people at work cutting corners, not cleaning up right, not serving right, not making food right, but since I'm only a "trainee" or what most people think "a staff member" no one gives a damn if I tell them they are doing something wrong. I keep getting told by one of the managers that is trying to help me out but he's so bogged down with the stuff he has to do he can't really train me properly, that I need to give respect to get respect, but I don’t think I've ever been disrespectful to anyone! Ok yes I shout a lot but I'm also chatting to people making sure they are ok.

I've also been told to stop doing things myself (not completely but the majority of the time) say I want something stocked up or cleaned I shouldn’t shout "why is no one cleaning____" and clean it myself I need to tell other people to clean things, but then get told to lead by example, which is confusing cause I don’t know when to lead by example and when to give out job, so I generally just do things myself, cause when I do give out jobs for people to do, like today I told someone that when they do the stock list that they are meant to stock up at the same time other wise they never know how much stock they need cause as soon as they get it someone else has stocked up and their stock list is all wrong, and all I got was a "yeah I do that later" which she never did, she went off on brake and someone else stocked up so the stock list was all wrong cause she'd already written it out. So "what’s the point" in handing out jobs when all I get is a "yeah I know!”

I honestly don’t understand the whole give respect to get respect thing, I don’t think I'm doing anything disrespectful, or lacking in respect, I’m never rude to people, I always try to have a conversations with people, it makes me sound like I’m totally distant from the staff, and I’m not they just don't care, I don’t know what else to do about it, I always say please and thank you, and could you do me a favour I really appreciate it and I do, I try to help the other staff members as much as I can, I don’t know what more I could do to give respect apart from stop shouting "why isn’t this done or that done etc" but then that’s not me doing my job that’s me being a staff member and doing everything myself!

But I don’t think there is any real respect left at work now, ok so there are a few groups that really respect each other but they don’t mix. There is this whole new thing at work which is just so stupid it’s unbelievable! Now no one is allowed to use anyone else’s till because people don’t trust anyone else to give out the right change, (or in other words nick things! Let’s face it that’s what people mean!) I got told off by a staff member about two weeks ago not to go into their till and give them change without them knowing about it, I understand where they are coming from yes they have had to pay money back to the company from their wage because their till has been more than £5 down, ok yes that’s bad, but its their own fault, they are obviously not giving the right change out.

I’ve been on till for about a year now and never once have I had to pay out because my tills been down! Maybe I’m lucky there have been the odd occasion when I’ve given the wrong change, but its usually I’ve given to little money out, so the customer complains, and there has been about 3 times where I’ve not charged people and they have all be good honest people and told me about it, but other than that I always realise if something doesn’t look right or if I forget something. It’s just not that hard. But even if someone had gone on my till while I was on brake and given too much change to a dishonest person its never that much change! And I trust the people at work, I don’t think anyone would purposely give out the wrong change, or if they messed up they’d be help me out and pay half, but this whole thing about not using someone else’s till when the person is on brake, or not going into someone’s till to give them more change is ridiculous! Not only does it mean that at least one till is not making money when someone goes on break but who gives a damn, oh what hard luck you have to pay back £10 it was probably their fault anyway! It’s more likely that they messed up 10 orders than someone jumping on their till cause they spend more time on that till.

I really think it’s laughable, but it just goes to show how little trust and respect there is left in this place. Maybe I’m jaded by the past, maybe I am too simple minded to really understand there are a lot of things I just don’t get either because I think you deal with what you go and if it means paying a little bit of money because you may or may not have messed up you do it, or because I don’t care enough about money and that sort of thing I don’t know but I just think it’s a joke.

So yeah back on track, I’m not really learning anything new, I’m currently cashing, which means I get the crappest shift, 11 till 7ish, which means I get all the busy hours on till where all I can do is serve, which doesn’t leave time to learn anything else, and I’ve been told that people who go on that shift don’t really go anywhere cause the get stuck cashing cause they can’t move on as they aren’t qualified to open, but they cant learn cause they are cashing, and they aren’t qualified to close which they can’t learn cause they have to learn to open before they do that, and they can’t learn though out the day other things like how machines work how to fix things cause they are stuck serving or cashing, but I fell that I’m not doing so badly on learning how things work, cause I can manage my time quite well between orders so if ever anything needs fixing I’m there learning as much as I can, but it does depends on if there is a cue.

One thing has really pissed me off about cashing too, its only happened once, but I can see it happening again, there is someone at work who doesn’t like me and the feeling is mutual but they are more senior than I am, I do make an effort to be polite and civilised and so does this person however things do tend to slip but we do try, and I have to give them that, I have seem them try and I do appreciate it, however once during cashing they refused to be my witness, I’ve heard they do it with other people as well so I’m not going to put it down to the fact they don’t like me but cause they’re a lazy arse. But I’ve been told its quite serious to refuse to be a witness for someone when cashing can result in a warning, I don’t really want to put it forwards to higher management cause I don’t want to create any more tension but I can see it happening again especially since they’ve done it with other people.

Also this person doesn’t really give me any respect on the shop floor, in front other staff members, I got shouted at because I didn’t cover someone’s break that I was stood in kitchen but considering no one told me this other person needed a break, and there was no one in kitchen at the time I feel totally justified that I should have been in kitchen, but I wouldn’t have minded if it had been a stressed out “can you cover… Please!” but that wasn’t anything near what I got, all I got was this screech from the office making out that I was directly disobeying her, however if I’d known I would have called someone from what they were doing into kitchen and gone straight onto till to cover this other person but I didn’t know, and screaming at me putting me down in front of everyone else is disrespectful and uncalled for. At the time I was totally court off guard, and didn’t make a fuss, although I am not really the kind of person who likes confrontation, and I would never shout back asking for respect BUT I SHOULD DO!

However this corresponds to my 3rd point about what’s the point, there were managers and supervisors at the time that saw this, and not one of them stuck up for me. Telling this other person that I didn’t realise someone else’s break needed covering, but every time I do something wrong and another staff member gets blamed for it I almost instantly claim my responsibility for it! Or if someone gets shouted at for not doing something I instantly say why they didn’t if they had a valid reason that I was aware of.

I am aware that I should stick up for myself however much I hate confrontation, I should pull this person into the office and tell them that I want respect even if they don’t like me but I don’t want it to seem like I'm picking on this person because I know they hate me. Even though I can plainly see that that is why they aren’t giving me respect, even if the aforementioned was a mistake and they didn’t know I was unaware this person’s break needed covering there are other things. For example how it works on front counter is you get the order from the customer you tell kitchen what food they need to make or what food you are taking that they have already made and the kitchen says “thank you” (its always thank you because its polite and the customers need to see as polite and friendly so they come back) and take the food and give it to the customers.

HOWEVER!!! Thank you seems to have become a secret word at work! People say it under their breath or not at all communication is at an all time low between front counter and kitchen, and it’s a busy place, its loud, its hot, tempers flare yes all understandable, but when someone doesn’t respond to you when they should because they don’t like you defeats the object and it confuses things.

At the moment I don’t know if this person has heard my order and is making it and is in a pissy mood with me or they haven’t heard it and are not going to make my order, but I cant say anything apart from “can I get a thank you please” every time I call my orders, and when I do say that I get a bitchy response which isn’t going with the whole polite and friendly appearance. Its not difficult to say thank you loudly, although I have to say its not just this person, it’s a lot of the kitchen staff they just don’t give a damn they make what they want when they hear it, which is why it takes so long to get anything because they aren’t saying thank you or they aren’t listening and front counter staff don’t care enough to back up and ask for a response and the ones that do for example me get classed as moody and bitchy case we get annoyed about it.

But like I said before, this person has tried; when we are one on one in a non work situation they are polite enough I just wish it would transfer over to work related things. And it’s not just this person other people are doing similar things just not as often and not as vocally!

I should really make a stand tell them I want to hear please and thank you coming from kitchen however I feel that I'm not going to get any kind of back up, almost all the supervisors and managers talk over me, I think its only Junnel who is a total star is the only one who lets me make decisions all the other managers don’t trust me enough to make sure thinks are running ok, for example I’ll give out a few jobs which I hate doing anyway but I’ll do it and someone will walk onto the front counter and tell people to do other things which totally undermines everything I’ve just done, which leads me to square one.

I never get included when it comes to manger talk, for example who needs break, or which person could learn something new (which we totally have time for! But no one is arsed about I could get so many people on till to learn things but no one cares, people on front counter can go into kitchen learn what its like for kitchen staff to be barked at cause kitchen isn’t a walk in the park either) and ok so yeah I don’t need to be included in manager talk, there is a lot of stuff they talk about which is way over my head and station but simple things that I can help with like breaks they just do it’s not even a second though that I have an opinion on the matter they don’t even consider me and how am I meant to learn things like how to send people on breaks at the right time, if I'm not involved. Once again it’s not given the opportunity to learn something new which will help me become a supervisor.

But at the end of the day I need this job, I’m at uni, I need money my entire loan goes on tuition fees and rent so I need money to live off, and no other job will let me come back every holiday just to go away again for a few months, and I do like my job I don’t want to leave the friends I have there. So as far as I can see I have a few options.

1) not care about becoming a supervisor tell them I don’t want to become one and just do my job and never get any higher.
2) Continue as I am bitching at people and nothing getting done about it apart from me getting more and more stressed about it all and getting more and more pissed off pushing what friends I do have away because I need some way of calming down.
3) Bitch to the highest person I can go to and hope that something will happen which is very unlikely!

All in all I really need to learn to stick up for myself when it comes to people putting me down, and getting myself involved in things people don’t include me in (which is awkward) I don’t want to make a scene cause I know I’ll fuck it up and stutter or lose my train of though (well I’d love to make a scene at work but get it right as well!) but I need to stick up for myself more and clam down, nothing will get done if I shout at people and if someone shouts at me I need to be able to tell them in calm tone not to and all they needed to do is ask me politely, but when it comes to learning things or having back up fuck all I can really do about that.

We’ll have to see how next week goes, but I'm defiantly going to try and stick up for myself more and clam down at work.