Thursday, November 09, 2006

Misinformation

In typical fashion, The Company, or rather, its Owner, likes to keep things secretive and keep its staff in the dark as to what exactly is going on. Even if it concerns them. So, I rocked up to HO a few minutes past nine (I'm still in the 'sleeping-in-can't-be-bothered' phase) after having rushed there and broken many speeding limits. They were packing the place up. I had heard they were moving, but Helena said it wasn't confirmed yet, as The Owner changes his mind like the weather. I was NOT impressed. I could've still been asleep. I had a coffee in preparation for some straining boredom and brain work. I even made my lunch! Helena called me last week to ask me to come in on Thursday, as now Grant and the other Upstairs people want their reports by Friday morning. I said that was fine. So I made the effort to go only to be turned away by the removalists.

Someone warned/joked to me when I first started at The Company, that they treat us like mushrooms. Huh? I was confused. Hadn't heard that one before.

"They keep you in the dark and feed you sh*t" they replied with a knowing, cynical laugh.

I was to understand all too soon what they meant by that. I wasn't that surprised when the office was empty and I obviously didn't know. At least I got my payslip today, and they have 'overpaid' me an extra 2 hours, so that makes up for some of the trouble I went to, I suppose. And all the unpaid overtime we do.

Today was just one of those crappy days. I suppose it started this morning. Then I went to The Supermarket to talk to Cindy to ask to move to night fill, like Trev had said. I ended up picking up an extra shift and covering 11AM-6PM. That was fine. I went back home to change into my uniform, picked up a newspaper on the way and was back again in plenty of time. I was early, and it was busy down at the checkouts, so I went down earlier anyway to speak to Cindy. She was less than impressed with the fact that I had just stayed back on Friday night. Without authorisation, blah blah, you can't just do that, you won't get paid, blah blah. No, you can't just move to night fill, because you were hired for checkouts. Well, I was less than impressed with her response too. And here beginneth the ranting:

No one had told me I was hired for checkouts. My initial 5 minute interview with Therese, the previous Checkout Manager just asked me where I'd like to work, I specified night fill. Sally, the hiring manager and 2IC (2nd in charge) at our induction training, asked us where we'd like to work, I said night fill, as I'm mostly available nights as I work days at The Company. So then I turned up for training with Cindy, who had just been transferred to that store that day, and Sally had only told her that day that I'd be coming in for training. So she wasn't at all prepared for me.

I had no The Supermarket shirt, no locker, they literally threw a random shirt at me (I wanted a short sleeve, but no matter) and left me there, promptly forgetting about me. I was waiting outside their office, confused. So where do I go from here? What do I do now? Once one of the other guys noticed me waiting outside, he interrupted whatever important meeting they were having and told her I was still outside. First I was put with some of the other Checkout Chicks and 'helped' pack bags for a while. She didn't have the training books for me to work with on the POS. Then she just put me on a terminal/checkout and had me work through the theory and exercises. Sure, whatever. I can do that. So I did that for about 6 hours in total (over two shifts) and finished it all, but still had little idea of how to process sales on the POS by myself. What if an item doesn't scan? What if the customer says they are discounted? What if I need change? So after a while, they left me on my checkout, with a 'L' plate and I figured it out eventually, with much help from the Checkout Chicks on the next lane.

Back to today... So when I went downstairs 15minutes early to talk to Cindy about transferring, she didn't recognise me at first. The other staff had told her I wanted to talk to her about transferring to the night fill department when I went back for my uniform. She asked what I was after, and when I answered, it clicked. 'Oh, I remember you, Ranter. I trained you'. I was flabbergasted. What?! You TRAINED me?! You left me at the Checkout to go through the training POS and said to go look for you if I had any trouble. The computer froze on me several times, I went to go look for help, and you'd already gone home for the day. I stood there for hours going through the POS training and you didn't even come to check up on me. I was given no introduction to the store, where things were, where I could put my things, the clock on machine, where to collect pays, who to ask if I had any enquries... And you think you TRAINED me?! I was cross. As far as I'm concerned, she logged on the terminal for me to start my training, and that was it. I didn't see her for another week after my initial training shift. Thanks for nothing. And then she tells me off for working in a different department without consulting anyone, and I should never, ever do that. I'm sorry, I didn't know. The guys asked if I wanted to stay back, as they were short staffed, and I agreed. I thought I was being helpful. So sorry. (note sarcasm)

'How long have you been here?'
'Three weeks'
'No, you can't transfer to night fill, you've been hired for checkouts'
'But I wasn't told that when I first came in. I told Sally and Therese that I wanted to work night fill, and Trev said they needed another person'
'Well, I'll have to ask Sally about that. You can't just go changing departments by yourself'

Well, sor-ry. I thought they wanted us to experience different departments and be multi-skilled so we can be called in to cover shifts if necessary. Quite frankly, checkouts suck because the meat and food stinks, is squishy, slimy and generally gross. And customers ... well, I wanted a position at The Supermarket so I wouldn't have to deal with them anymore. I get enough crap at The Company as it is.

Blogging about today is making me angry (and I was fine before I thought about it again) and I am tired. I'm going to sleep.

2 comments:

caramaena said...

Cindy sounds like a nutcase.

Ranter said...

Yeah, I haven't seen Cindy since, but Catherine, one of the other supervisors, is great. I think I might avoid Cindy for a while and pick shifts with Catherine instead...