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About a year ago, I got a job at a casino-resort restaurant because I was told that my current job at a motel desk was shutting down and the lot of land being redeveloped. I was asked to stay until closing which should have been April this year. So I was juggling 2 jobs and I thought it would be tough but temporary.
April rolls around and at the time a lot of construction companies in the area went under at the same time so no one could pick up the development project. As a result, I'm now with 2 jobs doing 6 days and the restaurant tends to go really late. Well at least I only have 2 double shifts from noon till 10:00-ish right? Nope.
Things took a turn in June when my availability was changed without being consulted and now I'm doing 3 double shifts and a half day on Sunday (or another double if we're busy). I raise the issue with one of my supervisors and they said that it we were short and it would only be temporary. Being the naive, trusting sap I was I took it at face value.
We started bleeding staff around this period and the workload is starting to affect everyone. We lost like half a dozen people over the next 2 months. I was starting to feel the effects myself as I started feeling dizzy and short of breath on some days. I would ask for days off but kept getting denied. I could only hope some days weren't busy so i could have a half day or could leave a shift early. Those were few and far. I was a food runner so I was constantly in and out of the kitchen wheeling out food and hurrying back to get the next order out. Not to mention the heat in the kitchen with a thick uniform.
On the service side of things, I had to keep my tongue to myself in regards to the small problems.
People leaving phones on tables and reducing the space I can put the food down.
Not moving their glasses or drinks to make space as I'm putting down a big-ass plate of food.
Complaining about portions being too big (it's a Chinese restaurant, you get one size and share it out. Simple)
As the months went on, I started noticing the mental affects as well. I was getting snippy at everyone, I had my eye on the clock all the time and I was languishing in the fact I barely had time for myself or with friends. It probably didn't help that I was engaging in unhealthy hobbies to cope (games and TV). I was starting to develop a dislike for people who would come in late and order the banquet set. I was also trying to keep my diet straight, but I made the same meals every week to take to the motel and the food in the casino cafeteria wasn't what I'd call healthy on some days. Also, do you really want a heavy meal late at night before bed?
On top of this, the casino barely has room to park guests and workers (it's built on a really tiny island around a river) and was getting worse because they were developing permanent residences. As a result, on a lot of days we were ordered to park off site either at the nearby convention centre or shopping centre. We just had to swap out the parking tickets with exit tickets the casino provided. Recently however, the casino announced it would stop providing free tickets and instead have employees pay $5 out of pocket for offsite parking. Needless to say, a lot of people weren't on board and we had to go through the union about it.
September rolled in and it got worse. I now had 4 double shifts and my mental state deteriorated further. I told another supervisor I didn't like the change and they would see if they could let me out early on some days. After 2 weeks of holidays I was completely spent and when I received my October roster I started to seriously contemplate my situation. The physical effects were getting worse and more common and I was starting to shut down mentally trying to figure what to prioritize in terms of household issues.
In the end, I decided to hand my 2 weeks' notice last week at the end of the week and mustered all the courage my fractured mind could provide. The manager was very cordial about it and said that the door was always open if I wanted to come back. I actually was told that I could stop that very night so I had my name scratched off the uniform list and handed in all my ID.
That came as a real big emotional shock so I spent the next day in a bit of a daze as I went about my day. I was told to just take it slowly and figure out what to do next career wise. I'm still at the motel so i'll figure things out. I'm a very self-conscious person so my thoughts were about how I'd be perceived by others and if it was right. I'm convinced it was right considering I said I was resigning due to health.
I guess the silver lining in all this is that I've got enough money for a rainy day. I'll have to learn to start budgeting again. I'm taking some days off to get my head around things and to unwind.
If there's one thing I've learned from all this, it's that you should only look for a new job until you're absolutely sure that your current one is about to end.
About a year ago, I got a job at a casino-resort restaurant because I was told that my current job at a motel desk was shutting down and the lot of land being redeveloped. I was asked to stay until closing which should have been April this year. So I was juggling 2 jobs and I thought it would be tough but temporary.
April rolls around and at the time a lot of construction companies in the area went under at the same time so no one could pick up the development project. As a result, I'm now with 2 jobs doing 6 days and the restaurant tends to go really late. Well at least I only have 2 double shifts from noon till 10:00-ish right? Nope.
Things took a turn in June when my availability was changed without being consulted and now I'm doing 3 double shifts and a half day on Sunday (or another double if we're busy). I raise the issue with one of my supervisors and they said that it we were short and it would only be temporary. Being the naive, trusting sap I was I took it at face value.
We started bleeding staff around this period and the workload is starting to affect everyone. We lost like half a dozen people over the next 2 months. I was starting to feel the effects myself as I started feeling dizzy and short of breath on some days. I would ask for days off but kept getting denied. I could only hope some days weren't busy so i could have a half day or could leave a shift early. Those were few and far. I was a food runner so I was constantly in and out of the kitchen wheeling out food and hurrying back to get the next order out. Not to mention the heat in the kitchen with a thick uniform.
On the service side of things, I had to keep my tongue to myself in regards to the small problems.
People leaving phones on tables and reducing the space I can put the food down.
Not moving their glasses or drinks to make space as I'm putting down a big-ass plate of food.
Complaining about portions being too big (it's a Chinese restaurant, you get one size and share it out. Simple)
As the months went on, I started noticing the mental affects as well. I was getting snippy at everyone, I had my eye on the clock all the time and I was languishing in the fact I barely had time for myself or with friends. It probably didn't help that I was engaging in unhealthy hobbies to cope (games and TV). I was starting to develop a dislike for people who would come in late and order the banquet set. I was also trying to keep my diet straight, but I made the same meals every week to take to the motel and the food in the casino cafeteria wasn't what I'd call healthy on some days. Also, do you really want a heavy meal late at night before bed?
On top of this, the casino barely has room to park guests and workers (it's built on a really tiny island around a river) and was getting worse because they were developing permanent residences. As a result, on a lot of days we were ordered to park off site either at the nearby convention centre or shopping centre. We just had to swap out the parking tickets with exit tickets the casino provided. Recently however, the casino announced it would stop providing free tickets and instead have employees pay $5 out of pocket for offsite parking. Needless to say, a lot of people weren't on board and we had to go through the union about it.
September rolled in and it got worse. I now had 4 double shifts and my mental state deteriorated further. I told another supervisor I didn't like the change and they would see if they could let me out early on some days. After 2 weeks of holidays I was completely spent and when I received my October roster I started to seriously contemplate my situation. The physical effects were getting worse and more common and I was starting to shut down mentally trying to figure what to prioritize in terms of household issues.
In the end, I decided to hand my 2 weeks' notice last week at the end of the week and mustered all the courage my fractured mind could provide. The manager was very cordial about it and said that the door was always open if I wanted to come back. I actually was told that I could stop that very night so I had my name scratched off the uniform list and handed in all my ID.
That came as a real big emotional shock so I spent the next day in a bit of a daze as I went about my day. I was told to just take it slowly and figure out what to do next career wise. I'm still at the motel so i'll figure things out. I'm a very self-conscious person so my thoughts were about how I'd be perceived by others and if it was right. I'm convinced it was right considering I said I was resigning due to health.
I guess the silver lining in all this is that I've got enough money for a rainy day. I'll have to learn to start budgeting again. I'm taking some days off to get my head around things and to unwind.
If there's one thing I've learned from all this, it's that you should only look for a new job until you're absolutely sure that your current one is about to end.
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