does having a second job make me a poor employee?

[kyzaskiwi]

My store started bringing my hours down to barely 30 hours or even less some weeks and it was killing me.. i litterally could not make my rent.. (only get 8.56 as an sl in cali.. most sl here get at least 9-9.50 but i have no real complaints but still rent is 1k a month divided amongst two of us plus several expensive bills and of course.. gas) So instead of whining about my job and whining about my hours i decided to do the mature thing and get another job.. But i really didn't want to quit blockbuster because of the manager experience i was getting and since it can be a fun job at times so i decided for the summer at least and maybe for a little longer to work 2 jobs. So i got a job at the grocery store litterally 2 minutes walking distance from the blockbuster i work at.. I get a job as a cashier immediately there and since I close at blockbuster and the grocery store (vons.. or most know it as safeway) opens at 5am i get to open at vons before i close at blockbuster.. also i request 2-3 days from blockbuster a week to work over at vons a full day but i tell the sm that she has freedom to work with me on this as long as she gives me the schedule before friday because thats when they do the schedule at vons..

she says its fine that she will always make the schedule 2 weeks ahead of time and i start working. Everything is working out well except that it is extremely exhausting working 15+ hours a day.. but still I have no complaints, it was my choice anyways. I really like my job at Vons because i get paid more than i do as a Shift Leader at blockbuster only to be a cashier ($8.90 is starting pay there for a cashier) and i dont have to do anything but ring up groceries and be nice.. also i get paid every week there too which really really helps. From working at Vons I have decided that if i am going to be stuck in retail for a long long time (i had to drop from college to do all this working) then i would rather be at the nice atmosphere of vons (the asm actually sits down with me and is understanding of my second job and works with me on it) than the slowly deteriorating atmosphere at blockbuster so I will eventually quit blockbuster once i have paid off a credit card or two and feel comfortable, but that may be 6 months off.

Meanwhile a few weeks after i start at vons, the ASM gets into a car accident, goes into the hospital to get surgery and can no longer work (we just saw him yesterday and he says he wont be able to work again till december!).. So the stress of scheduling without an asm has really got to the SM and she really started attacking me about my second job and saying i prefer that job and that im not working with her on it even tho i have had to cut shifts at vons and get off early several times for her.. then she almost schedules me for an inventory that would really suck because i would have had to open at blockbuster, midshift at vons, inventory at blockbuster and open at vons all straight almost 24 hours with no breaks in between, only 10's and lunches.. but she decided against the inventory part which really helped but then we ended up doing inventory on a tuesday where i opened at vons, closed at blockbuster and then did half of inventory and then midshifted at vons.. So basically she keeps scheduling me days where i am working many many hours without sleep and keeps getting mad at me because im not working with her but i am trying very very hard to work with her but i really really dont want to loose my vons job because i like it alot..

So then to add to everything my SM went into the hospital yesterday and now its just down to me and the other SL who is asking me my avail so he can work the schedule to cover the sms shifts.. but with all the stuff she has already done to my scedule, there are very few days i can spare to work extra and im already on the verge of exhaustion as it is.. (this is my first break in a while).. So everyone is getting mad at me because of my availability and im just trying to work extremely hard to keep both jobs.. Because of all this all i really want to do now is just quit Blockbuster because its just too chaotic but i just cant abandon my store in such a crisis. (also one of the csrs just quit and we got a new csr but he is very slow and soon will only be able to work mondays and fridays cuz of school.)

our store right now: 2 SLs and 2 CSRs, total of 4 employees.. yay

But really, am i a bad person or a poor employee for trying to juggle 2 jobs in order to pay rent? because everyone is making me feel that way.. i am giving every moment i can to help blockbuster but still we are having trouble.. and also, when the SM goes out of commision, isn't the DL supposed to get people to cover as opposed to it being left to the SLs?

Sorry bout the length, im not complaining, but i just wonder what you guys think about people who try to juggle a second job with blockbuster, im especially interested in opinions from SMs...

[zooworker]

As a SL you are not supose to work over 35 hours a week. In fact at our store they are required fill out an availabilty sheet. Having done so we stick to that. If your store is short handed the DL needs to step in and move some help in. A SL is not responsible for running the store as a manager while they are out. I would go to the DL and explain the situation and if this doesn't help, stand your ground. IT'S NOT YOUR RESPONSIBILITY, you are part time. Keep your other job and work around it. Good Luck.

[URBAN_COWBOY]

BB started out as my second job, PT in the evenings. My SM was aware of this and worked with me, knowing that it was not my primary. When I became an SM a few months later, many of my employees worked 2 different jobs. I actually preferred this because then they didn't want too many hours, so I was able to have a very large staff. Basically what I told my employees was I will work with you as long as you don't miss any shifts and your other job doesn't interfere with my business. I only had a problem once, and let the employee go. Granted, this wasn't a very good employee. In my eyes, as a former SM, I can see things through both peoples' eyes. I don't think you are being unreasonable, but your SM has to get coverage. The fault lies with the SM. Not enough employees. This should never happen. As an SM, you should always build bench strength to avoid situations like this. My advice to you, is quit. Make the cashier job your primary job and find another PT job to fill in the blanks. Good luck.

[rk237]

My advice would be to put in your two weeks notice at BB. The reason you sought another job to begin with was because they weren't scheduling you enough. Now they are blaming your other job for keeping you away during a crisis.

It sounds like the only reason you are staying is because you want the managerial experience (being a SL) and you don't want to abandon ship during a crisis. If you put in your two weeks and work the two weeks, then you have nothing to be guilty about. Further, you will never get scheduled a rotten shift (like inventory) during your last two weeks (it'd be too risky). Your store put you in this bad situation: you do not owe it much allegiance.

Make sure Vons can offer you full time, and ask them to put you in for shifts at both the LJ one and the PB one if that's something Vons can do. It is a professional outfit that would never leave its employees in a situation like your Blockbuster has (this is not the first time either. I left that very store for this reason exactly . . so understaffed: one crisis, and all hell breaks loose). Devote yourself fully to Vons and you will probably climb the ranks faster than you did at Blockbuster, and will pick up the managerial experience soon enough at that point.

Good luck!!

[Propoxy]

You're not out of line having a second job. You have to provide for yourself, and if Blockbuster alone isn't cutting it, you don't really have a choice. I'm sure your SM understands that, but it is stressful trying to work around another job schedule, and that's why you're getting some grief. But you have to do what you need to in order to live.

Have you asked about getting a raise at Blockbuster?

And I really hope you're borrowing help from other stores. No way can you run a store with just 4 people.

You need to figure out which one you want as your primary job. Since you worked for Blockbuster first, it's right that you help them out for now. But when your SM gets back, you should definitely make a final decision.

[kyzaskiwi]

My advice would be to put in your two weeks notice at BB. The reason you sought another job to begin with was because they weren't scheduling you enough. Now they are blaming your other job for keeping you away during a crisis.

I told the SM the other day that i was thinking about putting in my notice and she said and i seriously quote "I dont take well to threats" and then she told me that i would have to give her a months notice...

Make sure Vons can offer you full time, and ask them to put you in for shifts at both the LJ one and the PB one if that's something Vons can do. It is a professional outfit that would never leave its employees in a situation like your Blockbuster has (this is not the first time either. I left that very store for this reason exactly . . so understaffed: one crisis, and all hell breaks loose). Devote yourself fully to Vons and you will probably climb the ranks faster than you did at Blockbuster, and will pick up the managerial experience soon enough at that point.
Good luck!!

Well i no longer even live in PB so just working in LJ is fine.. but yeah, vons is such an awesome store... you start at 8.90 but there are people who have worked there for years and now make up to $15 just as a cashier.. and its real easy to become a supervisor there as well.. there are tons of employees so there is lots of cover and they are a union store (as lame as it seems to pay dues to a union there is still a clear difference between union and non-union stores.. the sups at vons are always too afraid of getting in trouble by the union that they are always really cool an supportive.. ). I think the only fear of staying primarily with Vons would be if they had another strike, because the last grocery store strike down here was really catastrophic.

Have you asked about getting a raise at Blockbuster?

And I really hope you're borrowing help from other stores. No way can you run a store with just 4 people.

only time i ever mentioned my pay rate at BBV people just went crazy on me.. i mentioned once to my sm that i made more as a cashier at vons and she thought i was using it as a threat which i wasn't.. the other sl makes as much as me and hes not trying to get a raise so im kinda just sticking with what i have... our store has so little money as it is.

and as for borrowing employees, we just started borrowing a few people but the whole district is short handed nowdays.. i have at least 3 stores calling me a day for people and its just like "are you kidding me?"



Sad thing is that while i hate blockbuster i really love the store.. because i have put so much work into it.. and i still have so much left to do before i am happy with it.. i would feel like i am abandoning it.. we just finished the zero rent pull and i completely rebalanced the BSI and it looks all perty now and i feel like if i leave the whole store is going to fall apart and its the only video store in LJ so if it fell apart alot of the regulars would be devastated.. im not saying im the only one that keeps the store togetehr but it would be really sad to see the store fall to peices...

[HardcoreKeith]

I second the above. Quit BBV, work at Vons full time, and get something else PT if you need it. Fuck your SM's bullshit.

[kyzaskiwi]

I second the above. Quit BBV, work at Vons full time, and get something else PT if you need it. Fuck your SM's bullshit.

Then it makes it even harder because i like my SM as a person just not as my boss.. feel like i shouldn't quit when she is in and out of the hospital....

[zooworker]

Then it makes it even harder because i like my SM as a person just not as my boss.. feel like i shouldn't quit when she is in and out of the hospital....
Go ahead and save your SM ass then, but it's not your problem. She should have hired more help and arrange help from other stores before dumping it on you.

[rk237]

You may like your boss as a person, and this is why you are having difficulty with this situation -- because you're a decent human being and decent human beings try to do the right thing.

But ask yourself what part of your SM's treatment of you in the past few weeks has helped ameliorate your friendship. Be aware of the important distinction between a boss that's friendly and a boss that's your friend. I think yours is a clear case of the former.

[2for2pounds]

Then it makes it even harder because i like my SM as a person just not as my boss.. feel like i shouldn't quit when she is in and out of the hospital....

December will come round and you will still be there.

think about this, your SM might thank you in the short term but your kindness will probably be forgotten about by december when everything gets back to normal and you will STILL be stuck in a job that you are unhappy in.

Sometimes you have to think of yourself in life, especially when it comes to your finacial wellbeing.

If your SM really needed help she could actually work for it, make some calls and get the help, it's not impossible blockbuster is a very big company

[Ridge]

Seriously, the next time someone gives you crap about holding down a second job, tell them you don't apreciate the crap they're giving you for trying to make ends meet, and that if the subject ever comes up again, they won't have to worry about it, because you will quit Blockbuster and leave him with only 3 employees to run the store.

And anyways, come November, with corporate going through and "evaluating" all members of management, you probably will get let go anyways.

[Aphrodite]

I agree with everyone else.

You wanted, and should have had 30 hours from your store, but they slashed your hours by a third and reduced you to HAVING to get another job. Then because of insufficient staffing in your store, you are being MADE to jeopardize your new job to cover for their mistakes and instead of being thanked for it, people are getting angry with you. Then when you try to talk to your SM about your problem and the possiblity you might have to quit BB, instead of disscussing it rationaly she accuses you of threatening her. :eek:

If it was me Kiwi, Id put in my 2 weeks tomorrow. ;)

[sar94pga]

I told the SM the other day that i was thinking about putting in my notice and she said and i seriously quote "I dont take well to threats" and then she told me that i would have to give her a months notice...



that is bullshit. a months notice is nice, but definatly not required.

I started as a csr, was a pt sl in a month. I was the ASM in 6 months, and am now a SM (different store) and have been for 2+ years. and it all happened because of being short staffed. I also quit college to work for BBV full time. so, my advice to you is quit. dont stay out of some sick twisted devotion to your store. you need to do what is best for you. and as you stated, you are exhausted. it would appear that if you stay at bbv it will just lead you down that dark dirty road of blockbuster management. and you are lucky, you have another job that you enjoy that pays you more for less stress and hassle and sounds like over all work envoirnment. so go do that!

whats going on in your BBV is not your fault. at all. it is poor planning on your sm's fault. Go back to school, go back to school, go back to school go back to school......

[Woodstock]

You could always step down as a SL, make BBV your second job and Vons as your primary.

[smellmefingers]

yeah , always look out for yourself. Put yourself above the company, because they dont even know you but a number and label in so and so city location.

[cakenicing4u]

***WARNING---LONG RANT****
I feel your pain on this one!! When I took the job at BB it was to get out of a grocery store job that I hated. I worked at Giant store elite and was a manager then stepped down and went to Giant store GHETTO. The ghetto store was awful, and the manager and I hated one another. It took me less than six months to find another job. I stepped down to PT at the Ghetto store, started full time at BB all while caring for my mother in law. The day that the ghetto manager called me and said "How dare you??" after I called off because the paramedics were on the way... that was the day I quit.... since I had BB you know...... and then a week later, my husband got laid off. So I went back to the elite store, told them my story, and asked for a PT job.... and the sweet part is that like most BB's... there's a grocery store nearby.. and in my case, they are at either ends of the strip mall, saving me a ton of gas. I am spoiled there--but there are reasons why I don't want to be FT there.

Many days I work 9-5 at BB and 6-12 at Giant or, vice-versa, 8-4:30 at Giant and 5-cl at BB... My giant is VERY forgiving. I'm usually late, change my schedule all the time, take my radio in with me... etc... but I know I'm good at what I do, and so do they. I've always tried to put BB first. Does it show? yeah, sometimes it does... but I'm a trooper and I try to make sure I take the down time i need... no 24 hour shifts for me thanks....

Anyway, thanks for reading, there is a point. One early morning after two double shifts, I opened at BB. We had to call in numbers. I called in and said "Good morning, DL this is *** from *** and our numbers were bla bla bla. IF i see you today, you may see me with my 'sleepy face on' (yawn) and have a nice day. " It was meant to be funny. When the DL turned up at 6:15 that night, and I was still there (9-6:30 and 7-1) we had words. I said, "I'm surprised to see you here so late" and the DL said "Well that's because I didn't want to see your sleepy face" and then chewed me up for having two jobs. I had to retaliate and defend my decision to work two jobs... and we bantered back and forth for about 30 minutes. I was and still am annoyed by that conversation. Maybe the DL makes enough money for three people to live off it, but as an ASM, I sure as hell don't..... so if I want to eat and put gas in the car, I have to work both jobs. (this week I have 78 hours) It's just what I have to do. I know what retail is about. I know how to put that I'm awake and happy to see you face on. I do it every damn day. But from 9-10 am. I AM SLEEPY. Listen to 40 minutes of voicemail as I count down, and yeah, I'm YAWNING.... call and leave a light-hearted message. Ha. Tha's BB for ya

[kyzaskiwi]

i think that what im going to do is set a date.. i will work till october 31st and even if i have not squared everything away, even if i have not paid stuff off, i will quit (put 2 weeks notice in before 31st and 31st will be my last day) and i will tell this to the sm.. and if she has a problem with it than what is she going to do, fire me? im giving her 2 months to get enough staffing to let me go... that really should be enough..

tho i have considered another option: to go back down to a pt csr.. but i dont think it would work as the csrs at our store are so much like sls anyways and it would be so weird to loose my codes and everything, also some of the csrs have been having to work as much as me as well.. so it might be best to get out all together, make vons my primary and get a secondary at some cool place like starbucks or something......

[Ra's Al Ghul]

My advice: Run while you still have your other job. I was in a situation like yours once, running a store with four people and a SM uable to do so. I was a CSR who never got respect, the Rodney Dangerfield of CSRs if you will. My SM loved the fact that I worked my ass off for her, but never promoted me because she always found 'better' candidates. Those 'better' candidates would eventually leave us in some shit, with the inevitable power struggle ending with their resignation. The management staff consisted of one person, the SM, and she was desperate. She turned to me, the man she never saw value in, and asked me to become a SL. The rest is history.

The short version is as follows:

Became a SL, easy as pie considering I had shadowed an ASM in my day.

SM suffers MS attacks brought on by stress, sadly making hospital trips a common occurance.

I become manager with most BB experience, with a supporting cast of a single CSR and two green managers, a SL and an ASM.

SM and I forge pseudo-friendship, bonding through the stressful times. Her condition and the feelings lingering just below the surface keep me going much longer than I should have ever done so.

I work double and triple shifts, easily hitting 60+ hours a week. Supporting cast is right behind me, and growing more and more tired. Eventually, no amount of work can make up for the avalanche of shit we became buried under.

Store goes to shit, employees burn out faster than Paris Hilton taking to celebacy. My SM quits, citing health reasons... so they say.

Store gets new SM, who proceeds to shit on every single person who stayed through the shitstorm. She goes out of her way to destroy my credibility, daring to question my love for the job.

New SM replaces senior management staff with mindless yes-men, rules through fear by handing out corrective actions like candy.

I have enough and quit, becoming much happier in the process.

Basically what I'm saying is simple: You can bust your ass for this company and they'll shit on you in the end. You can make ridiculous sacrifices, even losing great friends in the process, and this company will shit on you. You can give your all for a person you've grown to care about... and they'll shit on everything you've built. You have nothing to gain by staying where you are.... nothing. Leave this sinking ship to rot, and laugh the day you read that BB bites the bullet. Trust me, you owe it to yourself.

[Erythro42]

i think that what im going to do is set a date.. i will work till october 31st and even if i have not squared everything away, even if i have not paid stuff off, i will quit (put 2 weeks notice in before 31st and 31st will be my last day) and i will tell this to the sm.. and if she has a problem with it than what is she going to do, fire me? im giving her 2 months to get enough staffing to let me go... that really should be enough.

I know I've mentioned this before, but in all honesty, you aren't required to give any notice at all. It's the polite and acceptable thing to do, and may affect your "re-hireability", and it won't screw over your co-workers where they would normally have to scramble to cover the shifts, but in this case it doesn't really sound like any of that matters. That part in the Employee Handbook, and I think it's posted somewhere in most offices, about Blockbuster being "at will", means that they can fire you at any time for any reason, and you can quit at any time for any reason, even without notice.

I was under the impression that this may vary from state to state, but if it's in your handbook, I'd say you're good to go, and even if notice was required, one month smells of bullshit.

[kyzaskiwi]

I know I've mentioned this before, but in all honesty, you aren't required to give any notice at all. It's the polite and acceptable thing to do, and may affect your "re-hireability", and it won't screw over your co-workers where they would normally have to scramble to cover the shifts, but in this case it doesn't really sound like any of that matters. That part in the Employee Handbook, and I think it's posted somewhere in most offices, about Blockbuster being "at will", means that they can fire you at any time for any reason, and you can quit at any time for any reason, even without notice.

I was under the impression that this may vary from state to state, but if it's in your handbook, I'd say you're good to go, and even if notice was required, one month smells of bullshit.

yeah but i got some loose ends to settle as well.. thus why ill stay there that long..

Actually my SM was saying something about this once.. she said that when another job calls to verify employment all she can tell them is that someone worked there.. she is not allowed to say whether they were fired or quit or if they are rehireable.. they have to contact someone else for that or something.. so even if i did just up and quit i would still be able to list bbv as most jobs are not going to go into research over whether im rehireable or not (at least not in retail)....

[Meltdown]

Basically what I'm saying is simple: You can bust your ass for this company and they'll shit on you in the end. You can make ridiculous sacrifices, even losing great friends in the process, and this company will shit on you. You can give your all for a person you've grown to care about... and they'll shit on everything you've built. You have nothing to gain by staying where you are.... nothing. Leave this sinking ship to rot, and laugh the day you read that BB bites the bullet. Trust me, you owe it to yourself.

100% correct.

The SM hasn't earned your loyalty. The company sure as hell hasn't.

YOU have to take care of YOU. Job burning you out? Getting shit on a regular basis? Time to go. It is nice that you gave the SM so much notice...but that doesn't help your situation at the moment. Besides, the SM only wants that much notice so that he/she can fix their monumental fuck-up of a staffing situation.

I've been there. In a previous life with a different company I took over a store that was grossly understaffed. I worked 90 hours a week for two months. I hired people, got the place cleaned up, etc. Three months after this the company went through a "restructuring" and I was placed into yet another shit-hole store with orders to fix it.

So, being the company guy that I was, I did what they wanted. 90 hour work weeks followed. New employees, clean the store up, etc. My reward?

ANOTHER TRANSFER TO ANOTHER SHIT-HOLE. When the DM told me this I looked at him like he had an antler growing out of his skull. Many witty responses to this came to mind. My answer was simple. I pulled my keys out of my pocket, gently laid them on his desk and walked out. And keep in mind that this was a company that has a MUCH better track record than BBV as far as how it treats its employees.

The moral to this story is that almost NO company is worth that kind of soul-sucking loyalty. There may be a few of them out there...but BBV isn't one of them. Walk away. Get your life back.

[Erythro42]

yeah but i got some loose ends to settle as well.. thus why ill stay there that long..

Actually my SM was saying something about this once.. she said that when another job calls to verify employment all she can tell them is that someone worked there.. she is not allowed to say whether they were fired or quit or if they are rehireable.. they have to contact someone else for that or something.. so even if i did just up and quit i would still be able to list bbv as most jobs are not going to go into research over whether im rehireable or not (at least not in retail)....

When I mentioned the re-hireability I mean that if you piss off your SM, she can arbitrarily mark you down as "Do not rehire" in the system. But that would assume you ever wanted to come back.

[zooworker]

When I mentioned the re-hireability I mean that if you piss off your SM, she can arbitrarily mark you down as "Do not rehire" in the system. But that would assume you ever wanted to come back.
I can also hurt you ability to find another job if they find out you are not rehire-able.

[libra]

Well, if you work out your 2 weeks maybe you or the other SL can do some interviews. To help the situation turn around. I guess whether you quit or not it would be good to get the ball rolling on staffing. Hopefully 1 of you 2 attended a hiring for excellence class. If not maybe you took the module & the DM would be ok with you doing some interviews. If you don't want to take action, insist that the other SL does. The longer you wait the worse it will get. But don't just hire anyone applies. I would hope you would know to hire quality. Even if it means your CSR works up front for hrs. while you do interviews. Don't settle. Finding the best person for the job is worth it, anyone else is a waste of time & money. Hell, ask the DTSM to sit in on some interviews if you need to. They are given extra hours to train & develop. So it would be worth it to ask for help if you need it.

[kyzaskiwi]

Well, if you work out your 2 weeks maybe you or the other SL can do some interviews. To help the situation turn around. I guess whether you quit or not it would be good to get the ball rolling on staffing. Hopefully 1 of you 2 attended a hiring for excellence class. If not maybe you took the module & the DM would be ok with you doing some interviews. If you don't want to take action, insist that the other SL does. The longer you wait the worse it will get. But don't just hire anyone applies. I would hope you would know to hire quality. Even if it means your CSR works up front for hrs. while you do interviews. Don't settle. Finding the best person for the job is worth it, anyone else is a waste of time & money. Hell, ask the DTSM to sit in on some interviews if you need to. They are given extra hours to train & develop. So it would be worth it to ask for help if you need it.

we got a guy who is calling every day.. hes really interested in working for us.. but i have no idea where to even find his application.. i feel bad just telling him to keep calling back. =(

[libra]

do an application refax. all you need is the password for the BEC & your applicants social security # & it will print right up.

If it doesn't print he didn't finish the app or is under 18.

[kyzaskiwi]

password for the BEC

im only a shift leader.. the asm and sm are in the hospital.. theres no way for me to even get the password for this.. they are just going to have to wait till they get back i guess

[Meltdown]

im only a shift leader.. the asm and sm are in the hospital.. theres no way for me to even get the password for this.. they are just going to have to wait till they get back i guess

You should have a manual for the BEC. In there is an 800 number to contact for tech support. Tell them you do not have the passowrd. They'll be able to help.

[OzMan]

But really, am i a bad person or a poor employee for trying to juggle 2 jobs in order to pay rent?

This reminds me a lot of the bloke that left early.... except that we all agree on this;)

Once again, I have trouble fathoming this, because I would NEVER have allowed things to get so out of whack. I would have stepped in and worked behind the counter, if need be.

But the question you ask is, are you a poor employee. Why are you not asking "Is BBI a poor employer?"

You've done all you can, and guilt trips for you helping out are totally uncalled for. They don't DESERVE your loyalty.

You are perfectly in your right to give two-weeks notice, concentrate on Von's, and do what YOU have to. BBI isn't paying your rent, so they really have abdicated the right to judge you.

But you do what you have to..... just remember, ask yourself what has BBI does to deserve your loyalty.

As for the Union thing, and Von's being in a spot of trouble if there's another strike..... completely irrelavent, but I went to the store today.... after being gone a fortnight (which I think everyone knows already)..... and the Ralphs was GONE!!! COMPLETELY closed. It was there when I left, and the shelves were bare, the sign was down, and no one was around. The rumour is, they're a victim of a strike from like two years ago. :eek:

[sar94pga]

im only a shift leader.. the asm and sm are in the hospital.. theres no way for me to even get the password for this.. they are just going to have to wait till they get back i guess

you can actually call unicrew, thats what i had to do when my store opened, i had the bec, the bec manual but no password...and i called then amd expained the situation and had a password in no time!

[kyzaskiwi]

So i finally get to sleep in today because i didn't have to work at vons today and i didn't have to work at blockbuster until 5 right? last night i had complications with my fiance that left me a little shaken and brought us from engaged to just dating, on the verge of just roommatenes.. not really relavent and i really dont want to talk about it.. i am only saying it because some people can invision what something like that would do to the already exhisting stress caused by blockbuster and other elements in life.

So anyway, I really was pretty shaken up this morning and then i get a phone call. I guess the sm is out of the hospital, she sounds mostly allright all of a sudden. She asks if i can open because nobody came to open the store. This is crazy to me as the opener even called the night before to ask when he was working! So i guess he got to the store and realized he had no keys because he had let yesterdays borrowed opener have them.. she gave them to me before she left and i put them into the safe and he never came to pick them up. So he then text messages the SM about it who comes to give him keys and he is nowhere to be found, probably because he waited so long he had nothing better to do but go home. The SM then tried to get in touch with him and he was unavailable all of a sudden.

So then the SM calls me, who is not doing at 100% from reason i stated above and asks if i could open. She says that she cannot open because she is on temperary disability leave and that is illegal. Well i wasn't working vons so technically i could have worked but today is my ONLY day i get to do any errands such as paying bills and all and these are things i cannot and should not avoid, and to top it all off i am in the middle of a very painful break that makes me want to just stop coming in alltogether. so i just tell her that i am unable to come in until my scheduled time. She then calls again about 10 minutes later and asks if i can open and richard close.. but i just cant work right now so i said the same thing.

This could have been the right thing to do or it could be the wrong, at this point i really dont care at all. I am not doing okay, and i am not coming in to work a schedule that is not mine to work. i have things to do and only today to do them and im not covering for the sl and sm's miscommunications.

So the SM says.. i guess to try and make me feel guilty "okay fine, i guess we will just have to open the store later on today"... as if she couldn't call around to other stores and bring in an emergency cover... I just kinda rolled over in bed and said "okay good luck with that, bye" and hung up the phone..

again, maybe not the right thing to do in this situation but i really could care less at this point..




and the Ralphs was GONE!!! COMPLETELY closed. It was there when I left, and the shelves were bare, the sign was down, and no one was around. The rumour is, they're a victim of a strike from like two years ago. :eek:

scarey! good thing my vons is the only grocery store in lj and gets so much business that the average wait in line can be over 10 minutes =D

[HardcoreKeith]

I have a tattoo on my forearm that reads "Never answer the phone" for that reason.

[AbandonedDreams]

[QUOTE=Propoxy;183627]

And I really hope you're borrowing help from other stores. No way can you run a store with just 4 people.
QUOTE]

My store has done this many, many times. An ASM/ acting SM, an SL, an SLIT until full SL, and a CSR. We were all full time, and as a SLIT I was able to work both Manager and CSR shifts until we got more coverage. Our store is over 45 minutes away from all other corporate BBV's and so no one wants to drive up here. So, the ASM worked a lot of hours, and since we all lover her we all joined in.

[kyzaskiwi]

so today i call my sm because she called me this morning because i had questions.. she calls me back and gets mad at me for calling her, tells me im supposed to call her roommate sm who used to be our sm before her instead.. Whatever, she sounded fine this morning when she was bugging me about working. So anyways she tells me that the opener that never showed up quit.. and thats when it suddenly hit me that this is really really getting old and that im definately not going to wait as long as i was going to resign.

I then get forced to do all these things i have never done before with no explanation on how to do them just for the sake of getting them done.. called ipt for the 3rd time n less than 24 hours.. trying to get the fax machine working so that we can recieve applications. im on hold with ipt who tells me to call computer support who after 30 min tells me to call unicru. So i leave a message with them since they are closed by then.. later my sm's roomate calls me and i tell her about this and she tells me that ipt was wrong and to call them back and tell them i want to speak to their supervisor or something.. then my actual sm tells me to have the application faxed to her roomates store.. but then her roomate tells me not to worry about it... (really, sm's should not be allowed to be roomates!... too confusing.. well they are more than roommates which makes it more crazy but i shall not get into that)... anyways so to make my already long story short there was phone calls left and right, misinformation as well. then i get told that when carpets get done its only a manager that stays when i thought from before when i did it i get a csr there so i dont have to close the store by myself, but i guess i was wrong and i do have to close it up by myself.. i guess not a problem but i hate closing by myself because our store is in the same building as a bar which has of late become quite roudy..

To top it off a lady yelled at me becuase the bathroom key didn't work when she really just couldn't figure it out and then once i let her in the bathroom i realized it was disgusting and it was extremely embarrasing.. then i had some people who walked out the emergency exit without looking back.. which really sucked because the bar next door had put pots by it so they were lucky not to break the glass.. the weirdest part? the alarm didn't go off.. great, now do i have to call ipt again? then a guy yells at us for not having top gun and walks out with the whole "ill stick with netflix" speel and more and more and im really really fed up to be honest.. my sms roomate is doing the schedule and will not have it ready till last minute so i will have no schedule to tell vons about and sure enough she will schedule me when im supposed to be working at vons of course...

then afterwards i get a call from the opener who never showed asking when he worked tomorrow.. i told him i thought he quit.. he tells me that the sm is crazy for thinking that.. mumbles something than tells me he does not want to get into it.. my respones: neither do i.. i could care less whatever stupid thing you guys have going here...

i cant win here and that is why i have decided to listen to everyone and put my two weeks in.. only problem is, who do i give the letter to? cant talk to my sm, and her roomate almost never answers her phone.. i guess i could fax my letter to her store but if someone else finds it they might think its wierd since i dont work there and toss it and then everything would be a mess...

I hate this.. i hate this very very much

[brantheman]

so today i call my sm because she called me this morning because i had questions.. she calls me back and gets mad at me for calling her, tells me im supposed to call her roommate sm who used to be our sm before her instead.. Whatever, she sounded fine this morning when she was bugging me about working. So anyways she tells me that the opener that never showed up quit.. and thats when it suddenly hit me that this is really really getting old and that im definately not going to wait as long as i was going to resign.

I then get forced to do all these things i have never done before with no explanation on how to do them just for the sake of getting them done.. called ipt for the 3rd time n less than 24 hours.. trying to get the fax machine working so that we can recieve applications. im on hold with ipt who tells me to call computer support who after 30 min tells me to call unicru. So i leave a message with them since they are closed by then.. later my sm's roomate calls me and i tell her about this and she tells me that ipt was wrong and to call them back and tell them i want to speak to their supervisor or something.. then my actual sm tells me to have the application faxed to her roomates store.. but then her roomate tells me not to worry about it... (really, sm's should not be allowed to be roomates!... too confusing.. well they are more than roommates which makes it more crazy but i shall not get into that)... anyways so to make my already long story short there was phone calls left and right, misinformation as well. then i get told that when carpets get done its only a manager that stays when i thought from before when i did it i get a csr there so i dont have to close the store by myself, but i guess i was wrong and i do have to close it up by myself.. i guess not a problem but i hate closing by myself because our store is in the same building as a bar which has of late become quite roudy..

To top it off a lady yelled at me becuase the bathroom key didn't work when she really just couldn't figure it out and then once i let her in the bathroom i realized it was disgusting and it was extremely embarrasing.. then i had some people who walked out the emergency exit without looking back.. which really sucked because the bar next door had put pots by it so they were lucky not to break the glass.. the weirdest part? the alarm didn't go off.. great, now do i have to call ipt again? then a guy yells at us for not having top gun and walks out with the whole "ill stick with netflix" speel and more and more and im really really fed up to be honest.. my sms roomate is doing the schedule and will not have it ready till last minute so i will have no schedule to tell vons about and sure enough she will schedule me when im supposed to be working at vons of course...

then afterwards i get a call from the opener who never showed asking when he worked tomorrow.. i told him i thought he quit.. he tells me that the sm is crazy for thinking that.. mumbles something than tells me he does not want to get into it.. my respones: neither do i.. i could care less whatever stupid thing you guys have going here...

i cant win here and that is why i have decided to listen to everyone and put my two weeks in.. only problem is, who do i give the letter to? cant talk to my sm, and her roomate almost never answers her phone.. i guess i could fax my letter to her store but if someone else finds it they might think its wierd since i dont work there and toss it and then everything would be a mess...

I hate this.. i hate this very very much

Seriously, WTF? Why is your SM's roommate doing the schedule? And why should you have to depend on her? Quit now, and I think the "don't burn old bridges" saying doesn't apply here. Burn the whole building down. Like Milton!

[kyzaskiwi]

Seriously, WTF? Why is your SM's roommate doing the schedule? And why should you have to depend on her? Quit now, and I think the "don't burn old bridges" saying doesn't apply here. Burn the whole building down. Like Milton!

Our sm's roomate is our ex-sm.. she gave the store to our current sm a while back because she was having to manage two stores at once and it was hard.. The other store she managed was my old store.. i tranfered to this one around the time her roommate picked it up. But since she is out i guess the old sm/her roomate is in charge again. Its really so awkward to have to deal with this weird situation.. they keep their personal lifes to themselves pretty well but its still a little awkward to call your sm because something is wrong late at night and hear her asking your old sm in the background what she thinks is the problem..

and to make it more complicated they are really really really similar.. so similar sometimes that when they call you have to ask which one it is

(and like i said.. to make it more complicated, they are more than roomates)..

but anyways i want to quit but i cant get ahold of anyone to tell them im going to give notice.. if things stay this way for more than a week im just going to leave my keys in the dropbox after i close one day!

[Woodstock]

then i had some people who walked out the emergency exit without looking back.. which really sucked because the bar next door had put pots by it so they were lucky not to break the glass.. the weirdest part? the alarm didn't go off.. great, now do i have to call ipt again?


Sounds like the battery is dead. A 9 volt battery and a screw driver is all that you need.

[kyzaskiwi]

Sounds like the battery is dead. A 9 volt battery and a screw driver is all that you need.

actually it was the case of stupidity from working 10+ hours a day...

i guess last time it was set off the sm didn't reset it correctly

when i went to set it i guess i just didn't know how or whatever..

suprisingly it was the csr who got it set right..

dunno what we'd do without him.. store would fall to peices

[BBVTyrant]

but anyways i want to quit but i cant get ahold of anyone to tell them im going to give notice.. if things stay this way for more than a week im just going to leave my keys in the dropbox after i close one day!


I think your next logical approach, if you are in any way serious about "wanting" to give someone notice, would be to call the DM to let them know your decision.

[OzMan]

I think your next logical approach, if you are in any way serious about "wanting" to give someone notice, would be to call the DM to let them know your decision.

Actually, that would make a lot of sense. You could fax it to him with a cover letter saying "Since there is no one else to give this notice to......."

However, I'd advise you to do it on your day off, and not answer your phone for as long as possible (preferably not until you are back at work)

[kyzaskiwi]

yeah.. since we got a new dl i have gone out of my way to avoid her.. seriously.. when she comes in i say hi to her and talk to her a bit but usually find myself busy with something else.. even if im not busy.. i will just constantly empty the drop box over and over and over and over to look busy so i dont have to talk to her.. luckily she always came in when the sm was there.. so that actually worked =D.. (i really dont like the dl btw)

anyways.. it worked out tho, finally saw my sm today, came in to return prestreets.. i let her know id be gone in a couple months and she thanked me for the notice and did not freak about it which makes me happy =D..

but kinda makes me afraid too, ive been with bbv for a while, it would be weird not to work there....

[OzMan]

but kinda makes me afraid too, ive been with bbv for a while, it would be weird not to work there....

Trust me, you'll get over it very quickly;)

Just be glad that you are leaving on YOUR terms.

[Aphrodite]

I agree.

Good luck Kiwi, and I hope you can get your promotions from the other company instead. ;)

[DavidNewlySL]

My store started bringing my hours down to barely 30 hours or even less some weeks and it was killing me.. i litterally could not make my rent.. (only get 8.56 as an sl in cali.. most sl here get at least 9-9.50 but i have no real complaints but still rent is 1k a month divided amongst two of us plus several expensive bills and of course.. gas) So instead of whining about my job and whining about my hours i decided to do the mature thing and get another job.. But i really didn't want to quit blockbuster because of the manager experience i was getting and since it can be a fun job at times so i decided for the summer at least and maybe for a little longer to work 2 jobs. So i got a job at the grocery store litterally 2 minutes walking distance from the blockbuster i work at.. I get a job as a cashier immediately there and since I close at blockbuster and the grocery store (vons.. or most know it as safeway) opens at 5am i get to open at vons before i close at blockbuster.. also i request 2-3 days from blockbuster a week to work over at vons a full day but i tell the sm that she has freedom to work with me on this as long as she gives me the schedule before friday because thats when they do the schedule at vons..

she says its fine that she will always make the schedule 2 weeks ahead of time and i start working. Everything is working out well except that it is extremely exhausting working 15+ hours a day.. but still I have no complaints, it was my choice anyways. I really like my job at Vons because i get paid more than i do as a Shift Leader at blockbuster only to be a cashier ($8.90 is starting pay there for a cashier) and i dont have to do anything but ring up groceries and be nice.. also i get paid every week there too which really really helps. From working at Vons I have decided that if i am going to be stuck in retail for a long long time (i had to drop from college to do all this working) then i would rather be at the nice atmosphere of vons (the asm actually sits down with me and is understanding of my second job and works with me on it) than the slowly deteriorating atmosphere at blockbuster so I will eventually quit blockbuster once i have paid off a credit card or two and feel comfortable, but that may be 6 months off.

Meanwhile a few weeks after i start at vons, the ASM gets into a car accident, goes into the hospital to get surgery and can no longer work (we just saw him yesterday and he says he wont be able to work again till december!).. So the stress of scheduling without an asm has really got to the SM and she really started attacking me about my second job and saying i prefer that job and that im not working with her on it even tho i have had to cut shifts at vons and get off early several times for her.. then she almost schedules me for an inventory that would really suck because i would have had to open at blockbuster, midshift at vons, inventory at blockbuster and open at vons all straight almost 24 hours with no breaks in between, only 10's and lunches.. but she decided against the inventory part which really helped but then we ended up doing inventory on a tuesday where i opened at vons, closed at blockbuster and then did half of inventory and then midshifted at vons.. So basically she keeps scheduling me days where i am working many many hours without sleep and keeps getting mad at me because im not working with her but i am trying very very hard to work with her but i really really dont want to loose my vons job because i like it alot..

So then to add to everything my SM went into the hospital yesterday and now its just down to me and the other SL who is asking me my avail so he can work the schedule to cover the sms shifts.. but with all the stuff she has already done to my scedule, there are very few days i can spare to work extra and im already on the verge of exhaustion as it is.. (this is my first break in a while).. So everyone is getting mad at me because of my availability and im just trying to work extremely hard to keep both jobs.. Because of all this all i really want to do now is just quit Blockbuster because its just too chaotic but i just cant abandon my store in such a crisis. (also one of the csrs just quit and we got a new csr but he is very slow and soon will only be able to work mondays and fridays cuz of school.)

our store right now: 2 SLs and 2 CSRs, total of 4 employees.. yay

But really, am i a bad person or a poor employee for trying to juggle 2 jobs in order to pay rent? because everyone is making me feel that way.. i am giving every moment i can to help blockbuster but still we are having trouble.. and also, when the SM goes out of commision, isn't the DL supposed to get people to cover as opposed to it being left to the SLs?

Sorry bout the length, im not complaining, but i just wonder what you guys think about people who try to juggle a second job with blockbuster, im especially interested in opinions from SMs...


Not at all, you sound like me, I work like 90 hours a week and try to juggle a woman inbetween. I just had to work an opening shift at BB, work 3-10 at my other job, then come back to BB from 11-5am for inventory, then go back to my other job at 7, to work until 7 pm. MY next few days are as follows, I open from 9:30 am to 6 pm at Advance Auto, I work 7pm to 12:15 am at blockbuster, work 7am to 4pm at Advance, 4:30 pm to 11:15 pm at Blockbuster (sunday), Monday I work 7am to 4 pm at Advance Auto, and 4:30 pm to 11:15 pm at blockbuster. Sad part is, I am the highest salesmen at both jobs, and they both pull me by my arms a little bit. I would have to say I am exausted and close to burning out but somehow I am able to do it everyday.

I have bills, CC's, everything, debt galore, so I feel your pain. I dont have help like you do tho, so I am juggling rent by myself. Surviving is more important than anything else in this world :)

[kyzaskiwi]

things have become even MORE difficult at the store! my SM came back from the hospital and tells me she is leaving by the 16th.. Her roomate/girlfriend/store manager at our sister store got a DL position in Chicago so of course, she is moving as well.. So our district looses two store managers at the same time. Then the only other shift leader is telling me the other day that he accidently "broke" his car and now wants to get demoted and transfer to the blockbuster closer to him (which is also the blockbuster closer to me cuz he lives a couple blocks from me.. drives me crazy cuz i commute on the bus every day so why is he making a big deal out of the distance?)... so that leaves me as the only manager at the store.

They are making her do an inventory for leaving to make sure she didn't inflate anything but that makes no sense when its her who does the inventory, couldn't she technically inflate everything again? so dumb..

the only good thing is that before she leaves she is trying to hire a new asm (who knows what will happen to the asm who is in the hospital) and a new SL.. which would be nice.. no news on who will be our SM or even if we will get a SM for a while.. just sounds like a big mess to me, kinda makes it hard to quit too.. I would leave during this whole mess if i didn't need the money =`(...

[zooworker]

They are making her do an inventory for leaving to make sure she didn't inflate anything but that makes no sense when its her who does the inventory, couldn't she technically inflate everything again? so dumb..

=`(...
Just make sure you save a copy of the first run after counts, that way if all this stuff appears go back and check to see if it really exists. Also whe you get a manager, they should insist on an inventory to make sure nothing is amiss.