his is mostly venting, honestly. But advice would be nice. Sorry that its so long, I'll put a tdlr in
I'm (27F) am a line cook for about 2.5 years and ive been working at this place for almost 11 months. I'm on sautée rn but I know the whole line. I'm a good worker in most people's opinions and I'm trusted to get things done. I try and make the next shift as easy as I possibly can (I usually work mornings but nights are no problem). Heck, I've gotten several raises over the years cause I'm a great worker.
Sautee has a lot of prep there and I try to keep on top or above every day. Nobody is able to prep sautee like I can and when I come back from my days off, there's always a mountain of stuff that needs to get done. I usually open grill and sautee stations when I'm there as well, so I have even more work. I usually don't get done until 4 or 5 when I leave but there's still always more to do. Hours at work have been cut short because it's been slower, so along with working fewer hours, I work fewer days. I try to keep my prep list to myself as much as possible because when I do get help and delegate, I get sent home even earlier. Others are also feeling it too, but some days, I think management has it out for me. Safe to say, I used to be able to do a max of five prep items per shift, but now that's the bare minimum. My stress has increased a lot and my attitude at work has gotten worse, to where I'm almost crying when I get off work. I used to love being a cook, but now I'm not sure. Heck, I was even going for the supervisor role that was up for grabs, but I don't really want it anymore. I hardly want to be there period.
So we have this new worker T(33F) who didn't make a good first impression. They were going to place her on fry, but she chickened out mid shift and they stuck her on sautee. She and I have had problems since basically day one. She's obviously older and has more experience than I do. And I recognize that there's still a lot I have to learn and I love to pick things up from other people. But shes got an attitude problem the size of a state sometimes and I feel like she looks down on me for just the experience aspect when she's not even making the items according to the recipe. We are a small corporate restaurant, so the items should match the recipe. I tried to teach her, but she bowled right over me and tried to tell me that she knew better. I've tried a few of her tricks and, at least for me, they didn't work and resulted in food I could r serve. One tip was for fried fish, she said that I could drop it all in the oil at once if I spaced it with my fingers. Tried it twice and got two fish balls instead of a nice fish strips. T is also pretty demanding at times, she is evening sautee, and expects everything to be done when she comes in. Many nights, doesn't fill things up for my morning shift and she leaves half the items off of the station cart, so I have to spend extra time getting everything. She changes things on the station all the time because she wants to. I'll be prepping stuff in the back cause she arrives early or our schedules overlap, and she'll come back and ask/demand that I do more. I put it on my list and fit it in when I can. But if I don't get to it fast enough, she comes and bothers me again. Then I'll get sent home early and, you guessed it, I don't finish the prep list. She also tries to make things that aren't my problem mine, even when I have a long prep list. T is very talented at making people angry at her (I think she's been talked to three times about it in the 6 weeks she's been here). I try very hard not to judge people and not starting drama with anyone, but I might start drinking cause of this gal. Everyone on line can say something bad about her with little hesitation. She admits to having “communication issues” but I don't know if she can improve. I always move myself off of sautee when I know she's coming cause I want to minimize interactions as much as possible.
J (35?m) is a sous chef and he's just kinda a butthole. He does listen though at times and although we still have issues, he will stand up for me at times. We're cool enough at work, but I'm no means friendly with him. I'm just not very chatty at work because I keep myself busy when I can. He knows that I do good, but he's usually the one to cut people. He was the AM chef today and he was an hour and a half late, but that's his usual when he opens. I hate it, but I don't know if I can talk to the head chef or managers about it.
T came in during lunch rush (1pm) and I was already moving off and filling for her. I opened that day at 9am and we opened at 11am. I had my usual list to do and I said that I'd do pantry and prep. About an hour later, J calls me to help him with grill, which I do for a while. He wanted me to do sets and when I had the sets done, I'd try and prep more. He got mad at me cause I asked about one setup cause it was fairly new and told me to stop prepping. He said that I wasn't leaving grill cause I needed to learn sets. I was just going to pull some malicious compliance and let them drown at night. J said that they'd take care of it, so I was in the clear. T then came over and tried to tell me that prep should be done before open and was giving me advice that I've heard a lot. I admit, I don't go the fastest at my job. I'm not slow by any means, but I refuse to break myself for a job. I tried telling T, “I don't want to have this conversation right now. I'm having a bad day and I don't want to hear it.” Then she kept going on and then I did raise my voice at her and told her that if she didn't stop then I was gonna quit and T shoved me. J had stepped off line for a minute but he came back quickly and told me to go outside. I accidentally knocked one thing over, got myself a drink and went outside. J followed me outside to try and talk me down. I was very much crying at this point and I couldn't stop. J wasn't much help and he was talking about me “moving slow” and how T was technically right. He also said that I pushed her. I was telling him my side when T came up to us. I tried telling her again that I don't want to talk to her, J said that she should stay. She started saying her stuff again and blaming her “communication issues” and J was agreeing with her. All I really saw was them both ganging up on me, telling me that I wasn't good enough and I just shut down. J had already said that he was sending me home, so I just said that I was leaving and got my stuff. Now I don't know if I should quit or what. I tried texting the head chef so I could arrange a phone call, but he didn't reply.
TLDR : coworker keeps being a butt and insulting me. I try to tell her to stop, then my sous chef agrees and sends me home. Now, I'm not sure if I want my job.