Retail Hell - The Management Game

[darkhavens]

I don't mention RL stuff here that often, but I feel a need to vent, so brace yourselves.

For those who don't know, I live in a tiny ancient town (first settled 500BC) on the edge of Dartmoor in England - Hound of the Baskervilles country. I work in one of the two small grocery stores in town. I have worked there for 7.5 years, mainly because it's 2 minutes walk from my home and I don't drive so employment opportunities are limited.

In those 7.5 years I have had 6 'permanent' managers and have lost count of the temporary trolls who have passed through. I was hoping that the latest one, Simon, would be here for a while. He has a family, a mortgage, is stable, cheerful, honest, a good worker, etc etc.

He also had a hernia, which was operated on during the last week of July, and has been recovering ever since. He was due back next week.

Today I get in to work to find a sign on the notice board - Simon is no longer the manager. The position will be advertised in the press and until then, we are to struggle on as we have been doing for the past weeks. That is to say badly. Note the complete lack of explanation as to why Simon is no longer manager.

I hate breaking in new managers. They screw up the ordering, try to mess with my shifts, and always come up with 'new' ideas that I've already seen fail over and over again.

So, here's waiting for manager #7 to show up. This one has to be a keeper, right?

Comments

[anyasbuttmonkey.livejournal.com]

I detect a note of cynicism in your post. Are you suggesting this seventh manager won't be the in it for the long haul?

How comes you ain't the boss already? Come to think of it, if the town isn't that small, how comes you ain't mayor?! You could totally rule those small-town communities. Eventually, you could spread your wing over the whole of the south west... eventually the entire south coast. Then you'd have the manpower to take on the fascists in Westminster...

Just a thought.

[darkhavens.livejournal.com]

I detect a note of cynicism in your post. Are you suggesting this seventh manager won't be the in it for the long haul?

Me? Cynical? Perish the thought!

Every time we lose a manager customers keep saying I should take the job on - I've been here long enough to know what to do. And I could probably do it too, but having seen how Gilletts treat their management, I wouldn't take it on for twice the money. Plus, looking at the average 'life span' of a manager here, I'd be unemployed inside a year. :/

The Town Hall is directly opposite my living room windows, so I could practically roll out of bed and stage a coup, if I had the energy or the inclination. But once I have control of a bunch of pig and cow and sheep farmers, what do I do with them?

First order of business would be to electronically tag all the teenagers in town and put them under curfew. Evil little scrotes. That move alone would probably get me elected to Parliament and then there'd be no stopping me! :D

[anyasbuttmonkey.livejournal.com]

Well, Teh Blair is resigning, allegedly... as long as you don't mind being associated with "New" Labour, there's your in right there!

[darkhavens.livejournal.com]

Ah, but if I was going for the image Blair has apparently adopted, I'd have to be campaigning on a 'tag the little bastards in the womb!' platform. :D

[anyasbuttmonkey.livejournal.com]

You say that like it's a bad thing. Curious.

;)