Incompetence Abounds!

Things have changed SO MUCH since I entered the workforce. It’s really astonishing to me. At age 13, I was a volunteer candy striper. Unpaid. And I took it very seriously and was always there on time and did my job to the best of my abilities. When I was a 14, I got my first real job, as a waitress. I worked in this little, hole-in-the-wall deli with a handful of shitbums that were lazy and jaded. Still, I always put forth my best effort to make my customers happy and do the work that needed to be done, despite the example of aforementioned shitbums. I got into loss prevention at 18. I worked SO hard. I took my responsibility very seriously. When the regional director walked in, my knees practically knocked together with how intimidated I was by this man, by his position, by how very important my boss’s boss was. Ten years and 4 promotions later, when I *was* the regional (all that hard work paying off I suppose), I had 17 year old kids tell me to go fuck myself four ways from Sunday. These kids have no work ethic, no morals, no respect for authority. If my daughter grows up to be one of these lazy, disrespectful sacks of shit, I may have to kill her and start over. After having my daughter and leaving my “real job”, I started working in a chain restaurant as a waitress. I picked up a bartending shift in another chain restaurant. The majority of the people I worked with in both of these places were in their early 20’s. I have never seen such laziness in my life. Ask them to do some extra side work for an upcoming store inspection, and they said “I make 2.63 per hour. I’m not making tips off cleaning. Why should I?” Had I been the manager, or in some position of authority, I would have told them because they were lucky to have their sorry, lazy, ungrateful asses employed and to get busy. So, what brings on this particular rant, you ask? I am currently unemployed. I went out and put in applications at several area restaurants, hoping for a bartending position. There is a very high end restaurant in the next town over. They called and invited me in for an interview for a waitress job. I spoke with a thickly-accented man named Zach on Friday the 19th. He asked me to come in today at 4 PM. Why I needed to wait over a week to chat with this dude escapes me, but hey, he’s the boss. I spent thanksgiving without worrying about working, so it all worked out ok. Anyway, I speak to my fabulous husband and ask him if he can please come home early from work to care for the Princess while I go out and have my interview. I dress myself, put on make up and make myself presentable for a job interview. I leave my house in plenty of time and trek on over to the high brow restaurant. I present myself at the hostess stand and tell the nice lady that I have a 4:00 appointment to see Zach. It is about 3 minutes of. So there I am, on time, feeling pretty, and employable. I am told to have a seat and she will get Zach. I sit. I wait. About 8 minutes later, a nice man in a nice suit approaches me. He says hello, sans accent. It strikes me that this is NOT Zach. I return the greeting. A brief conversation ensues in which I am told that Zach is not in today. (WHAT!?!?!) He had a last minute schedule change and had to work last night. The nice man then tells me that *he* could interview me, but since Zach has been doing all the wait-staff hiring, he doesn’t even know if they need anyone. The unspoken “so what would be the point anyway” was well taken. (Sounds like there is very effective communication going on between management here, no?) Could I come back tomorrow? Well, sure! Having my husband leave early from the job that pays our freaking mortgage each month, upending my daughter’s schedule and driving over during rush hour is not a problem in the least. For fuck’s sake! Of course, I was smiling and incredibly polite and un-put-out by this whole situation. I left with instructions to call Zach after noon tomorrow. Well for God’s sake, don’t you think Zach could’ve fucking called me before I schlepped all the way over here? In various “real jobs”, I was a store security manager, a district security manager, a regional manager and a regional director. I interviewed and hired people for more than 10 years. I can honestly say that I never stood anyone up for an interview. How difficult was that? What the fucking fuck?!?!