Volume 9: Above and Beyond

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It’s an odd life when you get yelled at for going above and beyond at work, but I was used to it at this point. Back when I worked at the grocery store before my work at Not-McD, that’s all that ever happened, sadly. I’d offer to stay later, clean more, cook more, make more happen in the store for not just my department, and instead of getting any form of help, respect or even allowance to try doing these things, I’d be berated and shot down for even bringing it up.  So, when this happened at my next job, I wasn’t as surprised as I should’ve been, but I was a bit disappointed.

This was a time when I was relatively new to working there and had just recently been put on night shift. I can’t give an exact time period, but it was somewhere within 2-4 months of me starting there. I wasn’t much for wanting to do grill and the sandwich table thanks to little-Mr.-princess back there, so I convinced one of the managers (whose name I will not disclose, but will call Sadie U., one of the two Sadies that worked there) to allow me to work up front for closing every once in a while. This was one of those nights.

I had a pretty set schedule for how I got things done, and I liked to keep in time with that schedule as good as possible, unless unforeseen events took place, such as a football game nearby letting out early and us getting bombarded with hungry people who were either happy and nice because their team won, or pissy and rude because their team lost. Well, this wasn’t a night for that, and I was actually ahead of schedule for my cleaning and closing duties. Due to this window of opportunity, I decided one thing needed to be done, something I had never seen done before in this store since I started: I was going to pull out all the shelves and cabinets up front and clean under, around and behind them. This is a great idea! I thought to myself. Surely, this will look better, and I can start incorporating this into what I do at night if I have the time! Bad idea, year-and-a-half younger me! I started doing this, and it was going well. I had gotten behind two of the shelves where we had the coffee makers and oatmeal, as well as one of the fridge cabinets up front. As I was moving on, I decided to clean behind our non-descript ice-cream machine that totally isn’t broken half the time. This is when Sadie U. decided to catch on to what I was doing.

She questioned me a moment, asking things such as “What are you doing?” and “Why are you doing this when you have other things you need to do?”. Keep in mind, I have overheard this lady complaining to other employees and to herself about the lack of work that gets done around here. I figured this would take some stress off and would also give me more to do in the slow portions of my night, especially considering I was, as I said before, ahead of schedule. I told her the same as what I just told you. This apparently made her angry! Who would’ve guessed?

I got told, in short, that this was not what I was supposed to be doing, and that, if I continue doing this when I have other work to be done, then we’ll never get out of here on time. The other things I would’ve had to do were mostly things I had to wait until closing time to get done, including shutting down and cleaning the coffee machines we have and cleaning and shutting down the fryer we were still actively using and bringing back all the dishes that go with that. It was stupid of her to say this stuff, honestly. I knew what needed to be done, yet I couldn’t do more? Was she upset that I could be doing more than her or her favorite employees? Was she worried she wouldn’t have anything to complain about? Or, maybe, she was genuinely worried as I was newer and could potentially just be sidetracked? I have no clue, to be honest. She doesn’t work here anymore.

I’m bringing this story up with a lesson for those reading, both managers and employees. Discrediting and berating your (co)workers is not a healthy thing to do in the environment of the workplace. If it wasn’t for the fact that, in all honesty, I disregarded her words, I could’ve easily fallen into the same boat as many other employees, which is that they don’t want to work harder because either the management doesn’t care about them doing harder work, and ultimately aren’t even rewarded with a “good job”, OR they’re made to feel bad for doing more and trying to do better. Both of these causes the same things: Laziness, insubordination and a lack of care for what the manager wants as a result. It is sad to know several employees who have given up caring for their job due to this problem. I was almost there with my grocery store job, and I’m damn lucky to know that management shows regard to me because I’m a good worker now, because I continue to work hard as a result, and they know it. If only they could see that with their other employees sometimes.

In the end, it comes down to a simple thing: Be kind to your (co)workers. These people are the lifeblood of your store, and ultimately affect your time working as much as theirs. If you continue not showing them the respect or praise they deserve and allow this toxicity to spread through the workers that have been there longer, they will continue discrediting their job and causing those around them to do the same. An unhappy work environment is an unhealthy work environment. Show more kindness and respect to your (co)workers and it will do wonders to the workplace!

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Volume 8: The "Princess" of the workplace!

One thing I’ve happened upon in just about any job I’ve worked is that there is always a “princess”. This person, be it male or female, always seems to feel entitled to all the good things in the world when it comes to their job. You must have everything clean and pretty by the time they come in to work, and you must be willing to adhere to what they need before you either switch off with them or leave for the day. At Not-McDonald’s, there is sadly no exception.

In the grill area, coming in at night, there is a man who will arrive and immediately be the bane of most peoples’ existence, who we’ll refer to as “Evan” (I have no reason for this name other than I don’t believe I can use his real name, just like the name of my actual place of work which is so well disguised with the name I use for it). Folks, if you have a princess, you know it. This man is definitely the princess of the workforce. This man is always roughly an hour early to his shift to make sure he can tell whoever’s working grill what they need to do before he starts working. He will hang around, on the clock no less, and wander, drinking or eating whatever he finds in there and finding small things to do that are utterly worthless, yet he does so in order to not be told to get back off the clock or take his position.

I remember the first time truly dealing with his attitude. It was a dark and stormy night, I had just begun final cleaning of the sandwich table, and we were all about to close up. This is where our friend Evan decided it was best to let loose on what hadn’t been done to the newly initiated me. I had been working the table roughly a week, and it was my second time closing it. I was asking questions the whole night to make sure I understood what I was doing, obviously unable to fully remember all the tasks I needed to preform in detail.

“Why have you not gone and counted the remaining inventory for the open boxes in the freezer?”

This was not my job. I knew that, at the very least, and so did the other two co-workers of the night.

“I have no clue what you mean, man. I swear that was grill closer’s job, not mine.” I said, somewhat confused, and asking such a question with no hint of attitude or sarcasm.

“Oh, so now you’re gonna get smart with me when all I’ve been doing is helping you and carrying your slow ass all day,” he began. It was out of nowhere, and I don’t think anyone expected it. I remained mostly quiet at the sudden outburst as he continued his cacophony of tyrannical yelling and jumbled words. He finally began to reach a conclusion when he stopped mid-sentence, got quiet, then stormed outside into the rain. He proceeded to his car, parked in the closest spot in the lot, and chain smoked at least 3 cigarettes before returning. As I wanted no further trouble, I decided that this once I would count the inventory as he continued inhaling the wrapped tobacco and bring it up with the general manager the next time I saw him. This, apparently, was also the wrong thing to do. For when he returned to the building, the scent of smoke along his person, he did not take kindly to this act being done.

“No, man, I was gonna go ahead and get that. It’s not like you were wanting to anyway! I don’t see a need for someone to do it wrong anyway, so I might as well do it myself. Give me that!” He snatched the paper from the counter that already had much of the inventory accounted for. He ripped it down the middle and began to work on counting it himself. Personally, at this point, had I not made it clear to myself that I needed to keep my head cool as to not lose my job within a few weeks of starting, I would’ve clocked this self-satisfied little bitch who thought it was okay to be talking and acting like that. It really didn’t help me, though, that he was so willing to mutter, at just the right volume for me to hear, all about how I wasn’t worth the time he gave for me to be “this worthless” anyway.

This man continues to be this way towards many, new and old to the company, even two years later, as I write this. I still hear stories from newer employees and older ones alike about how he blew up on a manager for asking to break down boxes, whether he was the one who put them there or not, or stories of him causing people to walk out mid-shift due to his sudden outbursts on their inability to do something, whereas he isn’t even in the area half the time to do his own job nowadays.

I think there is one more aspect to being the “princess” of the workplace that seals the deal for their title: They cannot get fired or reprimanded. I wish this part was a joke, as I’ve seen well-to-do people working their asses off and keeping as right as possible in the workplace get hounded for their incomprehension towards certain workplace matters. For this one in particular, I believe it’s because the general manager doesn’t work with him, yet also considers him a friend outside of work. Many times, employees and other managers will complain to the GM about things that this guy will do, and he shrugs it off, often trying his best not to associate the idea to Evan. It’s as if he doesn’t want to believe this about his worker. On top of it, he thinks that Evan is a good worker who follows through on everything possible when that couldn’t be further from the truth. I can spend, many times, hours of my shift doing both his work and my own, as he slacks off, goes to smoke or just disappears altogether. I can only hope that one day the GM will recognize the problems with his friend/worker and either reprimand him or just get rid of him. It’s too much trouble to our managers and coworkers to deal with such behavior, and so much more from him.

So, let’s get a Tl;Dr in here for at least somewhat of a summary.

A “Princess” in the workplace is someone who:

A.    Feels entitled to having everything done for them before, during and after their shift. This includes cleaning, stocking and full accommodations to his position.

B.     Constantly verbally abuses and pushes around coworkers, going so far as to demean them if they do not do what they want, or go further as to yell in their face and potentially cause physical contact or obstruction to their workplace, or their self.

C.     Has a form of “diplomatic immunity” that keeps them from getting in trouble for their actions, whether it be shirking their duties or causing problems to others or for others in the work environment.

D.    Recognizes their power over authority to allow them to continue acting this way, whereas they never truly change.

Managers, if you have a person like this, you need to address this problem-person. It is not healthy for your workers and fellow managers to deal with such atrocious behaviors.

Workers, if things get too tough and nothing is getting done, do not be afraid to go to Human Resources, the main District Manager or office, or even further if necessary. These things should not be done to you by fellow workers, as you are just as able and worthwhile, if not far more.

I hope you all enjoyed reading this, and possibly helped to discern a problem-child in your workplace. If you like this content or content of the like, please follow me on here, on Twitter or on my Facebook page! Thank you very much for taking the time to read this. Leave a comment on here or on one of the pages if you enjoyed, have any suggestions or have any criticisms to make. I appreciate your time!

Vol. 7: Vibes in the Workplace, and Diffusing Negativity Overall

What vibes do you get when you work super early or super late?

Weekends, for the past few weeks, have been all about waking up early, dragging myself off the couch or bed (depending on where I decided to sleep that night) and dredging my way along the darkened road to arrive at, and relinquish the time I could’ve had to freely write or sleep, to instead, work. I, for no reason have ever wanted to wake up at 3 a.m. or earlier to be at work. I’ve already had my run of overnight working when I stocked shelves in one of my prior grocery store positions, and heading to work at the approximate time I would’ve been taking a break in that job has never filled me with any feelings of joy when heading through the empty streets of my town.

The past couple weeks in particular, however, have been a bit different. I know my time is soon to be coming to an end opening the store, yet I’ve noticed something interesting about my habits lately regarding it: I go to work and act scarily happy. Yes, I am tired when I arrive at this place with little-to-no coffee in my system, having to cook or deal with the early rising customers, but I haven’t been acting the way I normally would when really tired like I have been. Instead, I have been as talkative as can be, cracking jokes and engaging in conversation with the other employees, which, despite us all being tired, has livened the mood a bit at the grueling hour of 4 a.m.

We have a good few employees, ranging from anywhere between 20 and 40 depending on recent turnover, kids going back to school, people working less hours or people just quitting in general or (in the rarest of cases) getting fired. Though the number frequently changes, and many new faces arrive, there are always core people that have been here at least since I’ve started working there. It’s always refreshing to see these faces, especially considering the amount of new people. I don’t harbor much in the way of negativity to anyone working in the store, though some people DO piss me off occasionally by way of not working or acting like a certain “princess” of the store (more on that one later). Mostly, though, the people here are a big “Non-McFamily”, engaging in constant fun and well received conversation, with people only getting out of hand once in a while. The people on morning shift, whom I regularly deal with, have a good bit of drama between them. Some are politically polar opposites and know it, while others have the whole “She thinks she’s better than me and I hate it” problems going on. These problems usually lead to the most fun you could have, but recently has been somewhat defused by the new routine of talking with one another at the start of the day instead of after an hour or two of little conversation.

I personally think that us all talking so early has been a really positive change altogether. With the newly found basis of the morning, when we all can sit there and have fun and enjoy each other’s company, we seem to have a dramatic shift in emotional energy throughout the store for the remainder of the day, as though we have shifted things in our favor. Most often, now, we all end the first hour on a high note and don’t taper off from the positive vibes until we begin to leave for the day, leaving whoever stays for mid- and second-shift to have their own vibes.

So, what am I trying to get at in all this? Well, I think I’m just trying to say that with positive emotion as the starting point for everyone’s day, no matter how early, things can remain in positive motion for the residuum of the day. Keep that in mind as you continue to be around people in your work environment, especially if said environment can get to busy, stress-filled levels like a fast food place can. If we can do it working in one of the busiest fast food restaurants in town at god-awful hours of the morning, then you guys can too!

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I hope you all enjoyed and found this humorous/incightful/etc. and will continue to read on throughout my time blogging!

Vol. 6: So, Who am I?

So, if you decided you wanted to tag along with me on this journey, whether you have found this today, or weeks, months or years after I’ve written it, then you should know who I am.

I am Nick. I have lived in the same town basically all my life, enjoying the niceties of a small town with nothing for a kid/teen/young adult to do but get pregnant and do drugs. I wasn’t one of the kids who ended up doing either, really. It’s honestly quite surprising, considering most of who I knew ended up finding their spirit animal on crack-infused peyote or ended up strung out in a trap house up in the projects of a nearby city. Yet, somehow, the older people here in this mess of a retirement community idle on by, pretending not to notice, and still remaining entitled assholes to their death beds. May whatever god(s) they believe in have mercy on their souls when they go.

While I grew up here, all my family is from the north. They all ended up here one way or another, and funny enough, my mom and dad ended up down here close to the same time from completely different areas up north; my mom being from New York, while my dad came from Baltimore, Maryland. I ended up being here as “the happy little accident that could” and was mostly raised by my mother, with the help of some family and friends along the way; notably a man named Jason, my grandmother on my dad’s side and my collective of aunts and uncles from both sides of the family. While the majority of those weren’t there for us much in the early years, I have definitely been assisted by all of them at one point or another for small or large things.

From the time I was about 3-4 years old, my mother worked in a grocery store that isn’t known as “Ingles Markets”. This “Not-Ingles”, as we’ll call it (original, I know) was basically my other home for the majority of my life, up until I was 16, when I started working there, and it became my other home and my least desired place to be. Grocery stores are boring, let me tell you, but there is A LOT of drama and bullshit that goes on in them for how tiny and honestly insignificant they are. This wasn’t helpful when finding myself being discriminated in school for being the short, scrawny white kid with the long hair, and it damn sure didn’t help with the free time I grossly underappreciated as a kid where I sat in my room with Doritos and Halo 3.

Well, anyway, I worked there for about two years, left there to work at a pub on the town’s main street, and proceeded to leave there to go back to another “Not-Ingles” to do overnight stocking. Lo and behold, I had to transfer out of there to continue school and be on a normal sleep schedule, and found myself right back at the store I started working at when I was 16. Clearly, this was the worst thing that could’ve happened to me, yet also an amazing thing, as I knew most of the people there still. Well, after a whole bunch of bullshit that I’ll eventually get to in a future entry or three, and the lovely relationship with my friend, I ended up at my little Not-McDonald’s and found myself in what is easily the best company/main job I’ve ever had.

So that, in the smallest sense, is me. I’m some 20-something year old guy with not the best social life from school to now, where I work at both my Not-McDonald’s and my friend’s small company while also going to school full time. I look pretty average and I’ve hated basically all my jobs up to this one, and this one is DEFINITELY no peach with the way things go. I’ve found myself wanting to write for a long time because, frankly, I’ve been told I have a knack for it, yet I cannot sit still long enough to make an entire novel out of my stories, so I’ll continue blogging as a result until I stop acting lazy. I hope this gives insight into who I am a little bit. I’ll give more info through context clues and future posts. I hope you’ll stay tuned to find out!

Well, that’s about all I’ve got for you right now. I am truly grateful you read this little thing I wrote, and I’ll be sure to keep handing out more content as time goes on. If you want to keep enjoying this, follow me on here or on Twitter. I’ll be sure to keep posting unless something happens to cause that not to be the case.

Vol. 5: Opening Shift and the Customers Who Come With

Waking up at three in the morning to open the store is probably my least favorite memory of working in fast food, and I still do it every weekend.

I’ve recently changed my sleep schedule from waking up at nine or ten in the morning to waking up as early as four every day of the week. I do it in an effort to make changes in my life that will positively benefit me, such as writing this passage. I’ve never been an early riser of my own accord until these past few weeks, and it honestly has been wonderful. What is still not wonderful, funny enough, is waking up to go to work an hour earlier. Every morning that I am forced to dredge my way out of bed, hair a mess and an alarm beeping in my right ear, I hate every second of it.

Mornings working at Not-McDonalds are not particularly hard, especially when you are placed in the same area as usual, conditioned to know every aspect of the ritual of opening and taking care of business on that front. Customers don’t start wildly banging on the doors to let them get their Egg McMuffin and coffee until roughly seven, so there’s a three-hour time window once you begin your day to drown yourself in caffeine and prep for the inevitable rush of people that will not stop except for a brief moment at about two in the afternoon. Once you’ve gotten the hang of dealing with such motions as the business and waking up in general, this job becomes extremely simplistic. Keep busy, don’t falter; that’s basically the mantra I tell myself regularly. That, and “don’t fuck up”; a phrase an old boss I had told me as I started out in line cooking for a bit back when I was about to turn 18.

People are animals when it comes to fast food. As mentioned before, I have dealt with some nasty, rude, unintelligible people that shouldn’t have crawled out of bed to begin with, let alone interacted with people. Whatever hole they find themselves living in under their rock that saves them from understanding modern social norms and niceties should be a fitting place for them to stay, rather than go out and find themselves bothering people that are just trying to work at not only these early hours, but all day.

Anecdote time: One morning, while I was off, I went to my job to grab a bite to eat. I sat at the seats in front of where the counter was, and I enjoyed the people watching that I could before getting too fed up and nearly blowing up on one, or a few customers. The person running the register was a nineteen-year-old girl who was just using this job as a way to help pay for college. She was smart, and would be very kind to just about anyone, no matter the problems. There was one thing that was enough to set off a few of the older crowd: She had blue hair. While I sat, watching as people, nice and rude alike, walked through, got their food and either left or sat down, one man came in with his three kids.

He and his kids all sported some luxury brand clothing, and he acted as though those around him meant relatively nothing to him or his kids, not acknowledging “excuse me” or “sorry” from people trying to make their way through the lobby to get around. They would not even move for them whatsoever. When he approached the front counter, he started his order by, no shit, saying “Let me say this slowly enough so you can understand, ok?” I was taken aback, but this girl just sat there, smile on her face, though she obviously showed she was annoyed through her eyes and tone. He proceeded to order, snapped at her (literally) to get his cups, then proceeded to the drink station, which I sat nearer to than the front counter. As he passed, one of his kids asked, “Why did she have blue hair?” to which he responded, “It’s someone from Not-McDonald’s, don’t pay any mind to her or her kind. She’s not worth thinking about.”

I really, truly, wish I was making this up, but I’m not. I watched this man treat everyone with disrespect and then berate this girl when she’s done nothing, only to turn around and act like this girl is less of a person because she works at this store. The worst part about this, though, is that I have seen more than just this man treat people with the same amount of disrespect through the drive-thru window and front counter. This is practically a norm, albeit, on the more intense side for this man.

Tiringly, you get used to a norm of emotional abuse from customers, and many I know can attest to that. We get to a point where we just accept it as how it is, and honestly, this should not be promoted. We slave over hot grills and fryers and sit in drive-thru windows while it rains, snows and freezes outside, and the thanks we get is rudeness from people who can’t help themselves but be rude, let alone say a thank you once in a while.

To get back on track with morning shift, specifically, we get the main bulk of rude customers. We endure those early risers that don’t speak unless suddenly provoked by not understanding their slurred morning speech through the microphone, and we get the customers like King Grape Jelly from my first post, as well as the entitled asshole and his three entitled little pigs that will sadly probably grow up as copies of him. To bring back some positivity, however, the mornings give some of the nicest people too. Those who get a look of joy when they see their food or caffeine coming toward them, who engage in conversation with the employees to give them a small moment of solace from the droves of other customers waiting to find a reason to yell at you. The morning brings a sense of familiarity with those wonderful people, where you know all their names, and what goes on in their life. You feel like this is someone who cares about being the best they can be, and if they complain, they act as nice as possible about it, and will only do so if there is true reason to do so.

To be honest, morning shift, although early, and sometimes pretty daunting as you get hit with wave after wave of zombified assholes that wish to do nothing but feed on your goodwill to fuel their disdain, is a good shift. You can meet the kindest of people (once you’re all awake, at least) and can truly find some fun and good times, even when busy. And quite honestly, it is about 1,000,000 times better than closing shift… But that’s for next post.

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Vol. 4: Coworkers!

Co-workers are an interesting bunch. People who you spend up to one half of your waking week with, sharing in the atmosphere of a single store, office, etc. for hours on end each day. These people make or break your overall experience in the workplace and can truly give some memorable moments to look back on as you either continue working there, or move on to another job, company, or even retire or move farther up the corporate ladder.

I can still remember, in fact, one guy who worked with me while I was stocking shelves overnight at a grocery store: Dallas. This guy was the picture-perfect ideation of a redneck. He wore camo, rode in a big truck and talked with the thickest southern accent. To top it off, he wanted to join the army to become a demolitions expert. This guy would come into work late, exclaiming loudly that he had arrived any time he’d walk through the back doors, and would proceed to talk about his girlfriend for the following thirty minutes as we unloaded the truck. She was obviously cheating on him, but he wouldn’t have any of it when we tried to explain it to him. Despite his amorous feelings towards this woman, there was one thing that set him apart from her: He had a stalking charge from his previous job.

Now, I can go on for hours just about the stories I have of this dude, but I’d rather keep him in mind for future examples, so be prepared to hear about him a lot. To get back on topic of co-workers in general, people like our friend, Dallas, here, can add to the monotony of the workplace by giving interesting moments and conversations, drowning out dull times and bad days alike. However, there are another breed of co-workers on the opposite end of the spectrum.

In my little Not-McDonald’s, there are plenty of different co-workers, ranging all over the spectrum of “horse-shit” to “pretty dandy”. The ones on the lower end tend to have at least two of these traits:

a.       They think they are the bee’s knees, no matter how infuriatingly terrible they are at their job.

b.      They openly, or secretively bad mouth just about everyone in the store, whether on factual information or baseless stories and ideas on the person/people of interest to them.

c.       They don’t work. At all.

d.      They are self-entitled little shits who think that, no matter what they do, they will not end up in trouble. This one particularly is a major concern in Not-McDonald’s, as there is a lot of steps normally needed to get someone heavily reprimanded, no less fired.

These traits make up the common symptoms of a good third of the employees in a workplace. Maybe even half, depending on crew size, people in charge, etc.

Now the other end of the spectrum is a rarer portion, to be sure. These can almost be considered friends, and will continue to work hard while managing to still be entertaining and fun to be around. These people will often work synergistically with you and those around them, keeping a fast and overall well-defined pace throughout the day. I can think of three people in my work place that truly nail this end of the spectrum to a tee, and one of them happens to be my General Manager. He, as well as the other two co-workers, seem to know exactly how to do what they need to do, and how to do it well. If we were able to all work in tandem, I have no doubt we alone could run the store and almost never have a sense of falling behind.

Therein, however, lies those in between the two major ends of the spectrum. A vast no-man’s land of workers drifting the lines of good and bad, excellent in some areas, while lacking in others. Though they can, on occasion, reach the synergistic levels needed to keep things running smoothly, most of the time, there is a sense of falling flat in the workplace. This will keep times up on the counters while attempting to continue being recognized as “fast food”. These people can come in and brighten your day at times, while at other intervals get on your nerves to no end. Additionally, these types will fall into a category where their existence doesn’t matter to those working around them. Some co-workers I have, I’ve never spoken more than three sentences to.

Everyone falls into this category at some point, through a bad day or just not holding up to the environment that you work in. While it may seem that I am bashing the majority, keep in mind I fall into this category at times as well, and will continue to do so in certain cases. I cannot run a drive-thru as well as I can command the sandwich table or grill, and I cannot close as well as I open. We all have areas we falter in the working spectrum and our overall personality to those around us. While some may find me to be on their high end of the spectrum, others may see me as a bane to their working lives, feeling utter disdain when they see me walk into the store.

The best way that I’ve seen myself deal with those I don’t like when working, or feel don’t work as well in their positions, or in tandem with me, is trying to find a way to work around the negatives, and see where we can connect better to maximize efficiency. If I don’t like them, I keep in mind the thought that I will only be seeing them until they or I get off work that day. It makes no difference to me outside of work. My work problems stay my work problems as my home problems stay my home problems. There is no need to worry about the problems I have with people, or people have with me unless they get to a point that it is causing difficulties overall.

To sum up the total of this post, I’ll say these next few lines.

Co-workers are an interesting bunch to deal with on a daily basis. They range from being close friends in this little working world to being absolute nightmares, and this can cause both positive outcomes to your overall work experience or negative ones. Always remember that the different ways you can see co-workers are the exact same ways that they see you. The best thing to do is remember to leave your problems from outside work at the door as you enter, and leave all your work problems at the door as you leave. If things get to a point that action is needed against workers, as they either are a major detriment to the entirety of the job, or are continually attempting to cause you many problems, please remember that there are Human Resources firms if needed in most workplaces, and at the very least talk to your management about the problems occurring.

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Vol. 3: The Effects of Journaling When Stressed

Throughout the past few months, regardless of times I woke up, times I went to sleep and what I’d do in the day either healthily or unhealthily, I have had one constant: Journaling. Before my reintroduction to journaling by a youtube video on Bullet Journaling, I would usually keep all my thoughts and feelings to myself, dealing with stress, anxiety and any other conglomeration of emotions I had throughout my day of working, school or otherwise on my own. This was particularly bad when it came to work, which is why I am writing this post today.

Working in fast food, if you don’t know, is stressful beyond belief. Between the mix of drama from co-workers, the hundreds of customers and the strange scheduling that either has you coming in at 4 a.m. and staying all day or 5 p.m. and staying midnight or later, things tend to stack up, making life inside and outside of work a little more nerve-wracking. There are many ways to deal with this stress; I would usually liberate my tired mind of its excessive amounts of stress by either not sleeping at all and playing video games, smoking pot like some teenage stoner or holding it all in until I blew up on someone in a fit of rage, sadness or some other extreme emotion. Despite my continuance of these things to deal with the problems stemming from work and other areas of tension, I knew I needed a change for the better or I would crash and burn.

While perusing the internet for some kind of treasure in the form of stress relief, I found several options that I felt may suit me. Meditation was one of them; ten minutes of closed eyes and focus solely on my breathing Another was sleeping well, which was difficult without something like melatonin to keep me knocked out when I would flare up with insomniac episodes every couple weeks. Finally, I found what I was looking for that I felt fit me like a glove: Journaling. My family has always been big on journaling, and when I was little, I would journal a lot. In fact, I still have my most embarrassing hits in some 10+ year old journals sitting in my closet, buried under a mountain of boxes.

I started by looking for tutorials on how to properly journal for stress relief. These usually fell into the “youtube video” category of my searching, and were usually coupled with yoga and vegan diets galore. I ended up trying a few different methods out to see what suited me. Mostly, I ended up falling back to just writing about my day at the end of each night. A good start, honestly. At least I could keep pen to paper regularly again. I would go on and on about the many aspects of work life, dealing with my cute-yet-troublesome little brother and my father on a regular basis and trying to find quiet in my busy life. This became like solace to me. My own headspace was flowing onto the page like it was nothing, and by the time I was finished for the night, I would feel free of the stress the day had brought on prior.

This began to affect other aspects of my life. I started keeping up with what I was doing throughout the day, marking my mental routine I seemed to follow, and also began to follow my health and dietary life. I would mark things like what food I’d get on my free meal at work and what I would eat outside of work. All of it was rather unhealthy, so I started to diet, opting for the side salads with some grilled chicken instead of three cheeseburgers a day. I began to sleep better after relaxing with a pen and paper, and coworkers began to notice a difference in my mood. I did not feel fully satisfied with my work journaling, however. I felt I needed a bit more structure to my life and would need to crack down on that. Several vegan-salad-yoga-journal videos later, and I had my solution: Bullet Journaling.

Bullet journaling was a slightly different form of journaling whereas you would use a journal with dots lining the page rather than lines. This would give you more creative freedom with the overall looks of the pages you write on, as well as allowing for lines to be drawn more easily to adapt to starting to write daily and weekly schedules. I would make little graphs with lines to show what time I had to be doing whatever was in that block. 4-2? Work. 3-4? Laundry. See what I mean? This would get me writing a little more at night, clarifying exactly what I would be doing, and keeping to the schedule as strictly as possible, with room for exceptions and unforeseen consequences, such as traffic.

This type of journaling has tremendously helped me in a variety of ways. I can draw more freely in this journal, giving me more time and room to be more creative and inhibit that side of my brain. While doing that, I could also write down schedules for myself for the day/week, as well as still have room to get my thoughts and feelings onto paper. I recommend this type of journaling, and journaling in general, to help you in your daily life. The life of working, not just in fast food, as well as school and other stuff that life throws at you can be incredibly strenuous, and sometimes you need to work on you, even if it’s just a few sentences on paper to get your mind off things.

I hope you enjoyed reading. This post is not entirely about fast food, but this is part of my journey in fast food, as well as life itself. I urge you to find something to help you keep going without the baggage you carry with you. All too often, we allow these negativities to seep out onto others as well as other aspects of our lives. Be grateful for what you have, and continue to protect that which makes you happy by not letting the bad harm it or you in any more ways than you can allow.

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Vol. 2 / PSA: Credit Where Credit's Due

Although I am inclined to talk of the negativities regarding the idea of working fast food, I would rather keep it from being all bad. The realm of fast food can be daunting, and sometimes people cannot seem to wrap their head around how much turns out bad. However, one positive affirmation I can give is that the managers, for the most part, are some of the best people you can deal with.

Here in the lovely land of not-McDonald’s that I left us in last time, we have about nine managers at the moment. I am on track to becoming one of the next two, and hopefully will be able to ascend the position fast due to my previous managerial experience. Though there are several managers in this store, only three matter. The General Manager, and his two subordinates known as the true Assistant Managers of the store. Those three are such a godsend compared to the tired, begrudgingly working managers that precede them in rank. As I mentioned in my previous post, I was hired on at record speed. That was thanks to two of the “Big Three” as I’ll call them. The GM was friends with my soon-to-be coworker and current friend, James. When James turned around to ask him if I could come aboard the N-McD ship, this manager immediately set up a time THAT DAY to meet me and give me an interview. I was ecstatic to know that it could be that soon, especially after my encounter, moments before asking James about the job, with the Anti-Christ of a boss I had at the grocery store. Ever grateful, I agreed to the time, and was there ten minutes early to show my eagerness to begin.

Fast forward two days to my first day on the job. Yes, the same one I had also spoken about in the previous post. (link to that right HERE). This is where I would meet the second-in-charge. This lady was on the larger side and spoke with a loud and somewhat threatening voice; at least, at first it seemed that way. Within minutes of talking with her and truly getting to know this boss, I had already been well enough acquainted to joke around, enjoy decently long conversation for what was presented in a fast-paced environment and truly found myself with a homelier vibe, as she reminded me of one of my favorite aunts in her overall demeanor.

These two people alone contradicted everything I had heard of working at fast food prior to actually doing it. Everywhere online, all I’d see was how the management didn’t seem to care about their employees and how they would be rude and downright nasty to their workers for simple tasks. I’m about to debunk that for everyone, right here, right now. And some of this will be bolded to help you understand my main focus here.

Managers in fast food care greatly for the workers they have. ESPECIALLY those who actually get to work and keep at work when needed. These little teenagers and early twenty-somethings all seem to wrap their head around their entitlement way too much, and cause trouble for the idea of a decent system of management in stores such as my very own Not-McDonald’s both in the store, and online with social media. Within such a place lie some of the nicest people I’ve had the pleasure to work under, and those same people will work just as hard as their workers if need be, not to prove a point, but to help and guide those who are new or not doing so good. I have watched these same people console those around them who are having a rough time, and these people will also adhere to policy if there is ever trouble with sickness or mental/emotional health problems within their little fast food community.

The true problem lies within the people who work. There is a certain idea that goes around in a workplace that needs more credit, understanding and reciprocation. IF YOU CAN DO YOUR JOB, AND KEEP AT IT AS GOOD AS POSSIBLE, YOU WILL BE GIVEN THE BEST TREATMENT POSSIBLE. HOWEVER, IF YOU REPEATEDLY SHIRK YOUR DUTIES AND CAUSE PROBLEMS FOR YOUR MANAGERS AND CO-WORKERS, YOU WILL GET THE SAME TREATMENT BACK. Do you get what I mean? I hope you do. There is a stigma in social media and in person that the managers and co-workers in a workplace, especially fast food, are rude and unyielding in threats, rude comments and bad behavior to the people ranting about it. This stigma needs to be discredited, as those who are complaining about this are the ones who are starting drama, disregarding their duties and causing problems for nearly the whole of the workforce in the place they are working.

Now do not get me wrong, there can be truly bad managers, who either cannot be complacent in their own jobs, are very big-headed and think their word is law, and there are some who just are assholes in general. HOWEVER, do not mistake the few for the many. These people work hard, strive for the best of their abilities and care for everyone there as best they can, both as workers and as the people that drive their working selves. I apologize how this became a rant instead of just a story, but people need to understand this, as I see these good people get discredited many a time, and it is not right.

This post is basically done now. I will get back to some funny stories next time, but I wanted to get this out there. There are many positives in this line of work, and I have many good stories to tell on that notion. Do not discredit those who do not deserve it. I love my work, despite its annoyances, and I cannot understand the depth of hatred in such places that have given so much time and effort to help those who work there, even in the face of hundreds of customers an hour. Guess this was kinda a PSA, eh? Don’t worry though, this won’t always happen!

Please follow me here on this blog for more stories and funny happenings in my line of work here in fast food. I appreciate you reading and hope you have a great day/night/whatever.

Volume 1: An Intro to my Time as a Fast Food Employee

When I first started in fast food, I was already 20 years old. Never before had I been so rudely awakened to the extremities of customer service til then. I had worked in grocery stores and had ultimately put up with some obvious problem-people, such as the rich old fucks that had no proper discernment between nice and rude, whereas everything they said ultimately ended up in the latter category, as well as some stupid teens or coworkers that could not pride themselves more than to be idiots and try to do things that’d obviously end with them either in trouble, or free to go, with no indication that they wouldn’t do whatever they did again.

Though the ultimate annoyance of my life always ended up coming back to customer service, and people in general, my time with grocery stores had ended abruptly, and one of my best friends, James had offered me to go work with him at the local fast food joint that is obviously not McDonald’s. This was a godsend at the time, as I really needed a new job after delightfully telling my old manager to “stick it up his ass” in a much nicer vernacular. Besides, I was getting my real estate license soon enough (or so I would believe) and I didn’t feel it would hurt to work in such an environment. I got the job rather quickly, and started within three days of applying. Record time, though I didn’t realize how little they cared about such things as “background checks” and “drug tests”. Lucky me, I might’ve neglected to tell them I smoked a bowl or two of the Mary-ju-wannas (I do not condone such criminal actions in non-legal states BTW) after my intense… discussion(?) with my now former manager.

Anyways, I was hired on oh so lovingly, and immediately put to a register, as they didn’t know of my kitchen/cooking/etc. experience in the fields I worked prior to this. The most they really knew was that my last boss was a fucker, and I knew customer service like a boss, despite my utter disdain for the totality of it. The register was obviously different from any regular grocery store, as the whole thing was touch screen and picture-based as if you needed to scream “hey, we hire illiterate 14-year-olds!” at the top of your lungs. This wasn’t too bad, especially since there was apparently no such thing as formal training for the different areas, and all of it seemed a test to see if I wouldn’t snap under pressure of dealing with assholes for my inability to properly navigate these new menus.

I survived the first day, but not without making a point to tell them of all the things I could do besides dealing with asshats such as the ones I had been so graciously set up to meet like some kind of nightmare blind-speed-dating service. During this particular day was the first I would meet of a man who could hold a grudge for the next two years as if he wasn’t about to be put in a retirement home by his kids who fucking hate him like I do. This man would order the same thing every day, I’ve been told. A sausage biscuit with two GRAPE jellies on the side, and a black coffee. Now, this man did not specify the grape part to me, as I apparently should’ve known what he wanted telepathically, or as though those around me would tell me the “King of Grape-Jelly-Assholeland” was here to get his happy order. So, as you can imagine, this man was not pleased when I handed him the only jelly I could find: Strawberry.

Dealing with customers at a grocery store can prove simplistic, and if you mess up their order in a place like the deli, where I finished my career there at, they will usually tell you without getting too upset, will ultimately make some snide remarks, and leave with their fixed order like it’s not a big deal, which it isn’t. This man turned red within seconds of seeing that pink packet lying on the tray he had been handed. “WHAT. IS. THIS?!” He turned to me, looking as though he had been picked from a tomato plant fresh as can be. “How are you EVEN ALLOWED TO WORK HERE WHEN YOU CAN’T EVEN FOLLOW A BASIC THING I ASKED FOR?!” He spouted out these words as though a faucet had accidentally been turned all the way on in his dry, wrinkled mouth. He threw the jelly on the table, jerked his biscuit and coffee off the counter, spilling the coffee all across it and the floor nearby, and stormed out....

…I died laughing the minute he left the side door to this Not-McDonald’s. How could one person be so stupid to overreact to a tube of jelly he didn’t even pay for? I still wonder to this day, despite seeing others act the same way over similar things. Now, any time he would come back to the store, and I’d work the register, he would make a deal to say “grape” at least twice to me each time he ordered, as well as mentioning how I “shouldn’t screw it up like last time,” despite it being months, now over a year and a half since then.

Now, this is just an extremely tiny tidbit into the life I had led as a fast food employee, and I hope you will follow along for more content of the like. This is the journey of my time through retail and customer service, and I hope you enjoy every minute of it.