The Syndicate

I don't think this really qualifies as a vent but last night was insanely busy. I mean, over the top. And in the middle of it all of a sudden a cop car pulls in the station with the lights and sirens going. I look outside and the cops are literally chasing someone through the parking lot and tackling him to the ground out there. The best we can figure is that an undercover cop witnessed a drug deal or something and the dealer tried to escape. It was bizarre. Right before that all occurred I had this really snotty, horrible woman and I complained after she left. When it all went down my coworker commented that maybe it was my rude customer. I laughed and responded, last I checked they don't arrest you for being a bitch.

Anyway, that was random, crazy shift yesterday. Needless to say I was ready to go home by the time it was over, lol.

I got a stomach flu... On Christmas morning... And I had to work this evening. I think I made four emergency visits to th bath room during the six hours I weathered it out at work. After that I decided it was time to find someone to cover the last two or three hours of my shift so I could go home. Yuck.

Adam did as did Jackson, Wyatt and Leanna. The party was definitely "ground zero." Everyone better in your house now?

Planning vacations when you don't know for sure what your position will be at that time, or even what store you will be in, makes it extremely difficult. It is also highly unfair that I'm pretty much expected to work every freaking holiday. I get having to work them, I am even ok with working most of them. But ALL of them? That is BS in my opinion. Speedway is not my life, it is just my job.

If I as the store manager end up having to cover a third shift due to a no-call/no-show, someone should be afraid of losing their job tomorrow. Just saying.

I am not pleased right now. I did third shift for a year and a half, this is unacceptable. I have other crap to do rather than this.

I have had the absolute worst week at work. I have literally had someone scream at me at least once everyday I have worked this week. I mean literally scream. The first day I worked this little Asian lady screamed at me about how we all ignored her and that is no way to treat a customer. Never mind the fact I spoke with her three times, assured her I was trying to get someone else up to help her since I was currently working with another customer. She "took my name" because I was just standing around instead of helping her. She continued screaming at me, all the while I am simply apologizing to her for making her feel that way, assuring her that no, that is not how we want to make our customers feels and yes she is important to us, but she continued screaming until finally I said, "Ma'am you don't have to yell, I understand and you are completely right." (Despite the fact that I knew she was lying about pretty much everything she was accusing us of) and her response was to yell even louder, "I'm yelling so everyone in the store can hear me, that this is how you treat your customers!" I just said ok, and walked away. I told our print specialists not to charge her for her photocopies, just for her merchandise. I sent the store manager over to do damage control because clearly I was getting nowhere. Her response to him? Shook his hand and left without saying anything about her complaints. She got her shit free, that was apparently what she really wanted.

Then the man who yelled at me for a while because he was upset with how one of our print specialist did his job and how she treated him. I promptly corrected the job (it really wasn't done up to par IMO) and then when I returned to the customers I had been in the middle of helping they informed me he lied about how he was treated.

Then I got to work today to discover someone had written a scathing survey response about ME. Saying I was rude, condescending, sarcastic, and acted angry that I had to help them. The worst part is that I recognized the customer/transaction and I was shocked. I did not realize I had come across this way. Looking back I could see how it happened, but it was purely misunderstanding/miscommunication. But it doesn't matter what I intended, it only matters I inadvertently made someone feel so disrespected as to write such a review. And this particular customer, was in my opinion I very kind and pleasant person. Not a crazy rude customer like the screaming Asian lady. I let like shit after reading that, because I am the customer experience manager. The only good thing is my district manager found it extremely surprising as well. His message to my store manager was, "this is very out of character." So discouraging.

Then the icing on the cake, I took a phone call about a customer wanting some 5x8 index cards in s pack of 100. In the intervening time of taking the call and going to look to see what we had, I had two customers ask for help and an employee request my assistance. So I mixed it up and thought they asked about 3x5 index cards. They did not specify to me they wanted blank ones so I looked at the normal lined index cards. I returned to the phone and started telling them what we had and they interrupted me to say they wanted the blank ones and I said I thought we might have those in the pack of 100 let me go look again to be sure. Repeat the previous of having a customer interruption, no employee this time though. I returned and said, "we have the 3x5 blank index cards in sets of 100 for just a penny this week" she proceed to literally yell at me, "NO! I TOLD you I want the 5x8!" At this point I wanted to hang up on her and go home for the rest of the day. Instead I said, "I do apologize for getting mixed up ma'am just give me one more minute and I will look." Third trip I get the right info and inform her that sadly we only carry those in packs of 300 but I'm sure we could order them for you if you like, she declined because she needed them today. She acted sugary sweet at that point. I don't know if she was being sarcastic or if she realized what a bitch she had just been to me for no good reason and was trying to make up for it. I got off the phone feeling like everyone fucking hates me anyway, why do I even bother?

I just can't win with people this week.

Oh, and then I got offered a promotion... Go figure.

Oh I have been enjoying the game MM. I haven't felt infuriated by anyone there in the least.

And thanks for the love guys!

Is it something that will go away given enough time avoiding the cause?

Be safe Juliets, I've been worrying about you.

Oh DDL! I'm so sorry, that is the worst!

I just have to fucking vent. Alex and I have both lived relatively debt free until like 4 years ago. That means both our credit histories are fairly new. Because the last four years we have lived on a retail salary and a college stipend we did not have a bunch of money socked away. We have been making it, just. Now his fucking job doesn’t pay him until fucking October. They don’t pay reimbursements until we have been here for four to six weeks, sometime in October by those standards. Our apartment is a new build and isn’t ready for us to move in so what little money we have is getting piddled away in the cost of living for fucking air bnb rentals. Even if it was open right now, we couldn’t get into it, because we no longer have the money thanks to this fact. We were told by the school that we would receive a $5000 loan from the school affiliated credit union which we just learned we were denied for.

So basically we are nearly broke with nowhere to fucking live and the school just doesn’t pay him for another month and a half.

I can’t even right now...
I am so beyond upset right now.

Thanks.