Okay, the job thing . . . the low-paid jobs are among the worse. The low-paid jobs will be judged most harshly, often by co-workers more than a boss. It's like Paul Graham ("Why are Nerds Unpopular") talking about an artificial environment in which people turn to in-fighting. Working at Kroger grocery store as a checker at age 29, teenagers made fun of my voice. I have a nasal voice, so be it. Working at a fast food place, I'm trying to go fast at the register. Touch screen, the 'cash' button right next to the 'credit' button. One day I hit cash by mistake, two days later I made the same mistake. I'm not hiding mistakes. I'm being forthright and open about it. The boss, okay, what am I going to do about it? I felt it that he wanted me to make up for it by paying out of my own money. Just void the sale? I later said to him. He said, well, it's one of our standards. So, he's trying to artificially maximize this standard by doing (potentially) doing the far more serious thing of pressuring employees to dock their own pay. I also remembered the analogy of baseball players. Baseball players are forgiving of physical mistakes, can happen to anyone. Mental mistakes, not so forgiving. Well, hitting 'cash' by mistake because it's right next to credit, that is a physical mistake.
Later, a more experienced employee, in talking with him, there's no need to hit the cash button ever, just hit 10, 20, etc. or type in the amount. Why didn't they tell me this in the first place?!?
Funny thing is, this would never happen in a professional workplace. H&R Block (won't make the bonus, unethical because they don't want you to really inform about bank "cross-collection" although I matter-of-factly did), I can go fast at the computer, most areas you can back up. I was viewed as an asset in the office because I was good at the computer system, although I was also viewed as a little weird. I was viewed I -guess as goody-two shoes about the loan products or overly-scrupulous, co-workers didn't want the rug pulled out from under them wehn they're really looking forward to making the bonus. Hardly any first or second year people get the bonus. But this is very much a case in which I'm not going to give any unsolicited advice, not unless I'm directly asked. And even then I might ask, if I speak frankly, will you hold it against me? Usually, that might be slow, redundant, unnecessary, but not in this case.
25 Feb 2011, 11:10 am
solar panels and no NT's!
