Get this!!!!

[haldir]

Funny

 

last night & coworker & I snuck a peek at the schedule for next week (which we do cause we know where they stash it before posting it), I was at a regular work week, May 18th - 21st was not blank (ie meaning vacation) (also we only get to see a week in advanced, really wonderful tryin to plan anything!!!!) WTF!!!! I put the request in last month giving them ample time to get their crap together & they stll F this up.

 

So I write a friendly reminder as I always do when I take vacation + also to cover that I had seen the schedule as well), my wife (who works there as well just days, me nights) say they put a big NO on my note, saying the reason was because the receiving clerk was gonna be out for 8 weeks due to foot surgury. So I haul my butt down there to ask what the hell was goin on. I get because we gotta pull the dariy guy from his area to cover receivng (he's the backup receiver), we are gonna have to put Ed (a manager's name) into that area. I'm like what does that have to do with my vacation?? They are like well we won't be able to cover the lost man on freight. I WAS FUMING at this point. I told them you guy didn't give us anyone a week ago & you killed us with giant loads for 2 PEOPLE!!! Then I say you gave us an extra guythis week & the loads shrink to nothing. So why does the matter to us. Also I said funny, you've given the other frieght crew guys (there is 3 of us on the crew) their vacation request in hte last 3 weeks (one guy has taken 2 weeks off, but not consecutive thou), they were like oh Bob was gone then. Pretty much back to the wth does that have to do with me??

 

The assisant manager was there at this time, & I was fuming, yes I could have handled it better but I pretty much get screwed over every week I'm there with the piddly hours they give me while everyone else get hours they can at least live on. She was like (think snobby I got this job cause of "censored" voice) Well first you need to calm down or I'm not gonna even try to even bother fixing this & you won't get it", I responded can you tell I'm POed about this?? Something I've been planning for a year or so. Also I told them well if you aren't gonna do anything about it (produced a paper) you guys owe me 512 odd bucks cause I don't know if I can get this refunded.

 

Never have I had any trouble getting time off for a vacation request, until the B$&$ came to that store. funny this is the first time she even said anything other then a half @$$ "hello" during the holidays & even I think cause she had to (we were in the cart area & she was coming into the store), now gettin paid for vacation, that's a different story, but anyways, just P$%##@ me to no end that they would pull this crap on me. Funny, one of the guys on my crew request some more time right as I come back to plan & do his in-laws 50th anv (which is FRIDAY or SAT next week), I don't know if they will try & F with him about that, but I'm sure he'll be in the same mood as I am. As none of the freight crew is part of the Secert Circle Club (ie the managers & priviledge people in the store, even a suspected thief checker!!!! ), they'll try & screw with us any chance they get.

 

 

Sad thing is, the guy that is goin is off for 8 weeks (comes back like the first week of JULY), that really screws up everyone if they are gonna forbid anyone takin vacations, & just think I still have a week to use up before AUG 2nd as well

 

 

Sorry for the rant/vent, but the good news out of this is I did get a call back sayin I had gotten the time off, I reply "Thank you Rich, you don't know how much I appreicaite this" So you will see me there, barring America West Airlines or the Boise Airport goes on strike (possibly with that, United Strike pending)

 

Also thank you Reaper for allowing me to get this off my chest, still ticked off about it, but not as much I guess now.

 

Randy M

[ixminis]

Good to hear yer still on for the con. I'm a leave/vacation approver and while I'll *joke* with folks my goal is to make it happen. I can think of one time in seven years that leave was cancelled & it was due to several natural disasters in a row & wasn't tied to a pre-paid vacation.

 

However, I also know that grocery stores are not on the top of the "treat-your-employees-right" pyramid (having worked for one full-time during a few summers in college & knowing several other folks who've worked for mom & pop grocers all the way up to hoidy-toidy ones)

 

Safe Travels!!!

[Steven Page]

Randy, if you work in a grocery store, you ought to be able to get hold a of a chicken foot or two.....I can hook you up with a REAL voodoo doctor.

 

Remember, pyschics can make you aware of a problem. Voodoo practicioners can DEAL with that problem

 

Can't wait to see you at Reapercon.

[prophet118]

well, grocery stores like to screw over their employees... i worked for one, i have friends who worked for them... same story, every friggin time

[Kheprera]

My very first job was for Safeway.

 

They kept scheduling me for late nights, and I was in high school at the time. My grades started slipping, so my mom made me quit. I gave two weeks notice.

 

A few days before I was supposed to leave they had posted the new schedule. I was still on it. When I explained it to the manager, he called me lazy. If anything, I was the hardest worker they had. I had thought the fridge in the employee break room was ivory in color when I started. When it was my first time to clean it, I discovered it was white. I followed all the rules down to mopping the stairs every night, which resulted me in getting whiplash when I slipped on the wet stairs. Not the brightest of people who made the rules there.

 

Now I use my original job skills whenever we go grocery shopping. I do the bagging, shoving the other baggers aside. Why do people insist on putting all the canned goods in one bag? I'm not afraid the bag won't break, so double-bagging does nothing. It's how heavy the darn things are. My mom is 62 years old, 5'2" and has a hard time picking up my 20 pound son. How is she supposed to carry a bag full of canned goods from her car, up stairs, through the door, and such? Idiots.

 

I vowed I would never, ever work in another grocery store again. I came close (I was that desperate) but luckily ended up with the IRS instead.

[Qwyksilver]

I never bagged groceries, but I have no problem bagging my own, becuase it just makes sense not to put 3 cans of soup in a bag with a loaf of bread a bottle of toilet cleaner and a quart of cream.

[ixminis]

Nowadays, I unload my cart so that similar/related items pretty much *have* to get bagged together... but I hear ya on the cleaning product / food thing. That knowledge seems to have missed the current generation of baggers...

 

heh...

[Qwyksilver]

I do the same thing when I empty my carriage. It never seems to make a difference. I will often try to find the line with the older folks bagging. I find they are more conscientious and less concerned with chit-chatting with the cashier and pay more attention to what they are doing.

 

There is one kid at the grocery I usually go to that always does a great job, and I try to get in his line if possible.

 

I usually end up outside my truck in the parking lot rearranging the bags before I load them in making sure I don't have 4 gallons of juice and milk in one bag.

[Spike]

Yep..grocery-bagging is a dying artform. Too often the bagger is some zitty-faced goof who would rather be chatting with the other employees than paying attention to his/her job.

 

As for cans and bottles and jars all bagged in one heavy bag, that's a pet-peeve of mine too. It's not as if the bags are costing the store alot of money..you'd think that half a cent per-bag was coming out of the bagger's pay.

 

Oh..and on a slightly related note, if you live on a house with an uphill driveway, and if you bring home your groceries in a van or SUV with a swing-out back door, and if you have bought alot of soups, canned veggies and one jar of sourkraut, remember to tie the bag shut... or you'll end up with soup cans all in the street and a broken jar of sourkraut in your driveway.

[Spartan6]

I've actually made baggers redo it a few times. Is it too much to ask not to find my Wonder bread under the spaghetti sauce or not to find my potato chips smashed in a bag with the milk?

 

Sometimes they "waste" bags too. I've picked up bags that had practically nothing in them.

[Saint of Sinners]

oh my god...

 

you guys are starting to sound like yer a broken hip away from a nursing home...

 

the next thing ya know you'll be starting thread with "back in my day..." and "when I was yer age..."

 

 

 

 

 

Anyway, I feel yer pain my wageslave brother...

[Kheprera]

When I was 7-8 months pregnant, I really couldn't bag the groceries myself, so I stood over the baggers while they bagged and instructed them. I'm sure they hated me.

 

"No, all bread goes into paper bags only. Less chance of crushing."

"No, three can limit per bag, put the cereal in with the cans to fill the bag or some other lighter item."

"No, eggs go by themselves. Period. Nothing ever goes in the same bag as the eggs."

"Cold with cold. They'll stay cold longer."

"One six pack of sodas per bag."

"Don't put anything else in the same bag as the gallon of milk." (They wanted to put in a half gallon juice thing with the milk )

 

Yeah, I'm really sure they hated me, especially when I would grab a couple of empty bags as we were heading out the door so I could redo the work. Now that I can, I do it myself and most of the baggers there understand that. I think a couple of them have even finally understood my methodology and why I bag the way I do. I've flat out told one person who had put all cans in one bag "Do you think an 80 year old 5' nothing lady can honestly carry that bag, even with the second bag you've added to it?" The look on their face was priceless as the light seemed to blink on.

 

I feel pity for those who work in grocery stores. A lot of times it's only because they can't find anything better. It's the managers and store policies I blame, especially for the rotting fruit and veggies. Yeah, the store we go to, we have to spend at least 30 minutes just in produce to find something that isn't taking root. I don't buy grapefruit at all there now because the last time I did, the seeds inside the fruit had started growing roots!

 

This is the same chain store (HEB) that is always advertising how fresh their produce is. I really need to get off my duff and write their corporate headquarters.

[Vil-hatarn]

Are those the guys who bought Shaw's? Cause our local supermarket's produce and bakery died when Shaw's got bought.

[Kheprera]

I've never heard of Shaw's.

 

Around here we have HEB (local Texas chain), Albertsons, and Randalls. There are other, smaller and very local, stores, but those are the top three. Albertsons and Randalls tend to be a lot more expensive than HEB.

 

Speaking of grocery stores, where is the closest (and cheapest) one to Reaper Central or the Super 8? My hubby and I are going to be saving some money by having some foodstuffs on hand rather than eating out all the time.

[Reaperbryan]

We have Albertson's, Walmart, Kroger, and Walmart (there's 2). Near the Super 8 I think there's a Brookshires . . although that may be an Albertson's too.