Today's rambling: Stop picking on me!
Written on February 12, 2002 at 11:08 p.m.
while feeling a bit

Clicked on the "Add an entry" link, and now I'm sitting here trying to think of anything interesting that might've happened to me today! *giggles* Other than talking to Geoff, nothing really GOOD happened...

I didn't tell anybody that I'd be in at 11:30 with Mom because I was tired of John getting all irritated, as if it's somehow MY fault. So when I came in today, I just knew he was going to give me some smart-assed comment. And he was about to say "Nice of you to show up!" but thankfully Cheryl interrupted him and distracted him enough that he never finished the comment.

However, later he came up to me and started lecturing me on how I have to tell him if I'm going to be working a different set of hours than what's on the schedule. URGH! I cannot stand this man! And I think he's starting to target me specifically, because it seems like he's always getting on my case.

Like tonight. John had changed clothes and was sitting on the floor behind the gourmet case, painting over all these little scratches. He couldn't see the man that was standing in front of the counter, so as I walked by I smiled and said, "Do you need help with anything, sir?" The man said he didn't need help, so I went back to what I was doing.

John looked up from his painting job and asked if I'd been to the "huddle" we (the bakery dept.) had had today. I was like, "Yeah, why...?"

So he goes on to tell me that "Do you need help" is NOT a greeting. I am supposed to say "Hi" or "Hello" first, then ask if the customer needs anything.

Flip off, John!

It's not as if I'd glowered at the man and spoke in a surly manner! I was friendly and polite, just as I'm supposed to be! What, so the only way you can greet people is with a "Hi" beforehand? Like this customer cared if I said "hi" or not. If you couldn't tell, that really irritated me. But then get this!

Later on, I was making Pane (as usual) and Erin (the new girl) was doing setups. Every time she'd see a customer, she'd say something like "Do you need help with anything?" or "Can I help you?"

This happened three or four times.

John was present each time. And he said nothing.

ARGH!!! Why can't I be the type of person to just tell people to back off?? I have no reservations because he's a manager (and a lousy one at that)...I'm just naturally non-aggressive! I hate conflicts, and I really hate the thought of what he would say to me after I let him have it, hehe! Oh well, one of these days I'll be pushed far enough that I'll tell him exactly what I think of him. And then I'll be looking for a new job...

The jumbo cookies that I'd baked today came out (as usual) underdone. No matter HOW long those friggin' things are baked, they always come out raw in the middle! So Mare told me to put them back in the oven for a few more minutes. In walks Heather (the "specialist") and this big old guy, and the guy opens up the oven, looks at the cookies, and takes them right back out of the oven! Then Heather asked if I put them back in...and of course neither Mare nor Zenon (both of whom told me to put them back in) bailed me out. So I had to take full blame. This guy said that the cookies were fine!

"No they're not!" I blurted vehemently, astounded that anyone could be stupid enough to think that raw cookies were okay to be sold.

Mr. Expert Baker proceeds to explain how there's a nice even browning on the top of the cookies, and blah blah blah...to which I piped up, "But they're raw in the middle!"

Came to find out a few minutes later that this man I was speaking so bluntly with was none other than the infamous "Ed" I'd heard so much about in past months. He's apparently somewhere fairly high on the bakery totem pole, and he's really strict about the way things are done. To hear Joanne talk, you'd think he was some burly ogre, hehe! So when I found out from Mare that this was Ed, I was like, "Oops?"

Not that I really cared. As I said, ranks mean pretty much nothing to me unless the person has done something to earn it. Ed continued to say that the cookies were fine, and I think he said something about them tasting fine as well, because I mentioned that they tasted disgusting.

"You've tried them?" he asked me. I said yes. One of the sugar cookies had broken (because it was so soft in the middle), and so I'd taken a nibble from it...and it had tasted like the raw cookie dough.

At any rate, he turned out to be nice enough (toward me), so it was alright. I could tell just by this meeting that I would not want to work with him on a regular basis, however! I've gotten so used to Heather that I don't really mind her around anymore, but this guy would be TERRIBLE! He doesn't even know how to bake cookies!

Then again, the bigger the cookie, the less likely it is to bake....isn't that why we were never able to make one huge cookie out of the dough when we were kids? So while the "jumbo cookie" idea is sorta cool, I just think it would be better to stick to the small ones! Be warned, consumers, if you buy large cookies! *giggles*

After I finished work tonight, I wandered over to the courtesy counter to talk to Nicole. She was putting Valentine's Day-themed ribbons around the neck of a large mason jar that was filled with red and silver Hershey's Kisses. "Oo, that's so cute!" I exclaimed. "What's it for?"

"Frank," she replied. He's going to be giving it to someone. Wonder who... ;) Not me, anyway! At least, I hope not...wouldn't that be kinda embarrassing, to say, "Oh yeah, I, uh...saw that already..."

Okay, now my connection has dropped, I think...I hope no one's trying to call. It's nearly 12 am, for goodness' sake! Grr. Well, I'm going to draw this entry to a close, beat my computer into submission, and then go to bed.