I realize it's been a while since I posted a blog entry. I have been busy with the new job. I have discovered that I am incapable of being on my feet for 10 hours without a break! Who knew! I requested shorter shifts. 4 or 5 hours and I feel the strain. And I'm in good shape for a sixty-year-old. Then I have an hour-long bus ride to get home. What a nice end to the working day! Why is it that when a person gets on the bus reeking of garlic, they always sit next to me! This often happens early in the morning. In what culture do they eat garlic for breakfast?
I often work in the morning. It is actually quite boring. There are very few customers at malls in the morning. The only excitement is the little old Chinese men who come to the kiosk an hour before it opens to ask questions while I'm trying to get set up for the day. Or the little old ladies who talk and talk and tell me their life stories. And they never buy anything. I think they are just lonely and need to come to the mall to socialize. It's kind of sad, really.
My boss has a pet peeve, a messy kiosk. If the calendars are not lined up exactly, you are not doing your job. So I spend most of my time roaming the stand, looking for that calendar that's 5 degrees out of alignment. I think I will bring a measuring tape and a level to work. it's the only way to satisfy her. Actually she has a lot of pet peeves and they seem to change daily. I am glad I changed my mind about wanting to manage, although the way things are now, we all seem to be managers. At not much more than minimum wage.
We are expected to be at work 15 minutes before our shifts. Correct me if I'm wrong, but if she's not paying us, that's illegal. We don't get breaks. We can snatch a couple of minutes to get a lunch to eat at our kiosk or take a bathroom break if we can con a security guard to babysit the kiosk. And the boss doesn't believe in chairs or stools at the kiosk.
The boss also doesn't believe in getting sick. If we are ever sick, I have been told, we have to get our own replacement! Isn't that supposed to be the manager's job? She didn't have time to set up the schedule of working hours so she told two other women working there to set it up themselves. They scheduled me in for a twelve hour shift! And when I reminded her that I had asked for shorter shifts she told me to talk to the others and settle it! Isn't scheduling the manager's job also. Oh, yeah, I almost forgot. We have no manager. The manager that was working there got sick with strep throat and, "she is no longer with us." I guess the boss doesn't believe in strep throat either. That was the day I decided I didn't want to be a manager there.
Seems the boss doesn't believe in communicating with the staff either. I had to pick up my paycheque yesterday on my day off after it had been sitting under the kiosk cash register for three days. And there was no stub to show how much tax or other deductions was taken off. So I can't even tell if she paid me for the right number of hours. Maybe she doesn't believe in paying taxes!
So, things are pretty disorganized and I'm looking for a job closer to home. I have applied to London Drugs, a block away from my apartment building. They have an opening for a sales associate in the cosmetics dept. I have experience. In the late sixties and early seventies I worked in the cosmetics dept. at Eaton's. I am hopeful that I can get in there. It would be a couple of minutes walk away and I have heard from other employees that London Drugs treats their employees like human beings. What a concept!
Gotta go get ready for work. Meanwhile I'll dream of the perfect job. Or at least a satisfactory job. Bye for now.
Remember the difference between a boss and a leader; a boss says "Go!" - a leader says "Let's go!" ~E.M. Kelly
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Musings of a new Vancouverite
