Work Is Dumb
Written on Feb 5th, 2005
I worked at a grocery stored called Vons for the last three and a half years. And last week I got indefinately suspended.
Alot of people think, "ohmigod Nick, that sucks". But I don't think it sucks, in
fact, I think it's a blessing in disguise.
Do you know why?
BECAUSE MY JOB FUCKING SUCKED!
I put THREE fucking years into a company only to LOSE money. I started at Vons
in 2001 when I was 18 and made $18/hr after only four months of slave work. That's not
a bad way to start a career and needless to say, I was living large and happy with my job.
Then I got fucked by the California grocery strike and they cut my pay to $13/hr.
It's not as much as I made before but it's still good enough to keep me from quitting. Then I
got promoted to a supervisor. I thought I would be compensated for my increase
in responsibility.
I thought wrong.
I made $13/hr for nearly a year. Six months out of that year was spent as a night crew supervisor dealing
with bullshit management and lackadaisical employees. To alot of you, $13/hr
might seem generous. Try living in California where the gas is $2.50 a gallon and
the milk will set you back nearly $5 a gallon, and you'll realize that $13/hr is akin
to minimum wage.
With that said, I asked for a raise.
With that said, I was denied.
I was told by Human Resources that I didn't accumulate "enough hours for a raise". I asked
them how many hours I had to accumulate. They told me
6,000 hours. I'm not a math
scholar or anything, but 6,000 hours equates to nearly four years. That means
I wasn't getting a raise for OVER FOUR YEARS. Funny thing is, I made more
money when I first started then I did when I was in a supervisory position three years later.
Needless to say, my morale went downhill. I started showing up whenever I wanted.
The night I got suspended I didn't show up until 1:30am. I
was supposed to be at work at 10pm. The night before that I didn't show up until
a quarter after two.
I drank beer on the job with no regard
for authority. I made terroristic threats to other employees -- I asked them
if they knew anything about getting away with "workplace homocide".
(I guess they couldn't take a joke. So as Tucker Max says, "fuck em"). And I jacked my store for beer and other assorted
household necessities. I took stuff I didn't need, but it was a way for
me to get back what I rightfully thought I deserved. Even though it was wrong, I came to a point where I didn't give a shit anymore.
When it comes down to it, I was a bad employee deserving to be fired. But you can't
really blame me when I've been pushed around by corporate drones for over three years.
Even the loss prevention supervisor who busted me claimed the company was
going downhill. That's bad when a corporate security officer recognizes the
problems within a company and can side with a punk ass employee like me over the company.
So here I am: un-employed. Happy. Healthy. Relaxed. And
motivated.
Do you know why? Because I don't have to deal with responsibility. My rent is paid, there's no bullshit from
a Fortune 500 company that doesn't care about their employees, and I don't have
to work all hours of the night anymore.
Life is
good. Now I know what
Jobless Jimmy felt like.
ADDENDUM: (Written on Feb 5th, 2005)
I've been unemployed for two days but I already have three interviews. I told
all the jobs I applied for that I was burnt out at Vons and I thought the
company sucked and they all AGREED and granted me second interviews.
Another grocery store told me to stop "messing with babies and come over to
the winning team". A health food distributer understandingly called me yesterday and told me
they get applications from "alot of disgruntled grocery store employees" and told me to come in for an interview. The other job I interviewed
for said they would do everything possible to "bring me out of my vampire lifestyle".
I guess people can sympathize with Vons employees.
By the way Dan, I'm glad you liked my writing. The Fish story was one of my best (and most honest) pieces.
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