Monday, May 31, 2010
Don't be my Juggernaut
I feel this anguish. This growing pain, like a black hole slowing sucking part of me away, the part of me I want to keep most. You have made your way into a place in me that no one should ever occupy. You have no right for what you have done. Every part of my being wants to hurt you even an inch of what you have hurt me, but nothing I do will allow that to happen. I think I'm giving up. I will never be able to tell you how I feel, because you are as thick as granite. Maybe all I can do is move on. Maybe this will never change. Maybe you will always be there, and if I want my life the way it is, maybe all I can do is forget. Forget what you've done, and move on, no matter how hard it is, and how I can never make you leave my mind. I want to be happy for what life I have left, and I don't want you to prevent that. I'll probably never be able to tell you this or tell you what I really feel about you, but that's probably for the best. Your life is shitty enough, you don't need me to remind you. But I have to thank you for one thing. Every time I think of you, I realize how good I have it and what a good person I am. You make me appreciate that I got the better end. I think that's why you won't ever leave me be. I took what you thought could make your life work. No, I never took it. You gave it up. I saw the beauty in what you threw away, and my life has never been better, despite your attempts to destroy that. And now I'm crying tears of happiness instead of hatred, because I know that in the end, I win this stupid game. You will be miserable for what you have done to everyone around you, and knowing that can help me move on.
Monday, May 24, 2010
The Times Are A'Changing
It's official. For the first time in three years, I am no longer a Goodwill Girl. I quit Goodwill recently because of being mistreated by upper-management and many other reasons. Here is a short list of Reason I Left Goodwill:
1. Changes were made in the store without consulting employees, which lead to the need to schedule all employees to work three weekends in a row consistently. My family and boyfriend live two hours away. I can't deal with that.
2. The same changes made working hell. All of the work that used to be accomplished in a full day now has to be done by 5 pm, 4 hours before the store closes. We also now have to put out merchandise on weekends, which we never had to do before.
3. Due to these changes, they hired new people to price what is put out, but not hire new people to actually put it out. This left the in-store employees doing more work, and the new hires do a terrible job, which we have to make up for.
4. More rediculous changes were being made at a moments notice which were not thought through and made the job WAY harder than necessary.
5. I am sick of being disrespected and treated like I don't matter. By customers, bosses, other employees, and corporate management. I have been working in thrift retail for three years, doing the same jobs I do here to higher standards and being told I was amazing at what I did until I came here. I am treated like a peon in a dictatorship where I have no say.
I have to put up with things normal retail employees would never have to, like people changing price tags, expecting me, a 130 lb girl, to load a couch into their car on my own, and treating me like I'm worth less than them because I work at a second-hand store. I deal with things they probably do have to deal with, like employees standing around, doing nothing, while I am left to do the work, bosses yelling at me for doing the same things they do, and being told that I work on the "easy" shift, even though I work all different kinds of shifts. The difference is, I have no way to change those things because no one cares about the employees, only about making money. Goodwill is supposed to be about helping people and the community and keeping the earth clean from unnecessary waste. Instead, they focus on making money for the bosses and cutting corners wherever they can. One example of a small thing that I will never understand is that in the break room, there were 4 different trash cans for sorting trash from recyclable glass, plastic, and aluminum, but at the end of every night, everything went into the compactor. I asked about this, and there excuse was that the city of Madison wouldn't let them recycle it. So if we can't even recycle like a normal household, what happens to all of the things that are donated but are unsellable? Do those go straight into the compactor? Yep, pretty much. I find this so wrong and hypocritical.
I chose to leave this for a lower paying job after a lot of thought. I was sick of being treated badly with no say in my workplace. It was worth losing all of the stress and the extra money to go to a place where I am appreciated and helping the employees and the community is more of a focus than making money. Savers is a for-profit thrift-retail store, by definition, but they give a lot to not-for-profit organizations. The Savers I am now working at gives 10% of its profits to Easter Seals, an organization that helps the community and handicapped people. I don't know much about them yet, but I am proud of how much the store's giving is emphasized all over the store. Everyone time you call the store, the employee that answers the phone reminds you of the store's contributions. Not only do they do that, but there are photos posted all over the office showing where the clothing and goods that do not sell are sold to other countries to benefit less fortunate people. In my interview, I knew already that this environment would make me much happier. My store manager used to work for Goodwill, and she told me she used to be so incredibly stressed working there and that she knew what I was feeling, and when she started working for Savers, she gained probably 40 lbs back, and she still weighs less than I do.
I love Goodwill and always will. They are my roots and my family and a great organization, but I needed a change, for my own well being. I will miss all of the people I worked with, except a few. I hope that those of them who feel the same why about the company that I do will find a better place to fit their lives. I will never forget working there, and they will never know how hard it was for me to leave. I'm sad writing this now. Goodwill is my family, and like every family, I will always love them, but I can't be with them every day anymore. I am growing up and moving on.
The final thing about this is that this will no longer be the Goodwill Diaries, but in exchange, the Savers Journal. I'm sure I will hear plenty of good Goodwill stories to share for the rest of my life, but they won't come from me anymore.
To start it out, I had my first day at Savers today, and in the training videos, they re-wrote the song Be Our Guest from Beauty and the Beast to fit Savers. I sat there and laughed through the whole thing. The also used Simon and Garfunkel's Diamonds on the Soles of her Shoes in another video, which also made me laugh. While I was in the office, an employee walked past singing with her ghetto accent and I loved it. I know I will enjoy this job.
1. Changes were made in the store without consulting employees, which lead to the need to schedule all employees to work three weekends in a row consistently. My family and boyfriend live two hours away. I can't deal with that.
2. The same changes made working hell. All of the work that used to be accomplished in a full day now has to be done by 5 pm, 4 hours before the store closes. We also now have to put out merchandise on weekends, which we never had to do before.
3. Due to these changes, they hired new people to price what is put out, but not hire new people to actually put it out. This left the in-store employees doing more work, and the new hires do a terrible job, which we have to make up for.
4. More rediculous changes were being made at a moments notice which were not thought through and made the job WAY harder than necessary.
5. I am sick of being disrespected and treated like I don't matter. By customers, bosses, other employees, and corporate management. I have been working in thrift retail for three years, doing the same jobs I do here to higher standards and being told I was amazing at what I did until I came here. I am treated like a peon in a dictatorship where I have no say.
I have to put up with things normal retail employees would never have to, like people changing price tags, expecting me, a 130 lb girl, to load a couch into their car on my own, and treating me like I'm worth less than them because I work at a second-hand store. I deal with things they probably do have to deal with, like employees standing around, doing nothing, while I am left to do the work, bosses yelling at me for doing the same things they do, and being told that I work on the "easy" shift, even though I work all different kinds of shifts. The difference is, I have no way to change those things because no one cares about the employees, only about making money. Goodwill is supposed to be about helping people and the community and keeping the earth clean from unnecessary waste. Instead, they focus on making money for the bosses and cutting corners wherever they can. One example of a small thing that I will never understand is that in the break room, there were 4 different trash cans for sorting trash from recyclable glass, plastic, and aluminum, but at the end of every night, everything went into the compactor. I asked about this, and there excuse was that the city of Madison wouldn't let them recycle it. So if we can't even recycle like a normal household, what happens to all of the things that are donated but are unsellable? Do those go straight into the compactor? Yep, pretty much. I find this so wrong and hypocritical.
I chose to leave this for a lower paying job after a lot of thought. I was sick of being treated badly with no say in my workplace. It was worth losing all of the stress and the extra money to go to a place where I am appreciated and helping the employees and the community is more of a focus than making money. Savers is a for-profit thrift-retail store, by definition, but they give a lot to not-for-profit organizations. The Savers I am now working at gives 10% of its profits to Easter Seals, an organization that helps the community and handicapped people. I don't know much about them yet, but I am proud of how much the store's giving is emphasized all over the store. Everyone time you call the store, the employee that answers the phone reminds you of the store's contributions. Not only do they do that, but there are photos posted all over the office showing where the clothing and goods that do not sell are sold to other countries to benefit less fortunate people. In my interview, I knew already that this environment would make me much happier. My store manager used to work for Goodwill, and she told me she used to be so incredibly stressed working there and that she knew what I was feeling, and when she started working for Savers, she gained probably 40 lbs back, and she still weighs less than I do.
I love Goodwill and always will. They are my roots and my family and a great organization, but I needed a change, for my own well being. I will miss all of the people I worked with, except a few. I hope that those of them who feel the same why about the company that I do will find a better place to fit their lives. I will never forget working there, and they will never know how hard it was for me to leave. I'm sad writing this now. Goodwill is my family, and like every family, I will always love them, but I can't be with them every day anymore. I am growing up and moving on.
The final thing about this is that this will no longer be the Goodwill Diaries, but in exchange, the Savers Journal. I'm sure I will hear plenty of good Goodwill stories to share for the rest of my life, but they won't come from me anymore.
To start it out, I had my first day at Savers today, and in the training videos, they re-wrote the song Be Our Guest from Beauty and the Beast to fit Savers. I sat there and laughed through the whole thing. The also used Simon and Garfunkel's Diamonds on the Soles of her Shoes in another video, which also made me laugh. While I was in the office, an employee walked past singing with her ghetto accent and I loved it. I know I will enjoy this job.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)