I’m on simmer this morning

I know this is a nice blog about good & happy & creative things. So feel free to skip this post where I’m going to rant & come back later when I’m feeling more my normal cheerful & crafty self.  :o)

Let me preface this by saying I love my job. I work part-time at a video store and while it can be chaotic & stressful at times- I really love it. I’m a people person and it suits me perfectly. I also love my co-workers for the most part. We occasionally irritate each other with some of our work-habits (like leaving things unfinished at the end of a shift or no notes explain what this or that pile of movies is)- but that’s just normal human interaction. It’s little things we work through & deal with.

However- it’s becoming increasingly too frequent that I’m expected to be at beck & call on my days off. We’re short-staffed, so I understand that there’s times when there’s more work than one person can handle and a little help is greatly appreciated. I’ve been there myself (more often than not I’ve just dealt with it though and then stayed later than my shift to finish things b/c I respect people’s days off.)  I don’t mind sometimes going in to help out. Heck- I’ve quite often covered people’s shifts when they were unable to work them due to schedule conflict or sickness. I’ve come in to work on short notice, I’ve worked a longer shift when asked, I’ve even voluntarily worked off-clock a little bit to finish projects I was in the middle of at work & didn’t want to throw our labor hours off by not clocking out when it was time for me to leave.

I give a lot to a part-time job. So much so that it’s started to irk me when I’m sent “SOS” texts on my day off. That when I (and others) write request days off on the calendar he repeatedly forgets to look at it when making the schedule and often we are supposed to work on those days and then have to scramble to find coverage for shifts or forgo whatever plans we had. Granted- when he scheduled me to work a short 5-9pm shift this past Monday on Halloween and I told him I couldn’t work it he said they’d manage without me. (But I was the second back-up person and technically it wasn’t him that was shorted- it was my co-worker that was working that night.)

My boss is not a bad guy- I generally like him a lot. But the little things are adding up. Stuff like him leaving stacks of damaged movies unfinished, not doing inventories when he opens, leaving huge lists we’re expected to do, calling/texting on days off requesting us to work and such. Last night was kind of like the final straw. He called and left a message saying I needed to call him or my co-worker T ASAP. I figured I knew what he wanted- me to come in & work till close. I know this b/c he didn’t look at the calendar/availability when making the schedule for this week and put my co-worker L working when she needed it off. I didn’t want to work it- figured it was his mess & he should cover it. And besides- I had my own stuff to do (like go to my son’s Cub Scout meeting to help out for the first time since I wasn’t working for once on a Tues night!)- it wasn’t like I was sitting at home twiddling my thumbs! Well about 8pm I guess he called again and left another message. Which pissed me off when I heard it:

“Hi J, this is R again. I need you to call me as soon as you get this- it doesn’t matter how late it is. If not, we’re going to have to have a meeting- like you and me. So- hope to hear from you soon.”

That bold part is what set me off. EXCUSE ME?!?!?!? If I don’t call you on my day off when I’m NOT scheduled to work then you’re implying I’m going to get in trouble? How in the HELL do you think that works? You dare threaten me with a “meeting” because I’m not sitting at home by the phone on my freaking day off because maybe, just maybe I might get a call from work and have to rush in to save the day again?!?!  I was hot to say the least. That was an instant tick me off- wrong thing to say to this girl who doesn’t get angry often. It was the match to the powder keg of things that had been building up for a few weeks now.

I’m a d*mn good employee who works her shifts, does my share of the work (and then some), doesn’t call off even when I’m sick, often comes in on my days off to help out & covers other’s shifts often when needed. When he went out of town 2 weekends in a row for weddings I worked those 2solid weekends with long hours (11 hour day one day!), closed one night & turned around and opened the next. I was running on fumes- having only maybe 5 hours sleep. I also have the highest sales in my store just about every week- Heck I had the highest in my district just last week!

*Breathe…….1,2,3……….Breathe*

Sorry- this is still bubbling inside me b/c I haven’t been able to release it on the person who deserves it yet. Because I refused to call him last night for 2 reasons- 1) You don’t threaten me with anything. EVER. NOT the way to get results with me. 2) I figured if I called him last night I’d say things I’d regret- like to F off.  I thought some sleep would help calm me down- but it didn’t work. I’m still pissed off. And when I called him this morning to wake his butt up (b/c unlike this mom who no matter if I work till close & don’t get to sleep till midnight at the earliest still has to get up first thing in the morning with kids he sleeps till who knows when)- I only got his voicemail. So I’m waiting for him to call back. And he probably won’t be any happier with me than I am with him b/c I didn’t leave a very welcoming pleasant toned message. He’s going to know I’m not happy before he even calls and he better have his pucker lips on when he does. :o)

 

Ok- Rant over. I feel a bit better for at least completely venting somewhere. Now to get busy and get stuff done that puts me back in a good mood.   :o)