water cooler crumbling

As if work doesn't suck enough, all the good people are leaving and moving on to better jobs.  Some of the bad people are, too.

One of my favorite coworkers called me last Sunday and told me she's turned in her notice.  She found a job pertaining to her degree so it's definitely a good thing.  For her.  I mean, I do want to be happy for her and the grain of non-selfishness within me is happy for her but it sucks that I'll be losing someone I enjoy working with.  So many people who work there are negative and manipulative and she wasn't about any of that.  She clocked in, did her job, no b.s., and left.  She was also just a good girl in general.  And I'll probably never see her again.

It seems the trend with me and girls is they'll communicate with me for as long as we are placed in a certain situation together, such as work or school.  I met a lot of great girls in college and as soon as our classes together were over, I didn't hear much from them again.  Same with when they'd get a boyfriend/husband.  The husband thing I can understand a bit more but it just kind of sucks because I always think we have a good thing going and then I find out it wasn't good enough for them to hold on to me.

On the other end of the coworker spectrum, one of my least favorite coworkers also found a job.  Once again, I'm conflicted.  As much as I should be happy to be rid of her (and believe me, it is a relief), the circumstances surrounding her departure are less than savory.  Not only was she one of the most worthless employees I've ever had the misfortune of encountering, she also wasn't that great of a person.  Well, she comes bouncing into work one day saying she found a manager position at another job.  After I shat myself, the jealousy kicked in.  She obviously lied during her interview.  Like, I'm not joking when I say she was a raging loser at her job.  Even the managers knew she was useless and expressed that often.  So, for her to get a manager position at another job over me is a real kick in the nuts.

It's not even so much that she got a better job than me but that she just isn't deserving of one and I feel like I am.  I work my butt off everyday and it's thankless and exhausting and stagnant.  Where's my opportunity to grow, to gain new experience and a raise?  I know I'm sounding bratty and selfish and that life isn't fair.  I've heard it a million times but it still sucks and I just have to express how I feel about it.  It's hard enough filling out application after application and getting my hopes up that this will finally be the chance to break away from retail hell and then I never hear anything not even an interview, and yet this chick who never did anything and never had any responsibilities (because no one trusted her) weasels her way through and now she's happy and I have to witness it.  Heck, I've gotten associate of the month twice and associate of the year and I've only been there eight months.  That's got to say something about my work ethic but I guess no one seems to see that.

And she will be replaced by more mediocre workers.  And my favorite coworker will be as well because quality people like her don't stay here in this area.  They move on to bigger and better things as soon as they can.  The rest is just trash and our company sweeps them right into the doors, slaps a name badge on them and let's them loose on the public.  And I guess that makes me a little trashy, too, since I'm also here.  Although I did try.  I did to to college.  Even did well at it.  But grades don't matter when it's content and creativity employers want to see.  Things I don't possess anymore.  But, I gave it a good shot.  So maybe I'm not so much trashy as just a little bit unpolished.

I see so many high school and college students treat the job like it's unimportant.  And maybe to them it is.  It's even unimportant to me but I don't treat it like that.  Yeah, I hate this job but I also have a responsibility to do a good job.  People rely on me.  And I try to do every job to the best of my ability, no matter how invested I may or may not be in it.  But these kids just swoop through and don't take it seriously and it's frustrating because I have to pick up their slack but I'm also quite jealous because they can be so laid back about it all.  For them, this job is just pocket money until they go to college or until they finish college and get a good job.  It doesn't matter if they don't do a great job because they don't plan on being there too long anyway.  I don't have that luxury.  I have student loans.  I have other bills.  And I can't screw around and risk losing my job.  I can't be care-free.  I was raised to take jobs seriously so it does come natural to me but I also don't have a choice like the rest of them. 

Size, straighten, colorize.  Watch as customers destroy a stack of shirts.  Clean up after them.  Watch it happen again.  Ask every customer if they want to fill out for a credit card.  Ask them for their e-mail address at the end of the transaction.  Ask them for their zip code.  Tell them about our survey and beg them to rate us a five so the district manager will be happy.  Offer to order something for them if they can't find it in the store.  Even if they do find it in the store, mention we can order anything in the store in multiple sizes and colors anyway (and when we do try to order something for them, it is usually out of stock online as well as in the store).  Size, straighten, colorize again.  Watch as more customers ruin an hour of straightening in three minutes.  Check fitting rooms every thirty minutes.  Get change for coworkers.  Size.  Greet every customer in your department.  Create conversation with them.  Straighten.  Just offer.  Colorize.  Help the other departments straighten their stuff.  Call a manager for help if you have more than three people in line.  They show up ten minutes later after you've checked everyone out and squeezed as much personal information from them as possible.  Offer them magazine subscriptions at the end of the transaction.  On their receipt, highlight how much they've saved.  Colorize again.  Straighten again.  Measure clueless people for dress shirts.  Watch as they unpin and unbutton dress shirt after dress shirt, try them on, decide they don't want them.  Fold and pin them back.  Straighten.  Don't forget to greet and smile.  Return clothes even if they reek of smoke or are stained.  Return even if their receipt is expired or they don't have one.  Return anything because the customer cannot be unhappy.  Show them it is okay to be irresponsible as we'll take care of them anyway.  Be nice to them and show them they can take advantage of us and knock down a stack of shirts because no one will stop them.  And the new thing is we are encouraged to say, "It was a pleasure serving you today."  Some higher up got that trick from Chick-fil-A because customers were apparently more satisfied when they were told it was a pleasure to be served.  As if putting up with their crap wasn't demeaning enough, we know have to let them know how much of a pleasure it was to endure their halitosis and ignorance.  Gosh, the company is taking tips from a fast food joint now.  We're doing so well.  Size again.  Straighten again.  Put up with bad attitudes and body odor.  Feel like crying.  Feel like screaming.  Feel like killing.  Go home.  Do it again the next day.  And somewhere in there, try not to lose your mind.  Good luck with that.

And now, I don't even have anyone good to work with anymore.  So, it's just going to get worse.