Friday, Feb. 11, 2005 - 3:15 p.m.

I feel like crying...

So, I never even really got into what else happened in the meeting on Wednesday, which was pretty much, nothing else. Nothing was fixed, nothing was changed (except firing people I really needed and don't have people trained to take over their positions). They really screwed me. And on top of everything else, TB Liaison was supposed to meet with the Owner's daughter and I next week, in person, but he can't make it now, so I have to have a conference call between him and the Owner's daughter. Which, in my opinion, is a total waste of time. He can't show me what needs to be done and how to fix it, IN THE STORE, if he isn't even there. It really is frustrating. I am dealing with this guy on his own whims. And yet, I am the one that is getting in trouble for it.
I now have to hire at least four people to take the place of the two they fired. These two guys were the only two employees I had with total open availability, the only ones trained in every position, the only two that knew how to do the food order and inventory... They both worked six days a week, and sometimes even extra shifts to help me out. I'm so screwed. I tried making the schedule, without them on it. I can't do it. Its impossible... I'm going to be working open to close every day until I find replacements. And even after I hire someone, I have to train them and hope they aren't absolute fucking idiots. Most people that apply for morning positions in Fast Food, aren't exactly the sharpest tools in the shed.
Some of the new hires I've encountered:
*Never graduated High School/No GED
*Cannot read at a basic reading level (that's why everything has "pictures")
*Cannot carry on a basic conversation in English, so it is impossible for me to interview or even train
*Have drug or alcohol related issues, and think its OK to come to work high and/or drunk
*Cannot learn simple register operating skills
*Cannot remember how to make the food, even after working in the same position, making the same food, for weeks
*Cannot calculate simple math equations, so, in turn, cannot make any of the recipes for salsa or rice, etc.
*Or the worst, having absolutely no job experience and being older than me. Because all that says to me is: How was prison?

I always tell the dumb ones, "Its not rocket science, that's why you get paid minimum wage." And because TB is an equal opportunity employer, I CANNOT ask any of the questions I really want to ask in an interview:
*I cannot ask if you have 10 kids and are gonna call out for every shift I schedule you because one of your kids are sick.
*I cannot ask how old you are, until I see your Birth Certificate and are filling out your I-9 form, and I see I just wasted 45 minutes filling out paperwork with you, because you lied on your application and said you were older than 16 years old.
*I cannot ask why you have a 5-10 year gap in your employment history (if you were in prison), and even if you decide to randomly divulge that information in your interview, I cannot ask what you did, even if I'm scared and intimidated, and think you could possibly snap and kill me.
*I cannot ask if you are affiliated with any gangs in the area, even if its rather obvious by the colors you are wearing, and I find out after I've hired and fired you, for completely unrelated things, that you brought a gun to work everyday, because you were being hassled by rival gangs.
*I cannot ask you, being that you're 17 years old and have no children of your own, if you're going to call out of work 3 times a week, because your own mother has 10 kids and sticks you with them every chance she gets, so she can go out and party, to the point where your baby brother calls you "mommy".
*I cannot ask if you are on any medication, that if you forget to take one day, will cause you to become manic and insane, and just downright crazy.
*I cannot ask if you have a parole officer, that will come around the job to actually check you are there.
*I cannot ask if you have anyone that might come up to the counter while you're working and start throwing things across the counter, because you're fighting with them, inadvertently hitting me instead.
I really could go on and on, but unfortunately, I have to go to this place, where everything I've just written has actually happened. If I have time tonight, I'll add some more, but, hey, I gotta go earn my paycheck...