Chapter 41
Hell Hath No Fury

I have this one manager at work, who I will call Gus-Gus, because he kind of reminds me of Gus Gus from Cinderella. This manager, how do I describe him? He’s thirty something, probably never had a girlfriend, he’s got something wrong with him (honestly, but I don’t know what it is), and he’s pissing me off. I have never really gotten along with Gus-Gus, but I have tried, not because I am a kiss-up but because I try to be nice to people’s faces (thank goodness for this little do-dad so that I can vent). He’s one of those conversationalists that leaves you feeling uncomfortable if you know what I mean, and he’s also one of those people that I would prefer to never touch me. So now that I have described him a bit I need to give you background so you’ll understand the situation. Otherwise, going into a full on vent won’t mean much. So a couple of chapters earlier I mentioned Maps and how we had our list of demands. The manager that was mentioned then was Gus-Gus. I didn’t give him a name at the time because I didn’t think he would be back in here long enough to need one. Anyway, that should pretty much set things up for my vent.
So yesterday when I was at work I had a customer who wanted to get $10 in quarters back with her change, and since we usually only have $10 in quarters or less at the register at any given time I decided to call Andy and get him working on getting the quarters for me before I was finished with the lady’s transaction. I thought it was a pretty smart idea. So I called him and told him I needed quarters. He kind of laughed or something and then he said something about “we’ll see”. I thought he was kidding and assumed he was going to get the quarters but I looked over and he was just standing there like a brainless idiot staring off into space. I finished the transaction with the lady, finally giving her a ten dollar bill and she went to the bank to get quarters, why? Because my manager is a jackass, that’s why! He never got the freaking quarters. He stumbled around in the darkness of his stupidity until it got so busy that he wouldn’t have time to go get the quarters! When Maps had complained earlier I wrote it on the list, but thought it was just something he did to her. Apparently his likes to piss off the more pivotal characters of the workplace. (I don’t call myself a pivotal character because of an oversized ego, it’s just that Maps and I are cashiers who work a mix of nights and mornings, we work hard, and little does he know, we are the leaders of the new workers union). If this were survivor and I had to pick someone to kick out of the store he would be first on my list.
I watched him the rest of the day and wondered what value does he hold for this place? And why in heaven’s name did they make him a manager? He’s not good at it, I could do a better job than him. In fact, I noticed that he’s not good at a lot of things that we need to do at work. He can’t cashier worth crap, and he doesn’t bag! He walks right by a register as though we weren’t slammed and in desperate need of every person bagging and he goes and colors! He really does color, he has the manager card which tells him everyone is working and has when their breaks should be and he colors through the people who have already left. He is my superior? I don’t think so, he does less work than the rock stuck in my shoe, he gets paid to do nothing! I don’t feel sorry for him because of whatever is wrong with his him (I told you something honestly was, some physical impairment). I think someone feeling sorry for him is the only reason he is a manager, and sometimes I wonder if he is really even a manager. I mean on the books, is he really a manager or just some guy that they gave a little raise to, a white button up shirt instead of the polo I wear, and let’s have the card. He doesn’t do anything I couldn’t do if they just gave me a stupid card to swipe when the register is being an ass and won’t let me do my work. You just hit a button and swipe the card, I learned that my first week as a cashier.
So the rest of the day was spent thinking how I could get him fired, or at least transferred or demoted. For a while I thought I had enough influence to do so, but I gave myself a humility check and reminded myself that I am not as great and superior as I have been led to believe. However, while writing this though I realized that I could be a manager easy. Maybe it’s time to see if I can be promoted or something, what do I have to lose? The great guidance of Gus-Gus? Being treated like I don’t know anything about being a cashier (even though I have done it for at least 6 years at three different stores)? It’s either that or call in a favor and have Gus-Gus removed…permanently.