I went for lunch downtown, ordered a bagel. The girl behind the food counter was having a little problem spreading the cream cheese when this sacred cow supervisor walks up to her and says: IT SHOULD ONLY TAKE YOU 30 SECONDS TO DO THAT BAGEL! before she disappeared out back. I was unaware these poor underpaid employees have to meet a time quota. Draconian fuckers.
—What Horseshit
This article appears in Aug 20-26, 2009.
I hate to be the devil’s advocate, but 30 seconds sounds pretty reasonable as a bagel spreading time. I doubt that it actually says anywhere in the literature “30 seconds per bagel,” it was just something the supervisor probably thought was a reasonable duration, off the top of her head. Having said that, she sounds like a prick boss.
Well, really, how hard is it to butter bread? You’re spreading topping on a surface, not making a full-course turkey dinner.
Granted, some bosses are jerks however some people hired to do basic jobs don’t have basic skills. If it takes ‘minutes’ to butter bread (when you’re at a bread/butter station) there’s really no excuse for it taking extended periods of time.
I worked at a certain coffee shop. The cream cheese is like bread dough, and it IS difficult to spread. Try it, if you don’t believe me.
And the supervisors there? They expect you to have things done before you even do them. I was once yelled at (yes, YELLED at) for not doing 3 things at once: wait on a customer, make coffee, and clean something. I was supposed to be triplicate of myself. The final straw was one night when we ran out of decaf cause the stupid little bitch STANDING RIGHT THERE was too lazy to make it- I got yelled at for it not being done. I never returned.
it should not have taken her the 2 and a half minutes you were standing there to do it either…
oh yea..I was there….
Good point Rawr. I had a similar experience, scooping ice cream that was hard as rock.
i agree it shouldnt take any more then 30 seconds but she was prob new
i think the point of this was not how long it took her to DO it …..just that the boss was an effing prick for yelling at her in front of customers. That is just plain rude and uncalled for. if she was any kind of boss she would take her aside later on and say something PRIVATELY!
Come on guys, cream cheese can be difficult sometimes.
The only way to teach a guy like that to behave in an acceptable manner, is to recreate the event for him in the way he created it for his subordinate… There is always a higher face on the totem pole…
So if this dipshit MBA has worked his way up to be swing boss at your local favorite corporate swill franchise, then get his name and make a phone call after the fact, to the manager above him, or the owner etc…
Let that individual know what you witnessed was unacceptable, bad corporate image, demeaning treatment, blah blah,,,, and as a result you will no longer be a customer at that place of business…
And then find a better place to get your bagel… Believe me the message will get through… That is the only way these assholes learn…
Have a banana instead! There is no puss it it.
Have a banana instead! There is no puss in it!
ewwwwwwwwww
Yeah well some counter people are just retarded. I went to my consignment store yesterday to see if I had any $$$ to be paid out ($9.60 to be exact) and I asked the lady “Would it be easier if I gave you $.45” Her reply “No”. So instead of getting a $10 bill she give me a handful of change, all because her brain couldn’t handle the effin math (btw, she was in 30’s, not even a teenager).
I doubt this was the first time that employee had been observed lolly-gagging on the job. He/she probably is not a very good employee, and the supervisor’s frustration with him/her finally culminated at that point.
That being said, that supervisor’s an asshole. You should never reprimand an employee in front of customers. It makes everyone look bad.
A power tripping supervisior is a minimum wager’s worst fucking nightmare. Dressing down an employee in front of a customer IS NEVER ACCEPTABLE. Just because you make minimum wage doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t be treated with respect.
Junebug, to some people a simple concept like “Would it be easier if I gave you $.45” Her reply “No”. So instead of getting a $10 bill” the problem runs a little deeper than most would suspect. I’m not saying this is always the case, but it is a recognized dysfunction.
http://www.dyscalculiaforum.com/viewpage.p…
Minimum wage? Expect what you pay for. The supervisor should have her head around this by now or, at the very least, realize she’s not paid to embarrass customers the way she did.
There’s an old saying “You take a lot of shit for a pay cheque” – nice to be in a position where you can tell the boss to take a southbound suck on my northbound arse.
Imagine being the boss for minute wanting to tell her entire staff just that. Incompetence in the workplace affects everybody, customers included, hence this bitch, Basil.
Remind me again; we’re talking about cream cheese on a bagel and not North Korea’s nuclear proliferation?
People seem to be in almighty rush to get everything and immediately and fuck your problems I’m too important to wait.
well, this is interesting. who knew I would end up in the coast bitch section…
just so you know, i was the one making that bagel. while there are awful managers out there, mine is actually usually a very friendly, outgoing person, however it’s a stressful week and she’s been going through a lot recently, and managers are only human, right?
other than that, yes i’ve only been working there for 3 weeks and rarely make the sandwiches etc. (yes, that cream cheese is very solid and toasted bagels aren’t exactly the most durable objects) so yes i was being slow. also, she didn’t yell at me.
just goes to show you all what happens when you assume. OP, i appreciate the sympathy, but it just isn’t needed in this situation.
Case closed.
Thanks for the link, Cranky. When I was working customer service the first time a situation came up as in “here, I’ll give you .15 so I’ll get a ten back” or whatever, I didn’t know what the fuck was going on 😛 I caught on eventually, but the calculations still don’t come too fast.
Hey Cranky,
I worked in fast food retail for 5 years and whenever someone gave me change I was able to do the math….that being said, I am now an accountant so go figure!
I SAY FIRE ALL NON SPREADABLE CREAM CHEESE SPREADER TYPES
I say that we need better cream cheese at this establishment! Managers and employees are not the issue; Creamier cheese!
And firmer bagels!
As someone who works at some busy, downtown coffee-type place, I hate putting cream cheese on bagels. Just for the record. I also hate being yelled at for – usually stupid – crap in front of customers. I mean, are you kidding me? Talk to me in private. Kthx.
That said, everyone’s human. Shrug.
I agree with Frenchie. Yelling at an employee in front of customers is ridiculously unprofessional. That boss should be fired, she knows dick about customer service, or just doesn’t care.