I Just Quit My Job, And I Couldn't Be Happier

[Seil]

This is a personal victory for me. I'm sticking it to the man, man!

I started working at a coffee shop in town called "Cha Cha's Java." Now, I've worked in the service industry all my working life, so I thought that it would be fun to learn how to make actual coffee. My sister worked there for a fwe months before I did, so the job sounded like fun. We roasted our own beans, we made everything fresh - anything that wasn't organic was sugar free. We had all sorts of milk, too - whole, 2%, Skim, Soy, Vanilla Soy and Almond Breeze. I mean, it wasn't half bad working in a small, clean coffee place with good, clean food.

But, there's a downside, like there is with all jobs. I had bosses from hell. Now, you might say "But Seil, everyone has bosses from hell. Why are yours different?" Well, let me write you a list:

They never wrote one schedule that worked, and if they did, they changed it immediately to protect their reputation. Seriously; I was set to work a 3 - 10 PM shift. Alright, I can work with that.

I get a call that morning, from a friend at work who came in on her day off to check her times, telling me that I was set to work from 8 AM - 3 PM. She told me she'd take my shift if I could take her shift the next day. Alright, I made a mistake - or so I thought. I got a call from another friend later in the day, asking where my sister was - because she was supposed to work that day, but thought she had the day off. so I went in to work her 3 - 10 PM shift. I had to get there by taxi to find out that the bosses had changed the schedule without telling anyone. Now, I don't make the schedule... but if I did, and I changed it, I would tell someone. (T_T)

Another thing I couldn't stand about them was the fact that they didn't pay us enough. I can live with $8 an hour, that's minimum wage - when you have an employee who's under 16, you give them $6 an hour - training wage. But when you have someone under 16 that's given you proof that they've worked over 500 hours, or provides proof that they've been employed and trained in other jobs, then you give them $8 an hour. Now, my sister and another coworker has done this. My coworker's been trained in her other job and can provide a transcript that states tat she has worked over 500 hours. My sister has worked at the same place for over 500 hours. They are not getting $8 an hour.

If the place is dead (no customers are coming in) and we've finished everything - the bathrooms, the floors, the garbages, the compost, tables, the machines, wrapping, whatever else, they yelled at you for being lazy and not finding work to do. Seriously. If you were done all the chores you had to do for closing before closing, they would get mad at you because you left yourself with nothing to do.

All the bosses would do was roast coffee and shop - seriously. I know that coffee was a big part of the business, and if we stopped roasting our own coffee, we would lose a lot of customers, but if they finished their roasting, and finished picking up the milk/vegetables/cooking stuff we needed, they'd just leave. Probably to change the schedule. (>>)

There's a lot of little things about the job that make me mad, and most of it is directed at my bosses; but now that I'm not working for them anymore, I can just be a regular customer. It's neat. (=3)

What are some of your personal victories?

[PraetorZorak]

I have to go, but when I get back tonight I'll tell you one of mine.

It involves uniforms, a jeep, 3 Eagle Scouts, a whiny parent, geology, a state statute, a sniveling cashier, a corporate charge card and 400 pounds of water.

[Shin Amakiir]

My first job. I worked at the new Boston Pizza in Parksville. Everything was going along fine, it was a little hard, but it was my first job. I was sure I'd get better with time.

And then I noticed that I don't have that many hours... And then I stopped getting them. So I called in, and I said "Hey, Bill. Why don't I have any hours on the timetable?" "Your schedule just doesn't work for us, since you can't come in during the day or stay up until 2am closing. Sorry, bud."

I would have been all right with this -- had he had the common decency to tell me before giving me 2 months of no shifts. The only good thing that came out of him not telling me was that I get to say on resumes I was employed at Boston Pizza until February, 'cause it's technically true.

[darth vader wannabe]

I'm currently in the process of working on this exact thing.

I work at a place that manufactures plastic bags, and it's my job to fold a certain bag a certain way, for eight hours a day. This wouldn't be so bad, except the tables they have for us to do this were designed for people of average height, and I'm slightly taller than average (almost exactly 6 feet). Which means that it puts a strain on my back and neck. One of the ways that I'm countering this is that they have these mats that are about three inches thick for us to stand on (so we're not standing directly on concrete for 8 hours a day), and I'm not using mine. Which is naturally putting a strain on my knees now. I'm currently wearing athletic-style knee braces on both knees to help with that.

I'm working second shift, so I'm getting paid minimum wage plus a shift bonus of 20 cents per hour. Amounting to a whopping maximum of $16 per paycheck over working on first shift. At least I can sleep in until 10 every morning.

I used to actually like to go to my job, if only for the people. The people on first shift (I was moved somewhat recently to second) were a fun group of people to hang around with. Unfortunately, there are two people on second shift who are so alternatively friendly and insulting that I don't know what I want to do about it, other than quit. Unfortunately, I haven't found a replacement job since I've graduated college, and I'm still looking.

Once that happens, though, I'm gone from that place without ever looking back.