Watch out, the snake is planning to bite when it is smiling.

mALX speaks the truth. Take it from a reformed serpent.

Written is easier to prove than spoken.

Listen to Blackie, Liz. Never put anything in writing, you can't change what was said in it. You would be giving him a written confession that you can't do your job and were in the bathroom - he'd have all the proof he needs to fire you and you couldn't collect unemployment.

Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men?

The Black Hand and mALX knows...


Hehehehahahahah....

Yeah, definitely don't trust him. Like mALX said, he could be deceiving you.....










On another note, CJ Got a New haircut....

And DE, good luck.

How adorable is that !!



@ Blackie - "Shadow hide you" Lol.


@ Liz - It is truth though Liz. This new manager is out to get you, he's proven that. Never trust him, especially if he is suddenly being nice. He's getting your defenses down to strike. You need to learn to ALWAYS CYA = cover your ass. Always, always ALWAYS CYA - especially around someone you know is out to get you. He is building a paper trail, you should build one too.

Example. Every single time he writes you up or gives you verbals - he has you sign something that goes into your permanent work record. They are covering their asses for firing you with a paper trail. You have to cover yours back

Everything that goes into your permanent work record - you are entitled to a copy of it. Insist on that, and take the copies home with you. Why? Because that paper you are signing has a section right above where your signature goes to put in your version of the events, or anything else work related.

You know this guy is out to fire you, and he is the type that will succeed no matter what he has to pull to do it.

Before you sign that paper, list off anything they have done to harass you (like tasking you with fifteen chores that take you from the front when the place is packed with customers and if you left the front he would have written you up for that ) - that was a trap and you know it. You were damned if you did and damned if you didn't - so write it down above your signature and tell him you want a copy of it for your personal records.

I've gone up against union busters doing that, and they can't bring those records in against you because it proves they were harrassing you.

CYA. When they back you against the wall, come out fighing. You may still lose your job, but they won't have a paper trail to keep you from getting the unemployment you earned.




This post has been edited by mALX: Jun 13 2013, 07:14 AM

Sounds like your job would suit me, Liz. If you ever need someone on your side working with you, give me a call

I'm confused...I thought there was a new, better job, so who give's a rat's fart what the old boss thinks?...Perhaps I missed something...

There's a new job, but dunno about a better job.

And I've yet to even start orientation for said new job lol

I get the sentiment, though.

I hope all gets well for ya Liz. Hopefully target will treat you much better....

Retail sucks no matter what.

It has more to do with the quality of the people you work with, and to be frank unskilled labor doesn't tend to attract the best and the brightest. Finish school, take a class for a trade, do something; anything to move forward.

As my late Father once told me:

"Be an artist, yes. Pursue your dreams. Not much point to living otherwise. Just don't be a starving artist, you can be successful and have paid your dues without living in the slums and looking emaciated. Pain doesn't force your talents to the surface, necessity does. If you want to succeed as bad as you need to breathe, you'll be successful."

"Further, living wisely and within your means during the meantime will teach you how to manage your successes when you finally do make it. Can't tell you how many people I've seen try so hard to get to the next level, only to go from having virtually nothing, to losing everything because they never made that much money before, and went nuts with their income."

I worked at a sandwich place for eight years prior to my current employment, it took thirteen weeks at an EMT course to change it all.

I don't 'work' in the traditional sense. We pick up patients and drop them off three miles down the road. I get paid to practice my calligraphy on runs, I sleep during our three hour breaks. The positivity that finally seeped into my life changed me on a very fundamental level. Patients normally demand that certain crews never pick them up. My partner and I are the only crew that patients demand that we *do* pick them up.

Most folks at the company like me, and in a couple of cases absolutely adore me. I had a resting blood pressure of 160/90 when I was working at the sandwich place, because I was so stressed. I had hypertension.

As of 10:15 am on June 13th, 2013, my BP monitor is telling me 115/78 and pulse of 86. Point being: I don't have a whole lot to stress over much anymore.

You are the only one who can change your own life. Further, you *can* change your life. We change by the speed of the choices that we make, and all any of it is, is a choice.

As Burt Reynolds told a character in the X-Files once:

"There's a secret to this game, and I'm going to tell you what the secret is."

"Choose better."

Black Hand, I love you.

I agree with you Black Hand. Retail always sucks, one way or another, but some stores are better than others. I worked at the gas station at one point. Dude, they treated me like [censored] in the most legal way possible. The customers were no better. I couldn't stand that place. One day I came in for my shift, and there were three bullet holes in the glass to the counter.

Nope. Didn't stay....

Dd I tell you another one of our stores got robbed yesterday? it was further away from my store, but at the same time, I'm so tired of it, dude. I'm scared.

Again?! Dude, you have to try to get outta there before your store ends up getting robbed....

I have to disagree with you, mALX. I'm not sure how it is where Liz works, but Illinois, where I am, is an at-will state. That has many implications, including the fact that they don't need to provide a reason for firing you. Also, you collect unemployment when you are fired, but not when you quit. That is why many bad managers try to make working conditions so unbearable for you that you quit. Then they don't have to pay unemployment!

Liz, documentation of the issues you're having at work is vital. The number of times you've had to close on short notice, the times you've been called in because no one else showed up to cover shifts, those sorts of things point to poor management and can serve as grounds for an unfavorable working environment that is compromising your health and interfering with your ability to function at your job. When push comes to shove, you need to have documentation (include dates, times and any conversations you may have with your boss) that shows the management is not treating you well. mALX is right in that performance reviews is CYA on the part of management, but having your own documentation is CYA for yourself as well. If you are fired, and try to collect unemployment and they dispute this, then you have no recourse if you don't have your own documentation as well.

And your manager may not be so bad, if he wants you to write it down. mALX may have a point and her assessment of the situation may be right, but then again, I sense a strong bias in her responses which are fairly based on her own experiences through her life (which hasn't been easy, I believe). She is giving you the benefit of her hard-earned experience of bad management. I am also doing the same - in my experience, bad management isn't necessarily duplicitous (unless they're lawyers ) so much as they are just plain stupid. Of course, my being deaf gives me an advantage - I can always counter any disputes with the issue that they created an unfair working environment for me under ADA rules. Because I don't require much accommodation, I can get away with it. I don't play that card often, but I know it's there, and they know it's there.

I haven't been on the Coffee Shop much lately, but I've been aware of many of your issues at this dollar store. I'm glad you got the job at Target - overall the company has a much better reputation than most retail companies, so you should do well as long as you perform your duties. Do work on your communication issues - from the start make it clear to your managers that you have difficulty expressing yourself when something is bothering you. I'm the same way - I don't like to talk about negatives, either, especially with the managers. Like you, I tend to shut down. But if the managers know that you have this issue, the good ones will make the extra effort to encourage you to communicate any problems you may be having more effectively. That is the case here at my current employment.

I've worked in clinics that were poorly managed, and am currently working in the best retail company in the whole world. I wouldn't trade this job for a return to my profession - there are extremely few clinics that are managed the way this retail company is. All I can say is this is the way Retail ought to be.

But Target comes pretty damn close, so CONGRATS again! Make the most of this opportunity! This is your chance to change your life!

So he promoted a cashier and fired the other assistant. I really thought I was next.

I doubt they're planning to fire you. They would have already of they were, don't you think?

I don't know anymore.