Basically what the title says.
For the past few years, I’ve (23/F) been working at a super popular coffee chain. I moved across the country last year and I’ve been working at the same coffee place inside of a grocery store for the past 6 months. This location is a complete disaster. Management has infringed on our workers’ rights several times and our concerns and protests are unheard. That’s part of the reason I’m leaving, but also because my direct manager (64/F), we’ll call her Laura, is extremely emotionally unstable and she loves to guilt trip you and make you feel like you aren’t doing enough.
I scored a great short-term, abroad internship over the summer. I put in a leave request but it was denied for some reason (was never told why), so I took that as a sign to just quit. A few days ago, I put in like a 6-week notice. I would have quit on the spot but unfortunately I do need a job and a shifty one is better than not having one. Well, unexpectedly, I landed a job that is better in every conceivable way. They want me to start on the first of June, and they’re chill with me going on my internship and coming back. I’m so excited, and I feel good about this place.
I called one of the other managers the other day and told her I need my last day to be May 31. She knows how Laura is, and she told me “okay but will you tell her you’re leaving yourself because I don’t have the mental fortitude to do it”. All I could think was, “well damn neither do I!”. But, I agreed.
Well, here’s the reason I haven’t done it yet and the time is ticking, and I’m getting increasingly more stressed out. I am a part-time worker since I’m a full-time college student and my schooling always comes first. I also have several health conditions and I have told her I cannot work outside of my availability. Laura hates this and she makes sure I know it. She schedules me for just under full-time hours every week despite me bringing up to her several times that this leaves me very little time for making it to class, studying, maintaining my health, etc. She pretends to care and nothing changes. She’s extremely passive aggressive, often saying “I wish I could have as much time off as you!”.
She gets stressed out very easily and she cries a lot. I often work completely alone for 8-9 hour shifts without a single break, despite this obviously not being protocol. But she, of course, demands that other people work with her and makes sure that she schedules herself with as many people as possible. Whenever I open the store with her in the morning, she immediately begins complaining about how awful the closers are and how she has to do so much work already and she doesn’t need to be picking up someone else’s slack, all on the verge of tears. At 5 in the morning. She treats me like her therapist also because she knows I study psychology and I guess that means I’m just open to heading about all of her problems all of the time. She makes you feel so shitty for being a little late or forgetting one or two simple things or god forbid you have to call out of work… it’s miserable and she is draining.
To add just one more punch to the gut, she often tells me to my face that I’m the best worker she has and I’m the only one she trusts… until I found out she talks a lot of smack about me behind my back and makes up rumors about my family and I, one of them I think was extremely antisemitic (I’m Jewish) but I just didn’t have the energy to deal with it. Yeah. She sucks.
I know that when I call her, she will cry and beg me to stay because she does it to everyone. I need 5 cocktails back to back just thinking about it. I’m not sure what to do at this point. I just want it over with. I think faking my death would be less complicated than dealing with her. Help!