Just a story I'd like to share. For context, I had been working at a pizzeria for about two years. At first it was close to full time, then my hours got cut to the point where I had to find another job, which I did.
I stuck with the pizzeria for a bit longer, keeping it as a second job to make a little extra money. Last month the manager put in her two weeks notice. She was a great co-worker, always willing to help whoever needed an extra hand. I don't blame her at all for leaving– she got a better job with higher pay and health insurance (she had no insurance with this job.)
I suspected that the pizzeria would go downhill once she left. Today was my first shift without the old manager, and my suspicions were proven right.
See, unlike the old manager, the store owner is like any other upper-management moron. He's a narcissist, insists on things being done his way, and has no idea how his own store works. And since he's a devout penny-pincher, he never replaces workers who leave. Not even the manager.
So I clock in and the walk-in fridge was pretty much empty, with next to no cheese prepped. Despite that, we were still running on a skeleton crew– me and one other cook, plus a defacto manager working the register.
I set to work rolling out dough, cuz I knew we were gonna get swarmed. We did, and we nearly ran out of cheese because I wasn't able to prep any. I went to the store owner's office to tell him about it, and he was utterly bewildered. He couldn't grasp the fact that I can't roll dough, serve pizzas, and shred cheese all at the same time.
He begrudgingly got the cheese prepped so we wouldn't run out, while I continued cooking pizzas. Afterwards, he lectured me about getting prep done. “You're gonna finish that list before you clock out, even if you have to stay over.”
“Okay,” I said plainly. “No,” I thought.
He later left to go to the other pizzeria he owns, leaving it to just the three of us. I didn't finish the prep list because I couldn't, not with the orders still coming in.
One hour before the end of my shift and I get an order for a specialty pizza. It required 4-cheese, but I couldn't find any. I searched around, and asked for help from the other cook. Still, we couldn't find it. So I went to the front to ask the defacto manager for help.
See, the old manager would have no problem helping us cooks with any problem in the kitchen. But this new one?
Well, she was on her cell phone talking to whoever. After I stood there for about a minute, I could feel her rolling her eyes at me. She tilted her phone away. “What do you want?” she asked irritably.
I asked her if she might know where the 4-cheese is. But she cut me off before I even finished the question.
“I don't know, I don't work in the back! Ask your co-worker, not me, don't bother me with this stuff!”
So, to summarize. One of the few good co-workers was gone. We were running on a skeleton crew. The owner lectures and expects us to do more work than what's physically possible. And the closest person we have to a manager gets pissed off at me for committing the cardinal sin of asking for her help.
Well, not long after that I grabbed my lunch box from the fridge, then went to clock out. The defacto manager noticed me.
“Hey, [my name], so you know–”
I didn't hear the rest. I was already out the door before the end of my shift. Minimum wage is not worth the disrespect they're gonna shovel in my face.
And you know what? It's good to be home.
TL:DR
At a job I work one day a week, the old manager left and the new people in charge are nothing but disrespectful. I walked out on them, and it feels like a weight is off my shoulders.