Why you should never trust anyone no matter what they say? All those smiles to your face are fake. All those compliments, who time to time are very inappropriate (like I look so beautiful, did anyone asked me to marry him while I was on a bus going there?) and makes me uncomfortable and just puts fake smile on my face, everything is a lie. Because ´business man´ will screw you over no matter how hard you were working. I don’t know if you will read this to the end, but that is one story of many how little people get used by someone who wants to be big.
Since I don´t want to use any names or places, this story is purely theoretical. Let´s say I have been working in one place over 3 years. At first it was hard. I was happy to get the job, because I was unemployed at the time. And it was hard to starts from zero in new town, and still I didn´t know the language perfectly. And I needed the money badly. So I took it all. All screaming for others mistakes, stress, sleepless nights. Oh so many sleepless nights. But still I just kept my head down and kept working as hard as possible. My feet used to hurt like hell in the evenings after all day of standing and running in restaurant and I even didn´t had proper shoes for that, well that´s poor life.
Theoretically it was one of the fast food chain place. Every evening you need to count cash register and other materials and enter data into computer. Then it shows if there is any lack of something. But the point is that there might be lack of something not from your shift but by mistakes made in the morning. And usually were there. So every time I used to close the place and see the final receipt with all mistakes I started shaking. Go home get to bed and still be shaking. Couldn´t sleep. I knew in the morning by boss will visit the place, see the receipt, call me and scream on me what did I do wrong and from there comes those mistakes. Every time. Or if I was not thought to do something and some mistakes appear, called an ´idiot´. Oh yes life was so much ´fun´.
Living in constant fear made me depressed. Of course I wanted to leave. I found another job and gave my resignation letter to the boss, let´s call him Mr. Boss. He never signed it. Asked why? Well maybe because I am under too much stress and well there was a thing where my ´training period´ was over because I worked over 300 hours already but I still got the salary of a ´trainee´ and lost over 300 euros or more, hard to remember. Also we were forced to pay for food, because the boss told its mandatory, but then someone called to the union and asked about the laws, turns out we don’t have to pay and eat there if we don´t want to. Because losing 5,19 euros, then your hourly pay is only 7,9, after taxes it´s much less, was a lot. To pay over 100 euros per month was way too much for anyone working in such rates. After all this is just a theory.
The problem in all of this also was that another girl decided to leave same time. We became friends. She was scared to give resignation letter to Mr. Boss so I stayed at work longer to support her. And what do you think? Screaming started. Theory that this is conspiracy, that this place can´t run without us (then why you treat us like a peace of shit?). The girl went to staff room crying and couldn’t get up from the floor, was scared of him and just wanted to quit job in place which nicely saying was making us feel worthless. Then the blackmail started, that the boss would sign only one of ours resignation letter. Only one of us could leave. I knew that my friend found much better place to work in with a nice boss, so I decided to make a sacrifice of staying there that she could be free.
So I stayed. Worked hard. It became little better. I got little more shifts as I asked so I could make enough money to survive. In like 1,5 months I got promoted to a manager. I was shocked. That actually all that stress I went though actually started to work out. I am making something of myself. And that meant a lot for me looking from what place I came. I got the news, other employees got the news, I was feeling proud. Even I didn’t got the contract. Because there was my ´training´ period where I need to learn ´things´ how to run the place. Yes I understand that. But when you sing the contract then actually the training period starts and you should get salary bump, a little one but still. My contract came on 2 months. But yes I was doing managers work already those 2 months, and learning how to do it. But I didn´t got ´managers´ contract, I got ´shift managers´ contract. Because as Mr. Boss told, I can´t get it straight away, first half a year I need to be with this ´shift managers´ contract then he can change it.
And we got a long, I wanted a better future for myself, and this seemed like a way for it. And he kept promising if I will continue working this well, he someday will open restaurant with me as a business partner, soon he was planning to open another place and I would be a manager there also, he would get me a work car that I could travel from one place to another, with public transportation that would be impossible. I was afraid of stress, but still it would be an opportunity. In a while he opened another place, no I was not a manager there, I kept working in my place because many employees left when school year starts, as usual, I couldn’t find another workers so I was working like crazy, 50-70 hour weeks. Shaking from tiredness. But it was my responsibility as a manager to do the shifts no one else could.
So this was my life, overworked, stressed constantly, dealing with having to work fast, finish jobs which others don´t, training new people all the time, because people like to quit. Mr. Boss liked to pick people, he used to have ´good feeling´ about employees, like that time when he hired a drug addict, who obviously had a problem, or girl who has slightly retarded, yes those people easily can work, but not there you need to remember million things, and they can´t even remember how to use cash register or that if oven is beeping non stop it´s time to take the breads out or they will burn. Nope they just stand, look at oven how it beeps not taking breads out, letting it burn. I always had to run from one place to another like crazy to watch what everyone is doing. Anyway, those people would disappear soon because they can´t handle such jobs. Or as mater of fact barely anyone could. Usually after training people don’t come back to start working. Too much preassure.
So time kept going like this. Mr. Boss always told me to be tough and speak strictly or even scream if people can´t learn their job. Just be tough and show who is boss. I listened, but I know it´s wrong, so wrong. Or the girl who was sick long I suppose to tell that is she takes another sick leave boss will not pay for that. He doesn’t have money. That´s why I wasn´t taking sick leave. Because I needed money, no matter what condition, still going to work.
The first time I took sick leave was then I fell leaving work, it was slippery, winter after all, and had to get stiches in my leg. Couldn’t walk practically. Still I took one day one for sick leave. And since it happened going from work, Mr. Boss suppose to pay my medical bills for going to Emergency room, getting stiches, and so on, because it was still a ´work accident´. And he has insurance. Of course every time we would agree that he will come and fill the papers for me to get money back which I paid for medical care, he would never show up. As usual. And I was too scared even to call him. I was always scared to call him. It often end up in screaming. Like the time when internet in the building broke down, so all payments must be by cash, and of course our coins to give change were already pretty much over, because Mr. Boss never trusted me enough to go the the bank and change cash to coins, always did it by himself, and was always very late to deliver. So I had no way to give change back to people. I called him and asked him what to do, first he told me if there is nothing to do then close the place. But try to ask people to give exact amount of money so they don’t need change. Of course I did that but people don’t care cash that much anymore. And I just couldn’t give right amount of money back. I called Mr. Boss again to ask should I close the place since it is disaster and I am not able to give any change back to people. He screamed on me on being stupid and how even I got this idea (which by the way he suggested).
Such things kept happening. Like when he already suppose to bring coins to the restaurant, he doesn´t, I ask when he will do that, he creams on me, I ask him not to scream on me because I am just asking a question. When he would scream more ´how dare I speak with him that way´ and so on. And of course every half year we would have huge fight about m contract. Oh yes I was still working with ´shift managers´ contract and doing managers work. Because ´I don´t have enough experience´, ´I don´t do enough because he still needs to come to the place´ (yeah take money from the save, sit down near the table and play with his phone for 2 hours, that’s what he would do what is so so important for the restaurant). Or when he doesn’t want to pay someone else double salary on Sundays (which is mandatory) he comes to work, and sits with his Gucci shoes playing on his phone near the table, and let someone else do all the job and running. At least when it´s really needed he would come to help. But I can´t delete that image of someone in the kitchen wearing Gucci shoes. Dude, that’s not the place to act tough. And still he ´never´ has money.
For me used to be also ´fun´ when for example he makes a contract with some discount company to make coupons or gift cards for the restaurant, to attract more customers, but forgets to mention it to me. And someone calls me and started talking to me around some code reader for gifts cards we are gonna get and I am like ´what´? Surprise!
Also after working 3 years I developed allergy to one sanitizer and it would burn my skin. Once I burned my both hands. Really burned. It looked and felt horrible. Of course I needed few days off. But still I went back to work and just asked other employees working same shift as me to do the cleaning with that sanitizer. Kept going.
And then there came time when I wanted to make more money, I needed more money, I still didn’t had managers contract or salary doing same job for a long time, and I didn´t wanted to take more shifts at restaurant because that would mean cutting some employee off. And I didn’t wanted to make more money at someone else’s expense. So I got part time job in another place. So morning I am in one place, evening another. Of course that would be surprise for my boss, he always said I wouldn’t ever get another job, because my language skills are poor, and no one would treat me as ´good´ as he does. And he got such fear in my head that I would never get another job. So I needed to fight and suffer to stay there. I was just too scared to leave.
Anyway when I started working part time in another place, soon I realised that your boss can be super nice person, who never screams on you but explains everything normally. And you can feel like home being at work. And that I am able to get another job. So after another fight with my boss, because I took few days off, and I ´didn´t ask his permission´ how I do to do so, screaming, complain from one employee that I am too tough (because I tell people to do their job, and actually that was my friend who tried to get my fired just because I wrote a warning about not doing work and screaming on me, yes he was the one who started screaming on his manager and somehow he was right, but that’s another story why don’t help your friends get jobs at your work place). I finally dared to say that I am leaving, really leaving. I was just done. In a week we sit down and I gave my resignation letter. Which he didn’t signed, of course. And he even told me to change words ´manager´ to ´shift manager´, even in every fight we had about my contract he would say that all employees already knows that I am a manager, I don’t need a contract to prove it. And I gave him over 2 months time, not to make him angry. Because he always told me if I ever leave, I need to inform him 2 months before. That’s requirement for a manager.
In couple weeks I left for holidays which I had planned half year ago. I just relaxed from all stress and knew it will be just a month left and I am done with this place. But still wanted to make some money, need to pay rent after all. But when I got back I had a surprise, that I have no work place anymore. Mr. Boss of course wouldn’t answer my calls, just sent a message that because I already informed about my leaving month ago he doesn’t need to give me any more shifts. Of course I called union, because I finally started to fight for my rights, and of course he can´t do that if agreed time was different. Anyway everyone at work knew what was happening, but no one informed me, well why to have a manager which tells you to play with your phone less and actually do your job, clean something. After all work I did, because not Mr. Boss built that place, I did. All regular customers liked me, I would always hear compliments about my service or people just walk by the place to say ´hi´ to me, because they just liked me. And you know what is also funny? I even didn’t get paid for my last shifts. I had to go to union and get a lawyer to count my work hours that I would get my last salary, which took 5 months for him to pay, and still he tried to lie that ´I didn’t gave my keys back´ and shit that I can´ rob the place´ so that he could just not pay me MY MONEY. And I knew he got rid of me earlier because he knew I am gonna leave this time, because already half year I started fighting for my rights, I wasn’t that scared, new at the country and knew the law, like yes I am gonna take sick leave when I have flu, sorry you have to pay my sick leave. Done. And it´s couple euros cheaper to have new employee working than me, so in one month he could save couple hundred euros. And Mr. Boss is the cheapest person I know. Doing everything to save every cent, which is not right and causes safety issues.
Anyway, I am sure everyone has that one story with a bad boss. Mine lasted 3,5 years because of fear and depression that job gave me. I still have nightmares of working there, having line of people waiting, products ending because other shift didn´t prepare right amount or Mr. Boss screaming on me. Oh my how much I was afraid of that man. Not anymore.
I know that I make mistakes, I do, everyone does, that’s what makes us human, but still I didn’t deserve to live in fear of being constantly screamed on. But what can you expect more from person who does that to everyone, lies to everyone, even about such things as smoking to his family and also screws over best friends for money. I know he used to be a good person, once as everyone one of us, but people change. Usually to the worst. That’s life, sadly.
That´s my last shoes from this job, I used it for a year, that´s how much I used to run and walk that good pair of shoes would totally broke down.