We are now at 2011, where I had finally found a job at the Kroger Company. It was very convenient for me, as it was only a five minute walk from where me and mom were staying at. The job was simple and to the point: Bag, clean, pull carts, restock. Monkeys could do it. Now this is where my misanthropy and surliness developed fully and here, there was genuine reason. Let's make a list of the causes of it.
-Customers. The customer is always right? No. The customer is supposedly responsible for my check? Also no. The customer's purpose is to buy the products the store has to offer. They do not actually cause your check to become what it is when you get it. Your hours are what decides the check's value. Proof of this, I was always helpful and wanted to help the customer out. There were genuine people who needed help. I was happy to lend a hand. Now, with all of the people I helped, all the people who made my check possible, you would think on a busy day, all that assisting would pay off literally, right?
WRONG. Your check is based on the hours you spent clocked in and alternatively, if you're buddy-buddy with the higher ups. Customers only serve as a reason to buy the store's products or to make a would-be smooth day tedious. I got my share of really shitty customers whom found one thing wrong or off and that would be my ass. Be it waiting in a long line or if I didn't smile or say hello(Not that they'd respond anyway). There's a nice little review list we got that customers would post their comments on. Let me just say some of them were hilarious and not in a good way. And in terms of who we got as customers, if they weren't the unpleasable types, they were the EBT users. And I despise EBT with a passion. What was meant to help people in times of poverty is now an abused source of food and a net to trap the users in so they can never get off it. Why is it that the majority of people who used this system used it to buy junk food and things that they don't need? And it's not a usual order, this is three carts of groceries that I'm bagging. What the hell is going on? The only things you can't buy are hot food and non-food items. You can buy soda, candy, chips, cookies and a wide array of meat and seafood all in one order. And what really gets me is the line where people say, "I wish I could get a job. You're truly blessed!"
How in the flying fuck am I blessed to have a job where I make a little over a hundred dollars a week and have to ration that money from rent to necessities?! These same people who are buying steaks and shrimp are telling me I'm blessed to have a job where I can't leisurely buy those things like they can. Even if I saved up enough for a month's time, it still wasn't enough to buy what they can seamlessly over a month. And considering how everyone knows someone and everyone is having kids and whatnot, those cards are not scarce. WIC, I have no problems over because you have no say in what you can get from those slips. One customer wanted big lima beans and she couldn't. So the customer is always right? No. Never. They don't do a damn thing for your check. Don't be scared to tell one off. You're a person like they are. If they think they can use that line to their advantage, they're wrong. And the CEO's are pansies for bending down so quickly. This goes for old people who don't have an ID for their cheap wine. You being eighty is an accomplishment, but you still need ID. Sorry. You fought for my rights(What rights? The ones my group were and still are denied to this day???) to do what I do? You also fought for the rights and laws we have in effect today. I don't care how old you are, respect is earned, not inherited. I didn't smile or feel the need to after over a year of working. I was pissed off and stressed. This is what adulthood felt like. It was a reality of what people truly are. And that goes into my next point.
-Circles. Social ones to be exact. Now as you know, I didn't have these in my new environment. I was alone. A lone wolf trying to get his scraps. Now I had been there a few months before I caught wind of why social circles dominate skills and trades. I saw that people who were in my position as a Courtesy Clerk were moving up to newer positions. Be it the register or a new department. The pants kicker? I was there longer than they were. Not to undermine or insult them, they were just as competent as I was and damn awesome to boot. But why is it that because they may know a person who works in another department, they got promoted first? This made me question my overall experience and take a better look at things. You think that working hard and being quick and efficient was the key to moving up. Not that I was trying to do this but it'd be a nice way to show your worth and competence, right? Not at all. This is a key aspect of life itself and if you don't know it, you'll know now:
It's not what you know, it's who you know.
And if you don't know the right people, you ain't getting anywhere in life. No one can do it alone, so what can you do if you are alone? Try. And try your absolute hardest. But based on what I went through, your hardest isn't enough. It'll bear some fruit, but you need an orchid's worth and I didn't get that much. I'll dive into the social circle aspect some more next post. And once again, if you don't know, know this.
It's not what you know, it's who you know.
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