No really, I do. So, I work at a local coffeeshop attached to a bookstore (pretty standard, full service, non-starbucks coffeeshop). I have been here for a little over a year. In that time I have gotten to see many people quit for various reasons, or get fired. I've learned that not only is my boss fickle and well... a word that rhymes with pitch that I won't say, but that she is also in the business of favoritism (I also got passed up for a promotion for someone who hasn't been there nearly as long as me, even though our work quality is equal. But, that's not the issue that get's me the most). My boss's right hand man, I call her golden child, is a total.... RAGHRRSGHVGHVKHGSVDHKG DJGKsf asjc aslhcbhfblkhsbaLKBKHBHV!!!!!!!!! That's pretty much how she makes me feel. Incoherent, confused, and so furious and enraged that I feel physically ill. I'd love to confront her about it, but the last person to do that had their life made so miserable that they quit, and I rather need this job. So tonight I was closing with this one dude, let's call him P. He has been fired and rehired on and off over close to 4 years now. This most recent time, June, it was permanent. He was only rehired again because my boss was desperate. Well anyway, he is a real slob, and whenever I work with him he is always undoing the cleaning I've just done and not telling me. Back when I was training this made things VERY hard. Well, I've come a long way since then, but every now and again something slips past my radar. The last time this happened the golden child left my boss a note that took up two post it's detailing my many failures, and half of one for him (in reality it really should've been reversed because the things she said I did wrong are on his list of duties. Literally. There are two people and each person is supposed to do half the things). So tonight, I told P to do something, otherwise golden child was gonna complain to the boss, and she was gonna get irritated with golden child and him. He then informed me that golden child has been covering for him this whole time. That she has his back. And suddenly a lot of things started to make sense. Night shifts where I was berated for missing entire sections of my close that I 100% knew I had done, openings where I told golden child that P had missed something big and nothing happening to him (just btw, when you open, you're supposed to tell the shift supervisor if the closers did something wrong). I have nothing against P as a person really. I actually quite like him. He's cool, he's great artist, and he treats his girlfriend (my best friend) like a queen (which she deserves). But, as a worker he is terrible, and I was beginning to wonder why he hadn't been fired again. This is why. It makes me hideously mad because I do my work, and then some, for all my shifts. I am inquisitive and observant, and am always trying to help out in some way. I was such a burden in the beginning because this is my first job that I'm really trying to make up for it. But I feel like if I'm not being treated unfairly for the sins of my past, then I'm being treated unfairly for stupid (high school level) bs. I think the worst part is that my work quality is shift supervisor level, and yet I'm getting the worst shifts with the worst people, AND I have to deal with this kind of crap from my boss's favorite employee (who literally can do no wrong. Now to be fair, I've only ever seen her make one mistake, but it was a DOOZY, and she didn't get in trouble at all). On a smaller scale, but also irritating is this. During a training session, the only person who doesn't take home tips is the person who is training. So I didn't even blink an eye when golden child didn't split her tips with me. I thought that was normal. Turns out, if she likes you she'll share them with you, even though trainee's don't get tips until a real shift. I very casually brought this up. I didn't even bring it up actually. I was about to work with the new girl and I was wondering if I should be worried about anything. Golden child told me that she (the new hire) was amazing and that tips were great. So great in fact that she decided to share them with the new girl. I asked her why she did this as it's policy to not do that. Her response is what got me. She told me that f she trains someone and doesn't have to do anything then she'll share her tips, but if she does then the trainee get's nothing. I got nothing when she trained me, and she was so hungover that shift that the other girl on shift had to train me. Anyway, this part of the issue is A LOT smaller of a factor, but it piled on and really hurt my feelings. Anyway, I really just needed to vent here. But now that I'm done, I think a little advice would be lovely. I also think that if anyone else has any work horror stories or bad experiences to share we should do it here. Maybe we can make each other feel better if we all share, kind of group therapy style. Thank you for taking time to read this.
Do you know the manager in the bookstore? Maybe you could get a job over there instead? You don't have to tell him/her you're unhappy, just that you'd like a bit of a change from food services and thought you'd like it in the bookstore. You'd like a new challenge and a chance to learn a different business. Make it positive. You don't need the two managers discussing anything you don't want to get back to her.
