Disconnected

Been a little quiet on the blogging front, I know.

I seem to be going through a somewhat despondent phase.  I should be grateful for having work, but the monotony is getting to me.

It's also become apparent that I'm not the only one.  Quite a few people I've spoken to are contemplating leaving; one has an interview on Monday (good for him!), another looking at going back to college, and a few are job hunting generally.

It would seem that most of us are bored stupid.  There's just nothing stimulating about the job, no incentives, no training opportunities, lack of opportunities to progress.  The only progression available is to go from cashier to assistant till supervisor, then to till supervisor.  From there it's up to management but those opportunities are even more scarce!

See, this is why I'm frustrated.  I hate getting stuck in these 'deadend' jobs that don't lead anywhere!

Over the past few months a handful of people have left for new jobs, and one on maternity leave.  None of these people have been replaced.  So whilst the remaining people are grateful for the extra or extended shifts, it's got to the point where 'weekend staff' are non-existent and quite a few people are stuck doing the same weekend shifts every single week, getting a day off after nine or ten days on the trot - typically during the week ... which sucks if, like me, most of your friends work weekdays so you struggle to see them.

The home/work balance is totally off-kilter for so many of us.  I don't understand why we don't get more weekend staff - get more people in employment, and the rest of us wouldn't be so down about never seeming to have any time for friends and family.

All in all, there's a lot of people feeling down at work right now.  Morale is practically on the floor and I hate to say it, but I don't think the manager has even noticed ...
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Rambling thoughts

It's been just over a year since I found work the Shop of Snob (it's the politest name I could come up with, given the moo who runs it).

I can remember the letter I received regarding the Job Seekers Allowance I was claiming at the time.  I hadn't planned to claim long, it was simply a means of having something to pay my parents to keep a roof over my head while I applied for job after job.  Essentially, it informed me that the JSA wasn't going to be paid to me beyond June.  That was quite gut wrenching at the time.  I already had the leaflet delivery job but that wasn't paying anywhere near enough.  Without the JSA I would have to dig into my hard-earned savings which I didn't want to have to touch.

That same day, I went onto a job website and saw the advert for the Shop of Snob vacancy.  I applied in a hurry.  I was desperate for anything.

So desperate in fact, that I forced myself to ignore the rather unpleasant snooty attitude of Nora.  I turned a blind eye to the dirty glass of water she offered me as I'd politely turned down tea having spied the filthy teaspoons.  I tried not to look too closely at the generally lack of cleanliness off the shop floor (which was kept clean and tidy at all times).

Had I actually seen the state of the toilet ... well, perhaps I would have turned the job down, but as I said, I was desperate.

So many people are grabbing the first opportunity to come along because it means having a job and having an income.  People are applying for just about every job going, hoping to get an interview.

Even if the job isn't what they want.

It's a means to an end.  We need money.  Without it, we can't keep a roof over our head or those of our families.  We can't put food on the table or pay the bills without money.

Given the mess of the economy, it's no wonder that people who do find work aren't happy.  I took that job because I needed one, not because I had some calling to work with expensive jewellery.  I wasn't happy there and during my interview my gut feeling was screaming at me that it wasn't a good choice - but it was a choice I didn't have.

A year on, I'm now over four months in a new job.  It's not one I intend to stay in for too long.  I feel very lucky that I have a job that pays just enough to pay my bills and leave me with some that I can have the occasional night out or buy something without panicking over what's left in my account.

But my frantic job searching has calmed down a great deal.  I'm no longer searching for 'anything' that'll do.  It's much more refined and focused.  I know the ideal area I'd like to work but am prepared to look at a wider area that is a reasonable driving distance away.  (Done the long commute before -never again!)  And my chosen field of work is more narrow.  Before I was applying for any kind of office job and some shop work.  Now, it's restricted.

I'm no longer as stressed out.  Sure it is still a worry trying to find full time employment but at least I know what I'm looking for.  I can be more precise and methodical.

I can target potential employers with more direction and purpose.  I've stocked up on envelopes and stamps to write to some directly should my latest application fail.

I have some hopes but not letting them get too high.  The job is in a perfect location, but they naturally would prefer someone with experience.  Yet a trainee would be considered, so I'm hoping that even if I don't get an interview, that they may consider me should another position arise.

Here's to positive thinking.  If nothing else, it keeps your spirits up!
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Occam's Razor

There are times when I question the level of intelligence of the people in my local area.

Picture the scene:  you are approaching a large shop.  You can see the following things.

• To one side of the building, all of the staff are assembled a fair distance away, a few in fluorescent jackets, one of whom is calling names and ticking them off a list.
• To the other side of the building, a group of 'normal' people, all waiting a fair distance away too. 
• Looking through the massive ground to ceiling windows, you can see that the building is deserted; trolleys and goods are lying abandoned at the tills and in the aisles. Essentially, it looks as if everyone just walked out suddenly, leaving everything behind. 
• The air is filled with a VERY LOUD NOISE.  A noise which is bloody hard to miss or even ignore.

Anyone with an IQ in double figures should be able to hazard a guess as to what this might mean.

Yet, more than a few gormless individuals still managed to walk, apparently blinkered and with cotton wool stuffed in their ears, to the front doors and pull up short, faces screwed up in confusion at the failure of the front doors to slide open for them. 

One or two even retreat and try again.

They turn.  They stare about the immediate vicinity, puzzling over everything they have just walked towards and straight past.

They approach the members of staff and proceed to question why they can't get inside.  Why aren't the staff inside??

Now, I can forgive someone who is deaf or extremely hard of hearing not to have heard the alarm, but even then, unless you're registered blind as well, then how exactly can you look upon this scene and not come to the most obvious answer.  It's Occam's Razor.  Seriously, you don't need to over think this.

So if you are genuinely unable to grasp this very simple premise by what you see before and actually need to ask someone to clarify what the problem is, then you shouldn't be allowed out on your own.  You are a danger to yourself.

I doubt even seeing this would have helped some people!

It turned out to be a false alarm, thankfully.  Though I was appalled to hear that a few customers refused to leave, demanding that the staff remain inside the building to serve them when the fire alarm went off!!  How absurd!!  Senior staff had to waste time actually explaining to them that it was the fire alarm, there was potentially a fire in the building and we HAD to leave the building immediately - such idiots!
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Jab!

Just had my first vaccination for Hep B - one done, two to go!  Next one is in a months time, the last six months after that.

The things you have to do to get a job these days, eh?
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Watching their weight

It's lunch time.  Two women come to my till.

I think it would be fair to say that both these women are quite firmly on the large size of overweight.  They waddle over (not exaggerating, it was a slow laborious waddle for the pair of them) and dump on the counter what is indisputably their lunch:

Multiple chocolate bars.  Six packet of crisps.  Four assorted bottles of fizzy drinks.  Sausage rolls, pork pies and two or three other prepacked meats and cheese snacks ....

And a Weight Watchers sandwich.

*face-palm*
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I don't mean to be rude, but one healthy sandwich amongst the crap isn't going help you!

Appointment

In order to get one up on other applicants, I've just made an appointment to start on my course of vaccinations for Hepatitis B.

It's a requirement of the job considering that it is an environment where you are going to come into contact with blood.

Whilst some employers will pay for you to get it, I personally feel that already having the jabs will make me appear more committed to the career path and make me a more preferable employee against someone who doesn't already have it.

Plus I've started to see adverts pretty much stating that they'd prefer applicants to already have it.

So I get the first jab next Tuesday, then two follow up appointments.  Not certain how long the course takes (I shall check with the nurse when I go next week) but if I can start to include this information in my applications I'm surely going to have a better chance of at least getting to the interview stage.

Not fond of needles - I'd rather be on the other end of them!

Kids = expensive?

A woman came to my till with two children in tow.  Amongst her shopping there were two toys.  Not little trinket toys but large ones. Not cheap to buy on a whim.

I hardly had time to scan the barcodes before the little darlings snatch them both off the counter, rush away and start tearing in the boxes.

The woman heaves a dramatic sigh.

"Oh, children are so expensive!  They want so much!"

Forgive me, but surely they recieved toys in the not too distant past?  It has been maybe two months since Christmas?  What happened to those toys?

Perhaps if some parents learnt to say no then raising their offspring wouldn't be quite as expensive as they make it out to be.

We all know what happened to this spoilt little brat because her parents never said 'no'!

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