I work full time at a grocery store. I show up, do what’s asked of me, make sure the product is good quality, treat customers with respect, and work decently hard for at least 75% of the time.
I’m not lazy. I get my work done. But I’m not emotionally invested, and I have no desire to go above and beyond for a job that sees me as replaceable. I was offered a promotion recently, but the raise was only $1 more an hour. I turned it down because:
- That raise is laughable for the extra responsibility they wanted to dump on me.
- I know myself, I simply don’t care enough to manage or lead other people.
I don’t care about delegating to part-timers. I don’t care about store numbers. I don’t care what my coworkers are doing. If someone takes an extra-long break? Don’t care. If they call out and I’m left alone? Don’t care.
And I know this might be an unpopular opinion, but even if someone half-asses something and it ends up making more work for me, it still doesn’t bother me. The way I see it, I’m here for 8 hours either way. I’ll go at my own pace, do what I can, and if something doesn’t get finished, that’s not my problem.
I’m also tired of how you walk into a job and everyone’s got pet peeves or weird OCDs about how things have to be done and these aren’t even managers or leads. Just regular workers like me acting like they’re running the place. Meanwhile, I don’t have an issue with anyone or anything. I’m not trying to police people.
I’ll also never understand why people get so mad over what someone else chooses to do with their life. It’s like they’re offended that someone dared to prioritize themselves. Who cares? A coworker recently got all worked up because someone requested a Saturday off and wasn’t there to help us when it was really busy, so we were short-handed. And I’m sitting there thinking, “Good for her! Why don’t you request a Saturday off too and enjoy your life like she is?”
In my mind whether we are fully staffed or understaffed I’m paid the same. I’m not going faster or slower. Is that so wrong?
Don’t get me wrong I totally understand if you’re someone trying to move up in the company. You’ve got to play the game, kiss a little ass, stay extra sharp. I get that. But the people I see getting the most emotionally invested aren’t even trying to move up.
This job gives us money so we can survive (barely, for some). But that doesn’t mean this job is our life. Why is that such a hard concept for people to grasp?
I’m here to make money so I can fund what I actually want to do with my life. Like my passion, my career, the thing that actually gives me purpose. So all this petty shit most of these people bitch about? At the end of the day, it truly isn’t that big of a deal.
I know I’m ironically complaining here and being just like them but this has just been on my mind. People stress themselves out over jobs and the people they work with way too much. Especially considering how little the job (or those people) care about you back.
For me, it’s about choosing peace over pointless stress. And this isn’t me saying you should slack off or be a shitty worker…but for God’s sake, have some dignity and don’t let these people (management OR co workers) make you feel bad for having it.
Anyone else relate? Or maybe feel the need to vent.
Edit: Also wanted to add, TAKE YOUR BREAKS.
I totally agree. I’m not sure what career you’re looking to launch into, but it definitely makes more sense to just meet expectations at your current job and save your energy for whatever studying or networking or whatever you need to do to get to where you want to be. Your time here is short; your spare time is shorter; your fully able-bodied spare time is already running short. Take a Saturday off and do that hike you’ve been putting off or visit that city and walk around or whatever. Fun activities will be a lot more draining and require more time to recover from when you’re older and your knees and back have more wear and tear from the labor you’re doing now.
I think it’s getting more and more common to see stores running a skeleton crew. Your store will probably downsize through attrition. They’ll just expect the same amount of same quality work to be done with a reduction. Don’t speed up. Tell others not to speed up either. This is not a temporary hurdle to get past, it’s a test run to see if it can be the new normal. And when it fails, they’ll still try to avoid hiring and just throw a few extra hours at the part time people. I hope that they can understand that their availability needs to be pretty firm and they don’t give an inch on that. I had a conversation with somebody like a month ago about encroachment on their work schedule and it was really helpful for them to hear me tell them that their availability is their availability and that “the hours outside of that are not for sale.” Your time is your time, and what you do with it is your business and nobody else’s.