Should have been short tales???

[Mytical]

Hmm these might be longer then I first thought...also these are OLD.

Little things that don't really deserve there own threads, for me they come from several places, but none as much as from Wally World. Some would fit in MIM, some CoC, some sightings (when I was off work but AT wally world) etc. Nothing epic or anything. Most are very short, some are kinda short, and the remaining few I have no idea how long they might or might not be.

Adventures in Zoning
Every night the cashiers would clean up the register isles, the end caps, break pack boxes*, and the customer service/returns area. Generally though it kept us busy, it was not TOO much. (* Break pack boxes were collection of random left over objects that had to be sorted by department. You could have Electronics in with personal hygiene, that was with Toys..etc). It was when they decided that only ONE person was needed that things got..hectic.

It was the day after a black Friday. I came in, and the place looked like a Hurricane and a Tornado had a Smack Down in the middle of the isles. Now the night clean up crew IF they showed up at all, were about useless. They ran a buffer and a machine to wax the floors and THAT WAS IT. 'Associates' were expected to clean up anything else. (The cleaning company was a contractor).

Ok, fine..we have 6 cashiers, with one going way back to electronics..that will leave 5. We should be able to handle this. So we get to work. Ten minutes later. "We need so and so in housewares" . Great..we have 4..not a problem .. still possible..

Thirty minutes later "So and so, and so and so are needed in grocery and clothing." GAH down to two..great..well at least we have one person for returns/customer service and one for cashiering.

Nope.."So and so is needed in sporting". ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! One person..to clean up all this, do breakpacks, zone, AND cashier/do returns?! "Oh it should be dead all night..always is after black friday..." Yeah and also. Needless to say I was the sole person left to do all of it. I got it down to 'minor tornado' status, and still got yelled at for it. Even with getting the breakpacks and endcaps completed.

If you ever have seen a super walmart front end..we have about 30 registers (no self checkout at the time) and a book section. Customer service ALWAYS looks like a hurricane hit it (even on the 'slowest days'), even though at the end of the night we have it spotless..how they manage it every day. Anyhow, it was an epic feat for having a steady stream of customers and one person to handle everything. I was literally drenched in sweat afterward, the bonus was..I had customers complain because of that fact. YAY!

Don't ask me why there was six cashiers of a night, most nights they were sent elsewhere anyhow, but they normally left us at least 3. That way we could get our breaks, etc. One for cashiering, one for customer service, one for zoning..we all chipped in on breakpacks and cleaning Customer service. The zoner would give each person a break, and take their break whenever (since they were zoning). Technically it was two CSM's, four cashiers..but even when I went CSM everybody chipped in together to get things done.

Casy (not real name)
Ah Casy..A very decent worker..and convinced that they should have gotten CSM instead of me, despite the fact that when asked if interested she told management NO. One night one of the other cashiers was having a problem, and Casy just had to know WHAT. They had confided in me, so of course Casy asked me what was going on. I couldn't say anything, and told her so.

C - Casy
M - Me

C - "That is just stupid! Why can't you tell me."
M - "They asked me not to, and its nobody's business."
C - "That is the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard!"
M - "That might be, but you have to talk to them..I can't say anything."
A few minutes of being a broken record..I made a huge mistake. I threw up my hands, turned around, and walked away. I wasn't going to sit there arguing about it all night.

Casy of course, was not about to let that go. Straight to management.

A bit later I was called into the office. It was policy that two management had to be present if there was trouble..and there were two people there.

AM - Assistant manager
CSM - The other CSM at the time
M - Me

AM - "Mytical .. did you raise your hand to strike an employee?"
M - WHAT?!
CSM - "We have been told that you raised your hand to somebody, as if to strike them."
M - *explains what really happened*
AM - *nods* "Yes, we reviewed the tape. It is obvious what happened, but we can't just let this go."
CSM - "Even the appearance can cause trouble. We have to write you up."
M - *sighs* "Ok, I understand."

You'd think that was the end of it..right?

Oh if only. After that night, if I even glanced Casy's way..off to management she went. Never with anything legitimate, and besides the one incident I never got in any trouble because of her (I did for something else, but that will be another story)..but it was annoying.

More to come.

[Jester]

M - *explains what really happened*
AM - *nods* "Yes, we reviewed the tape. It is obvious what happened, but we can't just let this go."
CSM - "Even the appearance can cause trouble. We have to write you up."
M - *sighs* "Ok, I understand."

You must be a saint. Because if it were me, *I* certainly would not be so understanding. I am not criticizing you here, mind you, just saying I don't understand. And had it been me, this would have been how it had played out....

JESTER - *explains what really happened*
AM - *nods* "Yes, we reviewed the tape. It is obvious what happened, but we can't just let this go."
CSM - "Even the appearance can cause trouble. We have to write you up."
JESTER- "Let me see if I have this straight. You've seen the tape, and seen that nothing happened. You've admitted that what I said happened is what happened, and that that is obvious, and yet you say you still have to write me up for it? For doing what, exactly? Expressing frustration and exasperation with someone who was trying to get me to violate policy? By walking away from an argument? Just what exactly are you writing me up for? You say it's the appearance of it, but you also say that it is obvious from the tape what happened, so about that appears questionable?"

Of course, when they tried to accuse me of improper behavior and suggested I was stealing at the Landmark Luxury Hotel (part of the Saga of Shit Weasel), not only did I vehemently deny all of it, I pointedly refused to sign the write-up, even though I was only signing that I had received it.

JESTER: "Absolutely not!"
HR GUY: "You are refusing to sign it?"
JESTER: "I am absolutely refusing to sign it, as I believe it to be a load of crap. And you can put that down in your records, that I am refusing to sign it because I find it to be completely and totally untrue. Period."

THAT unseated HR Guy just a bit, I tell you!

And by the way, when they presented me with a second version of the write-up, somewhat altered, I refused to sign that one, either, and gave them a written statement of MY version of the events.

What can I say? I don't take bullshit well.

[Mytical]

Jester, I was a lot more wimpy back then. Though I knew if the case was pressed, and it went up the corporate chain..that it would matter zero what the tape showed. I was written up officially for their version of 'conduct unbecoming' (it wasn't called that, but that is the military version and I don't remember what it was called..its been a long long time (I've been in my current job 6 years, and have had a couple jobs between that one and this one).

If corporate had gotten a hold of it, I would have been fired, regardless. Of course in hindsight..it would have been better. I wouldn't have such a bad back . Hindsight is 20/20 though.

[Mytical]

Management some times I wonder about them..other times I REALLY wonder about them. I've had spineless, bi-polar, certifiable, good, awesome, and just plain weird managers. I would be hard pressed to point to one and say "That one is the worst" or one and say "That one is the best". Some of the rules they set are insane, and some you just sit scratching your head trying to figure them out.

Like when I worked at "Timberland" (not real name, but they did have to do with wooden products). Now I've complained about The Hole, but in a way this job was worse.

Imagine..12 hr a day shift (on 3, off 4, on 4, off 3)..where you are the only person, with no cameras/etc (I was the security lol)..with the lights off. I had a flashlight, of course. Still the rule was .. no lights besides the flashlight for 12 hrs. At night..in a high crime area. Talk about FUN!!!