View Full Version : Pardon Me, But I Need To Vent About My Job
It's been mounting for awhile, but has really come to a head this past week. I am really, really sick of my job at Wholefoods after almost three years. I am sick of the daily grind, I am sick of getting up at 5am, I am sick of the management (or lack there of), I am sick of the people in my department, the drama, and not having a social life. Sick of exchanging my precious life energy for a paycheck and benefits (which I have to admit, are pretty decent for a non-career job).
I had the flu for a couple of days last week and had three days off in a row where I slept a lot and took it easy. I am having a hard time getting back into the swing of things as I am still feeling tired and run-down, especially since I couldn't fall asleep last night until 3am and I had to get up at 5am to get to work. I am very tired and grumpy and sick of it all. Sick of the cold weather lingering, sick of March, basically sick and bored with the details of my life right now. Can you tell I am extremely over-tired?!!!
Thing is, my jewelry business is taking off even more (I added one more gallery, so that makes five) and I think that is the upper limit of what I can do and still work full-time at Wholefoods. I think that may be the crossover point for me where either I'll have to cut back on something (hopefully cutting back working full-time at the day job). I will see how things go during the summer sales-wise as I establish myself further in the two newest galleries. Having the new house mate certainly helps the bottom line; his rent will help me get out of debt sometime in the fall when I can pay off the rest of my car and the rest of a medical bill. It will feel like I have a few more options.
I get this way EVERY March. I just want to hit the road so bad. Of course I have been planning my road trip for a little while now and it is really coming together. I will leave on June 5 and be gone most of the month of June :)
Back to the day job ~ somehow, somehow I HAVE to get through this and learn to tolerate it. I've been doing pretty well with it all along but it is really getting to me. The department I work in is always a mess and it just never gets better, even after three years and several changes in management. I am tired of taking on responsibilities that are not my mine. I know it isn't forever, it's just where I am at for right now, but I really feel like a change may be coming on in which I get to really choose exactly how I want to live my life. I have been moving towards this goal for a long, long time and I just have to hang on a little longer. And get some desperately needed sleep. I plan to knock myself out with an Ambien tonight if that is what it takes.
Thanks for reading and letting me vent and get my frustrations off my chest. If I said any of this to my mom she would get all alarmed and think I was just going to up and quit my job, just like that. I am not going to do that, but sometimes I just need to complain....
Vent away and know that it is a lot due to the weather with good things coming in the summer. We all need to vent so glad that we can help. Hugs.
Blackdog Lin
3-18-15, 9:23pm
Well, I hear ya sweetie. Been there, done that, got the t-shirt.
Vent away, secure in the knowledge that you are too smart to do anything too stupid in the financial areas of your life.
Tell yourself (once again, and daily as needed) that what is now is not forever. You can do it!
And tomorrow, focus on trying to find some sunshine to stand and bask in, or a smile to remember and enjoy, or something that you know will make you laugh - anything to get you through your March doldrums. You know spring and summer and fun road trips WILL be here eventually.....
I have the spring fever doldrums too. Being inside all day with moronic people is not good for the soul. It is so great that you have the sideline to keep you inspired and motivated. Perhaps your retail gig will all be just a memory someday soon.
It's been mounting for awhile, but has really come to a head this past week. I am really, really sick of my job at Wholefoods after almost three years.
Thanks for reading and letting me vent and get my frustrations off my chest. If I said any of this to my mom she would get all alarmed and think I was just going to up and quit my job, just like that. I am not going to do that, but sometimes I just need to complain....
we have the same mother! i am training and working on a side career and i have to tell her each time that this does not mean i am quitting my job!
i hit this in the spring most years, i thought it was the school calendar that affected me but i think it is more than that. i want to go somewhere, anywhere. i do get to take a long weekend to visit my friend in utah this month so that helps.
the thing about work is the dull unchanging bit, the problems that stay half solved for years, the personalities that continue to struggle. i am going back through my 9,000 work emails to clean them out and i found a few from working with my old supervisor where i was trying to talk about issues and it wasn't going well. i have changed my approach and perspective but it was shocking to see that my memory blanked out some of the basic everyday stresses. i totally feel you, i start thinking about different jobs and careers, i think about anything is better. after changing a few times i realize that it isn't as much the job as my restlessness.
totally off topic, i checked this site that puts a western horoscope and the chinese ones to describe your personality. it is so good, and it explains my urge to get out and travel (and total stubborn rebelliousness). i entertain myself with these things when i can't get out of my stuck-ness
It gets to be spring a little earlier here, and I'm shocked to realize what a crap mood I've been in since January - only really seeing it now that it's finally not dark and not cold. Hang in there and get some sun, and think about June. June, soon. Soon it will be June. :)
Gardenarian
3-19-15, 1:27am
My sympathies, but I really admire you for sticking with it. It's great that you can recognize these patterns in your life; I think that's really useful wisdom.
Some companies--actually it is a trend-- have a corporate culture that has evolved to keep turnover high, and just retain those who for various reasons are hopelessly dedicated to the job. I guess the Masters "think" keeping turnover high, and retaining a skeleton crew of experienced supervisors, to manage enthusiastic new hires at entry-level wages and use them until they burn out, is a way to reduce costs & increase profits. Funny thing is, at the manufacturing company where I worked that did that, honoring warranties and reworking product and overtime expense to try and make deadlines were also major expenses. It basically was on account of having too many inexperienced new employees and unhappy, unmotivated workers getting ready to move on. Anyway: maybe I can see the bind the OP might be in. They initially liked the security of a regular paycheck, and the simplicity of being a cog in a wheel & not having to worry about things. Really, that might work fine, in the short term. But see, even though it SEEMS like the easy way, the insidious crazy-making routine will wear you out after awhile. It is supposed to diminish your expectations. Just be glad they don't have a pension plan as a carrot, a mirage of an oasis, to keep the newbies motivated, whereby if you figure you can just hang in there 20 years, you are eligible. The last 5-10 would be sheer torture, I'm sure. Hope that helps you some. Thankk Mee.
OMG, Packy, you hit the nail right on its proverbial head with that! I'm afraid I am one of those older, experienced workers who goes "above and beyond for the good of the team." It's a carefully cultivated Wholefoods worker-bee trait that often results in getting $10 or $15 gift cards (the dangling carrot) for going above and beyond expectations. That can only work for so long before one gets completely burned out. The turnover rate in my department is pretty appalling. People come and go pretty quickly and regularly We are always in some sort of crisis mode. Right now we can't keep a dishwasher on for more than two weeks. The starting wage for a dishwasher is $10 per hour! Where else can you go and wash dishes for $10??????? Of course it is a sucky job, but still!
My biggest beef is knowing how much of my precious physical energy is being siphoned off by this job. It is exhausting. On the plus side there is the stable amount of hours we are scheduled (however, not a stable weekly schedule by any means), okay health care benefits and decent PTO accrual hours. The down side is that it is physically and mentally draining to do this type of work for an extended period of time. I guess everything is a trade-off. I know I won't be doing this forever and I am learning to "play the system" to get the maximum benefits that work in my life right now. I have a feeling while being on my PAID three week vacation June I will be figuring some things out that will move me along in the ultimate direction I want to go. I am going to look into the possibility of cutting back my hours to just above 30, which is full-time with benefits there. Then I can save some of my precious energy and put that into my artwork. I am only 53 and I have a long way to go before retirement but in the meantime I am actively working on my retirement savings and investments, my art business, getting and staying out of debt (which should happen by sometime in late fall 2015 if all goes according to plan)!
But I have to figure out how to get through the DAILY GRIND right now, for the next two months, without going crazy. Sometimes I am able to just detach emotionally and still do the awesome job that I do at work. That only works if I manage to get balance in other areas of my life, which admittedly, has been sorely lacking. I need to take time out to go out and to play music a little more, see friends, and cavort in nature. This will all happen naturally as spring unfolds. The rut that I am in is mainly due to fending off all these stupid viruses and colds I've had all winter, the work situation and the ensuing exhaustion from that. I *KNOW* it will get better.
And a little help from Ambien sure helped last night. I have to work from 12-8pm today, and then I am off until Sunday, which is the start of my next work week....
i hear ya, i worked 20 hours a week for years at a retailer so that i would be eligible for health insurance and then substitute taught during the day. Sometimes it worked really well, i had the insurance and a chance to try for teaching jobs. then i just got so very tired. instead of my reviews increasing in positivity over time they slowly went down. the extra oomph i was giving in the beginning was expected and as i saw no room for raises or advancement i cut back on the oomph. Not that i stopped doing my job well, i think that it gets assumed after awhile but when you ask for something then it is a shock to them.
i think i am seeing that in my current job as well. it is interesting that 2 of us who are seeing our evaluations go down this year are both really experienced and have previously been people that others seek out to do certain skilled jobs or for advice. we both have applied for higher positions and were not interviewed or considered.
i really think that staying at just the minimum for full-time is a great idea, and the 3 weeks paid will be super nice! i have that type of time off but there is no way i could take it like that. the universe would fall apart.
Related topic but it is very sad the way corporate retailers treat employees. DH is in the management/procurement side of retail but sees the constant influx and outgo of employees. If you don't feel valued, why stick around it the commoon thread? I never understood why they don't pay employees more, give them decent schedules etc rather than chew them up and spit them out. Seems like the cost of training new employees would negate any savings but chew and spit is how they operate.
the cost savings should motivate a bit more. i know in my line of work we have a lot of turnover because they are part time positions and 1/3 of them are split shifts (2/3 hours early morning, 3/4 hours afternoon). what we found is that employees wanted some really good training to learn their job better and enjoy it more. we don't have much room for advancement but we could offer that. Since we work with and play with children if we keep up with training so our staff feels successful and has fun then we can boost retention a little
i never understood the retail/food industry and scheduling, it makes much more sense to give employees a stable schedule so they can also go to school or have a 2nd job or arrange child care. when you make it too hard then they leave. it really isn't that hard to get reasonably stable schedules for people, i have done the scheduling.
It's interesting, the corporation as a whole treats its employees quite well I think, for entry-level retail. The problem I am seeing is at the store and individual department levels. In my case, the biggest problem is management on all levels, and lack of coherent training and accountability. I do feel valued in that they know I have a good head on my shoulders, learn fast and am generally willing to step up to any task that is asked. But then I start feeling like I am being taken for granted and I take on responsibiliites that are not mine. In my heart I know that I would make a damn good supervisor but there is NO WAY I want to EVER move up in that company. It is like kissing any semblance or normal life goodbye, and that is not worth it to me for the little pay bump involved.
I fear that I won't be able to beat this "I don't care attitude" I've had of late because that will make it so much harder to keep going in. Up until now I have been able to just suck it up and do what I need to do, knowing that it isn't forever. Right now I am dreading going in today but by the time I get suited up and step into the craziness the day actually goes pretty fast, so I am banking on that. Then I'll have two days to do my own thing and hopefully return on Sunday with an attitude adjustment.
I used to be a secret shopper for Safeway, which is really another way of saying spy on the employees. Part of our training was to watch the new hire video so we would have an idea of what was expected of the floor employees, and I thought to myself that if I ever had to work that job with all its pointless nitpicky nonsense, I think I'd collapse in short order. Serious kudos to you, SiouzQ.
The spying position was bad enough; I was out of there in three months and during that time I had four supervisors. "I see you were offered a sample of the Super Spicy Salami Saute, but did she offer you a sample before you mentioned that it looked tasty? When you asked where the mayonnaise is, did he actually point directly at it, or did he just point at it from four feet away? Did he touch the product, which isn't allowed? Did he mention a brand name, did he point out a sale price?" Oh f***ing kill me now. It's really hard to imagine that kind of turnover or style being productive for anything, even the corporate bottom line.
ApatheticNoMore
3-19-15, 12:34pm
we both have applied for higher positions and were not interviewed or considered.
i was told the position I applied for didn't even exist, and it seems to be true (I mean if it was just a polite kiss off it would be insulting (to my intelligence as much as anything!), but it doesn't even appear to be that). It's not like they seem to be hiring anyone else. *shrug* I was told it was purely advertised for HR purposes and wasn't a real position, that they didn't have a real position open, but the ad had to remain for HR purposes. It took too much out of me emotionally to chase that nothing, I feel I've wasted too much energy chasing nothings as far as actual positions go - need to budget my energy better than that.
Yes people want the security of a job rather than contract work oftentimes, and contract work appears at times to be most of the work out there for me. A few real jobs still exist.
It took too much out of me emotionally to chase that nothing, I feel I've wasted too much energy chasing nothings as far as actual positions go - need to budget my energy better than that.
.
Thank your for saying that, it sums up the feeling I have had for awhile. I get so much encouragement to apply for a new job or a better job. It takes energy no matter how much I try not to attach to an outcome. I feel like some of my people who encourage IRL are then not there for me for a simple energy boost such as meeting for coffee. I can only do so much and I get very tired. Right now I feel my best energy expenditure is in improving what I can about my job performance and equally spending energy having a personal life and letting go of the results. Some things I can affect but there is a point where my job performance and how it is evaluated is up to someone else. I still love my day to day at my program, just totally demoralized for awhile on my low ratings.
ToomuchStuff
3-19-15, 3:34pm
Related topic but it is very sad the way corporate retailers treat employees. DH is in the management/procurement side of retail but sees the constant influx and outgo of employees. If you don't feel valued, why stick around it the commoon thread? I never understood why they don't pay employees more, give them decent schedules etc rather than chew them up and spit them out. Seems like the cost of training new employees would negate any savings but chew and spit is how they operate.
Profits for the shareholders (it is corporate and about meeting typically short term goals). Cost of training, typically is just part of a managers/HR persons job (what the employer sees they are paying them for). Scheduling is all about when they need you as they pay you, so your time becomes their time.
i was told the position I applied for didn't even exist, and it seems to be true (I mean if it was just a polite kiss off it would be insulting (to my intelligence as much as anything!), but it doesn't even appear to be that). It's not like they seem to be hiring anyone else. *shrug* I was told it was purely advertised for HR purposes and wasn't a real position, that they didn't have a real position open, but the ad had to remain for HR purposes. It took too much out of me emotionally to chase that nothing, I feel I've wasted too much energy chasing nothings as far as actual positions go - need to budget my energy better than that.
Yes people want the security of a job rather than contract work oftentimes, and contract work appears at times to be most of the work out there for me. A few real jobs still exist.
Not sure what is the reasoning behind the thought, of false advertising. That can land them in hot water with state/local attorney generals.
I am getting the spring thing myself. That and the last time I tried to take some time off/vacation, half the work force came back on crutches from a company xmas party/ski trip. Not looking good with one bosses medical issues and potential divorce. The other one just left for a couple of days (didn't know that was happening, he has put it off for years), and I hope when he gets back, he is less stressed and see's how some of us are stressed as well.
I agree about detaching yourself as much as possible.
I read of one idea that suggested looking at yourself as playing a part in a play. And then do your best to "act" that part, even get creative with it. I know it sounds silly but might just work for the 2 months til your vacation.
Good idea Lainey! It twas a hard day to get through, and get through I did, and with a fair amount of grace. I just got to suck it up for now and hope that by Sunday I will be back on the right groove to get by doing this gig for a while longer. I wanted so badly to stay home and crash when I got off work at 8pm, but I made myself go out and meet up with some friends at the local blues jam. I got a little buzz on, and sang some blues, and it felt real good. I really think I am just very out of balance from being a hermit all winter and not interacting with people. Now the snow is gone I'll be able to create more "life" in my life to counteract having to go to work when I don't want to.
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