For most of my working life I worked at a small chain called Grocery Outlet, which is a brand based in Birmingham, Alabama and is only around maybe 16-20 stores strong at the moment covering two states. The owners, Jack and Kent, are the kind of people who you think of when you think of asshole bosses: needlessly strict, spiteful, believes everyone but them is easily replaceable, refuses to replace broken equipment, and unfriendly to boot. But the ground level troops where cut from an entirely different cloth, and even the store managers where oftentimes very relaxed on rules. Sometimes rules that one shouldn't be relaxed with.
There once was a manager I knew who started working in the business at age 14. When he was 17 and after Grocery Outlet took over the mom 'n pop he worked at, he proved that he was such a fast worker that he was promoted to assistant manager. Now I have nothing but respect for the man, but sometimes he used his manager powers for shenanigans.
* One time after I had only been at work for 2 hours, having all of dairy to take care of he decided that he wanted to have lunch at Olive Garden. Olive Garden was at least a 30 minute drive but he ordered most of the crew to clock out and meet him there (One of my co-workers was actually clocking in, and was told to go ahead and clock
out while standing by our clock so he could go to lunch). The lunch break lasted a little over 2 hours.
*Another time he found a website filled with dirty jokes (One of those old 90s sites where the entire thing is one page in some weird font and garbage background animations). He found it so funny he called all of us to the back so he could rattle them off for what had to have been 2 hours.
*I once asked him if a partially wrinkled box of Ice Cream sandwiches counted as too damaged to sale. He ripped them open and started to eat one, and answered "It is now"
*He once called me on my day off because he was bored at work. I brought an old CRT TV and my Playstation 2 from my trailer (Old timers may remember, but I lived right behind my workplace for years) in a grocer's cart and we played Soul Calibur 2 in the back office. This had to be broken up when all the other departments tried to stop working and join.
*Once he
became legal drinking age Stopped giving a damn being only 18, he volunteered my co-worker/neighbor's house for weekly house parties. For months, the trailerpark would be filled Wednesday Nights with G.O workers who didn't have to work in the morning drinking at least 6 different types of liquor at any given time. Once the actual Managers found out.....they started attending regularly. Keep in mind that alot of businesses around here do not like employees hanging out with their co-workers (That's how union talk starts).
* A customer once gave him a Yam Pie. He had another co-worker throw it in my face after hours.
* And of course, at 19 he got bored being the fastest worker in the store and decided to join the Marines.
But he was just one unique person, as I could fill a book with some of the characters I worked with. If this thread is still alive and kicking next time I check I may have another G.O story for y'all.
Quote:
Originally Posted by XelNya
TWG players may or may not recall this story as I remember making a post directly after this happened.
Also need to denote that I am an average (maybe short) white male, skinny ass arms, and a beer gut despite lack of beer drinking being frequent. I weigh like 175.
I am known at work for being both the guy who cares the least about literally everything, and brags that he doesn't try at all, and guy who has helped get two managers transferred out of the store (story for another post.)
Also fuck you guys this is funny format.
> Be me.
> Be 23.
> Work at walmart, fucking truck unloader.
> Under-staffed, and call outs on top of the under-staffing, we have like, 7 people to do like a 12 person job level dumb.
> One of the call outs is our direct supervisor. Ass hole. Is still my boss to this day.
> Me and coworker Tyler are in charge due to orders of manager over us. Any problems, we tell her and she deals with it.
> Knew truck was 3,400 pieces in one truck (standard is around 1,500 to 2,100, short hand is, it's the size of two.)
> Fight fastest truck thrower with argument that he throws too fast for small group of people, and I had laid claim the day before. TRUCK WAS MINE.
> Unloading large truck.
> Truck is well stacked (especially compared to the norm.)
> I get into the zone, have two headphones in, fucks are not given about anything else. It is me versus a line full of 4 people and some ass hole sorting shit because DC is too lazy to fix their machine.
> Everyone is busting ass. I'm able to both unload the truck, and keep the line of freight pushed out by myself, and the line is consistently full, I at times unload the freight onto the line whilst sitting down level full.
> Make throne of freight at times, and laugh at line workers who come in to see if line needs to be pushed out. It's already done. By me.
> 4 hours into truck.
> Need to note that at 5 hours of being on the clock with no meal break, we get a verbal warning / written up for meel break violation.
> time is now 8:05 pm or so.
> We clocked in at 4:00 pm.
> I am on the back wall of freight.
> I think it's about 8:30, because I was not smart, and did not check ipod for time. I usually pace myself by listening to certain albums and I know how long they are.
> Line has been moving at a slower pace for about an hour.
> I tired them out I thought.
> All of a sudden, hear call for frozen truck.
> Ignore it because it's 8:30.
> Fastest truck thrower comes into truck to the back where I am at.
> Tells me that half of our understaffed line had to go do ignored frozen truck.
> Two people on the line when it's 8:30 and I am on the back wall is pretty much us not finishing before we violate.
> There are other associates, Dairy and Produce, who could have easily handled the job.
> Lose my shit.
> Start yelling really mad.
> "Management is a bunch of fucking retards" yelled as loudly as possible.
> Yelling many bad things about management, above comment the most noteworthy.
> I am yelling loudly enough that you can hear me halfway across the store, and on the other side of it if you're currently unloading said frozen truck. (Told to me later.)
> Anyone who came into the truck to calm me down got told to fuck off.
> Pretty sure I called them useless cunts as well.
> Loud angry rant about how much management is fucking up.
> Management is currently in the backroom, in the aisle where the back-stock of shampoo aisle stuff is.
> Old boss is standing next to them.
> Management "Ok, we know he gets mad sometimes, but is he usually like that?"
> Old Boss "No, if he's that angry, you guys messed up."
> Manager comes and yells at me in the truck to go to lunch due to being pissed off as fuck.
> Tell him to fuck off and go to lunch.
> Coworkers finish the truck by themselves.
> Other manager asks if I am ok on the way out, tell her I don't wanna blow up on her because she's one of the managers I actually like.
> Walk out to sales floor.
> Check phone.
> 8:05 PM.
> FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK.
> Walk across parking lot.
> Eat Panda Express.
> It was good. They had a hilarious mishap with the receipt. Lady who worked there eating on lunch had to come help. Ended up having lunch with her. Nice lady.
> Stillpissedoff.jpg
> Come back from lunch.
> Pull whole set of freight in 20 minutes because still angry.
> End up stopping pulling due to fatigue and that expensive items we got in that day, need to be checked off, so I do that.
> No one on crew when they come back talks to me save for Tyler. He explains everything. I'm still angry though.
> On sales floor now checking off PDQ's.
> Customer walks up to me, visibly annoyed.
> I still look pissed off as hell. I'm still angry. Regardless of what time it was, the choice was fucking dumb in the scheme of things, the conclusion I had come to.
> "Hey, you look more friendly than-"
> Laugh hysterically. Fucking lost it.
> Direct him where to go. Tell him about why I was laughing on the way. He laughs to.
> Later on that day, get customers who are trying to fit a toilet seat on a bucket.
> End of day comes.
> Not everything is done, but most of it is, which is surprising considering.
> Go home.
> Don't sleep that night, worried I am getting fired the next day for calling managers retards and cunts.
> Come in the next day.
> Ass hole boss is there.
> Tells me he knows of what I did yesterday, and laughs about it.
> Ask him if he knows if I am getting written up. He'd tell me these things if he knew, so I asked.
> "Nope."
> mfw I got away with it
> mfw other managers knew about this story
> mfw this is a story we tell the new guys
> To this day, still no formal write ups, or verbal discussions. One customer complaint ever. Was laughed at by management though. Pretty much never happened.
Things on this might be slightly inaccurate as I'm trying to remember a good amount of time back, and my memory is an example of being shitty.
I have a few more stupid stories but that one is probably my 3rd highest achievement.
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People who don't work in retail don't know the struggle and that makes me a little sad. Never did work at a Wal Mart though I am told they are the worst.