I had to work at a taco joint to make extra cash after I was laid off. I'm a Data Analyst by trade, but I've put in my fair share of restaurant work. Haven't we all? But I absolutely did not expect to be, you know, promoted immediately, company car, you get the picture. My expectations were set low. But I have experience in restaurants (even though they've been long-passed jobs), I have a B.S. in management, and I'm 32. All reasons why I shouldn't be talked down to as if I were a new, high-school grad, first job. And I'm not trying to imply that 18 yr old's should be treated like shit, absolutely not! But there should be at least some discernable difference when someone is criticizing a high-schooler and criticizing me.
But that's not even my point. These past couple weeks working at the taco shop, I've been losing hours. At first it was just a day, possibly two, taken away from me. Bare with me – after mopping up several areas behind wooden booths which are pretty fucking heavy, I must've gotten sidetracked and set the mop and bucket out of harm's way but still out nonetheless. As I was cleaning a table, a manager was chatting with a subordinate while keeping an eye on the expo line, He eventually turns to me and says, “were you gonna do something with that?!” alluding to the mop and bucket. At first I was pissed because getting yelled at isn't exactly fun when it's in front of people. Then I realized that they were just sitting and talking, nothing was preventing my manage from just, oh, I dunno, doing it his damned self.
After I caught that attitude, I got pretty defensive and told him he was being rude, which he denied. We exchanged a few passive aggressive remarks and I just went about my day.
When I realized my hours were being significantly lower than what I had agreed to with my manager, I asked her what the deal was (politely). She sits there and goes, “We just need you to focus more. You're watching TV too much, etc” and “I've also gotten some feedback from managers saying you were giving them attitude and being disrespectful”. I was dumbfounded. Since when is it, in any situation, best practice to just cut hours as a punishment and not even tell the person why until they figure it out themselves?
Whatever, I'm just sick of the attitudes management has thrown at me and I just try to let it roll off my shoulder. After a couple hours, I spoke to the individual working the expo line and chatting with the manager. I asked her, “so, did he just talk shit about me when I left?” and she gives me that, “you know he did” look. So unprofessional. If I'm doing something wrong based on what I've given you here or you just want extra info, I'll try to catch it in the post comments. Thanks for letting me vent!
TL;DR – I had to return to restaurant work when the contract on my last job expired. I'm a Data Analyst and 32 y/o. I was in the middle of mopping up behind booths and other shit-work but I ended up forgetting to put the mop back. I promise you all, I do my best at work wherever I am. It was something my mom and dad ingrained into me. So when I started to see my schedule losing hours, I asked the manager who said, “you watch tv too much” and “other managers have said you've giving them attitude” which is all bullshit. Now I'm going back to work after a 5-day weekend I didn't ask for and I know I have to keep my emotions in check.
And I know this sounds like I'm the issue and that I have a superiority complex, but I can assure you I don't. 99% of my time working there has been…diplomatically fine. I tend to get along with everyone and it wasn't any different here. Also, I 'watch tv' just as much as the next employee. If there's a game on or sporting news scrolling, I glance up at various times, but I do my fucking job. Thanks for reading.