Training Hell: Asshat GM Screws Up

Hey all it's Beautifulburgerthing here.

So as you know I just got a new job after a year roughly of searching and interviewing and much stress.

Well I've now worked 4 shifts (was scheduled for 5 but got called off of one because of super slow business due to construction at the restaurant.) only one was actually a training shift!! So either a) I kicked ass and they have faith in me, or b) their training is weird and they only actually train you for one day and get thrown to the wolves so to speak. I'm going with a combination of the two.

So anyway, after getting this job because of an awesome friend who myself and the boyfriend both shamelessly flirt with (harmless... but I'd totally do her if I was given the chance...) I find out she is the one training me. AWESOME!! Because well, this means I am actually working with someone I know, and don't have to be so jittery new person like. Infact I wasn't nervous at all. Which for me is weird, I actually have an anxiety disorder which makes any, and I mean any, new situation terrifying. When I say terrifying I mean the full cold-sweats, nausea/vomitting, shaking, it's not a pretty picture. But I walked in there calm, cool, and collected because I knew someone I'd be working with, and I knew she'd have my back.

So after I told my friend all about getting the job, it was joked that well she'd be my burger Dominatrix (yes we got a little BDSM on this job thing...) and that I was to call her Mistress or Madam. (It's a joke people!!) and I decided I was going to up the ante a little. When I got to the back, I full blown got down on my knees and bowed to her and said "Thank you Mistress D for getting me this job, I shall be your burger bitch for the evening, command me how you please.". We had a laugh and got down to it.

Problem with this being, the general manager was working that night. She wanted training to go her way. At one point D was giving me the rundown of how to run the garnish station, and that things like lettuce and tomatoes get a 2 hour "shelf life" before they are tossed and we get a new bowl of whatever it is, because the lettuce wilts, and the tomatoes get soggy or someshit like that.

This is when the GM pipes in "D, only train BBT on what she needs to garnish a burger. That's all she needs to know right now!!" Ummmm lady, don't I need to know how to actually RUN the station? So like do everything?! Like know that lettuce/tomatoes have a 2 hour time line before being tossed out, where things are in the fridge etc. But noooo. Don't actually need to know that.. I just need to be taught how to put mustard, ketchup, mayo, onions, etc etc. On a cooked burger. Like wtf. That's not really being trained. But whatever.

About an hour later the GM turns to me.

"Can you tell me which burger goes in which slot of the warmer?" (please note there are 6 slots)

Me: "Um know.. D never told me what goes where, we didn't cover that yet."

GM: "Well that's part of your job, she should have trained you on this.... I'm going to have to talk to D about that."

Me: "Um you told her only to train me exactly how I was supposed to garnish a burger, not the other side bits to this station..."

Oh, well I stumbled through it, because D had started to train me on that part of my job when she got yelled at. But it's my first shift, and I don't eat at this burger joint. Infact this burger joint literally makes me sick to my stomach eating there, but since I was desperate for a job, I took it anyway. My stomach be damned.

So I don't even know what burgers are called.... I just said that "slot 1= regular burgers or double burger slot 2= any burger with cheese, slot 3= any burger with bacon (and/or cheese), slot 4= random burgers, chicken (grilled or crispy) and veggie burgers, slot 5/6= fried foods (technically 5= french friend and 6=onion rings or poutine)" But she wanted the specific burger names... WTF?! It's my first effing shift. I'm not going to know things in like 30 seconds.

But all in all things are going well. I've got some stories of catty bitchy coworkers, but that comes with working with a bunch of highschoolers and shit like that... Turns an entire working environment into highschool all over again..

And I thought I'd just graduated from HS and was never going to go back.... Plus I met the store owner. He's a real winner, and a fun story as well that I'll post for later. He actually refused to hire me a few years back because I was going back to school in a few weeks and would be cutting my hours slightly which he interpreted as quitting.... last I checked going from fulltime (in summer) to part time (during the school year September-May/June) did NOT  equal quitting. But I'll talk about that in another post.

Hope everyone is holding strong in retail hell out there. I know it can be tough, but we gotta fight back!! Or those NAT's, custys, and hellspawn will overrun the place.

--Beautifulburgerthing Out

 

Comments

[Humor_Me]

I want to be worshiped one day! Oh wait... does my dog count?

Sounds like your GM is a royal PITA, but once you get the hang of things, she might be bearable. Good luck and keep plugging away!

[Kat]

Really, you only keep lettuce and tomatoes for 2 hours? Our cut tomatoes and opened lettuce packages have a shelf life of technically 24 hours (they never sit there for that long). Granted, our sandwich unit is a sort of refrigerator, I'm not sure how yours works.

I love it when people can't figure out what they want people to be trained on :'D When I was hired, though, my first "shift" was watching a few videos on CDs (this was before they changed it to an online thing) and then my next shift was "LOL OUT YOU GO /toss".

[Beautifulburgerthing]

@Humor_Me - She is seriously borderline retarted... My friend (who got me the job.. also my trainer that night) has worked at this location for 5 years. The GM doesn't get better... She treats everyone like they are newbies..
@Kat - We keep lettuce/tomatoes for like 2 days I think in the fridge, but at the garnish station it's just 2 hours. We don't have ANY refridgeration out there. Plus we have 4 fryers, and a huge gas grill going constantly so lettuce gets brown, wilted and icky, and tomatoes just get weird (not sure how to explain it exactly... other than weird =/ )

[snuzzle]

Hey, your first shift sounds better than mine! I showed up and my Gm was all "uh... you, uh... you go straighten the store for four hours." Me: D:

Your GM sounds like a dick. Seems to me like he was just trying to show you how great he is and how incompetent D is. :\ Least, that's what I got from your written interactions anyway.

[NC Tony]

The worst part about managers like that is they'll get mad no matter what. They'll tell your trainer to teach you how to do A, B, C, and D. Then get mad when you don't know how to do E, F, G and H.

[Green Grin]

Ha ha, sounds like my time at The Hellspawn's Place. The district manager liked to hang around our store since we didn't have a store manager for some fucking reason and he's always quiz me. DM: 'How high should a pile of folded shirts be?' GG: 'Uhh... as high as... a pile of shirts?' Fuck if I know, hire a proper manager to train your staff if you want me to know that shit.

[Burger Bitch]

Sounds like you work at Harvey's aha. I just quit there 2 weeks ago, luckily my Manager wasn't that crazy.

[Beautifulburgerthing]

@ Burger Bitch... Ya, that's where I work sadly. But in this economy I'm not really complaining. It's only part-time (wish it was full time) but I'll take what I can get. And the kicker is, my friend (d) is quitting. I really don't blame her though. I've worked there just over a week now and don't want to be working there. Everyday that I work there I wake up in the morning and say to myself "I don't want to work, I'm too friggen tired of the bullshit there"