SiouzQ.
2-20-12, 8:25pm
I just woke up from a 3 hour nap (obviously I really needed to catch up on sleep) after a day in which not all the stuff I planned got done, as the two government places I needed to go to were closed for President's Day. I'm still a bit groggy and discombobulated but I'll go ahead anyway with the rest of the story.
Jan. 2012: owner decides that since business picked up and we finally sold stuff for X-mas, that means the economy has turned around and things must be getting better going forward. He decides not to close the retail portion of the store. Orders are placed and inventory starts coming in and we actually have stuff to sell and I'm not always turning people away who are looking for particular things.
Feb. 2012: owner has internet guy start posting stuff to facebook page about special events, such as a workshop, a free restring (guitar) special, a Valentines Day /Leap Year Sale. That was last week. Sounds all good but he neglected to tell any of the staff about the details of each of these things, important things such as what items are on sale, how much, etc. I get to work last Thursday, after being off for three days and having noticed on the webpage that we were having this "sale", walked in and there is absolutely no sign of any sort of sale. I ask FM about it and he said owner never told him about the specifics of the sale (I forgot to say earlier that the owner doesn't keep regular hours, is often late when opening the store - a couple of Sundays ago two employees, three teachers and several students had to wait on the cold porch because he was 10 minutes late opening the store. He also often forgets his hearing aids, or glasses and has severe tinnitus). Anyway when owner came in last Thursday and FM asked him about the sale, a big fight ensued and FM, after 8 months of abuse from owner, simply handed his keys back and walked out for good...
Last Thursday& Friday: ...and then there were two (plus a half, as the owner's abilities on the sales floor, except to jaw with customers, are pretty limited and he can't remember anything on the computer so him ringing up stuff is absolutely excruciating for all parties involved.) Me (age 50) and my younger co-worker (I'll call him J, he's 22) are running our asses off trying to deal with customers buying stuff, customers asking questions, phones ringing constantly, customers asking about the status of their repairs, running up and down stairs over and over to get stuff (it is a four story old house) trying to be nice and kind and take in yet more repairs. There are so many repairs that we can't even take them up to the shop because they have no room anymore to store them so we start piling them around the sales floor. During all of this, we are also doing free restrings and consultations on yes, more repairs. At this point the repair shop is about 3 months behind...I ask owner what his plans are and say if he doesn't get a general manager in ASAP we are going to have a major train wreck. He doesn't seem that alarmed (denial?) and says he's got "someone" he's been talking to. I privately don't believe him and think is just more smoke and mirrors actually.
Somehow we get through Thursday and Friday (both days no lunch), head into Saturday and somehow make it through that, all the while taking in more repairs.
Sunday: an exercise is ridiculousness, in which the owner starts bitching to me about a drawer in the cash area that doesn't slide quite right on its track (it actually just started acting up that day) and why didn't I tell him right away and he starts trying to fix it which results in two drawers being emptied of their junk. I am supposed to sort through the junk (meanwhile, customers want to try guitars, buy guitars, get guitars fixed, buy tickets to concerts, get guitars restrung, pay for lessons, get appraisals and he is inside the cabinet unscrewing **** and making me sort through it. I work very hard to maintain a zen-like approach....I find a cardboard box to put the extraneous random junk drawer junk in to be dealt with later. I put box downstairs in the store room with a note that says "Junk Drawer Junk". A little while later he brings box back upstairs and starts to go through it meticulously, asking me about each item of junk drawer junk that has been in the drawer ever since I started there. He acts as if I know why it's been there, who put that junk there, why haven't I taken care of it, where does it go...blah, blah. Meanwhile, J and I are running our asses off, dealing with people who want to talk guitars. At one point I was multitasking so well I had one sale going on one register, talking on the phone, in the process of writing up a repair on another computer and selling a harmonica. Oh yeah, and getting tickets for someone else.
Meanwhile, owner sets cardboard junk box on stool behind me, in which while turning around to go help a customer, I promptly crash into. I almost completely lost it right there but I managed not to. I could go on and on but I think you get the picture...total chaos, pure mayhem...I make it to the end of the day and go straight to the bar for a beer to calm myself down.
Ramifications of all these events: basically, no one wants to work for this guy anymore. None of us can deal with him and the farce of it all and we are at the end of the rope here. My buddy in shipping and receiving got a call last week from his old job that he was laid off 3 years ago and they want him back, so of course he will quit a 10 hour a week job to go back to a salaried position. J might have something else cooking too, so he'll be out of there. I think this is the week where the sh** hits the fan and the owner quite possibly will end up having no one who wants to continue working for him. I'd hate to be the last (wo)man standing and have been tossing and turning about how to deal with these events and how I am going to react. I'm afraid I have already given myself permission to just walk out if I need to, without giving notice. I am struggling with guilt but I know in my heart and head none of this is my fault and or my responsibility to fix. It's just so sad and pathetic to see this crotchety old man doddering around pretending he knows what he is doing and driving everyone away. He had such a good team there the last few years and a great opportunity to preserve his 50 year legacy and transition out with grace if he had agreed to sell it and now, because he couldn't let go, he is literally ruining his own business and reputation by not be able to accept he is mortal.
Ughhhhhhhh....I'm sure there will be more later. Tomorrow I need to get done what I couldn't do today, and hopefully I'll get a decent night's sleep and get myself back on track mentally. I so dread going to work on Wednesday.
Jan. 2012: owner decides that since business picked up and we finally sold stuff for X-mas, that means the economy has turned around and things must be getting better going forward. He decides not to close the retail portion of the store. Orders are placed and inventory starts coming in and we actually have stuff to sell and I'm not always turning people away who are looking for particular things.
Feb. 2012: owner has internet guy start posting stuff to facebook page about special events, such as a workshop, a free restring (guitar) special, a Valentines Day /Leap Year Sale. That was last week. Sounds all good but he neglected to tell any of the staff about the details of each of these things, important things such as what items are on sale, how much, etc. I get to work last Thursday, after being off for three days and having noticed on the webpage that we were having this "sale", walked in and there is absolutely no sign of any sort of sale. I ask FM about it and he said owner never told him about the specifics of the sale (I forgot to say earlier that the owner doesn't keep regular hours, is often late when opening the store - a couple of Sundays ago two employees, three teachers and several students had to wait on the cold porch because he was 10 minutes late opening the store. He also often forgets his hearing aids, or glasses and has severe tinnitus). Anyway when owner came in last Thursday and FM asked him about the sale, a big fight ensued and FM, after 8 months of abuse from owner, simply handed his keys back and walked out for good...
Last Thursday& Friday: ...and then there were two (plus a half, as the owner's abilities on the sales floor, except to jaw with customers, are pretty limited and he can't remember anything on the computer so him ringing up stuff is absolutely excruciating for all parties involved.) Me (age 50) and my younger co-worker (I'll call him J, he's 22) are running our asses off trying to deal with customers buying stuff, customers asking questions, phones ringing constantly, customers asking about the status of their repairs, running up and down stairs over and over to get stuff (it is a four story old house) trying to be nice and kind and take in yet more repairs. There are so many repairs that we can't even take them up to the shop because they have no room anymore to store them so we start piling them around the sales floor. During all of this, we are also doing free restrings and consultations on yes, more repairs. At this point the repair shop is about 3 months behind...I ask owner what his plans are and say if he doesn't get a general manager in ASAP we are going to have a major train wreck. He doesn't seem that alarmed (denial?) and says he's got "someone" he's been talking to. I privately don't believe him and think is just more smoke and mirrors actually.
Somehow we get through Thursday and Friday (both days no lunch), head into Saturday and somehow make it through that, all the while taking in more repairs.
Sunday: an exercise is ridiculousness, in which the owner starts bitching to me about a drawer in the cash area that doesn't slide quite right on its track (it actually just started acting up that day) and why didn't I tell him right away and he starts trying to fix it which results in two drawers being emptied of their junk. I am supposed to sort through the junk (meanwhile, customers want to try guitars, buy guitars, get guitars fixed, buy tickets to concerts, get guitars restrung, pay for lessons, get appraisals and he is inside the cabinet unscrewing **** and making me sort through it. I work very hard to maintain a zen-like approach....I find a cardboard box to put the extraneous random junk drawer junk in to be dealt with later. I put box downstairs in the store room with a note that says "Junk Drawer Junk". A little while later he brings box back upstairs and starts to go through it meticulously, asking me about each item of junk drawer junk that has been in the drawer ever since I started there. He acts as if I know why it's been there, who put that junk there, why haven't I taken care of it, where does it go...blah, blah. Meanwhile, J and I are running our asses off, dealing with people who want to talk guitars. At one point I was multitasking so well I had one sale going on one register, talking on the phone, in the process of writing up a repair on another computer and selling a harmonica. Oh yeah, and getting tickets for someone else.
Meanwhile, owner sets cardboard junk box on stool behind me, in which while turning around to go help a customer, I promptly crash into. I almost completely lost it right there but I managed not to. I could go on and on but I think you get the picture...total chaos, pure mayhem...I make it to the end of the day and go straight to the bar for a beer to calm myself down.
Ramifications of all these events: basically, no one wants to work for this guy anymore. None of us can deal with him and the farce of it all and we are at the end of the rope here. My buddy in shipping and receiving got a call last week from his old job that he was laid off 3 years ago and they want him back, so of course he will quit a 10 hour a week job to go back to a salaried position. J might have something else cooking too, so he'll be out of there. I think this is the week where the sh** hits the fan and the owner quite possibly will end up having no one who wants to continue working for him. I'd hate to be the last (wo)man standing and have been tossing and turning about how to deal with these events and how I am going to react. I'm afraid I have already given myself permission to just walk out if I need to, without giving notice. I am struggling with guilt but I know in my heart and head none of this is my fault and or my responsibility to fix. It's just so sad and pathetic to see this crotchety old man doddering around pretending he knows what he is doing and driving everyone away. He had such a good team there the last few years and a great opportunity to preserve his 50 year legacy and transition out with grace if he had agreed to sell it and now, because he couldn't let go, he is literally ruining his own business and reputation by not be able to accept he is mortal.
Ughhhhhhhh....I'm sure there will be more later. Tomorrow I need to get done what I couldn't do today, and hopefully I'll get a decent night's sleep and get myself back on track mentally. I so dread going to work on Wednesday.