this might be long so i hope you'll stay for the drama filled post.
applied for a company back in august that is sales associate oriented. perfect for me, I'm a people person and I got hired on the spot. general managers seemed amazing at first, always stood up for us, but then it went downhill. mind you the other managers lower than the GM's were amazing, as well as my coworkers, will miss them dearly. however, like I said, it went downhill after that.
first thing that rubbed me wrong was the bag-checking. every time you left on your break or clocked out with your bag or a jacket, they needed to look through it to make sure you weren't “stealing” anything. granted, I work there. i understand people steal, but because the district manager and GM's are camera obsessive, they could obviously catch me stealing on camera. obviously, I'm not hiding anything, but it's an invasion of privacy. other retail stores I know do not check bags but maybe it's just something I should've gotten used to. a few times, one of the GM's would look through my bag and see the free gift we would get every month. not going to lie, she was suspicious and lowkey accused me of stealing asking where I got it from, to which my response was, “you.” you literally bagged it for me 2 weeks ago, this specific item, and gave it to me yourself.
then it got to the point where they started giving me my breaks super late. like, 3 hours into a 5 hour shift while this job requires standing the ENTIRE time. not only that but bright lights on you talking to customers saying the same thing over and over again; it gets exhausting and you need a 15 min break from the commotion.
then it got to the phones. i never had my phone out, maybe occasionally to take a picture of a dog that came in a stroller or to check the time since I didn't have a watch. suddenly, a week later, they implemented a zero phone tolerance rule posted in the break room. because the district manager stalks the cameras like a freak, she saw an extensive use of phones on the sales floor and decided to dump it altogether. i understand it's unprofessional to use phones on the sales floor, but there's a point where it's stripping away a right to our phone and enforcing a stricter use policy. we had to put our phones in our lockers at that point and the GM's warned us they would be checking the cameras in the break room to “check” if we put it in our locker. to that, I said idgaf, and kept it in my pocket anyways. my father is relatively healthy, but he lives 2 hours away. he's 61. any health concern, concerns me. i want to assure him I'm always a phone call away. one day they asked me to check my schedule for mistake, made the issue of pulling it out of my pocket when they asked me, and it became a lecture for 5 minutes about how I shouldn't have my phone on me (of course they could have their's on them…for business purposes. whatever that means). i explained to them that I gave my dad or my boyfriend who I live with the instructions to call me twice so I can feel the buzzing in case of an emergency. they told me they can just call the store number and get transferred to me. ah yes, I'm so glad when my dad has a heart attack or my boyfriend gets a finger chopped off at work that they will have to listen to, “Check out our new seasonal collections! Press 1 for more information, press 2 for HR, press 3 to be transferred to the store…” and listen to the soothing hold music. that makes me feel so happy and safe.
essentially, the two of them began to talk to me like I was autistic. you know how people talk to ppl with autism like they're absolutely dumb and have to be spoken to like a 3 year old: yea, that's what it was like. it began with them just “telling us what to do” rather than asking if we can. of course I'll do whatever, but a nicer approach would be ok.
everyday, it seemed like these women were on their period. and when they actually were, and expressed it, it became a warzone, bracing for impact at whatever belittling comment they had. now, as a woman, I totally get periods. it makes you feel like crap. however, it's not an excuse to treat other's horribly. i remember one day one of the GM's (I'll call her O) expressed she was on her period, I offered to go pick up the food she ordered, and she said sure and thank you. i get back, and not even two hours into my shift, it's back to belittling me. making side comments. I'll get more into the specifics of what I mean by belittling and side comments.
one day, I came in and usually the GM or the AM asks us what we are going to work on today to make the “customer experience.” everyone said their things, and then I said mine. “I'm going to work on my Spanish better today.” I speak Spanish relatively well, my accent is amazing as per my Hispanic boyfriend. there are a lot of customers who come in who speak zero english because the demographic for the surrounding area is primarily Latino/a, Black, Jewish, etc….basically all POC and extremely diverse. the O GM asked me what i'd say to a customer to start, I said “are you looking for anything specific?” in Spanish and she gave a disgusted look. i was taken aback. the two other coworkers who are latina around me told her my Spanish sounded fine, and she just responded if I see someone who Hispanic to call one of the other girls to translate. it hurt my feelings because I really was trying hard to make the experience better for Spanish speakers. what's ironic about the situation is that that GM boasts about her Spanish, but she walks up to any spanish-speaking customer and talks to them, again, like a 3 year old. With the typical conversation starter “Hola' then back to describing to them in English slowly. just because someone doesn't speak English well doesn't mean they need to be explained to or talked to like they're stupid.
and oh my god, don't get me started on the other GM. (I'll call her B). B GM always has a stick up her butt. for some reason, anything bothers her. and her extreme sarcasm doesn't go over well with me, and a lot of people just tolerate it and it's sad that people let her berate them and belittle them like that. she constantly told me to do things agressively, which I obliged, however, never any “good jobs,” or “thank you.” it was like I was just doing it with no recognition. sometimes the jobs were hard, like taking out the two enormous bins of garbage, and never a thank you.
around 3 or 4 weeks ago, I was damaging a product out. didn't realize why it was in the damage pile until my coworker pointed out the very obvious reason it was broken in a hilarious way, and we both laughed for TWO SECONDS. there was one customer in the room being taken care of. B GM gives me the crazy eyes from across the room, and brings me into the manager's office with O GM. both of them lecture me for 5 minutes on how its EXTREMELY unprofessional to be laughing on the sales floor. and when I explained that it was only me laughing for two seconds, they said it was still unprofessional, and that it was unfair. when I asked how is it unfair, they responded something along the lines of, “there are people closing tonight who have to open tomorrow morning. it's extremely unfair towards them because you are laughing and goofing off on the sales floor and they have to open tomorrow. you are bringing the productivity down in the company.” ah yes, I'm sure my 2 second laugh made a dent into a company worth 7 billion dollars. that began the spiral down where the comments of B GM got worse.
it seemed like she was always in a bad mood. constantly making comments over the walkie instead of addressing the situation nicely or productively. like I said, it was always like I was bracing for impact at that store. they also had a problem, like I said before, with breaks. a coworker who's making her way up to AM had asked me up front when I came in. i said 5. it was already 8:30 by then, 3 1/2 hours in my 4 1/2 shift. she immediately went on the walkie and asked when I get my break which I wanted to stop her from doing because ultimately O and B GM would end up getting aggressive with me about it. shortly after, O GM goes on the walkies and addresses the entire store for 2 minutes about asking for breaks and how she will get on it. can't remember what exactly she said, but it was extremely passive aggressive. 30 minutes later, which was then 4 hours into my 4 1/2 hour shift, she aggressively says over the walkie to step into the first room. ig she sees me walk in on camera and ig she thinks I know what she's saying so I say, “ok, I'm in?” and she says “go on your break.” I go into the break room and both O and B GM are sitting in there, frustrated. O GM says, “you know, you're really getting on my nerves today right?” I asked her why, she said because I keep asking for my break every shift and that when she works there, she will ensure I get my break. this is the first time I actually defended myself because it wasn't my doing. i said, “first of all, I didn't ask for my break. (coworker) asked when I came in, and immediately went on the walkie and asked you when my break was. this wasn't my doing so you can't get mad at me for something I didn't even do.” then she continues for another minute explaining how breaks work (which I already know) because she just wanted a reason to berate me further.
not only that, but the pay and hours SUCK. constantly begging people to work more, but only get scheduled a 4 hour shift and get paid $15/hour. constantly begging people to open up availability to give people more hours, but hires 15 new people.
comes the day I finally quit. I'm at register, my coworker says something to me, I say something back and take the next customer. B GM gives me the crazy eyes again, and says I have to stop talking at work because its unprofessional that there's customers in front of me. then, my mood immediately went down. she turns to one of the AMs and immediately complains about my “behavior” IN FRONT OF ME. like I can't hear you from 4 feet away.
at that point, I'm asking my boyfriend to do whatever he can to get me out. call the store number, say it's an emergency, whatever you can do, I just don't want to be here anymore. i had already applied to numerous jobs and was planning to put in my two weeks the day after I actually quit. i wanted to leave on good terms. this however, was ruined.
B GM begins belittling everyone on the walkie saying “hey guys, could you think to not leave baskets on the floor. thanks,” or “maybe try remembering to double bag the bags, that might help you in the long run.”
eventually it got to my break, I called my aunt, she encouraged me to walk out, and I went back inside, grabbed my stuff, said I was going to get something to eat so they had to check my bag, and didn't look back without saying anything. got to the point I was on the phone with my dad describing the situation, and the store number was calling me over and over again which I was declining. meanwhile, my boyfriend is practically exploding across from me asking me to answer so i can tell them what's up and defend myself. i chicken out, and my boyfriend picks up the phone. he basically goes off on them with a lot of profanity, B GM says “I don't appreciate you using that profanity over this phone.” Boyfriend says, “I don't give an F! I'm reporting you and the other GM there to corporate. You're losing an employee.” to which she responds, “Oh trust me we're not losing much with her” or along those lines. She continues to try to be smart on the phone, and my boyfriend continues and ends the call. later on got a text from my coworker saying B GM was as red as a tomato because of how mad she was over the phone call, to which i say GOOD.
Older generations think you just need to put up with the BS of a job because it's just a “part of working.” my answer is: no. no one should feel uncomfortable in the workplace. or go home crying everyday because of how much they hate their job. that definitely should not be part of working. a manager should manage of course, and be strict, but not on the verge of being unbearable. i felt like i was walking on eggshells everyday at that job. so far, the journey moves on, and I'm glad I'm not in that place anymore. good luck with your future endeavors O and B GM, you're gonna need it lol.
TLDR: 2 GM's constantly belittling. zero cell phone policy, check your personal bags and items whenever you leave the store, apparently it's annoying to ask for your break when you've already been standing for 3/4 of your shift, and having a personality at work seems unprofessional.