FUCKING FUCK IT FUCKING SUCKS
That is all.
OK it's not. So around Christmas time, the seasonal help is hired. Unfortunately, the seasonal help is 90% high school kids that are only there to pick up a paycheck while they talk to their friends and do no fucking work, and we can't fire them because we somehow need them for the little they may be forced into doing to partial completion. Another 10% are people who are willing to work, but have the brain power of a Colecovision and therefore their work is liken to the antics of Baby Huey. The final 10%, and that's a generous 10%, is people who do what is needed of them. Or they're just pretty.
Every Tuesday, we have freight. Freight is the big magic toy truck that dumps off a shitload of boxes for us to open, price the items inside, and then somehow find room for all of it on the shelves. This is done by people in the backroom, AND cashiers. People on the floor should be helping to put items on the shelf. We had so much, that we needed to do freight today, as well.
So today, I come in at 5pm. One of the garbages is full to overflowing. Why not... tie it up and maybe bring it to the back with the other garbage, when you can just watch as you throw something out and see it roll out onto the floor? That's just more fun!
So I tied up the garbage, put in a new bag, and brought the garbage to the back. I come back up after finding out that I'm just on floor tonight (as opposed to having a register as well), and we have two flatbeds full of freight, as well as 3-4 cartfulls of returns (items that need to go back to the aisles/freight that has been prices). So I returned all the carts, myself. After which, I started taking items from the flatbed not being worked on, and start pricing and filling up a cart. When the cart is full, I put the items out and go back to the freight.
Near the end, there are 3-4 carts full of the remaining freight from the other flatbed (that 2-3 people were doing, no less. We'll call these three people Beepo, Porkchop, and Cutiepie. These three all had registers as well). Cutiepie started to work on the boxes I had left, and we finished.
So I go back and get a whole lot of new boxes to open, price, and put out. Meanwhile, the carts the other did remained there, and nobody got more freight to do. Beepo and Porkchop rang people up, and then goofed off when there were no customers to ring up, and Cutiepie was ringing people up, taking the cardboard boxes to the back, and talking with the others from time to time. I did the second freight all by myself.
Near the end of my second stack of boxes, Beepo decides to finally take one of his carts to put the items out, while Porkchop leans over the counter, waiting for the next customer. So the manager calls her up and asks her how freight is coming along.
"We finished ours a while ago. James is still working on his."
Manager asks if she thought about helping me with "mine." She says that they had the items to return, still, and Beepo was doing it. So the manager tells him that he'll bring her up another flatbed of goodies. She says no. He says yes. She says "if you want, I guess." He says "Well, now that I have your blessing, I'll come up."
All while this is going on, someone we'll call Huey is doing customer service on the floor, and supposedly doing recovery. She is on floor because putting her on the register results in too many problems.
So anyway, after I finished up my second stack of boxes, I went to the back to get more. Manager says I can just take already priced items and put them out. I did 2-3 trips' worth of those. Beepo, Porkchop, and Cutiepie still haven't finished their new stack of freight. And now Porkchop is doing returns.
Hour before we close, the manager asks me to start doing recovery (making the shelves look pretty). So I ask Huey what she's done so far of recovery. She said she's done all the aisles, and asiles 1-3 (we have 9 aisles), are definitely all perfect, so I should just check the rest. I relay this news to the manager, and we both share a little understanding not to trust the word of Huey. But NOW, the manager wants me to teach Cutiepie how to do recovery. I've never taught anyone how to do this.
So I take her to aisle one, and start to explain what to do, and pointing out a few examples and how to fix it. Example after example... after example. Remember how Huey said aisle 1-3 were definitely done? Yeah, NO. NO NO NO NO NO. Also, the returns Beepo and Porkchop had done? Well, let's just say I probably needed to teach them what to do as well. So my "lesson" involved showing her how to fix everyone else's mistakes, while she just nodded and said "Yeah, uh-huh, yah, yup." At least she seemed to get it and didn't do too bad. But at the same time, we have to fix all this shit, and having to teach her how to do it means we're going very slowly.
I also made the mistake of leaving the front of the store to be dealt with by Beepo and Porkchop (cashiers are responsible for the front, the video games, the registers, and the first half of each aisle if we're empty enough. Cashiers also vaccuum the carpets, take out the garbages, and then help with recovery if it's needed, or sweep if nobody else has started). Now, while I'm teaching cutiepie, I hear a crash. Porkchop is RIDING ON A FUCKING FLATBED. On top of which, both of them aren't 18 yet, so they legally have to be let out by 10pm. The front? Not done. Asisles 1-3? Now partially done through my teaching Cutiepie. The rest of the store? Fucking trainwreck.
And now the manager has left, leaving the assistant manager in charge.
So I told Cutiepie that she's pretty much all set, she'll start recovery at one end of the store, I'll start on the other, and we'll meet in the middle. As SOON as she gets to her end, we're both called to the backroom.
I have to let Huey out and relock the doors, while Cutiepie witnesses the assistant manager counting up the money. it should be noted that one other person is still doing freight in the back, while three others are taking care of garbage now. They're doing good, though I'd have wished for more help on the floor.
I told the three on garbage that I didn't think recovery was getting done tonight. I then told one of them to just let me out. He made sure it was OK with the assistant manager, and then let me out.
And now I'm home at 11pm bitching to you all about how a typical fucking day at work has been for me this holiday season. I'll be happy when Christmas is over, and we can finally fire all these half-brained worthless fucks. HOWEVER, Porkchop may or may not be seasonal help, so she'll still be there unless she gets let go too (which she should). Cutpiepie, I'm pretty sure, is being trained to stay on after Christmas. She's not bad, and without all the goofing off around her, she'll probably me more worthwhile. Huey will DEFINITELY be gone, because EVERYONE at the store understands how terrible she is and the problems she causes. Beepo will most likely be gone too, but he's actually not too bad a worker without other people around to goof off with. But he'll still have friends at the store after Christmas, so we'll see. Also, EVERY FUCKING DAY he works, his girlfriend comes in, and stays to talk with him. Then he goes on his break to talk some more. So I don't know.
If I stay working here, I'm gonna see about the possibility of becoming a aprt-time manager. That way I don't have to do as much of this shit, and I can be in a position to tell stupid people what to do.
SHARE YOUR WORK RANTS WITH ME, FOLKS! Merry Christmas, too.