Now See???

Good Friday turned out to be a bad day for the Shellybird. I was scheduled to work at the Retailtopia that evening 5-9. I'd been lounging all day. I'd decided to take my name off the substitute teacher list for that day because the kids were getting out early for spring break and I had an appointment that morning anyway. It was the hottest day of the year so far--low 80's--and the first hot day always makes me sick. I don't know why, but I always get a headache, and for me headaches are no joke. (I also get migraines, which are far worse than headaches. If you've never had one, I hope you never do.) I felt the headache nagging at me, but I hate pumping myself full of pills if I can avoid it. They make me feel so...chemical-y. I decided to try napping it away. When I woke up to get ready fro work, I was shot to shit. On top of the headache, I think I was having a hot flash. When I left the house, my hair was plastered to my head, and my clothes were plastered to my body. I was driving down the highway with the AC on full blast and the driver's window down for some relief, which never came. The urge to vomit flooded over me, and I knew then I was not going to make it. I pulled over and called my manager to let her know I was too sick to come in. Her response? "OooooKAY." I don't know about you, but I hate being okayed like that. There's such an air of condescension to it. While I've never been a head honcho of anything, I have been a supervisor before, and I was never one to split hairs when employees told me they couldn't come to work for whatever reason. My philosophy is live and let live. I'm still going to get my paycheck regardless of who shows up or who doesn't. Apparently, the Retailtopia system of beliefs involves shafting employees who miss work during the holidays out of a week's worth of pay. I found this out when I went to the store Saturday afternoon to check my schedule for the upcoming week, which is the week we're in now. My manager said, "You're not on next week's schedule because the district manager payed a surprise visit to the store Friday and was angry about how messy and short-staffed it was." Now see??? Ain't that that about a B...Apparently things can always be worse (than the Retail Sewer).

 Let's get something straight: I have 16 (mostly unfortunate) years of retail experience under my belt. I am well aware that Easter comes second only to Christmas as the biggest money-making holiday. Folks lose their collective poo over Easter baskets, because nothing says "Thank-you, Jesus for dying on the cross for my sins!" like jelly beans and marshmallow chicks...If I didn't feel like my head was going to do a re-enactment of "Scanners," if I hadn't felt like I was going to spontaneously combust, I WOULD HAVE BEEN AT WORK. Illness is the hardest working man in the retail business. It doesn't take holidays or vacations. I'm mad as hell about the situation because my unemployment has run out (which was to be expected) and school is out for spring break. There's the radio gig, but I just got paid from there, so the Retailtopia is my only source of income this week. Did they lose any money because I didn't work Friday?I'll answer that. NOPE. If people think they can get anything cheaper st another store than they would at the Food Lion or Wal-Mart, they will run a flaming gauntlet to get it and stand in a check-out line that's 10 miles long to pay for it, bitching the whole time but whatevs. So why not call me in for a come to Jesus meeting? Why not write me up? I think it's real shitty dicking around with someone's livelihood like that. And I know that I said in my last post that the job isn't that serious to me, and it isn't, in terms of spending even 1 year there. HOWEVER, I have showed up on my scheduled days at my scheduled time and done my job to the best of my ability. I've even worked over an extra 4 or 5 hours per the managers request, a request she made right before my shift was supposed to end, more than once. AND THIS IS THE THANKS I GET???

I'm holding my peace right now. No need to act all ghetto when there's the off chance that the store manager might get the district manager to come off his male period long enough to give  me some of my hours back. That chance is looking more and more off each day though because as I'm writing this, it's Wednesday. The time will come though when I WILL  give the district manager a sharing-size piece of my mind for these shenanigans. I have his number saved in my cell phone, to further illustrate the magnitude of my ain't playing-ness.

Peep the last 3 digits of his number....OH, THE IRONY

I can't stand folks who are drunk on power, like their employment is set in stone or something. *DEEP eye roll* I can get that they are trying to run a business , but when you're sick, you're sick. So, yeah, I called out on one of the busiest shopping days of the year...

No, you did NOT, but I felt like I was about to, and THAT is why I didn't come to work.