I Want What She's Smokin'

Not facing reality may be a mechanism some people use to get through their day. Unfortunately, reality hits me in the face the second I wake up in the morning and it pesters me all day long. My manager, however, doesn't have this problem. She lives in her own little world...and she likes it there.

After a co-worker retired in March, I've been working the morning shift putting out stock. At that time there were 4 of us. Three of us start at 6AM and the 4th came in about 9AM. She was the 'shoe diva.' In June, our 'shoe diva' moved to Ohio and was never replaced. This put us stockers in a very bad position. We now had to do our work and hers, too. And since the other two stockers have much more seniority than I, the bulk of the added work fell on me. I suddenly found myself in the 'shoe diva' position which I neither wanted nor signed up for.

So now there are 3 stockers to cover 7 depts and we almost never get the stock done. Today the manager calls a little pow-wow to inform us that since we can't keep up with the stock we are going to have to try something different. Rather than coming in at 6AM, they want us to come in at 3AM so we can work the stock out without a bunch of interruptions from the customers or having to go up and run a lane. They're going to try it during the weeks of Thanksgiving and Christmas to see how it goes.

Back in 2004 I worked on the 3rd shift stocking crew between Thanksgiving and New Years. There were many nights that we had wall-to-wall customers because they want to get there early so they can get the 'great' Christmas deals the hellhole offers. On Thanksgiving night (black Friday morning) the customers started coming in at 2AM. They were literally down EVERY aisle. We couldn't take two steps without being stopped by one of them. It was so bad that the night manager told us to get the stock off the floor and just straighten/help customers. I mentioned this to the manager at our little pow-wow. She seemed to be a bit wary about the idea but said, "Let's hope that doesn't happen this year."

I also made the mistake of bringing up the fact that since June, instead of 4 stockers, we now only have 3. She immediately became angry and said..."That's not true. I always make sure there are 4 people here to stock."

My jaw fell to the floor because that is either a bald-faced lie or she is smoking something that is messing with her head. There are only 3 of us except on some Sundays when she will schedule a fourth. Heck, when one of the other stockers was on vacation last month she never replaced her...leaving only 2 of us to stock 7 depts.

Of course, my co-workers didn't back me up, later telling me that you can't argue with her because she's always right...even when she's dead wrong. The rest of the day I felt like I was in the Twilight Zone.

Do-do-do-do! Do-do-do-do!

Have I ever mentioned how much I hate that place?