So the past few days when I've been closing the store, I've been getting out far later than I should have, all because I'm missing the one key person that would have made things go so much better. Like the last time I closed, it ended up being myself and one other person who was scheduled to leave an hour before closing, which is typical.
The other person? Well, she was a no call no show.. I knew that she had been in the hospital because she had apparently passed out. That made me feel kind of bad, except that the next day after she had gone to the hospital, she was in the store acting like everything was normal. It's one of those cases where I feel bad for her, since apparently she had had a baby just four weeks prior, but at the same time, we still need someone to at the very least say that they're not showing, or someone else to take the place. I don't know what to think about whether or not she did have a legitimate hospital episode.
So, I was there about 45 minutes more than I probably would have it have if I had had someone else there during the day. And it's getting commonplace, because of the fact that people come and go so often that it's almost not worth it to learn their names sometimes. So honestly, it's like mcds. Except that I do more work, and my hands are constantly gray from dish washing. I mean it literally, my hands have cracks that the dirt from the place seeps into, and it's like there's no way to get it out.
I suppose that when I do eventually quit, I'll always have that memento.
Monday, April 19, 2010
Friday, April 9, 2010
Not been on here in a while
Working at SW is pretty exhausting, in ways I never thought possible. My back constantly hurts, my legs ache, my feet are developing calluses, and worse of all, all of these pains are the result of repetitive work. Doing dishes sums up a good portion of the repetitive nature of this job.
Why do I say that? Because there are, a LOT of fucking dishes. Some dishes you literally are redoing 3-4 times a day. You clean a cambro that had prep in it so that it can be clean for another item of prep so that it can be used up and need to be cleaned so that it's ready for another item of prep.. it's maddening. And the sink that they use requires a lot of bending over to clean some of the dishes that we have sometimes, because the actual area given in order to scrub is blocked by a handwashing sink. My back hurts just thinking about it.
Already there's been a changeup when it comes to employees. The one woman who was a bit slow and dumb when it came to most anything finally got pissy when a manager was trying to get an order done, and so she's working on the grocery store side now.. for now. She's already talking of trying to find a new job. We've had several new people in, including one who seems to be about as slow and dumb as the previous, but I'll reserve further judgment since I've only worked a two hour period with her (and I wanted to shoot myself). Another person came back because the guy who had left due to unfair treatment was gone.. apparently this 16 year old had been chatting with said guy outside of store hours and parents disapproved. I found it amusing that this guy took the trouble of buying this girl a cheapo cell just so they could "talk". I doubt that mom would really be so pissy if it was just "talking" with an older guy, but I digress.
Well, that's most of what I can think of that's been going on for now.. nothing particular customer wise, which is amazing.
Why do I say that? Because there are, a LOT of fucking dishes. Some dishes you literally are redoing 3-4 times a day. You clean a cambro that had prep in it so that it can be clean for another item of prep so that it can be used up and need to be cleaned so that it's ready for another item of prep.. it's maddening. And the sink that they use requires a lot of bending over to clean some of the dishes that we have sometimes, because the actual area given in order to scrub is blocked by a handwashing sink. My back hurts just thinking about it.
Already there's been a changeup when it comes to employees. The one woman who was a bit slow and dumb when it came to most anything finally got pissy when a manager was trying to get an order done, and so she's working on the grocery store side now.. for now. She's already talking of trying to find a new job. We've had several new people in, including one who seems to be about as slow and dumb as the previous, but I'll reserve further judgment since I've only worked a two hour period with her (and I wanted to shoot myself). Another person came back because the guy who had left due to unfair treatment was gone.. apparently this 16 year old had been chatting with said guy outside of store hours and parents disapproved. I found it amusing that this guy took the trouble of buying this girl a cheapo cell just so they could "talk". I doubt that mom would really be so pissy if it was just "talking" with an older guy, but I digress.
Well, that's most of what I can think of that's been going on for now.. nothing particular customer wise, which is amazing.
Saturday, April 3, 2010
Well, I said that the job wasn't so bad....
Now I'm not as sure. One of the persons who had been working there for a while as a shift leader just up and quit a few days ago. It had something to do with unfair treatment, I didn't try to ask too much about specifics because I doubted that I would learn much.
I could see how he could get mad, though. He was working on training a manager in training on some things, for one thing.. someone that I think was hired from outside, when he was perfectly capable of being a manager himself. And I'm sure he would have wanted to, because from what I've been told, even if we work full time hours, we're not considered full time workers due to how we're defined in the employee handbook. Which means we're not privy to the allegedly awesome benefits that this company offers, but rather given the option of some rather crappy part time benefits.
I also nearly wanted to cry today, because of one customer. A woman comes in with her 4 kids and they all order sandwiches. She says that 2 of them were italian:
Me: So you want two spicy italian subs? Or two sandwiches on italian bread?
Her; I want italian bread, and whatever the italian is.
I assume that she means that yes, she wants spicy italian for the kids. So I make the sandwiches, and in the meantime I get a huge line of customers. Right now it's just me and someone else, and he's taking an order for drive thru. So I get on the intercom and I call for another person who's in the back to come up front. Only when she comes up, instead of helping me, she goes.. to make the two lousy sandwiches for drive thru.
So I'm trying to get the meat and cheese on the five sandwiches for this one family before I go to the veggies, and the woman asks why there isn't more meat on the italians. I tell her that I made them as the spicy italians, and THEN she tells me that she meant the italian bmts and that typically she just calls them italians and people know what she means. WTF? I don't know where this woman orders from, but where I work, people say a BMT when they want a BMT. Plus no two SWs (as I shall hence refer to this place) are alike in terms of what they offer or how things are done, since each is franchisee owned and thus the franchisers can say if they want to do certain things or not, just as long as they adhere to general standards.
She also objected to a third sandwich, since the cheese had melted into the paper and she felt that it was too toasted. Now at this point her kids were all objecting to mom interfering, and they felt the sandwiches were fine; however, mom is paying, so I remake the three sandwiches. Even though I got griped at because I moved from veggies to fixing this order.. although I had started on meat but the other person decided to do the fucking drive thru order instead of helping me with at least ONE order of someone right in front of me.
I don't really know how I feel about this job.. I get a lot more tired because there's a lot more to do. It's hectic and yet it's not hectic; people do quite a bit of work and yet people still laze around and do nothing. I guess the more I work, the less there is to like, but I get real paychecks because I'm working real hours now. I also get worried because turnover is pretty high.. the district manager stopped by and commented on how he was glad I was still there.. two weeks after I was hired. A place like this worries me. They'll always need people, but is it worth it? I'm still on the job hunt because of that fear.
I could see how he could get mad, though. He was working on training a manager in training on some things, for one thing.. someone that I think was hired from outside, when he was perfectly capable of being a manager himself. And I'm sure he would have wanted to, because from what I've been told, even if we work full time hours, we're not considered full time workers due to how we're defined in the employee handbook. Which means we're not privy to the allegedly awesome benefits that this company offers, but rather given the option of some rather crappy part time benefits.
I also nearly wanted to cry today, because of one customer. A woman comes in with her 4 kids and they all order sandwiches. She says that 2 of them were italian:
Me: So you want two spicy italian subs? Or two sandwiches on italian bread?
Her; I want italian bread, and whatever the italian is.
I assume that she means that yes, she wants spicy italian for the kids. So I make the sandwiches, and in the meantime I get a huge line of customers. Right now it's just me and someone else, and he's taking an order for drive thru. So I get on the intercom and I call for another person who's in the back to come up front. Only when she comes up, instead of helping me, she goes.. to make the two lousy sandwiches for drive thru.
So I'm trying to get the meat and cheese on the five sandwiches for this one family before I go to the veggies, and the woman asks why there isn't more meat on the italians. I tell her that I made them as the spicy italians, and THEN she tells me that she meant the italian bmts and that typically she just calls them italians and people know what she means. WTF? I don't know where this woman orders from, but where I work, people say a BMT when they want a BMT. Plus no two SWs (as I shall hence refer to this place) are alike in terms of what they offer or how things are done, since each is franchisee owned and thus the franchisers can say if they want to do certain things or not, just as long as they adhere to general standards.
She also objected to a third sandwich, since the cheese had melted into the paper and she felt that it was too toasted. Now at this point her kids were all objecting to mom interfering, and they felt the sandwiches were fine; however, mom is paying, so I remake the three sandwiches. Even though I got griped at because I moved from veggies to fixing this order.. although I had started on meat but the other person decided to do the fucking drive thru order instead of helping me with at least ONE order of someone right in front of me.
I don't really know how I feel about this job.. I get a lot more tired because there's a lot more to do. It's hectic and yet it's not hectic; people do quite a bit of work and yet people still laze around and do nothing. I guess the more I work, the less there is to like, but I get real paychecks because I'm working real hours now. I also get worried because turnover is pretty high.. the district manager stopped by and commented on how he was glad I was still there.. two weeks after I was hired. A place like this worries me. They'll always need people, but is it worth it? I'm still on the job hunt because of that fear.
Saturday, March 20, 2010
So, new job
Well, my new job is still in food, but working with subs rather than burgers. Honestly, it's not that hard to really pick up on, save for a few minor things like settings for cooking things like bread and such, but nothing so intellectually challenging. I'm already annoyed that people seem to think I should be dumber.. it's like I understand it from the new morons I'd deal with training at mcd's, but at the same time, it feels just a bit insulting.
There are some things I'm worried about, such as people complaining that they seem to promote from outside rather than inside the company, how some people are slow/lazy, how we're scheduled to work until 11 if we're a closer but since that's only when we actually close the store, we still stay later than scheduled doing actual closing duties... has me a bit worried, so I'm still looking at classified ads just in case.
I did already have one customer that I just wasn't sure what to think. He comes up and insists that he's going to teach me how to make a sandwich, because he likes his stuff put on the sandwich in a certain way. I make it how he wants it made and then he made some comment about women in the kitchen cooking.
Me: Actually, I don't really cook, my husband cooks.
Him: What? That's silly.
Me: We made a deal that he does all the cooking, and I do all the cleaning. Besides, cooking was a traditionally male occupation, as you see in chefs.
Him: So, does he wear the panties of the pair of you, or do you wear them?
Me: (wtf?????) Er... sometimes we switch.
He left it at that. I mean, wtf? That's just weird and insulting.. and I didn't really feel I could say much because he is apparently a regular, and being old has probably cemented certain views in his head. It was still just weird.
I suppose the job isn't that bad. The people in the connecting grocery/gas store come over to help when needed, it isn't nearly as hectic, usually is something to do, and I actually get paid more and get a few more hours. So it'll probably do me pretty well for now.
There are some things I'm worried about, such as people complaining that they seem to promote from outside rather than inside the company, how some people are slow/lazy, how we're scheduled to work until 11 if we're a closer but since that's only when we actually close the store, we still stay later than scheduled doing actual closing duties... has me a bit worried, so I'm still looking at classified ads just in case.
I did already have one customer that I just wasn't sure what to think. He comes up and insists that he's going to teach me how to make a sandwich, because he likes his stuff put on the sandwich in a certain way. I make it how he wants it made and then he made some comment about women in the kitchen cooking.
Me: Actually, I don't really cook, my husband cooks.
Him: What? That's silly.
Me: We made a deal that he does all the cooking, and I do all the cleaning. Besides, cooking was a traditionally male occupation, as you see in chefs.
Him: So, does he wear the panties of the pair of you, or do you wear them?
Me: (wtf?????) Er... sometimes we switch.
He left it at that. I mean, wtf? That's just weird and insulting.. and I didn't really feel I could say much because he is apparently a regular, and being old has probably cemented certain views in his head. It was still just weird.
I suppose the job isn't that bad. The people in the connecting grocery/gas store come over to help when needed, it isn't nearly as hectic, usually is something to do, and I actually get paid more and get a few more hours. So it'll probably do me pretty well for now.
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Yay, surveys!
I'm so glad that I'm quitting. It's gotten to be the time of the year for surveys at mcd's. What does that mean?
It means that people are being pressured into giving a certain answer so that the store looks better! I remember my first survey.. we had one of the assistant managers (salaried) standing over us telling us that we had to answer a certain way for certain questions so as to make the store look more positive. I'm sorry, but if the point is to find out what I actually think, and I'm being pressured to answer in a certain way, then what's the point? Since I'm quitting, I don't have to deal with taking those, but the other people.. well, they get pulled off of the floor in order to do those so that they're all done within a week's time.
People are getting weird around me at work. The store manager in particular has gotten huggy and lovey towards me. I honestly don't know how to react about it, but I know that today is my last day and then no more of this. However, this is the same store manager who actually did put up a sign asking people to sign up if they think they can hack being a manager, because apparently they're looking to promote 3 of them, what with one of them stepping down and them just needing 2 more besides that for the summer. Where the hell was this a year ago when I was wanting to be promoted then? I still get mad at the idea that the store manager thought I might not want to be promoted, what with my baby and all.. that's the very reason WHY I'd want to be promoted!
But if I was to be promoted, I'd have to deal with people like the dumb deaf guy with the shitty hearing aid. He came through drive thru the other day. I try to take his order at first, but he was having such a hard time hearing me that I told him to pull around to my window. He told me he wanted "an angus meal with a coffee instead of a drink" which I tell him we can do. So he pulls around and here's the conversation:
Him: I want a number 13.
Me: You want a fish meal instead of the...
Him: NO! I want an angus meal!
Me: Which one sir? We have three, the deluxe, the bacon and cheese, and the mushroom and swiss.
Him: What difference does it make? Just give me an angus burger, the one with all the stuff on it!
Me: Ok, do you want that meal medium sized or large?
Him: What do you mean by that?
Me: Do you want the french fry medium or large?
Him: *getting flustered* Just give me the large!
Me: Ok, and that's with a coffee..
Him: Yes, with 3 creams!
Me: In the coffee or on the side?
Him: In the coffee, dammit! How much is my total?
I tell him the total, he pays, and then I deal with the huge line that resulted from this guy hogging the window. I find out later that the guy complained about me, *again*, this time for caring more about the money than the customer. Well, that's true, but at the same time, he's pissy because I care enough to ask questions to ensure that the order is correct, and questions that other people don't bother to ask. I'm sorry for giving a shit about your order! I relayed the above convo to the manager who took the complaint, and she agreed that dude was an idiot.
And things like that I won't miss at all.
It means that people are being pressured into giving a certain answer so that the store looks better! I remember my first survey.. we had one of the assistant managers (salaried) standing over us telling us that we had to answer a certain way for certain questions so as to make the store look more positive. I'm sorry, but if the point is to find out what I actually think, and I'm being pressured to answer in a certain way, then what's the point? Since I'm quitting, I don't have to deal with taking those, but the other people.. well, they get pulled off of the floor in order to do those so that they're all done within a week's time.
People are getting weird around me at work. The store manager in particular has gotten huggy and lovey towards me. I honestly don't know how to react about it, but I know that today is my last day and then no more of this. However, this is the same store manager who actually did put up a sign asking people to sign up if they think they can hack being a manager, because apparently they're looking to promote 3 of them, what with one of them stepping down and them just needing 2 more besides that for the summer. Where the hell was this a year ago when I was wanting to be promoted then? I still get mad at the idea that the store manager thought I might not want to be promoted, what with my baby and all.. that's the very reason WHY I'd want to be promoted!
But if I was to be promoted, I'd have to deal with people like the dumb deaf guy with the shitty hearing aid. He came through drive thru the other day. I try to take his order at first, but he was having such a hard time hearing me that I told him to pull around to my window. He told me he wanted "an angus meal with a coffee instead of a drink" which I tell him we can do. So he pulls around and here's the conversation:
Him: I want a number 13.
Me: You want a fish meal instead of the...
Him: NO! I want an angus meal!
Me: Which one sir? We have three, the deluxe, the bacon and cheese, and the mushroom and swiss.
Him: What difference does it make? Just give me an angus burger, the one with all the stuff on it!
Me: Ok, do you want that meal medium sized or large?
Him: What do you mean by that?
Me: Do you want the french fry medium or large?
Him: *getting flustered* Just give me the large!
Me: Ok, and that's with a coffee..
Him: Yes, with 3 creams!
Me: In the coffee or on the side?
Him: In the coffee, dammit! How much is my total?
I tell him the total, he pays, and then I deal with the huge line that resulted from this guy hogging the window. I find out later that the guy complained about me, *again*, this time for caring more about the money than the customer. Well, that's true, but at the same time, he's pissy because I care enough to ask questions to ensure that the order is correct, and questions that other people don't bother to ask. I'm sorry for giving a shit about your order! I relayed the above convo to the manager who took the complaint, and she agreed that dude was an idiot.
And things like that I won't miss at all.
Thursday, March 11, 2010
Put in my resignation
Yesterday I gave the management my resignation letter, which was a nice polite ditty and even thanked them for the time I've spent there. I gave it to the store manager and she read it while I got my last schedule.
And honestly, it made me even more annoyed. She claimed that she didn't know that I had wanted to move up, and then claimed she thought I wouldn't want to because of baby. First of all, me having a baby gives me MORE incentive to want to move up. Right now I am capped at what I can make, meaning that a promotion is the ONLY way I'd get a raise. (I had started up making a bit more than I should have, but that was due to reasons I won't get into). I've worked at mcd for over a year, and all that time, not been able to get a raise, yet I was busting my butt doing the work of at least two people. Honestly, it just wasn't worth it.
Then the store manager kinda sorta tried to keep me by asking if I would reconsider if I was promoted.. except if she hadn't actually wanted to promote me during the year I worked there, I don't see good things coming from being promoted to avoid me quitting. She claimed that she was looking to get more managers, yet when I chat with another salaried manager (in charge of scheduling), that manager says it was only a rumor. So in other words the store manager was going to try to promise something that she may or may not have delivered on. Nice.
So I have less than a week before I leave and go on to greener pastures. It won't be an ideal job, still in the food industry, but it won't be nearly as busy and I might actually get somewhat calmer. I would make slightly more, get a shot at having real full time hours (not this <30 hour crap I've been doing currently), and a real chance at a promotion.. I am going for it and not looking back.
And honestly, it made me even more annoyed. She claimed that she didn't know that I had wanted to move up, and then claimed she thought I wouldn't want to because of baby. First of all, me having a baby gives me MORE incentive to want to move up. Right now I am capped at what I can make, meaning that a promotion is the ONLY way I'd get a raise. (I had started up making a bit more than I should have, but that was due to reasons I won't get into). I've worked at mcd for over a year, and all that time, not been able to get a raise, yet I was busting my butt doing the work of at least two people. Honestly, it just wasn't worth it.
Then the store manager kinda sorta tried to keep me by asking if I would reconsider if I was promoted.. except if she hadn't actually wanted to promote me during the year I worked there, I don't see good things coming from being promoted to avoid me quitting. She claimed that she was looking to get more managers, yet when I chat with another salaried manager (in charge of scheduling), that manager says it was only a rumor. So in other words the store manager was going to try to promise something that she may or may not have delivered on. Nice.
So I have less than a week before I leave and go on to greener pastures. It won't be an ideal job, still in the food industry, but it won't be nearly as busy and I might actually get somewhat calmer. I would make slightly more, get a shot at having real full time hours (not this <30 hour crap I've been doing currently), and a real chance at a promotion.. I am going for it and not looking back.
Monday, March 8, 2010
Just a short list of annoyances
The little things can really add up for something big.
1) Grandmotherly manager was once again running for drive thru and getting frustrated and confused over the whole running process. She had asked for an order to be made ahead of the others because it was an addition to the order for window, and she was rebuffed, basically due to how she asked. By asking I actually mean "overexplain the shit until the guys don't give a shit".
I suggested that she'd have better interaction with the grill team if she would stop treating them like idiots and talked to them like they were competent at their job (even suggested just how she could have asked for her order) and she basically ignored me. Even said that she shouldn't be questioned to begin with, because she's a manager. It's somewhat fair to say, but honestly, we get treated like retards by the customers enough, why do that as a manager?
2) Seriously, do something already! I was getting more and more frustrated because of the lack of common sense evident on our counter people. They just stand there.. never mind that things could be cleaned, lobby checked on, things stocked.. nope, they'll just stand there chatting, and the managers will let them. I can only keep after them to do stuff for just so long.
3) When you have two ordertakers in drive thru constantly ringing up the wrong item, combined with the customer ignoring all that the ordertaker is saying and ignoring everything on the screen *except* for their total (the pre-tax one, of course!).. well, I have to deal with it. I was constantly having to remake drinks, ring something extra up, even get the managers to offer refunds when something was rung up that shouldn't have been rung up. Add that in addition to the sauces, waters, etc that customers couldn't bother to ask for when they were ordering, and that makes for a slower than usual drive thru.
4) Being nice can make all the difference. Two customers had made my day after the cigarette guy last night, and this was due to their attitude about honest mistakes. I had rung a man up for an extra sandwich, and he was polite while I got a manager for a refund (I didn't see I had rung an extra up until after I had cashed it out), and even smiled afterwards. And at drive thru, when I made the wrong drink for a woman (she wanted hot, I made it iced), she accepted it without an issue. And that made me feel better, at least for a bit until someone else came along and bitched about something.
5) We're not total morons. I hate it when someone asks "Are you sure this is diet?" Look, I have absolutely nothing to do with the actual making of your soft drink, it's all an automated process that stems from what the cashier rings up. And the drinks are set up to be handed out in advance.. there are few ways that the presenter can fuck up your drinks. The main way that mistakes happen are when the cashier rings up the wrong item which causes the wrong drink to be sent to the automated beverage station (or ABS), and the customer didn't bother to stick around to verify that he did have the right drink rung up.
6) If a manager makes a placement chart, at least actually follow it! I get sick of seeing a placement chart made up when I'm in a nice spot only to have that reverie ruined because they ignore it and stick me as presenter. If you're not going to follow even the basics of what you wrote down, why are you wasting the paper in doing a chart up?
All of those are minor, to be sure. All of them built up, though.. well, that makes a difference.
1) Grandmotherly manager was once again running for drive thru and getting frustrated and confused over the whole running process. She had asked for an order to be made ahead of the others because it was an addition to the order for window, and she was rebuffed, basically due to how she asked. By asking I actually mean "overexplain the shit until the guys don't give a shit".
I suggested that she'd have better interaction with the grill team if she would stop treating them like idiots and talked to them like they were competent at their job (even suggested just how she could have asked for her order) and she basically ignored me. Even said that she shouldn't be questioned to begin with, because she's a manager. It's somewhat fair to say, but honestly, we get treated like retards by the customers enough, why do that as a manager?
2) Seriously, do something already! I was getting more and more frustrated because of the lack of common sense evident on our counter people. They just stand there.. never mind that things could be cleaned, lobby checked on, things stocked.. nope, they'll just stand there chatting, and the managers will let them. I can only keep after them to do stuff for just so long.
3) When you have two ordertakers in drive thru constantly ringing up the wrong item, combined with the customer ignoring all that the ordertaker is saying and ignoring everything on the screen *except* for their total (the pre-tax one, of course!).. well, I have to deal with it. I was constantly having to remake drinks, ring something extra up, even get the managers to offer refunds when something was rung up that shouldn't have been rung up. Add that in addition to the sauces, waters, etc that customers couldn't bother to ask for when they were ordering, and that makes for a slower than usual drive thru.
4) Being nice can make all the difference. Two customers had made my day after the cigarette guy last night, and this was due to their attitude about honest mistakes. I had rung a man up for an extra sandwich, and he was polite while I got a manager for a refund (I didn't see I had rung an extra up until after I had cashed it out), and even smiled afterwards. And at drive thru, when I made the wrong drink for a woman (she wanted hot, I made it iced), she accepted it without an issue. And that made me feel better, at least for a bit until someone else came along and bitched about something.
5) We're not total morons. I hate it when someone asks "Are you sure this is diet?" Look, I have absolutely nothing to do with the actual making of your soft drink, it's all an automated process that stems from what the cashier rings up. And the drinks are set up to be handed out in advance.. there are few ways that the presenter can fuck up your drinks. The main way that mistakes happen are when the cashier rings up the wrong item which causes the wrong drink to be sent to the automated beverage station (or ABS), and the customer didn't bother to stick around to verify that he did have the right drink rung up.
6) If a manager makes a placement chart, at least actually follow it! I get sick of seeing a placement chart made up when I'm in a nice spot only to have that reverie ruined because they ignore it and stick me as presenter. If you're not going to follow even the basics of what you wrote down, why are you wasting the paper in doing a chart up?
All of those are minor, to be sure. All of them built up, though.. well, that makes a difference.
Filled with rage at management
Earlier today I was sitting in the lobby on my break when I smelled the distinct smell of cigarette smoke. I look up and notice that a customer has strolled into lobby with a lit cigarette. I am pretty sensitive to smoke, so I felt like gagging, and I get up and call out to one of the managers, figuring that she would tell the guy that he needed to put that cigarette out. Imagine my surprise when instead nothing is said to said "gentleman" and he is merely handed his food and told to have a nice day. I go sit back down for my food.
However, before this asshole leaves, he just has to show that he basically won by blowing his smoke in my face. Who wants to take a guess as to whether or not something as done?
So in other words, getting this customer's few measly dollars was more important than insuring the health and safety of their workers, as well as enforcing the law. Yeah, makes me feel good to know where I am on the totem pole. I can't wait to get a new job to put this one behind me. Which hopefully it will pan out with a job interview that I had had the other day, which resulted in the old pee test and background check deal that they typically do before actually "offering" a job.
However, before this asshole leaves, he just has to show that he basically won by blowing his smoke in my face. Who wants to take a guess as to whether or not something as done?
So in other words, getting this customer's few measly dollars was more important than insuring the health and safety of their workers, as well as enforcing the law. Yeah, makes me feel good to know where I am on the totem pole. I can't wait to get a new job to put this one behind me. Which hopefully it will pan out with a job interview that I had had the other day, which resulted in the old pee test and background check deal that they typically do before actually "offering" a job.
Thursday, March 4, 2010
Rudeness
So the other day I had gone in 2 hours before I was supposed to.. I was due to work 1-7, and I thought I was scheduled 11-5. Thinking I was supposed to be in, I just clock in as usual at 11, only to have 2 managers ask me why I was there, because I wasn't supposed to be there til 1. I clock out and check the schedule to verify (I always verify, because of issues I've had at other jobs), and lo and behold, the managers are right.
However, rather than actually letting me answer the question of whether or not I'd like to stay, they immediately prep a till for me for back booth.. I'm there anyway, I can just clock back in and let someone else leave early! So I stayed the two extra hours, resenting every single solitary minute of it. How freaking rude is that, to not even let me answer the question of whether I would stay the two extra hours, but to just assume it? If I had been allowed to answer, I would have just gone home and spent that time with the little one, instead of hanging out in back booth just taking money while some idiot woman was taking orders and letting dishes pile up because she's slow. Doesn't give me a real reason to want to stay loyal to a place like this.
However, rather than actually letting me answer the question of whether or not I'd like to stay, they immediately prep a till for me for back booth.. I'm there anyway, I can just clock back in and let someone else leave early! So I stayed the two extra hours, resenting every single solitary minute of it. How freaking rude is that, to not even let me answer the question of whether I would stay the two extra hours, but to just assume it? If I had been allowed to answer, I would have just gone home and spent that time with the little one, instead of hanging out in back booth just taking money while some idiot woman was taking orders and letting dishes pile up because she's slow. Doesn't give me a real reason to want to stay loyal to a place like this.
Monday, March 1, 2010
Some people just don't get it
Last night we worked with grandmotherly manager again. She's a manager that some of the other managers start to dread working with, because some of the things that she does just makes it worse. Like the other night, she had made two fudge sundaes, but she had them regular. The customer ordered them with extra fudge, which for us means putting fudge on the top and the bottom. I tell her that they need to be remade, but she tells me to ask if they just want the extra fudge on the side. I ask the customers, "We made these regular, but if you want, we can put the extra fudge on the side, would you want that?" They say no.
So I go throw the sundaes away and remake them. Then grandmotherly manager takes it upon herself to go to the window and go into a whole explanation about why how the way we offered to fix it was indeed better, and convinces them to take it.. but since I had already thrown the previous two away, and remade them properly, they got the ones I had made. Now every time those customers come in, they're going to want the sundaes made the way G.M. had suggested.
Of course, this manager has a tendency to talk too much and overshare too much. We've all cringed over her medical issues, for instance. She also has a tendency to talk down to us and not really realize it. Last night she had one of the grill crew trainers in an fit because he's working on training someone on table in doing the basics, and she keeps stepping in because of some minor procedure that the trainee isn't being taught right then and there. Honestly, I'd really focus on them getting the basics down pat first, and then working on the details, but no, she has to step in every chance she gets to interfere with the crew trainer's work and make some minor point. It gets pretty insulting after a while.. it's only this particular trainee's third day, and he's still trying to figure out the basics, such as what goes on what sandwich, and getting his speed up. Work on the basics first before freaking out over the little stuff (such as those little paper sleeves for the third pounder sandwiches, which honestly, no one cares about anyway).
Well, after G.M. butts in one too many times while the crew trainer is training, the crew trainer stalks off to cool his jets for a few, since he was about to explode at the manager. I suggest to the floor manager (a pretty good friend of mine) that he talk to the G.M. about how she's making it harder to train someone, and floor manager agrees. He waffles a bit over how to do it, until I tell manager that if he didn't, I would, and I'm well known for being a bit too blunt. So he tries to tell G.M. in a nice way, only she denies doing anything out of sorts and doesn't understand what the fuss is about. Flew right over her head.
I suppose it doesn't surprise me, because a lot of times managers lose knowledge when it comes to certain positions because they don't work those positions often enough as managers. So really, when you have a crew trainer who does work the spot every day, or a manager who doesn't, the crew trainer is the better one to train.. only the manager gets listened to above a crew trainer because, well, they're a manager. It's pretty insulting.
So I go throw the sundaes away and remake them. Then grandmotherly manager takes it upon herself to go to the window and go into a whole explanation about why how the way we offered to fix it was indeed better, and convinces them to take it.. but since I had already thrown the previous two away, and remade them properly, they got the ones I had made. Now every time those customers come in, they're going to want the sundaes made the way G.M. had suggested.
Of course, this manager has a tendency to talk too much and overshare too much. We've all cringed over her medical issues, for instance. She also has a tendency to talk down to us and not really realize it. Last night she had one of the grill crew trainers in an fit because he's working on training someone on table in doing the basics, and she keeps stepping in because of some minor procedure that the trainee isn't being taught right then and there. Honestly, I'd really focus on them getting the basics down pat first, and then working on the details, but no, she has to step in every chance she gets to interfere with the crew trainer's work and make some minor point. It gets pretty insulting after a while.. it's only this particular trainee's third day, and he's still trying to figure out the basics, such as what goes on what sandwich, and getting his speed up. Work on the basics first before freaking out over the little stuff (such as those little paper sleeves for the third pounder sandwiches, which honestly, no one cares about anyway).
Well, after G.M. butts in one too many times while the crew trainer is training, the crew trainer stalks off to cool his jets for a few, since he was about to explode at the manager. I suggest to the floor manager (a pretty good friend of mine) that he talk to the G.M. about how she's making it harder to train someone, and floor manager agrees. He waffles a bit over how to do it, until I tell manager that if he didn't, I would, and I'm well known for being a bit too blunt. So he tries to tell G.M. in a nice way, only she denies doing anything out of sorts and doesn't understand what the fuss is about. Flew right over her head.
I suppose it doesn't surprise me, because a lot of times managers lose knowledge when it comes to certain positions because they don't work those positions often enough as managers. So really, when you have a crew trainer who does work the spot every day, or a manager who doesn't, the crew trainer is the better one to train.. only the manager gets listened to above a crew trainer because, well, they're a manager. It's pretty insulting.
Saturday, February 27, 2010
Don't need much sense to be a manager
Yesterday was not a great day. Recently the managers have taken to wearing the headsets that we wear in drive thru, so that they can hear the orders as they are being given. You have the production manager, the manager that usually ends up running, and the floor manager all wearing headsets. Problem? We only have 5 batteries, so 3 managers wearing headsets + 2 people on headsets taking orders at both speakers at peak time= batteries not being charged at all. So, of course, all of the batteries save one dies, and the one battery is barely hanging on. We had to go to another mcd in order to get a headset battery that may or may not have been working in order to be able to continue to take orders.
Now we also get to couple that craziness with the fact that from 7 am to 7 pm they're doing a March Madness, basically another way to speed our asses up so that we can "win" some contest. Thing is, there's little to no benefit for the crew people to perform better.. as far as I'm aware there's no cash bonus for winning. There's possibly some sort of party or something, but honestly, most people don't really want to try to go out of their way to attend a work party. It's just another scheme cooked up because January-April are the slowest months of the year in terms of business, and the idea is that if you know a place is fast then you'll go back again and again.
Honestly? I'm not overly concerned with speed myself. While it's nice to get in and get out, it's even nicer to have decent food, at least in my book. Honestly, right now I only get mcd food because it's free during my shift.. I wouldn't go out of my way to get it otherwise even at work. Well, I take that back.. there's right now the sweet chili sauce that I like, but that's temporary, just during the Olympics, and it goes away once the Winter Olympics end.
Sometimes it gets to a point where I dread going to work, because I see all sorts of stupid on a daily basis and it kills me. Like our store manager telling one person to clean the drive thru windows, and then another person coming along 5 minutes later, given the same chore. When I tell her they were already done, she goes and does them anyway, and manages to fuck them up with all sorts of streaks that weren't there when the first person came along and did them. There is the damn logic in anything anymore? Even the logic in something as simple as "Don't bring up 4 sleeves of ONE type of lid, just don't" goes above and beyond some people's heads, as I managed to uncover 4 open sleeves of domed lids.. we don't need that many! People get lazy and just open one after another, rather than trying to actually finish the one that's already open. It's almost enough for a nervous breakdown.
Now we also get to couple that craziness with the fact that from 7 am to 7 pm they're doing a March Madness, basically another way to speed our asses up so that we can "win" some contest. Thing is, there's little to no benefit for the crew people to perform better.. as far as I'm aware there's no cash bonus for winning. There's possibly some sort of party or something, but honestly, most people don't really want to try to go out of their way to attend a work party. It's just another scheme cooked up because January-April are the slowest months of the year in terms of business, and the idea is that if you know a place is fast then you'll go back again and again.
Honestly? I'm not overly concerned with speed myself. While it's nice to get in and get out, it's even nicer to have decent food, at least in my book. Honestly, right now I only get mcd food because it's free during my shift.. I wouldn't go out of my way to get it otherwise even at work. Well, I take that back.. there's right now the sweet chili sauce that I like, but that's temporary, just during the Olympics, and it goes away once the Winter Olympics end.
Sometimes it gets to a point where I dread going to work, because I see all sorts of stupid on a daily basis and it kills me. Like our store manager telling one person to clean the drive thru windows, and then another person coming along 5 minutes later, given the same chore. When I tell her they were already done, she goes and does them anyway, and manages to fuck them up with all sorts of streaks that weren't there when the first person came along and did them. There is the damn logic in anything anymore? Even the logic in something as simple as "Don't bring up 4 sleeves of ONE type of lid, just don't" goes above and beyond some people's heads, as I managed to uncover 4 open sleeves of domed lids.. we don't need that many! People get lazy and just open one after another, rather than trying to actually finish the one that's already open. It's almost enough for a nervous breakdown.
Thursday, February 25, 2010
Thanks for the insult!
The other day I was in back booth taking orders and money. A woman drives up to the window, pays, and then asks:
"So, how do you all keep track of the cars?" I explain to her our system involving the cameras hooked up to each speaker so that we take a picture of the car as the order is being taken. The woman is silent for a moment, and then says, "Oh, I just thought it was because you were smart."
WTF?
I stammered out how we usually end up having to do a bit more guesswork at night when there's usually only one ordertaker, but if I had had a couple more seconds, I might have gotten really really pissed actually at her. And worst of all, the dumb idiot didn't even realize that she was insulting, she figured it to be a joke.
"So, how do you all keep track of the cars?" I explain to her our system involving the cameras hooked up to each speaker so that we take a picture of the car as the order is being taken. The woman is silent for a moment, and then says, "Oh, I just thought it was because you were smart."
WTF?
I stammered out how we usually end up having to do a bit more guesswork at night when there's usually only one ordertaker, but if I had had a couple more seconds, I might have gotten really really pissed actually at her. And worst of all, the dumb idiot didn't even realize that she was insulting, she figured it to be a joke.
Saturday, February 20, 2010
Smokers are selfish
That's the best conclusion I have for them. I have been hating them as of late in drive thru because most of the time, they fail to be aware of where their smoke is blowing, and usually that is right in my face.
I'm pretty sensitive to smoke in general, and I'm particularly resentful of smokers. They force me to stay home from events due to their habit, seem to take far more "breaks", and oftentimes worsen the health conditions of not only themselves but the people around them. Hell, my own mother is a life long smoker, and this is despite the fact that she has emphysema and uses a FUCKING OXYGEN TANK. How bad does it have to get for some people?
So yeah, I try to hide behind the windows, but the smoke is sometimes so bad that it gets in and causes coughing fits. And the customer is perfectly oblivious to their poisonous habit seeping in causing perfectly healthy people like me to have to suffer.
I also must note how annoyed and pissed I continue to be at my coworkers.. those who are blind to me having to work so hard around them, those who do things like put dirty unrinsed dishes in my sink causing me to have to drain the water and redo it because the water turned nasty, those who do things like use the mop for lobby in the grill area, which will now mean that unless the mop is carefully rinsed off (probably not) that now the lobby area will have a skin of grease on it. How hard is it to do some of these things the right way... just SOME of them? I mean, hell, just today I had to stop someone from using the brush that's designed to clean out the egg rings that we use to make the eggs for the mcmuffins.. she was about to use them for dishes. And that was because she just saw a brush and didn't know what else it could be used for. Makes me not want to eat eggs at my mcds.
I'm pretty sensitive to smoke in general, and I'm particularly resentful of smokers. They force me to stay home from events due to their habit, seem to take far more "breaks", and oftentimes worsen the health conditions of not only themselves but the people around them. Hell, my own mother is a life long smoker, and this is despite the fact that she has emphysema and uses a FUCKING OXYGEN TANK. How bad does it have to get for some people?
So yeah, I try to hide behind the windows, but the smoke is sometimes so bad that it gets in and causes coughing fits. And the customer is perfectly oblivious to their poisonous habit seeping in causing perfectly healthy people like me to have to suffer.
I also must note how annoyed and pissed I continue to be at my coworkers.. those who are blind to me having to work so hard around them, those who do things like put dirty unrinsed dishes in my sink causing me to have to drain the water and redo it because the water turned nasty, those who do things like use the mop for lobby in the grill area, which will now mean that unless the mop is carefully rinsed off (probably not) that now the lobby area will have a skin of grease on it. How hard is it to do some of these things the right way... just SOME of them? I mean, hell, just today I had to stop someone from using the brush that's designed to clean out the egg rings that we use to make the eggs for the mcmuffins.. she was about to use them for dishes. And that was because she just saw a brush and didn't know what else it could be used for. Makes me not want to eat eggs at my mcds.
Thursday, February 18, 2010
I *really* want to see a car accident at work
The other day I was in drive thru presenting (handing food out). This woman approaches the window and goes on about how she almost got hit by the other person and how impatient other people and how dangerous our merge area was. I'm about to hand her her food when she insists that that isn't her order... which means that in the scheme of orders on the screen, the person behind her was the one who had their order taken first. So basically SHE'S the one who cut ahead of the other person and nearly caused a wreck in our drive thru lane, but because she has illusions of being a perfect driver, it's the other person's fault. *clap clap*
It's this illusion that customers can do no wrong coupled with the fact that they're impatient demanding assholes that makes me hate the place. They're the types who will speed to the drive thru lane because they see it empty, and aren't able to see the other side where we have like 5 cars for food. They're the ones who will ask for ketchup, salt, another bag, a glass of water, a different toy, when they could have asked for most of this shit when they were ordering. I've always said that if you didn't order it when you were ordering your food, you obviously don't care that much about your order. These are the same sorts of people who, when they see change on the ground, will pick it up and try to pay me with muddy, wet change. Is it so much to ask to try to have at least a little sense to consider more than just your fat face?
And yes, I will say they have fat faces, because some of them are also the types who'll buy a big mac meal large sized with extra sauce and cheese and get a diet drink to cancel out the calories. Like that'll help. Or the types who assume we're too incompetent to put their cream and sugar in their coffee, so they'll ask for it all at the window.
And all this hatred for how a customer acts comes around to the fact that I'd love to see the place riddled with a car accident. I would sure as hell note that one of them impatient, and that there are plenty of signs to note that you're about to merge, so be careful!
It's this illusion that customers can do no wrong coupled with the fact that they're impatient demanding assholes that makes me hate the place. They're the types who will speed to the drive thru lane because they see it empty, and aren't able to see the other side where we have like 5 cars for food. They're the ones who will ask for ketchup, salt, another bag, a glass of water, a different toy, when they could have asked for most of this shit when they were ordering. I've always said that if you didn't order it when you were ordering your food, you obviously don't care that much about your order. These are the same sorts of people who, when they see change on the ground, will pick it up and try to pay me with muddy, wet change. Is it so much to ask to try to have at least a little sense to consider more than just your fat face?
And yes, I will say they have fat faces, because some of them are also the types who'll buy a big mac meal large sized with extra sauce and cheese and get a diet drink to cancel out the calories. Like that'll help. Or the types who assume we're too incompetent to put their cream and sugar in their coffee, so they'll ask for it all at the window.
And all this hatred for how a customer acts comes around to the fact that I'd love to see the place riddled with a car accident. I would sure as hell note that one of them impatient, and that there are plenty of signs to note that you're about to merge, so be careful!
Monday, February 15, 2010
I strongly dislike our scheduling
I've made points before about how bad the scheduling is.. sometimes people get scheduled for shifts they've already said they can't work, or people get scheduled for stupid hours. I think yesterday's tale kind of takes the cake.
So day before yesterday the store manager is all a-flutter, because she is trying to fill a gap in the schedule. See, someone was scheduled to work the night shift and they weren't supposed to be scheduled because of military duties (I forget what branch he's with). The store manager is going all around trying to ask people to work a few extra hours to cover the shift, and I grudgingly agreed to work 2 extra hours.
I'm aware that the day to be covered, Sunday, was Valentine's Day. I had highly doubted that we would be that busy, since most people want to go to a nice fancy restaurant and not a fast food place, but I digress. I made the necessary calls, and of course got yelled at for putting work above family.
Well, guess what happened? We turned out to be pretty slow, all things considering, and I ended up leaving a half hour after my original shift was due to end anyway! So I not only basically ruin my in-laws plans for going out, but I didn't even get much beyond 30 minutes of paid time!
I suppose I really just wish that there was some good foresight when it comes to the schedule. Yesterday had made me mad to begin with because I was scheduled to come in at 11 am, which meant that I was unable to go to church and see people because there's no way I could drive from church to the in laws and then drive to work and get there on time. I've asked them repeatedly not to do this, but do I get listened to? No! And then I get somewhat insulted when I ask the shift manager how the labor was (meaning whether we had too many people or not) and she assumed that I was just trying to leave early. That was so not the case; I was trying to see if we could get someone else sent home early who was eager to learn something new but was really annoying in his enthusiasm. She got my meaning and the person did get to leave 20 minutes early, but it still felt pretty crappy to have her assume that I wanted to leave an hour and a half before my original shift was due to end.
I know that during the summer things will change somewhat, because we'll be far busier and we'll have more people hired, but in the meantime, I really hate winter and the scheduling that ensues.
So day before yesterday the store manager is all a-flutter, because she is trying to fill a gap in the schedule. See, someone was scheduled to work the night shift and they weren't supposed to be scheduled because of military duties (I forget what branch he's with). The store manager is going all around trying to ask people to work a few extra hours to cover the shift, and I grudgingly agreed to work 2 extra hours.
I'm aware that the day to be covered, Sunday, was Valentine's Day. I had highly doubted that we would be that busy, since most people want to go to a nice fancy restaurant and not a fast food place, but I digress. I made the necessary calls, and of course got yelled at for putting work above family.
Well, guess what happened? We turned out to be pretty slow, all things considering, and I ended up leaving a half hour after my original shift was due to end anyway! So I not only basically ruin my in-laws plans for going out, but I didn't even get much beyond 30 minutes of paid time!
I suppose I really just wish that there was some good foresight when it comes to the schedule. Yesterday had made me mad to begin with because I was scheduled to come in at 11 am, which meant that I was unable to go to church and see people because there's no way I could drive from church to the in laws and then drive to work and get there on time. I've asked them repeatedly not to do this, but do I get listened to? No! And then I get somewhat insulted when I ask the shift manager how the labor was (meaning whether we had too many people or not) and she assumed that I was just trying to leave early. That was so not the case; I was trying to see if we could get someone else sent home early who was eager to learn something new but was really annoying in his enthusiasm. She got my meaning and the person did get to leave 20 minutes early, but it still felt pretty crappy to have her assume that I wanted to leave an hour and a half before my original shift was due to end.
I know that during the summer things will change somewhat, because we'll be far busier and we'll have more people hired, but in the meantime, I really hate winter and the scheduling that ensues.
Monday, February 8, 2010
We weren't *that* slow during Super Bowl
I worked a closing shift yesterday during the Super Bowl. Not usually my normal shift nowadays, but I did it to cover for a coworker who had had a heart attack recently. Yeah, I suppose I'm a softy.
We were actually fairly busy for it being the Super Bowl, mostly women who didn't want to sit at home watching the Super Bowl, but also people who were getting themselves and their entire party food for the game. Well, I should actually say that it was busy for *me*, not necessarily for the store, because I had a huge pile of dishes and I had to make more sweet tea. I could handle the dishes, even if some of them were from morning shift, but the tea kind of pissed me off. The person who had been in the back booth was a person who, while I like them as a person, as a worker they're kind of meh. The type of person who has fake nails and doesn't want to ruin them, and they also were never taught how to do a single cleaning related thing from her mother because mom is too afraid to have someone else try to clean and get it WRONG.
I stay back there for about 3 hours until I get replaced in order for me to go on my break. And the woman who replaced me managed a feat that I'm still somewhat impressed with. She managed to FALL ASLEEP.... while on the clock. We had about 3 cars wondering WTF was up with their order not being taken, so they drove up to the first window and got to witness her standing in front of the register, weaving back and forth, probably snoring too. I think a manager had to go back there and actually wake her up. That is just really really bad.
And then I got to go up front on counter and deal with the grandmotherly manager. If you don't remember, this is the woman transferred here and gets so boggled and confused by things that she messes up when she runs for drive thru. She had the person on table aggravated because she kept calling back for food that he knew he sent up. And she has a way of talking to employees that makes them feel like they're idiots, which the crew trainers such as myself really resent. Like when she tells me to stock something.. AS I'M STOCKING IT. Anywho, the highlight of her dizziness came at around 10 pm, when someone calls in asking for their schedule, and she tells them we are just SO BUSY and that she couldn't possibly take time out in order to check on it. We were "busy" in that she had two orders in drive thru and I had four orders on counter.. not like we actually had to rush though, thanks to the fact that even though she saw that we had 6 customers total, had decided to only drop down one basket of fries at a time. Typically the rule of thumb is that we drop down one basket per 3 people.. although sometimes more is dropped when, say, they order a bunch of large fries as had happened here. I honestly think she got spoiled to her Walmart mcd, which are typically so slow that they're more like concession stands than actual mcds.
Also got to have a bit of a laugh at a customer today. One of the old customers, who sits in lobby all day, sometimes buys maybe a french fry, otherwise gets free drinks because the store manager lets her and she keeps her ancient cups (seriously, I think some of her cups are like years old), brought her laptop. This thing was SIXTEEN years old, running Windows 95, had 1.27 GB of hard drive space, and was just so old and cute I wanted to just put it in a museum. She was talking about wanting to get a wifi card for it.. yes, she brought it because she'd seen so many of those young people bringing their laptops nowadays, so why not bring hers? (Mcd has finally started offering free wi-fi). I told her that for the amount she would spend on a new wi-fi card, she could spend a bit more and just have a brand new netbook.. or hell, even my Blackberry Curve was more advanced than her POS laptop. And that was probably the highlight of my work day. Well, that and when myself and the third shift manager prank called the grandmotherly manager when he used his phone to send a landline text to the store phone, her face was priceless, like she didn't know whether to be offended or to laugh.
We were actually fairly busy for it being the Super Bowl, mostly women who didn't want to sit at home watching the Super Bowl, but also people who were getting themselves and their entire party food for the game. Well, I should actually say that it was busy for *me*, not necessarily for the store, because I had a huge pile of dishes and I had to make more sweet tea. I could handle the dishes, even if some of them were from morning shift, but the tea kind of pissed me off. The person who had been in the back booth was a person who, while I like them as a person, as a worker they're kind of meh. The type of person who has fake nails and doesn't want to ruin them, and they also were never taught how to do a single cleaning related thing from her mother because mom is too afraid to have someone else try to clean and get it WRONG.
I stay back there for about 3 hours until I get replaced in order for me to go on my break. And the woman who replaced me managed a feat that I'm still somewhat impressed with. She managed to FALL ASLEEP.... while on the clock. We had about 3 cars wondering WTF was up with their order not being taken, so they drove up to the first window and got to witness her standing in front of the register, weaving back and forth, probably snoring too. I think a manager had to go back there and actually wake her up. That is just really really bad.
And then I got to go up front on counter and deal with the grandmotherly manager. If you don't remember, this is the woman transferred here and gets so boggled and confused by things that she messes up when she runs for drive thru. She had the person on table aggravated because she kept calling back for food that he knew he sent up. And she has a way of talking to employees that makes them feel like they're idiots, which the crew trainers such as myself really resent. Like when she tells me to stock something.. AS I'M STOCKING IT. Anywho, the highlight of her dizziness came at around 10 pm, when someone calls in asking for their schedule, and she tells them we are just SO BUSY and that she couldn't possibly take time out in order to check on it. We were "busy" in that she had two orders in drive thru and I had four orders on counter.. not like we actually had to rush though, thanks to the fact that even though she saw that we had 6 customers total, had decided to only drop down one basket of fries at a time. Typically the rule of thumb is that we drop down one basket per 3 people.. although sometimes more is dropped when, say, they order a bunch of large fries as had happened here. I honestly think she got spoiled to her Walmart mcd, which are typically so slow that they're more like concession stands than actual mcds.
Also got to have a bit of a laugh at a customer today. One of the old customers, who sits in lobby all day, sometimes buys maybe a french fry, otherwise gets free drinks because the store manager lets her and she keeps her ancient cups (seriously, I think some of her cups are like years old), brought her laptop. This thing was SIXTEEN years old, running Windows 95, had 1.27 GB of hard drive space, and was just so old and cute I wanted to just put it in a museum. She was talking about wanting to get a wifi card for it.. yes, she brought it because she'd seen so many of those young people bringing their laptops nowadays, so why not bring hers? (Mcd has finally started offering free wi-fi). I told her that for the amount she would spend on a new wi-fi card, she could spend a bit more and just have a brand new netbook.. or hell, even my Blackberry Curve was more advanced than her POS laptop. And that was probably the highlight of my work day. Well, that and when myself and the third shift manager prank called the grandmotherly manager when he used his phone to send a landline text to the store phone, her face was priceless, like she didn't know whether to be offended or to laugh.
Thursday, February 4, 2010
I swear FOR is useless
So I took part in the great FOR yesterday, which was to evaluate lunch and dinner procedures (the one for breakfast is today). Honest, I think that it is stupid. It's supposed to see how procedures are being followed, but when you are working on getting everything right a month before it happens, doing detail cleaning just before the major event, and ordering things right before it happens, as well as having twice the people you'd normally have working for that day and forcing them to stay in their spot cleaning the three feet around them-- well, that's just evaluating best case circumstances. That's like giving parents who are charged with gross neglect 2 weeks in advance to clean everything up and let the bruises heal on their kid. You're not going to see abuse when the inspection comes along, are you? NO!
The worst part about it was the management. They were so on edge with the district manager evaluator and the store owner breathing down their back that orders kept getting wrong and they were going insane. Management was in key positions such as drive thru runner, expediter (the person who makes sure the food is in order), assembler, and etc, and sometimes, they do worse than a brand new employee when they're stressed. I had one manager wish that I could have taken some of those spots instead of the manager that was actually there, because of the fact that I'm able to stay calm due to a lack of caring about the day and its special significance.
I think that it's worsened by the fact that we're graded on a false premise: mainly, that we're like this all the time. We'll probably get at least an 98% on cleanliness.. which isn't that hard when one considers that third shift was closed down two nights in a row so that they could literally scrub everything with a toothbrush (yes, there were toothbrushes brought just for this purpose). I even had the district guy impressed that I was scrubbing dishes with a toothbrush, although this had less to do with me trying to impress him and more to do with the fact that we didn't have any green scrubbie pads laying around. I explained this to him, but of course dude didn't care.
On another note:
I don't get why people fuss at me because I ask so many questions about their meal. "Is that a medium sized meal, or a large?" "Is that with french fries or apple dippers?" "Is that the number two cheeseburger meal or the number ten southern style meal?" They get mad at me for interrupting their reverie and asking questions, like it's so wrong of me to want to make sure I have their order rung up correctly. These are then the same people who will hold up the line and ask for sauces and ketchup and extra napkins and a small water and what not.
My view on it is that I'm giving more of a shit about these people's food than they are. I am also of the view that if you tell the person ALL that you want as you are ordering, it will be significantly faster than waiting til you're at a window to do so. To me, someone who fails to tell me that they want ketchup packets when they're ordering their food, instead waiting until they get to a window, is someone who doesn't care about their order, and therefore loses my respect as someone to care about. If you don't care about your food, don't bitch at the person who does care about it more than you do! In the end, I'm just the one ringing up the order-- you're the one who is eating it.
The worst part about it was the management. They were so on edge with the district manager evaluator and the store owner breathing down their back that orders kept getting wrong and they were going insane. Management was in key positions such as drive thru runner, expediter (the person who makes sure the food is in order), assembler, and etc, and sometimes, they do worse than a brand new employee when they're stressed. I had one manager wish that I could have taken some of those spots instead of the manager that was actually there, because of the fact that I'm able to stay calm due to a lack of caring about the day and its special significance.
I think that it's worsened by the fact that we're graded on a false premise: mainly, that we're like this all the time. We'll probably get at least an 98% on cleanliness.. which isn't that hard when one considers that third shift was closed down two nights in a row so that they could literally scrub everything with a toothbrush (yes, there were toothbrushes brought just for this purpose). I even had the district guy impressed that I was scrubbing dishes with a toothbrush, although this had less to do with me trying to impress him and more to do with the fact that we didn't have any green scrubbie pads laying around. I explained this to him, but of course dude didn't care.
On another note:
I don't get why people fuss at me because I ask so many questions about their meal. "Is that a medium sized meal, or a large?" "Is that with french fries or apple dippers?" "Is that the number two cheeseburger meal or the number ten southern style meal?" They get mad at me for interrupting their reverie and asking questions, like it's so wrong of me to want to make sure I have their order rung up correctly. These are then the same people who will hold up the line and ask for sauces and ketchup and extra napkins and a small water and what not.
My view on it is that I'm giving more of a shit about these people's food than they are. I am also of the view that if you tell the person ALL that you want as you are ordering, it will be significantly faster than waiting til you're at a window to do so. To me, someone who fails to tell me that they want ketchup packets when they're ordering their food, instead waiting until they get to a window, is someone who doesn't care about their order, and therefore loses my respect as someone to care about. If you don't care about your food, don't bitch at the person who does care about it more than you do! In the end, I'm just the one ringing up the order-- you're the one who is eating it.
Sunday, January 31, 2010
Scheduling and why it sucks
I should really like to know how difficult it is to schedule sometimes. I looked at my schedule a couple of days ago and noticed that on Sun they had me coming in to work at 11. I objected to this to the scheduling manager, because I have asked time and time again to put me on the schedule on this day starting at 1, reason being that we go to church, sometimes sit in with husband as he teaches Sunday school and then afterwards have some lunch with the family before going in to work. With me going in at 11, I would barely have time to drive back home, get my work clothes, and then head to work. Luckily I switched with someone so that today I could go in an hour later, but I don't think I make too many requests, so why do mine seem so hard to fill?
Of course, when it comes to the schedule in general, it's a crapshoot at this point. Right now we are in the slow period, from January until April is typically when we slow down majorly. In our town it's been even slower as of late on account of the fact that we had a real honest to god snowstorm, about 3-4 inches. Out here, they don't really have snow plows that will reach every bit of town, and they barely have salt to spread on the ground.. couple that with people who don't know how to drive on snow and you have people who either get into accidents or who just stay at home.
So, we're in a slow period, which means that we aren't scheduling as many hours for people. There are two ways to do it: Schedule a bunch of people miniscule hours, or schedule a few people a bunch of hours... either way doesn't end well. Our managers want to keep the people we have hired in the hopes of not having to hire as much for summer, so 5-6 hour shifts are the norm. However, due to the storm, I've had more like 4 hour shifts. Yesterday I was supposed to have a 7 hour shift, from 1-8.. instead I leave at 5 because we have that many people. I hung around town for 2 hours so that it wouldn't be so bad when I got home and I was only an hour early instead of 3 hours early getting off, because that's just pointless. Why even come in to work halfway across town for a 4 hour shift? I'd rather know that in advance than to find out all of a sudden that, hey, you need to leave early!
I can't wait until summer... I'll be going crazy over how hectic it'll be but at least I'll have hours.
On another note...
We've "changed" our milkshakes.. we don't carry "triple thick milkshakes", but rather "mccafe shakes". This is such a load of marketing bs. The shake mix and consistency is EXACTLY the same, it's still triple thick. The difference is that they come in smaller cups and get whipped cream and a cherry. I imagine it's to compete with places like Chikfila and Steak n Shake where they have shakes done up like that. I suppose I just sort of resent the marketing that the shakes are somehow a different formulation, when they are not.. although admittedly, because the new cup sizes are smaller, it's probably a great way for mcd to make money by convincing people unfamiliar with the new sizes to order a size up from what they normally get.
Of course, when it comes to the schedule in general, it's a crapshoot at this point. Right now we are in the slow period, from January until April is typically when we slow down majorly. In our town it's been even slower as of late on account of the fact that we had a real honest to god snowstorm, about 3-4 inches. Out here, they don't really have snow plows that will reach every bit of town, and they barely have salt to spread on the ground.. couple that with people who don't know how to drive on snow and you have people who either get into accidents or who just stay at home.
So, we're in a slow period, which means that we aren't scheduling as many hours for people. There are two ways to do it: Schedule a bunch of people miniscule hours, or schedule a few people a bunch of hours... either way doesn't end well. Our managers want to keep the people we have hired in the hopes of not having to hire as much for summer, so 5-6 hour shifts are the norm. However, due to the storm, I've had more like 4 hour shifts. Yesterday I was supposed to have a 7 hour shift, from 1-8.. instead I leave at 5 because we have that many people. I hung around town for 2 hours so that it wouldn't be so bad when I got home and I was only an hour early instead of 3 hours early getting off, because that's just pointless. Why even come in to work halfway across town for a 4 hour shift? I'd rather know that in advance than to find out all of a sudden that, hey, you need to leave early!
I can't wait until summer... I'll be going crazy over how hectic it'll be but at least I'll have hours.
On another note...
We've "changed" our milkshakes.. we don't carry "triple thick milkshakes", but rather "mccafe shakes". This is such a load of marketing bs. The shake mix and consistency is EXACTLY the same, it's still triple thick. The difference is that they come in smaller cups and get whipped cream and a cherry. I imagine it's to compete with places like Chikfila and Steak n Shake where they have shakes done up like that. I suppose I just sort of resent the marketing that the shakes are somehow a different formulation, when they are not.. although admittedly, because the new cup sizes are smaller, it's probably a great way for mcd to make money by convincing people unfamiliar with the new sizes to order a size up from what they normally get.
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Next time, I won't hint about being sick at work
Earlier today, I was working and my stomach starts to feel somewhat queasy. Before I left for work, my baby was also not feeling well; spitting up anything she was given formula wise and just generally not feeling well. It got to the point where I had to run to the bathroom because I just felt that horrible.
That's significant because technically, if someone throws up while on the clock, they're not supposed to be working; but be sent home asap. From what I've understood it's due to various health codes. I go up and ask if I'm able to be left off somewhat early, because I'm just really not feeling that well. The end result?
I leave 5 minutes early and hear about how it basically might be due to stress due to the upcoming FOR.. like I really care about that. Now, when I mention that I'm answering my phone no matter what that day because my little girl is sick, that should send warning signs, but nope.
About the only reason why I'd even care about the FOR is because it allows the managers a chance to do things that they should have done ages ago. Such as finally fix up the fridge that's over in drive thru that's been broken for a month. Or fix it so that the lights in the lobby don't dim when we decide that it really is too hot in the entire store and turn down the heat. Or find a spot to put up a thing of hand sanitizer so that we can sanitize our hands without having to run to the back. There are a bunch of things I could rattle off that need fixing.
Anywho, if someone is sick, seriously, it does no good to have them work and possibly infect other people. Of course I know why they don't... no sick pay and all, but still...
That's significant because technically, if someone throws up while on the clock, they're not supposed to be working; but be sent home asap. From what I've understood it's due to various health codes. I go up and ask if I'm able to be left off somewhat early, because I'm just really not feeling that well. The end result?
I leave 5 minutes early and hear about how it basically might be due to stress due to the upcoming FOR.. like I really care about that. Now, when I mention that I'm answering my phone no matter what that day because my little girl is sick, that should send warning signs, but nope.
About the only reason why I'd even care about the FOR is because it allows the managers a chance to do things that they should have done ages ago. Such as finally fix up the fridge that's over in drive thru that's been broken for a month. Or fix it so that the lights in the lobby don't dim when we decide that it really is too hot in the entire store and turn down the heat. Or find a spot to put up a thing of hand sanitizer so that we can sanitize our hands without having to run to the back. There are a bunch of things I could rattle off that need fixing.
Anywho, if someone is sick, seriously, it does no good to have them work and possibly infect other people. Of course I know why they don't... no sick pay and all, but still...
Monday, January 25, 2010
I'd do fine if not for the other employees
Been a few days, but I've had time to build up a few things that I need to get off my chest.
1) Sometimes managers just seem to make things worse. A lot of times, a manager will be the one getting the food for drive thru. The reason for this is that they are in the best position to see if there are problems when it comes to getting food, whether the hold up is due to food needing to be made, or because of the cashier, or the presenter. However, some managers are just not that great at running.
Like our store manager. She ends up getting distracted quite a bit, usually as a result of having to be on the phone. So she's on the phone, trying to bad an order, and forgets to serve the order on her end to indicate that everything has been gathered. So I am unable to serve the order on my end. The end result is that she thinks she hasn't gotten an order because it's still on the screen, which results in her trying to rebag the order, and then I have to remind her that yes, she has given me that order, she just needs to serve it. This happened for a good part of the day while she was running.
Another manager that we have is a relatively new manager, having transferred here from out of state, and she is totally out of her element. She isn't used to a store that is as busy as ours, having worked in a Walmart mcd before.. if anyone has ever gone into one of those mcds they would know that they are basically just like a concession stand like at a ball game, and a slow game at that. Maybe on occasion they'll be busy. She is the type who gets overwhelmed and confused easily.
What typically happens with her is that she will be bagging an order, and even though there is food piled up so much that it is backing up from the heated landing zone to the table, she will look down the table as if the order is down there, instead of right in front of her. Repeat ad nauseum. She's a nice enough person, and it's hard to be mad at her because she's like one of those sweet grandmotherly types, but she is just lost when it comes to drive thru running.
2) Employees still frustrate me at times. A lot of them are pretty lazy at times. For instance, there are certain people who, when they are in back booth, still refuse to do dishes. A day like yesterday, they could have been done pretty fast, because drive thru was slow and backed up on account of us being short handed. Instead she would mostly just stand there, as if that would make the customers get to the window any faster. The man working grill, who was already going to be overworked because he had to work on a number of machines to clean them thoroughly tonight (the coffee machines, the fry machine, etc) ended up doing the dishes just so it would be one less thing that would prevent him from being able to leave on time.
Other employees are just oblivious. Yesterday I had a fellow co-worker who kept complaining about how she was just so totally bored. This drove me up the wall, because she was saying this as I was racing back and forth trying to grab stock so that it wouldn't be so bad on the rest of the crew later on tonight and she's bored. I kept trying to hint that there was plenty to do because we were shorthanded, but it flew over her head. Seriously, WTF?
On another note...
People who buy into marketing campaigns and ignore everying else annoy me. I had a customer come in for the "Pick Any Two" campaign, which is basically just mcd's way of trying to sell more of their snack wraps. There are the chicken wraps, with 6 varieties (2 types of chicken + 3 types of sauces = 6 varieties) and the new mac wrap, which I actually like because I hate the amount of bread on the standard sandwich. Now, the "Pick Any Two" is basically just mcd's way of selling 2 wraps to people instead of one, because people see the $2.98 price and thing "Awesome, what a great deal!".. except that one wrap already sells for $1.49 anyway, and really has sold like that for a while at some of the stores.
Anyway, this customer comes in, asks for the Pick Any Two, with one of them being a mac wrap, and the other a chicken wrap. I ask her what type of chicken wrap and she stares at me blankly, having never thought that there was more she had to think of than just "chicken wrap'. It took her 2 minutes after me explaining to her the options (6 types of wraps, the types of sauce we have only applies to the wraps with chicken, a mac wrap was just like a big mac except without the bun, etc), with her still having the clueless look of someone who didn't realize she'd actually have to do some thinking when it came to ordering her food. It took further explanation when she asked for the "dollar drinks", because mcd still is selling all size soft drinks for a $1. I usually default to a large when people say dollar drinks, even though I really want to be a bitch and ask her what size, because my feeling is that if people don't want to be specific when ordering their food, they obviously don't care *that* much about it. I think that it's reasonable, care about what you're putting in your mouth and what you're paying for!
1) Sometimes managers just seem to make things worse. A lot of times, a manager will be the one getting the food for drive thru. The reason for this is that they are in the best position to see if there are problems when it comes to getting food, whether the hold up is due to food needing to be made, or because of the cashier, or the presenter. However, some managers are just not that great at running.
Like our store manager. She ends up getting distracted quite a bit, usually as a result of having to be on the phone. So she's on the phone, trying to bad an order, and forgets to serve the order on her end to indicate that everything has been gathered. So I am unable to serve the order on my end. The end result is that she thinks she hasn't gotten an order because it's still on the screen, which results in her trying to rebag the order, and then I have to remind her that yes, she has given me that order, she just needs to serve it. This happened for a good part of the day while she was running.
Another manager that we have is a relatively new manager, having transferred here from out of state, and she is totally out of her element. She isn't used to a store that is as busy as ours, having worked in a Walmart mcd before.. if anyone has ever gone into one of those mcds they would know that they are basically just like a concession stand like at a ball game, and a slow game at that. Maybe on occasion they'll be busy. She is the type who gets overwhelmed and confused easily.
What typically happens with her is that she will be bagging an order, and even though there is food piled up so much that it is backing up from the heated landing zone to the table, she will look down the table as if the order is down there, instead of right in front of her. Repeat ad nauseum. She's a nice enough person, and it's hard to be mad at her because she's like one of those sweet grandmotherly types, but she is just lost when it comes to drive thru running.
2) Employees still frustrate me at times. A lot of them are pretty lazy at times. For instance, there are certain people who, when they are in back booth, still refuse to do dishes. A day like yesterday, they could have been done pretty fast, because drive thru was slow and backed up on account of us being short handed. Instead she would mostly just stand there, as if that would make the customers get to the window any faster. The man working grill, who was already going to be overworked because he had to work on a number of machines to clean them thoroughly tonight (the coffee machines, the fry machine, etc) ended up doing the dishes just so it would be one less thing that would prevent him from being able to leave on time.
Other employees are just oblivious. Yesterday I had a fellow co-worker who kept complaining about how she was just so totally bored. This drove me up the wall, because she was saying this as I was racing back and forth trying to grab stock so that it wouldn't be so bad on the rest of the crew later on tonight and she's bored. I kept trying to hint that there was plenty to do because we were shorthanded, but it flew over her head. Seriously, WTF?
On another note...
People who buy into marketing campaigns and ignore everying else annoy me. I had a customer come in for the "Pick Any Two" campaign, which is basically just mcd's way of trying to sell more of their snack wraps. There are the chicken wraps, with 6 varieties (2 types of chicken + 3 types of sauces = 6 varieties) and the new mac wrap, which I actually like because I hate the amount of bread on the standard sandwich. Now, the "Pick Any Two" is basically just mcd's way of selling 2 wraps to people instead of one, because people see the $2.98 price and thing "Awesome, what a great deal!".. except that one wrap already sells for $1.49 anyway, and really has sold like that for a while at some of the stores.
Anyway, this customer comes in, asks for the Pick Any Two, with one of them being a mac wrap, and the other a chicken wrap. I ask her what type of chicken wrap and she stares at me blankly, having never thought that there was more she had to think of than just "chicken wrap'. It took her 2 minutes after me explaining to her the options (6 types of wraps, the types of sauce we have only applies to the wraps with chicken, a mac wrap was just like a big mac except without the bun, etc), with her still having the clueless look of someone who didn't realize she'd actually have to do some thinking when it came to ordering her food. It took further explanation when she asked for the "dollar drinks", because mcd still is selling all size soft drinks for a $1. I usually default to a large when people say dollar drinks, even though I really want to be a bitch and ask her what size, because my feeling is that if people don't want to be specific when ordering their food, they obviously don't care *that* much about it. I think that it's reasonable, care about what you're putting in your mouth and what you're paying for!
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
And things get dropped on me
I've gone on before about how most people don't seem to do dishes properly. In fact, yesterday when I was working I had a coworker tell me that I was the only person that he had seen who actually *washed* dishes. Seems everyone else just sprays them off with water and then that's that.
I ended up with a huge pile of dishes when I finally went back to back booth last night. The reason? Because the person who was back there didn't want to do dishes and get her hands all dirty. She's nice enough, but definitely the type that has gotten spoiled to mom cleaning the house like an OCD freak, so she's never really done any sort of actual cleaning. I can get that sometimes parents can want an insanely clean house, but why should it be at the cost of teaching your child skills for the real world? You're not going to want your kid to be 30 years old and not able to clean dishes or cook a proper dinner because they were never taught, would you?
I was in the back booth for about the last two hours or so of my shift, and I managed to get done with most of the dishes, except for maybe one load. Of course, the only reason I even managed that is because I agreed to stay ten minutes over to allow someone to go on their ten minute break, and that ten minutes turned into twenty, so basically the person got two lunch breaks. That's just rudeness right there, for someone to stay over so you could get your ten minute break and you take twice as long at it, thus making the person staying late stay even later.
On another note...
Please, don't use Drive Thru if you're going to have a huge argument. Last night I had a couple drive thru, I ask them "What can I get you today?" and I'm met with silence. A few moments later, I hear the man in the vehicle scream "Thanks a fucking lot!" and squeal off. I thought nothing more of it and continued on my way with other tasks.
About half an hour later, the couple drives back through the drive thru lane. They place their order and come to the window, where the woman was fuming at the guy. I caught her saying, "And you were so selfish you didn't even think of getting food for our kid." Again, more squealing after change is handed out from payment, and more squealing of the tires after they get their food. Apparently the couple sat in our parking lot and screamed and hollered at one another, more the woman screaming than the man.
Seriously, wtf? A parking lot is NOT a good place to sit and have a screaming match. I'm amazed that the police weren't called due to how loud the couple was. I'm more amazed that the couple managed to sit in the same truck without one of them kicking the other out. The fight wasn't nearly amusing enough, do it home!
I ended up with a huge pile of dishes when I finally went back to back booth last night. The reason? Because the person who was back there didn't want to do dishes and get her hands all dirty. She's nice enough, but definitely the type that has gotten spoiled to mom cleaning the house like an OCD freak, so she's never really done any sort of actual cleaning. I can get that sometimes parents can want an insanely clean house, but why should it be at the cost of teaching your child skills for the real world? You're not going to want your kid to be 30 years old and not able to clean dishes or cook a proper dinner because they were never taught, would you?
I was in the back booth for about the last two hours or so of my shift, and I managed to get done with most of the dishes, except for maybe one load. Of course, the only reason I even managed that is because I agreed to stay ten minutes over to allow someone to go on their ten minute break, and that ten minutes turned into twenty, so basically the person got two lunch breaks. That's just rudeness right there, for someone to stay over so you could get your ten minute break and you take twice as long at it, thus making the person staying late stay even later.
On another note...
Please, don't use Drive Thru if you're going to have a huge argument. Last night I had a couple drive thru, I ask them "What can I get you today?" and I'm met with silence. A few moments later, I hear the man in the vehicle scream "Thanks a fucking lot!" and squeal off. I thought nothing more of it and continued on my way with other tasks.
About half an hour later, the couple drives back through the drive thru lane. They place their order and come to the window, where the woman was fuming at the guy. I caught her saying, "And you were so selfish you didn't even think of getting food for our kid." Again, more squealing after change is handed out from payment, and more squealing of the tires after they get their food. Apparently the couple sat in our parking lot and screamed and hollered at one another, more the woman screaming than the man.
Seriously, wtf? A parking lot is NOT a good place to sit and have a screaming match. I'm amazed that the police weren't called due to how loud the couple was. I'm more amazed that the couple managed to sit in the same truck without one of them kicking the other out. The fight wasn't nearly amusing enough, do it home!
Sunday, January 17, 2010
If you wear a hearing aid, don't go thorugh drive thru!
Today's shift was good for the most part-- I got a lot of things done so that I could afford to slack a bit when I was put in back booth. Well, it was good until I got the rudest man I have ever gotten in the drive thru.
Me: Hi, what can I get for you today?
Customer: Are your coffees still a dollar?
Me: Yes, all regular coffees are still a dollar. (I have to clarify regular so that a customer doesn't think that one of our specialty coffees are also available for a dollar-- I've had people get pissy about this before).
Customer: I'd like a large coffee with an espresso shot added to it.
Me: *rings up coffee* Ok, anything else for you today?
Customer: What? I can't understand you, I'm wearing a hearing aid!
Me: *repeats the order and the total*
Customer then starts going on a huge rant about how he can't hear me because he's wearing a hearing aid, and gets pissy enough to just drive off to the window. He then proceeds to berate me for "trying to have a conversation and going blah blah blah blah blah when all he wanted was to order his coffee" and asked to speak to a supervisor. Apparently me trying to verify his order and give him his total counts as "coversation".
So I bring the manager out and the manager talks to him. The customers goes off on the same sort of rant and the end result? He gets a freaking free drink for his "troubles". And that pissed me off the whole rest of the shift.
If you're wearing a hearing aid, don't go through drive thru! It's already hard enough to hear some of the customers who come through with soft voices or who just can't rely on the driver to order for fear that their precious order is messed up unless THEY order. You compound the issue by not being able to hear the order taker, especially bad at times when there's only one order taker, because when I take orders on a speaker not connected to my register, the order won't show up on the customer's screen. This results in the customer needing to be able to hear the order taker to verify their order.
I almost hope that this guy calls the complaint line, because I WILL chat with the supervisors about this rude rude man. the manager who dealt with the customer overheard me taking this man's order, and she had no idea what he was going on about, but then she knows that I'm great at drive thru order taking and cashiering. And it seems to be old people who act that way rather than the younger sorts. There's cool old person crotchety, and then there's the asshole variety, and this customer qualified for the latter.
The sad thing? I'm pretty sure that he was able to hear every word I say. He was probably just whining because of the fact that espresso costs an extra $.50 and thus it made his coffee cost more than the $1.06 (including tax on the dollar coffee). Of course, it didn't matter because McWhiny got his drink for free >:(
Me: Hi, what can I get for you today?
Customer: Are your coffees still a dollar?
Me: Yes, all regular coffees are still a dollar. (I have to clarify regular so that a customer doesn't think that one of our specialty coffees are also available for a dollar-- I've had people get pissy about this before).
Customer: I'd like a large coffee with an espresso shot added to it.
Me: *rings up coffee* Ok, anything else for you today?
Customer: What? I can't understand you, I'm wearing a hearing aid!
Me: *repeats the order and the total*
Customer then starts going on a huge rant about how he can't hear me because he's wearing a hearing aid, and gets pissy enough to just drive off to the window. He then proceeds to berate me for "trying to have a conversation and going blah blah blah blah blah when all he wanted was to order his coffee" and asked to speak to a supervisor. Apparently me trying to verify his order and give him his total counts as "coversation".
So I bring the manager out and the manager talks to him. The customers goes off on the same sort of rant and the end result? He gets a freaking free drink for his "troubles". And that pissed me off the whole rest of the shift.
If you're wearing a hearing aid, don't go through drive thru! It's already hard enough to hear some of the customers who come through with soft voices or who just can't rely on the driver to order for fear that their precious order is messed up unless THEY order. You compound the issue by not being able to hear the order taker, especially bad at times when there's only one order taker, because when I take orders on a speaker not connected to my register, the order won't show up on the customer's screen. This results in the customer needing to be able to hear the order taker to verify their order.
I almost hope that this guy calls the complaint line, because I WILL chat with the supervisors about this rude rude man. the manager who dealt with the customer overheard me taking this man's order, and she had no idea what he was going on about, but then she knows that I'm great at drive thru order taking and cashiering. And it seems to be old people who act that way rather than the younger sorts. There's cool old person crotchety, and then there's the asshole variety, and this customer qualified for the latter.
The sad thing? I'm pretty sure that he was able to hear every word I say. He was probably just whining because of the fact that espresso costs an extra $.50 and thus it made his coffee cost more than the $1.06 (including tax on the dollar coffee). Of course, it didn't matter because McWhiny got his drink for free >:(
Saturday, January 16, 2010
I don't really care what happens at other stores
Today we had someone come in through drive thru asking if our ice cream machine was working. My response to this was "Yes, our ice cream is always working, except during the mornings for cleaning". I've worked at our location for a year now, and our ice cream machine has indeed never failed us, even during the summer. The only time the machine is down is once a week for detailed cleaning, and that's during breakfast, when few people order ice cream products anyway.
The woman starts going on a tirade about how another store's ice cream machine never worked and how crappy it was. Well, what do you expect ME, a crew member at another store, to do about it? You should be complaining to the managers at the store having the issue, not some random person at another store!
The thing about the ice cream machines at mcds is this: there are two main reasons why a person wanting to purchase ice cream is unable to do so.
1) The ice cream is legitimately down for some reason. Some examples of legitimate downage include:
Ideally, every store should have their ice cream machine up and running (except during times mentioned in point 1), even during third shift. But they don't, and then it reflects badly on the rest of the stores in the area, and I have to hear about how some other store's ice cream machine is never working. I don't need to hear it!
On another note.. when it comes to training new people, don't lie. A new girl was on register, being trained somewhat by another girl who had been at the store a few months. I was showing new girl how to make a sundae (new people always struggle when it comes to ice cream), getting it to mushroom and then putting the one pump worth of syrup, if applicable, on top. I showed the new person how to do all of this, and then she says
"Oh, that's not how I was taught, I was shown to do two pumps on it."
Me: "Who told you to do that?"
New person: "She did." *points to the other person on counter*
Me: "Well, it's wrong. It's one pump on top, if they want more, it's extra and it goes on the bottom"
So then I go up to the other counter person, and I ask them how many pumps of syrup go on a sundae. And wouldn't you know that they said one? Of course she did.. she only overheard me instructing the new person on the correct method. Teach them right the first time, and don't lie about what you taught someone else.
The woman starts going on a tirade about how another store's ice cream machine never worked and how crappy it was. Well, what do you expect ME, a crew member at another store, to do about it? You should be complaining to the managers at the store having the issue, not some random person at another store!
The thing about the ice cream machines at mcds is this: there are two main reasons why a person wanting to purchase ice cream is unable to do so.
1) The ice cream is legitimately down for some reason. Some examples of legitimate downage include:
- The need to fulfill the weekly cleaning schedule automatically programmed into the machine. You know, sanitary reasons and all.
- We've sold too much ice cream in a short period of time. See, sometimes we sell a lot of ice cream at once, and the machine needs a bit of a break in order to allow the ice cream to harden somewhat and get cold again. If we get too much ice cream product at once (for us typically it's a combo of about six-seven cones, flurries, and sundaes) the machine starts spitting out something that resembles liquid rather than ice cream.
- We're actually out of ice cream. It sometimes happens, typically during the summer months.
Ideally, every store should have their ice cream machine up and running (except during times mentioned in point 1), even during third shift. But they don't, and then it reflects badly on the rest of the stores in the area, and I have to hear about how some other store's ice cream machine is never working. I don't need to hear it!
On another note.. when it comes to training new people, don't lie. A new girl was on register, being trained somewhat by another girl who had been at the store a few months. I was showing new girl how to make a sundae (new people always struggle when it comes to ice cream), getting it to mushroom and then putting the one pump worth of syrup, if applicable, on top. I showed the new person how to do all of this, and then she says
"Oh, that's not how I was taught, I was shown to do two pumps on it."
Me: "Who told you to do that?"
New person: "She did." *points to the other person on counter*
Me: "Well, it's wrong. It's one pump on top, if they want more, it's extra and it goes on the bottom"
So then I go up to the other counter person, and I ask them how many pumps of syrup go on a sundae. And wouldn't you know that they said one? Of course she did.. she only overheard me instructing the new person on the correct method. Teach them right the first time, and don't lie about what you taught someone else.
Our menu doesn't change that much, how hard is it to order?
As usual, yesterday I was in drive thru back booth, taking money and doing orders. One thing that never ceases to amaze me is the fact that people will wait in line, sometimes for several minutes, and then, when they get to the speaker, need a few minutes more in order to look over the menu and see what they want. Drive thru is supposed to be about speed, so why do people wait until they get to the speaker before ordering?
People often tell me that they need to look over the menu in order to decide. Newsflash: our menu doesn't really change that much! We still have the same old basics, which is what people who need that minute to decide typically order. What seems to make this even worse is that some of these people go to mcd several times a day, so they should have a very very clear idea as to what is on the menu.
And yet they struggle day in and day out when it comes to deciding what to cram in their faces today. I mean, when I go to a fast food place, I will have written out what I want, and I remember enough of the menu in order to actually figure out what to get before I get to the speaker. Please, have the presence of mind to do the same!
On another note-- one of the worst types of people I hate are the ones who come in drive thru for a glass of water. At our chain of mcds we don't charge for water or the cups the water goes in (I know of some other mcd chains that will charge for the cups.) As a result, there are people too lazy to walk inside for their free item, so they go through drive thru. What makes that crappy is that we can't actually ring up for a water, because our system doesn't allow us to take an order if the only item on there is free.
The reason of that is because in the past there would be employees that would scam the system by doing promos on food for their friends and/or family.. this way if there's an order that has nothing but free items, the manager goes to the back in order to punch in their code to allow the transaction, and thus they are able to detect if there's something fishy about the order. We're not going to go bug a manager to punch in their code to allow us to ring up waters, because managers have better things to do.
And so we get a person with water who skips ahead of all sorts of other people, and it can throw things in chaos because of course their order won't appear on the screen. It just seems lazy that a customer can't simply go into the store for a free item, because it actually takes less time in order to come into the store sometimes. Drive thru at any mcd is typically busier than inside the store, why sit in a drive thru line and waste your gas for possibly 5 or more minutes just for a water, when you could have gone into the store, gotten your free water, and left by now?
People often tell me that they need to look over the menu in order to decide. Newsflash: our menu doesn't really change that much! We still have the same old basics, which is what people who need that minute to decide typically order. What seems to make this even worse is that some of these people go to mcd several times a day, so they should have a very very clear idea as to what is on the menu.
And yet they struggle day in and day out when it comes to deciding what to cram in their faces today. I mean, when I go to a fast food place, I will have written out what I want, and I remember enough of the menu in order to actually figure out what to get before I get to the speaker. Please, have the presence of mind to do the same!
On another note-- one of the worst types of people I hate are the ones who come in drive thru for a glass of water. At our chain of mcds we don't charge for water or the cups the water goes in (I know of some other mcd chains that will charge for the cups.) As a result, there are people too lazy to walk inside for their free item, so they go through drive thru. What makes that crappy is that we can't actually ring up for a water, because our system doesn't allow us to take an order if the only item on there is free.
The reason of that is because in the past there would be employees that would scam the system by doing promos on food for their friends and/or family.. this way if there's an order that has nothing but free items, the manager goes to the back in order to punch in their code to allow the transaction, and thus they are able to detect if there's something fishy about the order. We're not going to go bug a manager to punch in their code to allow us to ring up waters, because managers have better things to do.
And so we get a person with water who skips ahead of all sorts of other people, and it can throw things in chaos because of course their order won't appear on the screen. It just seems lazy that a customer can't simply go into the store for a free item, because it actually takes less time in order to come into the store sometimes. Drive thru at any mcd is typically busier than inside the store, why sit in a drive thru line and waste your gas for possibly 5 or more minutes just for a water, when you could have gone into the store, gotten your free water, and left by now?
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Do you wash your dishes that way at home?
I HATE HATE HATE it when other people attempt to do dishes. Usually the person in back booth has to do them at our store; however, when it gets busy, sometimes a person in grill will work on them. I absolutely hate it when this happens, though, for several reasons:
1) Most of the time they aren't done right. There are 3 sinks: one for soapy water, one for rinsing off dishes, and one for sanitizer solution... left, right, and middle. You rinse the dishes in the middle sink first to get rid of the excess grease and dirt on the dish, then they soak in the soapy water, and then once they are scrubbed, they are re-rinsed in the middle sink, then left to soak in the sanitizer water for a bit while the next load is worked on. That's the proper way. But people don't do that. They just dump the dishes in the soapy water without pre-rinsing, causes the soapy water to get dirty and greasy and you end up washing the dishes in greasy water and smearing more grease around. Although that's if they even bother to put them in soapy water.. sometimes they're just sprayed off and then put away. And that's just nasty.
2) Dishes don't get put away properly. A lot of times they'll just get shoved wherever they'll fit and that's just sloppy
3) The little things don't get done. And by that I mean like cleaning out the tea urns (sticky crusted on tea inside the containers is gross.. that's why I don't drink tea).. or when they are cleaned, the nozzles don't get cleaned. Or other little things like that.
Would people clean their dishes at home this way? No? So why do it at work?
On another note...
I hate the kids' toys. Really really do. Right now we have a gender neutral toy from the new Chipmunks movie, where they have the male Chipmunks (Alvin, Simon, and Theodore) and the Chipettes (Jeanette, Eleanore, and Brittany). By logic of them having genders, the first set are the "boy" toys and the second set the "girl" toys. I mean, for the Ninja Turtles line of toys, did April count as a "girl" toy and every other toy the "boy" toys? NO! They were all part of a single series of toys! So why is it somehow different with this? Do parents just not get toys?
A parent had come through and was insistent that her boys get the Simon and Theodore "boy" toys (Alvin having been long gone) and we had to dig to the bottom to find them. She told me that when I had boys I'd know what it was like.. an easier answer is to just not get the damn toys to begin with and to teach the kids that not every meal comes with a reward at the end (well, other than a full belly).
I swear, if/when I have a boy, he'll deal with getting girl toys, and he'll learn to either play with them or destoy them.
1) Most of the time they aren't done right. There are 3 sinks: one for soapy water, one for rinsing off dishes, and one for sanitizer solution... left, right, and middle. You rinse the dishes in the middle sink first to get rid of the excess grease and dirt on the dish, then they soak in the soapy water, and then once they are scrubbed, they are re-rinsed in the middle sink, then left to soak in the sanitizer water for a bit while the next load is worked on. That's the proper way. But people don't do that. They just dump the dishes in the soapy water without pre-rinsing, causes the soapy water to get dirty and greasy and you end up washing the dishes in greasy water and smearing more grease around. Although that's if they even bother to put them in soapy water.. sometimes they're just sprayed off and then put away. And that's just nasty.
2) Dishes don't get put away properly. A lot of times they'll just get shoved wherever they'll fit and that's just sloppy
3) The little things don't get done. And by that I mean like cleaning out the tea urns (sticky crusted on tea inside the containers is gross.. that's why I don't drink tea).. or when they are cleaned, the nozzles don't get cleaned. Or other little things like that.
Would people clean their dishes at home this way? No? So why do it at work?
On another note...
I hate the kids' toys. Really really do. Right now we have a gender neutral toy from the new Chipmunks movie, where they have the male Chipmunks (Alvin, Simon, and Theodore) and the Chipettes (Jeanette, Eleanore, and Brittany). By logic of them having genders, the first set are the "boy" toys and the second set the "girl" toys. I mean, for the Ninja Turtles line of toys, did April count as a "girl" toy and every other toy the "boy" toys? NO! They were all part of a single series of toys! So why is it somehow different with this? Do parents just not get toys?
A parent had come through and was insistent that her boys get the Simon and Theodore "boy" toys (Alvin having been long gone) and we had to dig to the bottom to find them. She told me that when I had boys I'd know what it was like.. an easier answer is to just not get the damn toys to begin with and to teach the kids that not every meal comes with a reward at the end (well, other than a full belly).
I swear, if/when I have a boy, he'll deal with getting girl toys, and he'll learn to either play with them or destoy them.
Saturday, January 9, 2010
Big review coming up
At the beginning of next month we're supposed to have what's called an for (floor observation review iirc). Basically it's where all the bigwigs go around to the stores and sit there for half a day observing how the store is run. When this happens, the store runs at least 25-50% more people than they would on a typical shift while under the microscopic scrutiny of the higher ups, which of course makes everybody nervous.
I honestly don't like these sorts of reviews, because they give a false impression of the store. This is the one time where the management will go out of their way to order products especially for these two days, or they'll go out and borrow what they need from other stores. We will have people practically crawling on top of one another (and this store is very small), and in general have far more people than we need. People will be on their best behavior and customers will be taken care of super fast because you'll practically have one runner per counter person (usually during breakfast and lunch all three registers will be utilized).
I feel that if one is going to truly evaluate a store, then they'll do it when the store is able to operate normally. That's when the true character is going to be unleashed, not when you're able to bring in more people than you would have in order to suck up to some superiors. You can't see the problems of the store if they're hidden in order to make the store look better than it really is.
So I'll have to hope that I'm put in a position where they won't be sitting there staring at me as I do what I'm supposed to do. Or that I'm off on the day that they review the evening shift, which is what I usually work.
I honestly don't like these sorts of reviews, because they give a false impression of the store. This is the one time where the management will go out of their way to order products especially for these two days, or they'll go out and borrow what they need from other stores. We will have people practically crawling on top of one another (and this store is very small), and in general have far more people than we need. People will be on their best behavior and customers will be taken care of super fast because you'll practically have one runner per counter person (usually during breakfast and lunch all three registers will be utilized).
I feel that if one is going to truly evaluate a store, then they'll do it when the store is able to operate normally. That's when the true character is going to be unleashed, not when you're able to bring in more people than you would have in order to suck up to some superiors. You can't see the problems of the store if they're hidden in order to make the store look better than it really is.
So I'll have to hope that I'm put in a position where they won't be sitting there staring at me as I do what I'm supposed to do. Or that I'm off on the day that they review the evening shift, which is what I usually work.
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
How to ring up an order
Yesterday we had a crew trainer meeting at our store, where we are supposed to talk about ways to improve training of people in the store. One of the focuses for this was for front counter, which I was glad of, because I could finally vent something to the store manager.
See, sometimes food is wrong because the grill team makes it improperly despite the stickers. Sometimes the wrong item is placed in the bag. A lot of the time, though, it's because the front counter people are freaking lazy when it comes to ringing up food. On our registers there are a whole variety of things you could do in order to grill a sandwich.. take off something, add something, have something placed lightly on there, even options like substituting the type of bun or requesting that the sandwich be cut in half. However, these front counter people, I have to assume are lazy. I try to catch them when they, say, ring up an item like a mcchicken as "only tomato" because ringing it up that way on an item that doesn't come with tomato doesn't charge them the $.30. Sometimes, they hit "Ask Me" because because they're doing a double cheeseburger like a big mac, and they don't want to charge for mac sauce (which is cheating the store out of money).
It's frustrating, because I ring things up 99% of the time (even I do make mistakes). And sometimes, the customer will get mad at me because they got charged for something on my order that they don't on another order by someone else. To which I will say "Sorry that the other person didn't ring you up properly, but I am ringing you up properly now, and you're getting charged".
Sometimes it's not the customer making the job crap, it's the other people around me who don't bother to do things properly. It's probably why I don't bother to learn new people's names most of the time.
See, sometimes food is wrong because the grill team makes it improperly despite the stickers. Sometimes the wrong item is placed in the bag. A lot of the time, though, it's because the front counter people are freaking lazy when it comes to ringing up food. On our registers there are a whole variety of things you could do in order to grill a sandwich.. take off something, add something, have something placed lightly on there, even options like substituting the type of bun or requesting that the sandwich be cut in half. However, these front counter people, I have to assume are lazy. I try to catch them when they, say, ring up an item like a mcchicken as "only tomato" because ringing it up that way on an item that doesn't come with tomato doesn't charge them the $.30. Sometimes, they hit "Ask Me" because because they're doing a double cheeseburger like a big mac, and they don't want to charge for mac sauce (which is cheating the store out of money).
It's frustrating, because I ring things up 99% of the time (even I do make mistakes). And sometimes, the customer will get mad at me because they got charged for something on my order that they don't on another order by someone else. To which I will say "Sorry that the other person didn't ring you up properly, but I am ringing you up properly now, and you're getting charged".
Sometimes it's not the customer making the job crap, it's the other people around me who don't bother to do things properly. It's probably why I don't bother to learn new people's names most of the time.
Monday, January 4, 2010
Multitasking--learn it!
A few days ago I had rave reviews from a couple of coworkers because I have an amazing ability to multitask. And by that I mean being able to figure out that if I'm, say, waiting on food to come up for drive thru, that I could be doing something else such as cleaning or stocking something.
Y'see, I'm usually the one who has the presence of mind to run back and grab things like sauces or cups and fill those up while I'm doing something else, and I manage to stock ALL of said item before moving on to the next thing. However, sometimes it feels like I'm in a minority of one, and that it's something that somehow eludes other people. It seems depressing to me because of the fact that I manage to do the work of three people every day, and yet oftentimes people don't seem to have the ability to even do enough for ONE person. I feel like I'm having to run around and flit about, correcting the newer people in how to do things, and then I want to have an aneurysm because I'm doing things that they should think to do but they don't, such as cleaning lobby or heck, cleaning more than just the three feet around their register.
I suppose that I'm a bit resentful because of the fact that once, when I started at mcd, I had to learn more in two weeks than these people had to learn in a month. Of course, I originally started as a manager back years ago, and so I had to not only learn the crew responsibilities but also the management ones. Needless to say, I had to learn fast, and so seeing people who just can't seem to quickly adapt just kinda pisses me off.
Either way, though, I'm doubt that sort of thing will change any time soon, because people seem to be stuck on a path of non adaptability.
On another note: the same seems to go for customers. I swear I'm going to just start pointedly instructing them on how they should hand me money (coins first, then bills) so that it's easier on me when it's a cold day and I'm not wearing gloves because they're burdensome for when I try to do other things like dishes.
Y'see, I'm usually the one who has the presence of mind to run back and grab things like sauces or cups and fill those up while I'm doing something else, and I manage to stock ALL of said item before moving on to the next thing. However, sometimes it feels like I'm in a minority of one, and that it's something that somehow eludes other people. It seems depressing to me because of the fact that I manage to do the work of three people every day, and yet oftentimes people don't seem to have the ability to even do enough for ONE person. I feel like I'm having to run around and flit about, correcting the newer people in how to do things, and then I want to have an aneurysm because I'm doing things that they should think to do but they don't, such as cleaning lobby or heck, cleaning more than just the three feet around their register.
I suppose that I'm a bit resentful because of the fact that once, when I started at mcd, I had to learn more in two weeks than these people had to learn in a month. Of course, I originally started as a manager back years ago, and so I had to not only learn the crew responsibilities but also the management ones. Needless to say, I had to learn fast, and so seeing people who just can't seem to quickly adapt just kinda pisses me off.
Either way, though, I'm doubt that sort of thing will change any time soon, because people seem to be stuck on a path of non adaptability.
On another note: the same seems to go for customers. I swear I'm going to just start pointedly instructing them on how they should hand me money (coins first, then bills) so that it's easier on me when it's a cold day and I'm not wearing gloves because they're burdensome for when I try to do other things like dishes.
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