Power Trip

Power trips and relationships of power will always be the main lifeblood of running a business, I suppose.

At most places, time equals to seniority in status, which makes sense; being at Cotton On for almost two years, I've seen pretty much all there is to see, though I wouldn't be surprised if the crazies got a whole lot crazier. I've been working at my store in particular for longer than most other casuals in the store, but I haven't been officially trained in cashing up or opening the store, even though I know how. Just last Sunday, I opened with a new casual, who'd been working for 2 months - and he opened. He didn't know what he was doing half the time, he was nervous, and he kept screwing up. I could've been bitter and just been an all-round bitch to him but I decided to play nice and help him out, rack up as much as I could, etc. All in all, it felt odd. He didn't seem too comfortable in the shoes of the person running the shift. I ended up stepping up for him, and it still felt odd. I worried - was I stepping on his toes too much? Did he feel inadequate and insulted now? Is he gonna bitch to Bill, the new manager? But he was too all over the place and I had no choice. I still feel kind of shitty about it.


As for working at GJ's - although I'm being trained to be shift supervisor, I'm somewhat apprehensive. I'm the newest staff member right now, and I'd feel so odd allocating tasks to people who've been around for longer than me - once again, that feeling of 'seniority'. Why should I, the newbie, overtake their climb up the totem pole? Obviously they have no intention to stick around forever - neither do I, for that matter - but that would still sting a little. But what can I do? Time does equal to some sort of seniority, I guess, but so does the position and the way you are trained. The shit part about all this is that the person who's been here longest will always feel mildly offended about a newbie overtaking them whether they like to admit it, and it'll create bumps in the future. I can just feel it.

Speaking of power trips, the boss' wife, L, always wields her power like a rusty sword the moment J steps out. It's annoying, but then I see how wearing it is to be J's wife and I understand. Sometimes I want to club her over the head with a 2L bottle of milk, but that's a punishment I'll reserve for my customers.


In lighter news, I got the lead role in the short film I mentioned two posts back. I am a happy chappy.