[QUOTE=Lord Il Palazzo]
A few things I feel are worth saying at this point:
The tips about finding work next summer are appreciated but unnecessary. I’m graduating next year and will be spending the next two semesters trying to line up work a little better suited to my BS in Aerospace Engineering than waiting tables is.
[/QUOTE]
You’re a rocket scientist? Remind us of this come March; there’s plenty of defense / aerospace jobs in Northern Virginia.
Like I said, this guy did that to everyone–except, again, the cute, underaged female workers, who he gave prolific raises regularly. Everyone else got fired every couple of weeks and would be hired on the spot if they bothered to show their faces again and ask nicely.
That’ll explain my experience, then. I thought it was mighty sketchy that he paid me in cash right then and there, but I guess he was just covering his ass.
:eek:
[QUOTE=CaveMike]
Sorry if I missed this. Are you saying this because you know the guy/restaurant or just based on the OP?
[/QUOTE]
The former. I know someone who tried working at their newer location.
[QUOTE=Lord Il Palazzo]
The tips about finding work next summer are appreciated but unnecessary. I’m graduating next year and will be spending the next two semesters trying to line up work a little better suited to my BS in Aerospace Engineering than waiting tables is.
[/QUOTE]
Try the USPTO; we’re pretty much always looking for engineers. Patent Examiner would be a good position until you find something better.
[QUOTE=Lord Il Palazzo]
<snip>However, listing 100 small causes isn’t likely to make anyone see the big effect, It’s likely to make me look like a whine who’s constantly making excuses.<snip>Thirdly, I hate to feel like I’m making excuses. It’s just how I am. When I was a kid, I had an excuse for everything. Nothing was ever my fault. These days, I’m trying to take more responsibility for my actions. <snip>
[/QUOTE]
I just wanted to point out that this is a good attitude. You’re absolutely right; excuses would have made you seem like a whiner. It would be nice to know what you did or didn’t do that got you fired (or nothing at all - they just didn’t like the look of you or something), but you’ll probably never know, so all you can do is move on.
What would have burned me up is the way Gargoyle treated the OP, and threatened him with the police, instead of just leaving it at that he wasn’t a good fit for the job. He spoke to him as if he’d been caught with his fingers in the till.
If I were the OP, and didn’t need the money for the 8 hours as s/he presumably does, when I went back for the check I’d tear it up and throw it in Gargoyle’s face.
There’s always the “throw your apron/uniform in the ice cream” option, if you haven’t had to give it back yet.
[QUOTE=Zoe]
One compensation tip for when you do someday find a job that you just love and want to keep forever:
Learn to do everyone’s job, not just yours. You will become indispensable.
[/QUOTE]
No one is indispensable. I try to remember that in the middle of my boss saying nice things about me.
[QUOTE=Rick]
If he was in the back taking lunch or a break, I would agree with you. If he was on the floor he should be working.
[/QUOTE]
Bull and shit. I don’t know where you work, but ANYWHERE I have, you didn’t have to be out in the break room. I was allowed to go browsing in the store, or talk to fellow employees during a slow time, or what have you.
Yeah, I’ve had a pretty spotty employment record, but no place I know of has such a stupid rule. What if he had wanted to get something to eat?
So have you ever approached an employee at a store, asked them a question, and heard “I’m on my break”?
Did this reply fill your heart with gladness, and joy? If the answer is no, may I suggest you re-think your position.
Also since he was fired, I think it safe to say he should have been working at least a wee bit harder on that first day.
One of my college summer jobs was at a McDonald’s at the mall. They required a year’s commitment, which was laughable; I knew people who didn’t last two days at their mall jobs. The explanation was that if I didn’t make the year’s commitment, they’d have lost the time and effort of training me (read: An hour watching a video tape of the ored in which to get drinks and french fries). At the end of the summer, when I was one of the few remaining employees left from the beginning of summer (none at my level), I quit and went back to school.
[QUOTE=acsenray]
I would agree up to the point that Greg said “Get out of here now or I’ll call the police.” What kind of non-sociopath says that to a guy he’s just fired on the first day?
[/QUOTE]
Maybe the kind of guy who’s dealing with someone who was asked twice to leave but refuses:
= =
I agree with you all completely, because there is always exactly one side to every story.
= =
LiP, working in a restaurant might not be your thing. I do think, though, that you’ve got a good attitude, in that you’re taking your lumps and your paycheck, learning a lesson, and moving on. A temp agency is likely to find you some assignments for which you’re better suited. Good luck.
[QUOTE=Uvula Donor]
Maybe the kind of guy who’s dealing with someone who was asked twice to leave but refuses:
[/QUOTE]
He asked twice for reconsideration of a pretty shocking and unexpected decision for any person. In what civilized society is threatening to call the police an acceptable response? Until 30 seconds previously, the two had more than a casual relationship (employer-employee). You don’t suddenly become a threat to the peaceful order of a business just by asking such a question twice.
Yes, there is some level of disturbance or disruption that justifies such a threat, but we have absolutely no evidence of that there.
[QUOTE=Guinastasia]
Bull and shit. I don’t know where you work, but ANYWHERE I have, you didn’t have to be out in the break room. I was allowed to go browsing in the store, or talk to fellow employees during a slow time, or what have you.
Yeah, I’ve had a pretty spotty employment record, but no place I know of has such a stupid rule. What if he had wanted to get something to eat?
[/QUOTE]
What in the world would make you think that you have any idea what you are talking about in this situation? I worked in two different restaurants in my youth and in both places you spent your break in the break room or outside. You could eat in the break room if you wanted to do so.
And you can’t go out in the lobby at all?
Perhaps it’s different in a restaurant, and if so, I appologize.
[QUOTE=Guinastasia]
And you can’t go out in the lobby at all?
[/QUOTE]
In my experience, it’s pretty common for retail establishments and food service for the management to have a rule that if you’re not working, then you should not be anywhere in the merchandise/sales/service area.
Even working in an equipment rental shop, I was always aware that if I was hanging around the front counter, I looked like an employee who should be helping customers to the customers (even though my job was completely separate from customer service and my office was way in the back). This is something that every employee at every job should be aware of; how you look to the customers. Customers don’t mind waiting if there is obviously a line, but they don’t like seeing staff hanging around not helping them.
[QUOTE=featherlou]
Customers don’t mind waiting if there is obviously a line, but they don’t like seeing staff hanging around not helping them.
[/QUOTE]
I used to work part time at a ladies consignment shop. One day two of my girlfriends were in - one to shop, the other to help her choose. The helper pulled the little stool out of the change room to sit on while she waited (they were there for about 4 hours). It was quite busy that day and I was at the back with another customer. A woman went up to the register, saw helper girl sitting on her stool and said in a very snotty tone “Aren’t you going to help me?” Vic replied that she didn’t work there but she was sure that I, who did work there, would be along shortly when I was done with the customer I was currently helping. <snerk> Leave it to Vic to be super sweet to a snot-box to make her feel like a tool.
Anyhow, the point I’m trying to make is that even if you look like you might work somewhere, people will get pissed off if you’re standing around. Double if you do work there and are wearing a uniform or employee identification of any kind. The whole “break on the floor” thing is a huge no-no in EVERY restaraunt I’ve ever worked out. Further, when I’m at the drug store I work at part time, I make sure to carry my hand bag when I’m on break or before my shift starts and I STILL get asked for help, which I provide. You’re representing your store when you’re on the floor. The onus is on you not to look like a lazy git. FWIW, when I’ve told people that I’m on a break, or not working, but will find an employee to help them they’re always VERY happy.
I think it’s just, where I have worked, we just had vests or smocks, and if you wanted to browse the store, or leave, all you had to do was take off your smock or whatever. Because sometimes I liked to do some shopping while on my break.
And where I work now, it’s not unusual to take time out from your break to help out, then go right back-it’s less, I dunno, “structured?”
[QUOTE=Guinastasia]
I think it’s just, where I have worked, we just had vests or smocks, and if you wanted to browse the store, or leave, all you had to do was take off your smock or whatever. Because sometimes I liked to do some shopping while on my break.
And where I work now, it’s not unusual to take time out from your break to help out, then go right back-it’s less, I dunno, “structured?”
[/QUOTE]
Everywhere I’ve ever worked as a wage minion (hey KMart!), you are expressly forbidden to be on the sales floor when you’re working and on a break. Because even though I don’t have my nametag on, people will recognize you and ask you to do stuff. To which you can either do it, and have your break interrupted, or refuse, and piss people off royally.
We weren’t even allowed to hang out in the store to talk to friends who were working. (Guys in the sporting goods department were notorious for this.) Nobody wants to have to approach two guys joking about blasting squirrels with pistols when they’re trying to buy a basketball. One of the guys got fired because he hung out in the store when he wasn’t working and the manager noticed it… often. No big deal if you’re dropping in for a second, or buying something, but generally, not a wise decision.
Lord, glad you finished the semester okay… It does seem that Greg felt you violated some kind of norm, and it’s probably better you found out how nontransparent and arbitrary the management is now than later. I would also recommend you not volunteer information about your plans to leave in a few months. First, plans change. You might find yourself in the job longer than you anticipated for any number of reasons. Second, it’s a reason to eliminate you, even though the other people applying for the same position might be planning the same thing. If you’re asked directly, I think it’s ethical to say that you plan to return to Blacksburg in the fall.
At this stage in your college career shouldn’t you be in a co-op or internship? I think researching where some VT alums are might give you a lead on a position that you could really benefit from. I would use the networks that you’re paying for as a student to your advantage. If there’s an alumni association nearby, getting in touch with the chair and telling him/her that you are a student in the area looking for work, I’d bet you’d get offers. Anyone who belongs to an alumni association will want to do what they can to assist a student, and what’s more, with the tragedy you all have experienced in the past year, I’ll bet they’ll bend over backwards to help. Good luck!