Monday, 9 November 2009

mokie: Earthrise seen from the moon (Default)
Happy birthday to me!

I have sea monkeys!

And coffee!

And brownie-cake!

Verily, tis an awesome day to be a mokie!
mokie: Earthrise seen from the moon (Default)
"Today, time will freeze and may even seem to go backward, dear Scorpio."

I just realized I'm two years younger than I thought I was. Awesome! I want that as a present every year!

"Use this pause to reflect on your motivations."

Are you suggesting that I am being dishonest, oh horoscope?

I admit that a part of me really wishes management would remove its cranium from its rectum and rectify the work situation, so I didn't have to quit. I did not (and do not) count on it, though--I've brought it up often enough to recognize that it's apparently a deal-breaker for both me and them. But I like the store and its folks, and I dislike change, so that feeling's only natural.

Maybe I need to admit that I'm burnt out. On the Company? On the graveyard shift? On retail in general? I don't know. Maybe the birthday has me chomping at the bit for a change of scenery. Maybe I'm looking for that greener grass. Maybe I want to walk into Corporate America's offices and drag them down to look at things from the ant's eye-level for a little while.

For instance, the training material of my current employer (and probably most retailers) lets all new hires know that Company assumes all employees are thieves who will one day be caught. Stores offer few-to-no incentives for people to work busy evening weekends, leaving those shifts staffed by raw new hires, employees they wish would just quit already,* or employees that just didn't complain enough about having to work them. Excelling at your job means you'll be expected to do the work mediocre employees didn't finish, thus making it counterproductive for you to be competent. Oh, and there's often no opportunity for advancement--you can be experienced, knowledgeable and enthusiastic, and they'll still hire a fresh-faced boy out of college who only wants something to tide him over till he can find a job in his actual field.

(Bear in mind that all of this is accumulated rantage--from several years with the company, for starters, and also the rants of friends and relatives who work in other retail establishments. Again, I like the job and co-workers, both at this and my previous store, and for the most part, this isn't a reflection on them. Er. Most of them.)

By comparison, the pet store's training materials essentially said, "We trust you to have the pets' and customers' best care at heart, so here's how you can better use the resources here to accomplish those ends." There were fair pros and cons to all shifts in terms of the labor/customer service balance. There was accountability for tasks, because a slacker leaving work for the next shift in a pet store could (and did) cause animal deaths. And, I swear to Bob, all but one of the managers, including store managers, started out at a lower level in the company--as a cashier, or cage scrubber, or stocker, or whatnot. Not only was there a chance to climb up the ladder, you could be assured that the person up it had once been where you were.

Sigh.

I think my motivations are to burn shit down and take up art professionally, writing passionately, and skydiving nekkidly. But I can't be sure, so let's move on.

"The astrological clues seem to suggest that you're currently settling questions that concern the fate of another person. Perhaps you should be spending an equal amount of time considering your own fate as well."

Another person? Maybe the person who has to replace me. Ooh, or maybe this bit's for my mother. She's a Scorpio too. If that's the case, stop worrying, Mom; I'm fine!

Or, er, maybe that's a poke to get off my butt and put in more applications. Right! I'm on it!


* Stores want their crappy employees to either get their act together or quit already. What the store does not want is to fire a crappy employee. At least, not just for being crappy. That would mean paying out Unemployment, and if they're going to pay someone for not working, well, said crappy employee can be behind a register doing that.

And that is why, American Consumer, that rude cashier still has a job despite your complaining. You're going to take your $8.34 elsewhere? Okay. Cheaper than firing her. Also, you'll probably be back, once you've cooled off. Oh, and you're throwing a fit over coupons? Pfft. Definitely cheaper than firing her.

Adjust your misconceptions accordingly.

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mokie: Earthrise seen from the moon (Default)
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