I Am The Night… Shift Worker

(There’s a new manager at the sandwich place where I work, who is also responsible for the timetables. He’s also a sucker for rules and an ass-kisser to his boss, so he is not particularly liked by the floor staff, as he always demands unrealistic new rules and recipes. Because of a loophole regarding my contract, he manages to schedule me for twelve night-shifts in three weeks. I decide to make the best of it, as I need the money. However, once I arrive at my first shift, I am surprised to see said manager waiting for me.)

Manager: “Hi, [My Name], [Coworker] called in sick so I’m filling in for her. You’ve got most experience with night-shifts, so I’ll just follow you. What’s your plan?”

(I’m suspicious and not happy to be thrust into the role of leader without any warning, but decide to give him the benefit of the doubt.)

Me: “Okay, so we have a lot of preparations to do for the morning, some sandwich toppings we need to prepare, we have to prep the dough and juice-bar, and serve any customer that comes in. I want to finish all toppings before our 2 am break, as well as the dough—”

Manager: *interrupting* “No, no, no. We can’t do the dough before the break. It will rise too much and the morning will have no use for it. Let’s do that after the break.”

Me: “After the break, we need to be ready to start the shift. We won’t have time to make the dough then and it will not be ready in time for the morning.”

(He insists we do it his way and I let it slide, hoping it’d be the only issue. Later…)

Me: “[Manager], could you go get ice for the sandwich bar and juice bar? We need to get that done before two.”

Manager: “No, if we do it now, the ice will melt too soon and the morning won’t have enough ice. Let’s do it after the break.”

Me: “Both dough and ice are major tasks, [Manager]. if we do both after the break, we either won’t get it done or we won’t be able to help any customers.”

Manager: “Yeah, yeah. I’m not going to get ice now. I’ll do it later.”

(Since I’m the only one on till, I can’t leave. This goes on all night. Whenever I suggest a task, he argues with me until I give in. He is extremely slow, leaving me not only to pick up after him, but also to help any customer who comes in and check if he did his tasks correctly. We end up staying more than an hour late, even though I have three more nights coming up. The kicker? When I came in to work next night…)

Manager: *yawns* “Wow, I’m really spent. I had no idea night shifts had this much effect on you. Good thing this is my last one.”

(It took a lot not to start shouting at him. Thankfully, I haven’t had any night-shifts with him again.)