Score one for the Big Man!
I lost my job today.
This is me being a bit ventastic: you've been warned...
So, I have been working my booty off for the bistro, coming in an average of a half an hour early and working off the clock, just to make sure everything gets done and things are ready for service - not to mention picking up the extra slack when the chef puts too much shit off. I've also been dealing with the chef deciding not to come in and do his job (menu changes and certain prep things he doesn't trust anyone else doing) while telling us via phone that he's 'on his way' or 'almost there' - and when he finally does show up, he's drunk and generally gets in the way more than he helps. On top of this, I'm usually the person who comes in to cover extra shifts when one of the other cooks goes on vacation.
Now, I usually only get to see Aileen a little bit every day. Specifically between 5:45am and 6:15am on weekdays, when I drive her to the BART station, between 10:45pm and 11something pm after I get off from work, Monday evening after 6:30, Saturday morning, and Sundays... Note, Sunday is the only day off that we have together, and this means, with a bit of math, that I get to see her for about 18 hours out of the week, not including Sundays. This has been really tough, but at least we had Sundays together, and that made it bearable. However, when the only other night shift cook, who usually works Sundays, takes a week off, not only does this mean that I get to work two weeks with only one day off apiece, but also that I don't get to see Aileen at all. Stressful, but it was temporary, so it was bearable... (by the way, the chef knows that this is my situation)
Then the schedule got changed. On the new schedule, I got to work Sunday evenings, yay!!! To make it better, when showing me the new schedule, the chef explained that Sundays schedule had been rearranged because 'he didn't feel like waking up early on Sundays.' Hmmm... Okaaaay... Also, my days off were split apart, and now I got Mondays and Thursdays off. Whipped Cream On Top: Oh, I had be ready to come in on Thursday because the cook (who had just come back from vacation) who was to work that night hadn't been feeling well. Cherry On Top: I show up to work on Thursday, and so does the other cook! Meanwhile, the chef sits on his ass in the office, playing around on his computer and getting drunk. When he finally comes out of the office, just an hour before close, I am - mildly put - pissed off at him. So when he asks me 'how's it going?' I respond with a non-committal monosyllabic grunt of 'fine'. Apparently, he feels I'm not paying enough attention to him, so he taps me on the shoulder, "hey, chef talking to you here." I turn to look at him deadpan. "Do you want to go home?" he asks. My expression, I can only assume, turns to something like you'd give a complete idiot asking a question that even they should know the answer to. I say yeah, he says go home, and to give him a call when I want a job. On my car ride home, he calls to tell me to take the next few days off and think about whether I want to continue working there or not - and he does so in the familiar language of a manager making sure that I couldn't collect unemployment... just in case.
Shifting tracks a bit: When I was hired, 6 months ago, I was told that I would be working up to being in the sous chef position. After about 3-4 months, I was pretty sure that smoke had been blown up my ass - especially after finding out that the same position had been promised to another of the line cooks when he was hired (just a few weeks after me). So, when a month ago, the chef had indicated to me that he was still interested in giving me the position I was dubious, but still interested. Apparently, my chef forgot that I live with another chef, (who told me exactly how much to expect to be paid for the position - as well as assuring me that I thoroughly deserved it) and offered me about 6K LESS than the position was worth. I balked at this amount, which he seemed unwilling to budge on, and the complete lack of ANY benefits. I was able to weasel health bennies into the offer, but wasn't willing to agree to anything until I saw some sort of material about what sort of benefit it would really be... A few weeks pass, and still I get no literature about health benefits. This could have something to do with the fact that the chef had gotten so drunk that night that he 'couldn't remember all the details of what we talked about.' Another week passes, and still I hear nothing (after I had reminded him of the 'forgotten' details).
Then I find myself being given a couple of days to figure out whether I want to work there any longer... So I go looking around on craigslist - just to see what my options would be. And lo and behold! The Firehouse Bistro and Books is hiring for Sous Chef, Line Cooks, and Servers! Hmmm... Well, at that point, I decide to let the chef know that if he wants me to continue working there that I want the sous chef position as well for blah per year and blah benefits, and that if he was unwilling to negotiate with me before my next shift, that I would take that as an indication that I was not wanted as an employee.
Well, you know how that ends. Also, I've been told I won't get any references from them if I don't hand in a formal letter of resignation. Cool, huh?
In Other News:
I hiked up a mountain yesterday. Not a BIG one, but enough to make me feel way accomplished, and to have a few miniature enlightenmental moments.
This is me being a bit ventastic: you've been warned...
So, I have been working my booty off for the bistro, coming in an average of a half an hour early and working off the clock, just to make sure everything gets done and things are ready for service - not to mention picking up the extra slack when the chef puts too much shit off. I've also been dealing with the chef deciding not to come in and do his job (menu changes and certain prep things he doesn't trust anyone else doing) while telling us via phone that he's 'on his way' or 'almost there' - and when he finally does show up, he's drunk and generally gets in the way more than he helps. On top of this, I'm usually the person who comes in to cover extra shifts when one of the other cooks goes on vacation.
Now, I usually only get to see Aileen a little bit every day. Specifically between 5:45am and 6:15am on weekdays, when I drive her to the BART station, between 10:45pm and 11something pm after I get off from work, Monday evening after 6:30, Saturday morning, and Sundays... Note, Sunday is the only day off that we have together, and this means, with a bit of math, that I get to see her for about 18 hours out of the week, not including Sundays. This has been really tough, but at least we had Sundays together, and that made it bearable. However, when the only other night shift cook, who usually works Sundays, takes a week off, not only does this mean that I get to work two weeks with only one day off apiece, but also that I don't get to see Aileen at all. Stressful, but it was temporary, so it was bearable... (by the way, the chef knows that this is my situation)
Then the schedule got changed. On the new schedule, I got to work Sunday evenings, yay!!! To make it better, when showing me the new schedule, the chef explained that Sundays schedule had been rearranged because 'he didn't feel like waking up early on Sundays.' Hmmm... Okaaaay... Also, my days off were split apart, and now I got Mondays and Thursdays off. Whipped Cream On Top: Oh, I had be ready to come in on Thursday because the cook (who had just come back from vacation) who was to work that night hadn't been feeling well. Cherry On Top: I show up to work on Thursday, and so does the other cook! Meanwhile, the chef sits on his ass in the office, playing around on his computer and getting drunk. When he finally comes out of the office, just an hour before close, I am - mildly put - pissed off at him. So when he asks me 'how's it going?' I respond with a non-committal monosyllabic grunt of 'fine'. Apparently, he feels I'm not paying enough attention to him, so he taps me on the shoulder, "hey, chef talking to you here." I turn to look at him deadpan. "Do you want to go home?" he asks. My expression, I can only assume, turns to something like you'd give a complete idiot asking a question that even they should know the answer to. I say yeah, he says go home, and to give him a call when I want a job. On my car ride home, he calls to tell me to take the next few days off and think about whether I want to continue working there or not - and he does so in the familiar language of a manager making sure that I couldn't collect unemployment... just in case.
Shifting tracks a bit: When I was hired, 6 months ago, I was told that I would be working up to being in the sous chef position. After about 3-4 months, I was pretty sure that smoke had been blown up my ass - especially after finding out that the same position had been promised to another of the line cooks when he was hired (just a few weeks after me). So, when a month ago, the chef had indicated to me that he was still interested in giving me the position I was dubious, but still interested. Apparently, my chef forgot that I live with another chef, (who told me exactly how much to expect to be paid for the position - as well as assuring me that I thoroughly deserved it) and offered me about 6K LESS than the position was worth. I balked at this amount, which he seemed unwilling to budge on, and the complete lack of ANY benefits. I was able to weasel health bennies into the offer, but wasn't willing to agree to anything until I saw some sort of material about what sort of benefit it would really be... A few weeks pass, and still I get no literature about health benefits. This could have something to do with the fact that the chef had gotten so drunk that night that he 'couldn't remember all the details of what we talked about.' Another week passes, and still I hear nothing (after I had reminded him of the 'forgotten' details).
Then I find myself being given a couple of days to figure out whether I want to work there any longer... So I go looking around on craigslist - just to see what my options would be. And lo and behold! The Firehouse Bistro and Books is hiring for Sous Chef, Line Cooks, and Servers! Hmmm... Well, at that point, I decide to let the chef know that if he wants me to continue working there that I want the sous chef position as well for blah per year and blah benefits, and that if he was unwilling to negotiate with me before my next shift, that I would take that as an indication that I was not wanted as an employee.
Well, you know how that ends. Also, I've been told I won't get any references from them if I don't hand in a formal letter of resignation. Cool, huh?
In Other News:
I hiked up a mountain yesterday. Not a BIG one, but enough to make me feel way accomplished, and to have a few miniature enlightenmental moments.