Follow-up to my original “I think I just quit, AMA” post here
So Tuesday afternoon, I messaged my boss saying that I’d be willing to talk about things, and we made a plan for me to come in this (Thursday) morning.
He sat me down in his office and asked me what he wanted to discuss. I felt it appropriate to start with what happened on Tuesday morning, explaining that one of my major gripes recently has been the insistence on having me and all of my cashiers clock in outside of the office despite the fact that we have to come in there to get our tills before going out to register anyway. I explained to him that in addition to those reasons, it also frustrates me because while the office is supposed to be a place with limited going in-and-out due to it being where the safe is, that’s where we keep the scanners that anyone is allowed to grab and use, plus, the door is frequently propped open in the mornings, which can ONLY be for ease of getting in-and-out of the office. I told him I felt this was incredibly hypocritical.
And he doubled down.
He explained that it wasn’t his rule, it was corporate’s, and that because we have cameras facing every computer terminal, it’s his job to enforce it.
This moved me on to my second point; how I feel that corporate is very, very disconnected from reality. Aside from them apparently not being willing to budge on a small, dumb rule, they also aren’t willing to adapt to the new environment their most recent store (mine) is in.
You see, this business I previously worked for is predominantly a farm supply store, and it also sells clothing, tools, and other household supplies (plumbing and electrical accessories, etc). It is, in general, a pretty niche store. If you’re not coming in there with something specific in mind, you probably won’t be buying much of anything.
The thing is though, most of the other places that these stores are in are very tiny communities, towns with less than 10,000 people, spread across the Midwest and Rockies. So their business model of having 1 cashier most of the day and only a small handful of people around the store works, because the amount of customers that they get is low, but plenty enough to keep a good profit margin because of how few employees they have.
However, my location is the first time they’ve ventured into an area anywhere near this size, and they also purchased a HUGE building. Our store is about three times the size of the average one, in a population center about ten times the average size of others (the greater area of my city is close to 100,000 people). This is great for them, right? Except that they think they can run this store the same way that they do all their other ones.
They keep us low staffed (average about 1-2 people per section in this gigantic store, including cashiers), and the wages also don’t reflect being in a larger urban area. I personally was making $15.50 as the Head Cashier, but I know a lot of the high school kids are making around or less than $12.
Oh, and did I mention there’s like 6 stores in this city with a very similar product lineup who all have a customer base already that our location has to compete with while almost none of the other locations do????
Despite this, and he even SHOWED ME—we frequently get in mountains of applications, usually from younger kids, wanting to work. And yet, my boss ignores them, despite many of my coworkers expressing distaste at the practice.
I told this all to my boss in not as many words, and while I know he alone obviously cannot speak for corporate, he certainly has the power to communicate such concerns. But instead of promising me he’d do that, he went on to explain his own fucking sob story to try to convince me that this is the greatest company he’s ever worked for and that I should be grateful. This sob story included how he drove 4 hours round trip to work at a pharmacy where he was practically the only employee for months, working open-close alone for 7 days a week. And when I asked him if he felt drained every day when he got home (I know I certainly fucking would have), he told me he didn’t because having a career where he was depended on like that was invigorating to him. I legitimately felt sorry for him in that moment; he’s a sixty year old guy who’s been brainwashed so hard into thinking that dedicating 16 hours a day 7 days a week to your job is something honorable.
He also mentioned how he used to be the manager at a store where if the chastises didn’t reach their minimum 5 credit card sign ups during their shift that they would be WRITTEN UP, and how he himself would be berated on an hour long phone call.
That was how he was trying to convince me that despite their shortcomings, this is the best company he’s ever worked for. And to that I told him,
“I’m sorry, but not being an asshole to you employees is not an accomplishment. It’s what should be done.”
The next part went by a bit blurry because by this point I was pissed and he was just blabbing trying to pad things out and keep me listening, but I do remember him bringing up how nice of the company it was to have given all their employees gift boxes for Christmas, which I had to really try hard not to roll my eyes at because it was a box of stuff like veggies and fruit and snacks, which while I thought was cute I would have much preferred. I dunno. Maybe a RAISE. But whatever.
Anyway, finally, another manager knocks on the door saying there’s a major problem. That problem being something something customer’s card declined via insufficient funds but out machines are fucking dumb and don’t let us void certain cards, and he doesn’t know what to do.
Lucky for him, I do, and I explain (finish the transaction as if the customer had given cash for the rest, and then post void that transaction). And he says “I don’t really know how to do that” (he’s a newer manger without much register training). And to that, you wanna know what I said, my fellow anti-workers?
“I’m sorry, but I don’t presently work here.”
FINALLY my boss got the message and was LIVID. He said “well have a good day OP, I appreciate the passion there, because I’ll take that as your resignation.”
And I walked out afterwards, didn’t look back. I could hear him going “I can’t believe it, that’s unbelievable.” As I did so.
So yes, I indeed, very much quit 🙂