Eat Fresh? Eat This!
So, um, I was just fired from my job.
For the past month I have been working at Subway. The environment has been friendly and the pay better than I’m used to. Little did I know this morning that my employment was about to come to an abrupt, confusing end.
I was just about to go downstairs to slip on my shoes and head for the car when the phone rang. It was “Dave”, my boss. Dave and I had built up a bit of a repartee together, and often ribbed one another at work. As his only male employee, I felt Dave had come to sort of enjoy my company, confiding in me on matters he might not have with the younger employees. When he broke the news to me I was aghast.
“(Nervous laughter) Uh, are you joking with me, Dave?”
“No, I’m sorry but I’ve got to let you go. I wanted to do this to your face but I didn’t want you to come all the way to work this morning for nothing.”
“Why?”
Apparently, I’m too slow. “You’ve been working here for about a month now and you’re just not at the level of service you should be at”, Dave explained. “The morning set-up procedures you perform should be finished in about one-third the time that you’re taking to do them. When there are three people in line you should be taking two of the three orders almost simultaneously. I kept you around for a while, hoping you would improve, but you’re just not giving me what I need.”
His complaints didn’t seem altogether unreasonable. I knew that my attention to detail had been slowing me down and that could be remedied. Though he had never encouraged me to take more than one order at once, I was sure that I was up to the challenge. I asked him to give me an additional week to prove my competence. No dice.
“I’m sorry Ross, it’s just no good. I didn’t want to do this but I have to. You shouldn’t feel bad, though. I think you’re a very hard worker. This job just isn’t for everyone.”
This was the killer. Much like McDonalds or Taco Bell, I had always assumed that working at a fast-food restaurant was for everyone. Sure, Subway’s selection is a little bit healthier than those other places, but that’s pretty much what it boils down to. If I can’t hold down a job at fast food restaurant, then what job is for me?
After Subway fired it's only male employee,
the shop was re-named Dave's Sandwich Harem.
The biggest shock of all was that this came out of nowhere. He didn’t even sit me down to let me know I was on thin ice. I’m a very quality-conscious employee, and I had been sure to ask Dave on a weekly basis how I was coming along and what I could do to improve my performance. Two weeks ago he said that I was “a little slow with the morning set-up stuff”, but by the end of last week he told me (without provocation) how much I had improved! I mentioned this to Dave, explaining that I would have appreciated more of a warning, but it was to no avail.
“I know that would have been nice, but it’s just too late now. You can come and pick up your check at the end of the week.”
I thanked him, though I’m not at all sure why, and hung up.
The thing that really burns my Bunsen about all this is that Dave clearly does not hold all of his employees to the same standards of quality. One employee in particular comes to mind. Let’s call her “Gertie”. When Dave bought the Subway from its previous owner seven months ago, Gertie pretty much came with it. To her credit, Gertie is Dave’s right-hand gal and easily the fastest employee in the joint. Sadly, her good qualities end there.
Gertie often comes in late for work and yesterday she didn’t bother to come in at all. Last week she missed a day of work because she had a court date. Apparently she had been charged with marijuana possession. Dave told me yesterday that the night before she closed up without turning off all the lights or turning off the air conditioning. He then went on to imply that she had been high. I couldn’t really tell if he was joking or not.
I don’t see how someone like that can remain employed while my butt’s out on the curb. At any other job, an employee who told her boss she had to miss work because she had been charged with drug possession would be fired. Am I right? But Dave confided in me that he keeps her employed because he doesn’t think she could hold another job. “I just don’t think she could cut it anywhere else”, he concluded.
Well I think it’s great that he doesn’t have the heart to let her go, but does that mean employees like me should be fired instead?
For the past month I have been working at Subway. The environment has been friendly and the pay better than I’m used to. Little did I know this morning that my employment was about to come to an abrupt, confusing end.
I was just about to go downstairs to slip on my shoes and head for the car when the phone rang. It was “Dave”, my boss. Dave and I had built up a bit of a repartee together, and often ribbed one another at work. As his only male employee, I felt Dave had come to sort of enjoy my company, confiding in me on matters he might not have with the younger employees. When he broke the news to me I was aghast.
“(Nervous laughter) Uh, are you joking with me, Dave?”
“No, I’m sorry but I’ve got to let you go. I wanted to do this to your face but I didn’t want you to come all the way to work this morning for nothing.”
“Why?”
Apparently, I’m too slow. “You’ve been working here for about a month now and you’re just not at the level of service you should be at”, Dave explained. “The morning set-up procedures you perform should be finished in about one-third the time that you’re taking to do them. When there are three people in line you should be taking two of the three orders almost simultaneously. I kept you around for a while, hoping you would improve, but you’re just not giving me what I need.”
His complaints didn’t seem altogether unreasonable. I knew that my attention to detail had been slowing me down and that could be remedied. Though he had never encouraged me to take more than one order at once, I was sure that I was up to the challenge. I asked him to give me an additional week to prove my competence. No dice.
“I’m sorry Ross, it’s just no good. I didn’t want to do this but I have to. You shouldn’t feel bad, though. I think you’re a very hard worker. This job just isn’t for everyone.”
This was the killer. Much like McDonalds or Taco Bell, I had always assumed that working at a fast-food restaurant was for everyone. Sure, Subway’s selection is a little bit healthier than those other places, but that’s pretty much what it boils down to. If I can’t hold down a job at fast food restaurant, then what job is for me?
After Subway fired it's only male employee,
the shop was re-named Dave's Sandwich Harem.
The biggest shock of all was that this came out of nowhere. He didn’t even sit me down to let me know I was on thin ice. I’m a very quality-conscious employee, and I had been sure to ask Dave on a weekly basis how I was coming along and what I could do to improve my performance. Two weeks ago he said that I was “a little slow with the morning set-up stuff”, but by the end of last week he told me (without provocation) how much I had improved! I mentioned this to Dave, explaining that I would have appreciated more of a warning, but it was to no avail.
“I know that would have been nice, but it’s just too late now. You can come and pick up your check at the end of the week.”
I thanked him, though I’m not at all sure why, and hung up.
The thing that really burns my Bunsen about all this is that Dave clearly does not hold all of his employees to the same standards of quality. One employee in particular comes to mind. Let’s call her “Gertie”. When Dave bought the Subway from its previous owner seven months ago, Gertie pretty much came with it. To her credit, Gertie is Dave’s right-hand gal and easily the fastest employee in the joint. Sadly, her good qualities end there.
Gertie often comes in late for work and yesterday she didn’t bother to come in at all. Last week she missed a day of work because she had a court date. Apparently she had been charged with marijuana possession. Dave told me yesterday that the night before she closed up without turning off all the lights or turning off the air conditioning. He then went on to imply that she had been high. I couldn’t really tell if he was joking or not.
I don’t see how someone like that can remain employed while my butt’s out on the curb. At any other job, an employee who told her boss she had to miss work because she had been charged with drug possession would be fired. Am I right? But Dave confided in me that he keeps her employed because he doesn’t think she could hold another job. “I just don’t think she could cut it anywhere else”, he concluded.
Well I think it’s great that he doesn’t have the heart to let her go, but does that mean employees like me should be fired instead?