Ok, this morning, i was getting ready for work, when I realized that I could only find one black sock. I like wearing dress socks when I go to work. So I wore one black sock and one white sock. I also customarily roll my pants up about 2 inches past my shoes, so I don’t step on them, and b/c it provides a bit of ventilation. I get to work, everyone laughs at me because of my mismatched socks, but I don’t care. This progresses into the managers citing that it is against policy to have pants rolled up like that. I counter with no it’s not written anywhere, the general (area) supervisor has no problem with it, and also people are supposed to wear non-slip shoes, have nametags, shirts tucked in, and be wearing dark socks… everyone in the store was violating at least one of those (even managers), and I said that if I get written up for something, it better be the fact that I’m wearing a non-dark sock. I get an ultimatum. I either clock out, or roll my pant legs down. I’m now off of work, after my strenuous 2 hour shift :rolleyes:… Obviously I went home… I called store manager, and she had a laughing fit, said it was the stupidest thing she’d ever heard, and if I ended up getting written up, she would tear it up… I guess I get the rest of the day off anyways…
I was tempted to quote my one-week suspension insurance though… back in november, I got suspended for a week for no reason… we had 2 chaoticdonkeys back then, and he didn’t show up for a shift, but I got suspended… I had thought the suspension was for something else (a friend had changed the schedule so we would get off an hour earlier, and I wasn’t going to rat him out for something I should have reported at the time, although i did tell him not to (unconvincingly… like “no, chaoticfriend, don’t.” )), but I didn’t realise the mistake until after that week…
No…not ignored…we just…ummmm…well…
…ahhhh…I just don’t think anyone knows WHAT to think (I think)
You didn’t ask for an opinion…or advice…unless I missed something.
As far as responding???
I just kinda felt sorry for you…one, because you seemed upset because nobody responded, two, because you seem to think that there is nothing wrong with wearing one black dress sock, one white sock, AND, rolling your pants up a few turns, AND, going out in public…to your job…AND, wondering what is “WRONG” with everyone else.
Unless, of course, you were referring to yourself when you picked the title for your OP…
THAT would explain everything.
Ignored? No, you got 70 views as I opened the thread. Just nobody saw fit to comment.
And my comment would be this: Job rules should be ones that make sense given the job, and if you want to keep the job, you abide by them. Sounds like someobdy needs to do some rewrite on these. Not knowing your working conditions, I can’t comment – the roll-up may make sense from a safety standpoint, or not. Sounds like your immediate supervisor has significantly more sense of authority than common sense, given your statement that everybody was in technical infraction of dress code rules, and your store manager has her head screwed on right – which is much better than the other way around!
But while I’ve got you here, may I make a suggestion: if you’re going to do a whole quote for a sig, can you at least enclose it in {size=1}sig{/size} coding? It’s enormous, and, being a quote, looks like it’s part of the thread, not a sig, whenever you post with it – and that gets mildly confusing until I realize it’s your sig. The mods were at one time jumping people with long sigs, asking them to shrink 'em to no more than four lines.
As for the mismatched socks, I don’t think the world will come to an end – but why the heck didn’t you wear two mated white ones? Or leave your pants down this once so nobody would notice? There’s such a thing as pushing the limits, and, while I would not accuse you of it on the basis of this one incident, if I were managing, I’d begin to wonder if CD is trying to do just that, and keep my eyes open for the next petty bending of the rules. Not an accusation, just a thought – because it sometimes helps to look at things from somebody else’s perspective, and putting on the manager’s POV, I’d have to start wondering.
(On the other hand, you may be a wonderfully productive employee that they go along with a few idiosyncrasies in for the sake of what you accomplish – but it doesn’t hurt to look at the down side either.)
When I first started dating my husband, he always wore one black sock and one white sock. Which was on which foot depended on whether the moon was waxing or waning.
The Supervisor where I work is a complete moron. Always pointing out pointless things too do like moving this bucket so no servers trip over it. ( I work in a kitchen) first of all noone has ever tripped over it, and placing it there got in the way of removing dish racks. He once told me to relax when I placed a cup (not hard, not super baby gently) on the counter.
And now, we cant have our breaks in the back sitting down with a table.
I started out at my job as a peon hourly worker, and was amazed at all the stupid useless rules our supervisors made us follow. Then I got promoted to supervisor and had many moments where I thought to myself, “O-oh, so that’s why we have that rule.”
One example: I worked the reserve desk at my uni library. The day before the economics exam, hundreds of students would come to check out the practice tests and photocopy them. The rule is that we MUST get the call number of the reserve item from the patron. So, they walk up to the desk and say, “Hey, I need the economics practice test.” Now I know exactly where that is-- actually I can reach it without getting up because I am keeping them handy since they are being checked out so frequently. But I have to make them go to a computer, get the call number, and give it to me. They are annoyed and think I’m lazy, also most are computerphobes, so I have to hand-hold them while they find the call number. One hectic day, someone asks for the economics test. I say “get the call number”, my supervisor says, “don’t worry about it-- here it is.” I check the test out to the person and 20 minutes later they come back demanding the money they spent on the copy machine be refunded because they needed the econ 1110 and were given econ 1100.
While there may not be a specific rule against rolling your pants up, I suspect there is a general rule mandating “professional attire.” If I were your supervisor, I wouldn’t consider pants rolled up 2 inches above the ankle to be appropriate office wear – especially with mismatched socks (especially, especially if the mismatched socks were one white and one black). Frankly, and no offense, you must have looked like a loon. Definately not “front office.” Do you interact with the public at all in your job? Because if you do, and if I were your supervisor, I would have required that you wear your pants properly, too. My guess is that your supervisor has been noticing your pant-rolling-up eccentricity for months, wondering, “That looks odd. Should I call him on it? It doesn’t look professional, but I don’t know if it rises to the level of a dress code violation, either. What should I do, what should I do?” And, she finally snapped when you waltzed in with one white sock and one black, for crying out loud.
ooh, some people missed where i work… mcdonald’s. not professional in the least anyways… but, i guess i didn’t really ask for a response in the OP… sorry about complaining about that
If your pants don’t fit, every old lady you know would be happy to teach you how to hem them. Everybody ought to be able to do at least basic sewing.
If your socks don’t match, leave 15 minutes early, stop at Wal-mart, buy socks. They’re two bucks. It’s not that big a deal.
If you go to work looking like you can’t even buy clothes that fit, wear them appropriately, or match your socks, your manager is naturally going to see you as a person who doesn’t have pride in his work and doesn’t care what the customers think. Not really the kind of person you want working for you.
I have to jump in here on chaoticdonkey’s side. While most rules are made for relatively good reason, I’ve had managers that seem to make up rules as they go.
A couple years ago, I decided I wanted to put blue streaks in my hair. Nothing I had seen anywhere in any company policy said I couldn’t. In fact, I even showed my boss a big bottle of Manic Panic Midnight Blue and told her I planned on doing the streaks that night. She didn’t have a problem with it.
But, boy, did she have a problem when I came in the next day with blue streaks in my hair. She started going on and on about how they might have to (gasp!) send me home. I told her flat out that if her intention was to send me home and have me show up tomorrow with my normal hair color, she should call a temp and send my last paycheck to my house.
The company had no specific rules about hair color, any more than they had specific rules about piercings (my eyebrow piercing, of course, wasn’t brought up at all until I had blue hair–and neither was the fact that I, like EVERYONE else in the office except my boss, occasionally wore jeans when it wasn’t Friday–OH, THE HORROR!!!). After being threatened with the dreaded home-sending for about a full day, I finally told my boss “Either send me home or let me work, but stop threatening me with it.”
There was a big brouhaha with HR and all sorts of stuff, and I always had my little ace–I had showed her the hair dye before doing it. And it’s not my fault that she wasn’t paying attention.
I just quit the job this past Tuesday, my last day is tomorrow, and I’m seriously considering dyeing my hair blue again tonight, just because I CAN.
There’s a difference I think between looking like a fool in front of customers and dressing a bit differently. I think (hope) attitudes are changing regarding hair colour/piercings etc. but - as said by FisherQueen above - the manager probably just thought that chaoticdonkey was taking the piss.
I’d be inclined to agree. Making a statement for statement’s sake is, I think, meaningless, attention-seeking, unprofessional and immature.
chaoticdonkey, I feel for you. If the managers can’t wear proper uniforms, how can they hold the crew members accountable? Rules can only be enforced if THOSE WHO ENFORCE THEM actually abide by them. Supervisors can not expect crew members to respect them if they don’t do the walk the talk.
I work in an Engineering Office. Dress is casual.
One of the guys got sent home because he wore a shirt that said OB-GYN Inspector. It was a scrub shirt.
