Ask a stupid question....
...And today's stupid answer (to yesterday's stupid question):
You end up getting your ass fired the very next day.
Here's how it went down.
I had to be to the cafeteria at 4:15, because it opens at 4:30- and on weekends my job is to sit there and scan people's cards as they enter. Basically, if I'm not there, there's a bit of a problem. Perkin's kept me and kept me- I was scheduled to get off work at 2:45, but didn't get off until 3:45, and wasn't able to get a ride home until about 4. At 4:18 or so, I hit the entrance to Crawford (the complex I live in), and ran to my room- changed as quickly as possible- then ran my ass all the way down to Carkoski (the cafeteria where I work). I got there about 5 minutes before the place was scheduled to open.
Ran up to the front. Found there was no drawer in my register. Ran back to find my manager: "Hey, can you get me a drawer?" Response: "Yes, but in the meantime get that door open!" Well, I was working on it- I didn't exactly want to open the door and then abandon my post to get her. Ran back to the front, opened the door, took the first kid's card. Scanned it. Didn't work. Scanned it again. Error: "Profit center not allowed for this customer" (or something to that effect). Told the kid to hold on a second, and tried the card of the next guy in line- same deal.
Ran back to find my manager, who was bringing a drawer out. "The register? It's not working." She told me to lose my attitude. I told her I didn't have one; she insisted that I did. I informed her that I had already worked seven hours today, and was sick to boot, and made a simple request: "Give me a break." I was doing the best I could- the best I could, mind you, to get her cafeteria running as quickly as I could. She told me to reboot the register and try again, and if that failed, to write down people's numbers. Ran back to the front.
I rebooted the register- no success. Rebooted it again, slightly more thoroughly- still not working. So I started writing down people's numbers. I think I got about eight of them written down when she walked up, right in front of me- didn't look at me or say a single word- and started waving the customers through, telling them "Yup, free meal, go on through, the register's down. Yup, enjoy. Look- we're not always the evil empire!" (I kid you not. To my mind, this amounts to an explicit admission that most of the time, that's exactly what Chartwells is.) After doing this for a couple of minutes, she then walked off.
So I was left with a decision to make. Should I go back to writing down numbers, or keep waving people through? I figured I had to make a fairly unwarranted assumption either way, so I chose the method that hurt Chartwells the most. Sat back, waved people through, wrote some rather scathing haiku (which, as it turns out, was quite relaxing). After about a half hour of this, my manager came back up to talk to me (as there was a lull in the incoming customers):
"Listen, here's the deal. What you did earlier... That amounts to insubordination."
"No, here's the deal. I didn't have a problem at all until you told me I had an attitude- which I didn't. I was trying to move as quickly as possible to get things done to get your door open and your cafeteria running smoothly."
[It should be noted that while I was talking she tried to interrupt me and I didn't let her.]
"See, you're talking over me. Here's the thing. Tonight, we're parting ways. You're a good kid, and a good worker, but it's not working."
"Because I'm not willing to take your shit?"
"See, right there, that's insubordination again."
"Well, you're already canning me, aren't you? What difference does it make?"
At this point she told me that I should leave immediately, before things "got ugly". I really should point out that despite my language, I am proud of retaining throughout a calm and quite polite demeanor. The thing is, I wasn't upset- hell, I don't need the job badly enough to put up with the kind of crap they've been expecting me to, and I've been thinking about quitting as is. I wasn't angry in the slightest. I was perfectly reasonable about the whole thing- any ugliness would certainly have been on her part.
So I left, and then came back to punch out. I also left a nice note on her desk regarding the level of respect I expect from my employers, and the reasons for which, lacking such, I returned the favor. Again, it wasn't angry, nasty, or even profane. I also didn't spit in her glass or cough on her stuff, as much as I almost wish I had.
And that's it. I'm gone. Why am I gone? For telling her to give me a break, and refusing to let her interrupt me. What's really funny is that she was right in telling me I was a good worker- she and others have complimented my efforts several times, and there are very few people there who work harder or better than I did, even despite my newness to the job. Really, it's herself she's hurting.
The other funny thing being, of course, that she seemed pretty ticked off about the whole thing. I'm not. So she's angry and I'm fine with it. Ruined her evening and not mine. Heh... suits me just fine.
I should probably find an alternative second job, but that would've happened anyway.
You end up getting your ass fired the very next day.
Here's how it went down.
I had to be to the cafeteria at 4:15, because it opens at 4:30- and on weekends my job is to sit there and scan people's cards as they enter. Basically, if I'm not there, there's a bit of a problem. Perkin's kept me and kept me- I was scheduled to get off work at 2:45, but didn't get off until 3:45, and wasn't able to get a ride home until about 4. At 4:18 or so, I hit the entrance to Crawford (the complex I live in), and ran to my room- changed as quickly as possible- then ran my ass all the way down to Carkoski (the cafeteria where I work). I got there about 5 minutes before the place was scheduled to open.
Ran up to the front. Found there was no drawer in my register. Ran back to find my manager: "Hey, can you get me a drawer?" Response: "Yes, but in the meantime get that door open!" Well, I was working on it- I didn't exactly want to open the door and then abandon my post to get her. Ran back to the front, opened the door, took the first kid's card. Scanned it. Didn't work. Scanned it again. Error: "Profit center not allowed for this customer" (or something to that effect). Told the kid to hold on a second, and tried the card of the next guy in line- same deal.
Ran back to find my manager, who was bringing a drawer out. "The register? It's not working." She told me to lose my attitude. I told her I didn't have one; she insisted that I did. I informed her that I had already worked seven hours today, and was sick to boot, and made a simple request: "Give me a break." I was doing the best I could- the best I could, mind you, to get her cafeteria running as quickly as I could. She told me to reboot the register and try again, and if that failed, to write down people's numbers. Ran back to the front.
I rebooted the register- no success. Rebooted it again, slightly more thoroughly- still not working. So I started writing down people's numbers. I think I got about eight of them written down when she walked up, right in front of me- didn't look at me or say a single word- and started waving the customers through, telling them "Yup, free meal, go on through, the register's down. Yup, enjoy. Look- we're not always the evil empire!" (I kid you not. To my mind, this amounts to an explicit admission that most of the time, that's exactly what Chartwells is.) After doing this for a couple of minutes, she then walked off.
So I was left with a decision to make. Should I go back to writing down numbers, or keep waving people through? I figured I had to make a fairly unwarranted assumption either way, so I chose the method that hurt Chartwells the most. Sat back, waved people through, wrote some rather scathing haiku (which, as it turns out, was quite relaxing). After about a half hour of this, my manager came back up to talk to me (as there was a lull in the incoming customers):
"Listen, here's the deal. What you did earlier... That amounts to insubordination."
"No, here's the deal. I didn't have a problem at all until you told me I had an attitude- which I didn't. I was trying to move as quickly as possible to get things done to get your door open and your cafeteria running smoothly."
[It should be noted that while I was talking she tried to interrupt me and I didn't let her.]
"See, you're talking over me. Here's the thing. Tonight, we're parting ways. You're a good kid, and a good worker, but it's not working."
"Because I'm not willing to take your shit?"
"See, right there, that's insubordination again."
"Well, you're already canning me, aren't you? What difference does it make?"
At this point she told me that I should leave immediately, before things "got ugly". I really should point out that despite my language, I am proud of retaining throughout a calm and quite polite demeanor. The thing is, I wasn't upset- hell, I don't need the job badly enough to put up with the kind of crap they've been expecting me to, and I've been thinking about quitting as is. I wasn't angry in the slightest. I was perfectly reasonable about the whole thing- any ugliness would certainly have been on her part.
So I left, and then came back to punch out. I also left a nice note on her desk regarding the level of respect I expect from my employers, and the reasons for which, lacking such, I returned the favor. Again, it wasn't angry, nasty, or even profane. I also didn't spit in her glass or cough on her stuff, as much as I almost wish I had.
And that's it. I'm gone. Why am I gone? For telling her to give me a break, and refusing to let her interrupt me. What's really funny is that she was right in telling me I was a good worker- she and others have complimented my efforts several times, and there are very few people there who work harder or better than I did, even despite my newness to the job. Really, it's herself she's hurting.
The other funny thing being, of course, that she seemed pretty ticked off about the whole thing. I'm not. So she's angry and I'm fine with it. Ruined her evening and not mine. Heh... suits me just fine.
I should probably find an alternative second job, but that would've happened anyway.