Today's rambling: 'Angry' - The Understatement
Written on November 06, 2001 at 5:26 p.m.
while feeling a bit

Today started off alright...and then got worse from there. Quite rapidly, in fact.

The mentally-disabled kid was in again today, and I've grown a tolerance to him. However, today he was just pushing my natural pre-menstrual boundaries. I was ready to string him up by his toes and beat him senseless with whatever heavy object was nearest. I'm sorry, because I know it's wrong to have any kind of prejudice toward mentally-disabled sorts, and it's not really a prejudice. I just hate kids, and even though he's older than me, he has the mental capacity of a younger person, and since I wouldn't babysit a child if you gave me Bill Gates' entire fortune, babysitting Bryan is not something I have any interest in. Normally I don't have to babysit him, because Mare and Debbie are the ones to tell him what to do and he's usually off cleaning. I joke with him sometimes, but around this time especially, I don't need that kind of stuff.

So today happens to be the day that Bryan doesn't know what to do, and he's following me around with that annoying girly voice just going off, and he's saying stuff that I can't even understand (like he pointed at a box of baguettes and said something like "These are baguettes", then looked at me as if waiting for me to tell him something, or affirm/deny that those were, in fact, baguettes)...I was getting SO frustrated! At one point I looked at my manager and said, "Tell him what to do before I go insane." Then I went on break so that I could calm down and build my tolerance levels back up, and what happens? BRYAN frickin' comes back and takes HIS break! *screams* Besides that, the old guy sitting next to me smelled strongly of body odor, so needless to say I cut my time in the break room quite short.

At any rate, thank goodness Bryan left at one, so I only had to put up with him for a few hours. And now his friend Ryan (the other annoying one I've talked about before) is saying that ANOTHER one of them wants to work here. I'm sorry, I know I'm being rude and ignorant, but I can't help it. We are NOT a bloody daycare center! I can't get MY work done because I'm spending my time telling these other prats what to do!

Oh, and then this afternoon, close to the time when I could leave, Big Joe (aka The Biggest Ass-Kisser You'll Ever Meet) comes back and tells Karen and I that we're about to have a little meeting (just him, her, and me). First off all, Joe is nothing. But I've said that in other entries. He might be a back-up in the deli department, but he has NO authority in bakery, no matter what he thinks. Anyway, he starts telling us that we're not allowed to have ANY overtime whatsoever, that we have to start cutting John (the dept. manager) out of the picture when it comes to complaints (instead going to Zenon, the bakery back-up).

Okay, here's a little side rant. Zenon. Is. A. MORON. Yes, I liked him when I first started, and I know that overall he's a nice guy. But he has no brains in that head AT ALL. Half of the stuff that gets screwed up in the bakery is screwed up because of him. He can't remember anything, is always messing stuff up...I just get fed up with him. Oh yeah, and then he tries to reprimand us for stuff that HE does!!!! Like, "You guys have to clean up your area EVERY time you leave it," and we (as in Mare, Debbie, and I) do. HE'S the one who leaves everything such a pathetic mess! And you can't tell him anything because he just won't remember it, so that's why none of us ever go to him anymore (besides the fact that he's a pansy and wouldn't do anything about our complaints anyway). John's not much better in the pansy department, but at least he has a brain!

So yeah, Joe was trying to tell us that we're not allowed to go to John anymore, and thank goodness Karen spoke up about the fact that we've TRIED talking to Zenon, and it doesn't work. "I'm not going to get into that," Joe says. "Zenon gets put down by everyone, and he does a lot for this department." Yeah, a lot of screwing up. Joe's whole attitude pissed me off even more, though. As a manager, you're supposed to listen to your employees' complaints and do your best to try to ameliorate things. Joe's not a manager (I pray he never WILL be), but since he's so hell-bent on becoming one, maybe he ought to learn these skills that will keep his little stepping stones happy. He even spent a couple months' worth of Wednesdays going to a class that taught the skills required of a manager! Did it rub off on him? Of course not, because he was too busy kissing ass.

Oh, but here was the part that just topped everything off. Starting on November 17, the only departments who are allowed to wear the white "Genuardi's Kitchen" jackets are pizza, sandwich, hot foods, and salad bar. Bakery and deli have to start wearing the cheesy black aprons and collared shirts that the cashiers wear. Okay. Since WHEN did salad bar get messier than people in the bakery? I go home most nights with the front of my jacket quite disgustingly messed up...the cake decorators have multi-colored streaks and icing caked on theirs! Salad bar? When I used to work in that department, I could wear my jacket through the whole week if I so chose. They DON'T GET DIRTY. So what's the difference between THOSE departments getting to wear them and us having to wear aprons? It shouldn't be a big deal, I know, but how dare they say that WE'RE not allowed to wear them?

I'm more comfortable wearing the jackets. The aprons are uncomfortable, and they make me feel self-conscious because I know I just look fat in them. Maybe that's superficial, but who wants to go 8 1/2 hours a day feeling so uncomfortable that they spend more time thinking about HOW self-conscious they are than thinking about their work? That's what will happen with me. Not that I expect any of the managers to care.

And when Karen asked why we weren't allowed to wear the jackets anymore? Joe's response was "cost and misuse". So let us buy one. I've got two here at home that I wash MYSELF, rather than letting the company pay to have them washed. They're still in perfect shape, they don't look dingy...they're most definitely not being misused. So if you're so worried about the cost, then let me buy one of the friggin' things! Ooo, anyway, Karen complained about the jacket thing, and Joe said "You'll have to talk to John."

Now, if you've been paying attention (which I'm sure you haven't), you'll know that he'd just gotten finished telling us not to complain to John. So what the heck was THAT all about? It's called "I don't want to deal with it, talk to someone else. I only want to be manager so I can do nothing."

Earlier that day, I saw a typed message up on the bulletin board talking about how we have to work during Thanksgiving now, blah blah blah. The person who wrote it said that they wanted us to give a "schedual" so that they can "acomidate" us...oh, and then there was something like "posibility" and "available" instead of "availability"....there's very little that irritates me more than bad spelling. So I took out my blue pen and attempted to correct this spelling. Well, Jason came back a few hours later to talk to John, and all of a sudden he starts laughing. Next I hear him ask John, "Who corrected all of these spelling mistakes?" I rather sheepishly raised my hand, and Jason said, "That's so funny!" I'd thought that Zenon had written it, but it turns out, none other than Big Joe had done it. He's over 30 years old, and he can't even spell simple words? How am I supposed to have respect for a man who's barely literate?

I'm in such a foul mood that I don't even feel like telling my good news of the day, not that I expect anybody to care.