Well,
I’m sure everyone’s no stranger to the fact that I have left my old job and
returned to…my old job. You see, before
my stint as an office jockey, I was a coffee shop girl – albeit less coffee,
more food. The company I worked for – and now work for again – specialises in
selling hot foods and coffee. The good news is that I’m back in full time
employment again. This means that I can grow my savings, help out at home and
still have money left over the treat myself once in a while.
Get
in!
The
bad news is that the branch I’m working for was quite famous during my previous
dealings within the company. I distinctly recall my ex colleagues saying that
the shop was old, busy, dirty and had a monster for manager. One had a rather affectionate name for her. This didn’t
bother me at the time because I wasn’t working there, but as I drew to the end
of a my first tenure with the company, my final four days were spent working in
that shop and I saw firsthand exactly what they’d be talking about. Fortunately
for me however – at the time – it was only four days and on the fourth day, not
only was I leaving the company but I was to travel to Spain for two and a half
weeks so I didn’t give a flying monkeys.
Now
however, I’m stuck in it until further notice because somebody from higher up
in the company remembered me. They remembered that I was a barista in training
and decided that despite the year and six months I’d been away from the
company, I must have retained all
that previous knowledge and couldn’t possibly have undone it all. Thus, I was
shipped into the very fires of hell themselves with the devil incarnate
laughing in triumph.
Maybe
it didn’t help that I went in there fearing the worst, but my memories served
correctly in remembering that despite management, the team from way back when
were pretty decent people. In fact, some of them are still there but there are some new faces as well. For the most
part however, there are two things that are important to me in the workplace…
a) my team must be awesome.
And
not awesome in terms of efficiency (even though that does help) because during
the olden days, I was moved to a new shop with a new team who knew virtually
nothing. And I grew to like them a lot; we would chat and laugh and we even
went out a few times. My team just need to be cool – people I get along with.
And generally, I find it very easy to get along with other people, but in this
case, there are at least a couple of people that get on my tits.
Now
I’m not perfect. I’ve forgotten a lot
of things and in addition, a lot of new rules have been implemented. But what
really irritates me is that just because I’m the new guy all over again, people
make assumptions about my work etiquette. They think that just because the hole
in the icing is bigger than normal, I must
have been the one who cut it that size. Or they think that just because someone
shouted out for a latte too quietly, it must
have been me – it couldn’t have been anyone else now, could it?
The
thing is, if I do make a genuine mistake, I will put my hand up. I have made
mistakes and I do make mistakes, but all I ask is that the mistake made is
truly attributable to me before someone decides to give me a bollicking. And
all this, in the space of six days. Wut?
The
second thing that’s important to me in any workplace is:
b) management must be tolerable.
I
can’t even begin to understand what it feels like to be overseeing the running
of a shop. The highest position I’ve had in any company is that of a senior team
member…and in all cases this has been unofficial. But I do understand that it
must be stressful. At the same time, however, I believe that we’re all adults
here and that we should be treated as such. Eighteen months ago, I witnessed my
current manager speaking to a member of her staff like he was a child. Today, I
got it in the ear – it was a group bollicking – but I still got it nonetheless –
and it still reaffirms the initial concerns I had when I was handed the
envelope with my current shop’s name on it.
The
consolation however is that I’m not alone in my thinking in regards to management.
Most of the team have their concerns as well, while others are desperate to
transfer or to leave. Therefore, I feel at least somewhat included even though
I don’t feel entirely welcome yet.
Nevertheless,
it makes me think back to when I first started with the company. It makes me
miss my old teams terribly and my first manager who, while easily stressed, was
potentially the best manager I had in my company; his floor manager was equally
sound. Even when I was transferred to a new shop with a new team of fresh
rabble whom I had to help train up to standard; I miss these guys too (even
though the management there was partially the reason why I left the company in the
first place).
I
also, have a thing about lady bosses anyway. I think it’s better to work under
a man than a woman because let’s face it ladies, they’re a lot more level
headed than we are.
And
then of course, there are the customers. The calibre is a lot better than my
previous place of work in the training and employment company. The clientele
are mainly businessmen and women who come once or twice a day to get that
coffee in the morning or that soup for lunch. The amount of people that use their debit cards
is ridiculous however and it leads me to believe that these are the kind of
people that have money to burn. For me, if I pay for something utilising my
card, I have to check my accounts later to make sure there’s something still in
there, but at the rate that these people spend money, I’m under the impression
that money must grow on trees for them.
What’s
more, is that while some of them are really lovely – some will talk to you or
smile at you or even thank you for the service - others are really up
themselves. Some of them walk in with that pouty expression as if nothing’s above
them; they're glare at you from behind their spectacles and drop their items of the counter muttering minimal words to you. A couple of people have even purposely waited for another cashier to
become free despite my till being free. Some clients will refuse to put the
money in my hand even though my palm is out-stretched to receive it; a lot of
them do this actually, now that I think about it. But don’t get me wrong, I had
those who were up themselves in my
old shops, but the amount in this one seems to be insatiable; clearly they don't like change. Maybe they see a new face and think "incompetant until proven otherwise". But I have
to wonder if it might be because they need
that coffee in the morning to perk themselves up; it’s like a drug that must be
administered daily in order to function properly. Without it, they turn into zombies, crawling into the workplace on a missing limb desperate for sustenance. Or maybe they're just the kind of people that would throw a hissy fit just because someone forgot to
get them a fork for their cake.
Overall,
I feel like I crossed out of one hell hole into another. I’m not fast enough
for this shop and I don’t think I ever truly will be. Using initiative seems to
be banned when you’re on the tills as well as we’re not allowed to move from
them during busy hours. Thus, we’re dependant on backup to get us what we need
and more often than not, they do get a back log of stuff to do meaning that at
times I’m twiddling my thumbs while a customer is waiting for their produce and
I can’t move from my spot to help just because those are the rules. So I’m
just biding my time and waiting for that customer who complains about me
directly just because he didn’t receive something fast enough.
When
I returned, nonetheless, I was under the impression that they wanted me to be a barista. As
I am now, I’m not sure whether they want me to become one again, but if they
do, I’d rather not. I don’t even like coffee and I’m of the opinion that with
the amount of basic rules broken at those coffee machines by other members of
staff, it’d probably be physically impossible to pass the exam anyway. In fact,
I did hear that somebody had actually failed it so I’d like to save myself the
embarrassment…even if I do make a good cup of coffee apparently
I
know I need to be patient nonetheless. I’m only working where I’m working in
order to have something of a life and to save money for the future. I hope to
hear good news in April from the Jet Programme but in all honesty, I’m not so
sure I will. I’ve been following the forums and I seem to be one of the few
people who felt like her interview could have a gone a whole lot better.
I’m
just hoping that as time goes by, things will get better and this will be a
turbulence portion of this rollercoaster because if I keep feeling this way, I’m
going to forever hate myself for not accepting that other job offer I had received. It would have been less pay but would I have been happier I wonder?
