Tuesday, Aug. 16, 2005 - 2:03 p.m.

Too many General Managers in the kitchen...

Its been hard to get out of the mind set of a General Manager, a General Manager whose Home Office and Boss was a three hour drive away. I saw him every other month or so, and now I see my new boss about twice a week. Not that that's a bad thing... yet. I'm just used to being in charge and relying on myself to get things done. I'm not used to second guessing myself or having other people I work with second guess me. My word was the end say, and if I expected it done, it got done, or I did it myself. Now, I'm experiencing the duplicity that is RD... remember him, my old friend that has become an autistic nut job? I had a review with him a few days ago, and then the very next day, I ran my first shift by myself and was inspected by the owner. In my review, RD said I was to set an example. That I had to always be in work mode and never slack off, because the employees would think it was okay to follow suit.
Yeah, and this was right after I watched him and a couple other employees (the Co-manager included) stick water proof fireworks into a bottle of water and throw them out the drive-thru window, just to see if they could blow up the bottle. And it was 2 in the afternoon... we were still open for business.
The closers drink beer, while we're still open, they go out the back door and get lit, while we're still open, its pretty much anarchy. I think that's why I've had so much fun working here. So, anyway, in my inspection from the owner, I did a hell of a lot better than I thought I would, and a few of the things I got marked off for, weren't technically my fault. Like the Safety Audit not being filled out two days before, on my day off... but I digress... At the end of my inspection, the owner told me a few pointers and goals to focus on, right in front of RD. One being, to really focus on the dining room, parking lot, and talking to customers. He then said, with both RD and the Co-manager in the kitchen, there should be no problem with me focusing on those areas for most of my shift, that RD and the Co-manager are more than capable handling the going ons in the back of the store. So, the very next shift I was "in charge" (ha, what a joke) I did exactly what the owner told me to do, I kept watch over dining room, greeted people when they came inside, talked with the customers eating, walked through the parking lot and drive-thru to make sure the area was clean, picking up any trash, etc. And on top of all that, I was still going in the back, talking to the crew asking if anybody needed anything, dropping food for backup... I thought I kicked ass! And then we got a HUGE line of people up front, in the dining room, so I grabbed our guest checks (mini menu, so people can pre-order before they actually get to the register, so the line moves quicker) and started taking customer's orders, joking around with them, and making them not care that they were waiting in line. I was out there for about 40 minutes, taking orders. And guess who ran out of bread... and guess who had a shit fit, and blamed me... and guess who got all pissy and angry and shit all over my hard work... Yeah, RD... that cock sucker! So, I laughed in his face. I didn't even get angry or upset... And that set him off even more... Picking on all the tiny little things I didn't do.
RD: "You didn't write any goals on the employee deployment chart"
ME: "RD, You've never written goals on the chart in the five weeks I've been here"

RD: "You didn't talk to any of the employees during their shifts" (we have a policy called TTM in which the Operation's Leader talks every employee into position, through, and out of their position)
RANDOM EMPLOYEES: "Yes, she did..."

RD: "You ran out of bread!"
ME: (laughing) "Um... no you did. (the Owner) said right in front of you, what I was supposed to focus on during my next shift, he said you and the Co-manager should be more than capable of keeping track of product."
RD: "He doesn't know what he's talking about, and you can call and tell him I said that."

This went on for a good 30 minutes. And I was pretty much laughing the whole time. It was ludicrous, and I told RD that, too. And I told him, I only had one week left here, and I wasn't trying to change anything the employees do, because I didn't want the stress of trying to change all the bad habits he'd allowed them to get away with. The tone of his voice actually changed and he calmed down a bit and conceded that "maybe" it wasn't fair to expect the crew to accept me doing what was procedurally correct, if none of the other managers did. I still think he's a total douche bag and in need of a good hard lay, but at least I won that one.

One of the employees that has worked there since I worked there, 12 years ago, took me aside later and said, "Good for you, for sticking up for yourself without yelling back. You handled that very well." It meant a lot to me, because I'm more prone to losing my cool, and letting loose. But I realize the second he started ripping on me, how silly the whole thing was and all I could do was laugh. He feels threatened. There's no other excuse. Why else would he be pin pointing on me, when he has another training manager that can't really count the money or do the end of night paperwork without messing up. Every day there's a note in the manager log to the other trainee about what she messed up from the day before, and she's been in training for months, I've had 4 weeks. Its silliness...

There's also been a development in my training and what store I'm going to be transferred to. My training was prolonged a week longer at this store, because the store I was to transfer to wasn't quite ready for me, AND I might not even be going there now. I might be going back to the first store I trained in. They had a manager walk out and quit. I am not too happy about that proposition. The crew in the first store SUCK!!!! I am also worried that the schedule I worked out with the owner, for when KP is here, will get changed, since I might be going to a different store. (oh, yeah, I talked to the Owner and he fixed it all. I only have to work 2 of the 8 days she's here... hopefully)

Speaking of KP, 10 more days....... woohoo!!!