D's Pizza Delivery

And by fish, I mean bullshit, and by thanks I mean fuck you.

Yesterday, August 10th 2007 marks my last day at Napoli's. Here's what happened, including what led up to it:

Some time in 2006 I was "promoted" (sans pay raise) to Delivery Manager, a previously nonexistent position created just for me. With that great power came some great responsibility, including the creation of the schedule for all Napoli's drivers. I was always fair when making the schedule, giving those who needed the money most more hours than those who didn't need it quite as much (ie: the high schoolers who were still living at their parents' home). All of the drivers, so far as I understand, respected the schedules I put up every few weeks or so and there were few issues regarding who was working when. Stick with me; that's all pertinent to my story.

About a month ago I picked up a second job working overnights at a particular big name toy store with a giraffe mascot whose actual name, for whatever use or purpose, I'm not allowed to mention here: a silly rule that I learned at orientation, but a rule nonetheless. I had to make changes in the drivers' schedule, but there seemed to be no problems since everyone was available, for the most part, at all times during the summer.

Fast forward to one week and one day ago, Friday the 3rd of August. I gave Napoli's my two weeks' notice because school starts for many of their employees on August 27th and many people, including a couple drivers, are leaving to pursue other goals. I realized that this would cause a lot of grief with scheduling drivers since I needed to be sure I was out by 9:00 every night so I could get to my second job on time and, after school started, not many people would be willing or able to close on weekdays at Napoli's so I would have to start closing during the week. Unfortunately with my new job, where I'm working at 10:00 every Tuesday through Saturday night, that would be impossible for me. So, being the good dedicated employee I am, I decided to jump ship too.

The reason I gave Napoli's, albeit true though not necessarily my actual reason, is that Grammatically Incorrect Toy Store was going to start offering me nine dollars an hour for forty hours a week. My last day at Napoli's was to be Friday, August 17th. A couple days later at Napoli's, Certain Un-Named Tyee, whose name I will not be mentioning by choice because I'm afraid I might either spell it wrong or accidentally type a vulgar dirty word instead, told me that, by the way, I'm going to be running the cash register during the remainder of my two weeks at Napoli's instead of taking deliveries. Without thinking I said "Sure, okay," and that was the end of the conversation. Later, when I wasn't quite so tired and in a more sound state of mind, I realized that even at the $9/hour Certain Un-Named Tyee offered to run the register, I'd still be making much less than I do as a driver. On top of that, the realization hit me that she had gone over my head and written her own schedule for the drivers, undermining my manager status and, in a metaphorical way, slapping me hard across the face with a bold Fuck you, D.

So now we come to last night, my first night to run the register and not drive. I showed up at the time I had scheduled myself for on the schedule I wrote, which was 4:45. Before I even went in, I called Certain Un-Named Tyee's husband at Napoli's (he kind of co-runs it with her) and explained to him that I did not want to spend my last week doing a job that was not the job I was hired to do. I explained that I would much rather run deliveries instead of the register. So when I showed up last night, I told him I needed my $20 "bank" in order to start taking deliveries. The following conversation ensued:

Him: Why?
Me: So I can take the next delivery. I was here before Eric and there's one coming up.
Him: You're not taking deliveries tonight.
Me: I already told you, I don't want to do the register. It's not my job. Anyway, you seem to have the register handling under control.

So Certain Un-Named Tyee's husband then called Certain Un-Named Tyee, who was not actually going in to work last night. After a brief conversation with her on the phone, he gave the phone to me. She and I had the following conversation:

Me: Heeello?
Her: What are you doing? I told you to come in at 6:00 to work the register.
Me: But the schedule on the wall (mine) has me coming in at 4:45. Anyway, I think I'd rather take deliveries tonight.
Her: Well, we've already got three drivers coming in.
Me: Then I guess I'll leave.
Her: Are you coming back, or do you mean for good?
Me: You still want me to run the register all next week, right?
Her: Yes.
Me: Then it's for good.

And then I hung up. And then I told Certain Un-Named Tyee's husband that I'll be coming by Sunday for my last check. And then I walked out. And that's the end of my story.

It is not, however, the end of this note. I thought I should point out just a few of the things that ultimately led to my quick departure. I'll try to stick only to the ones that really had an effect:

First, Certain Un-Named Tyee has always been a so-and-so to pretty much all of the employees at Napoli's for pretty much their entire tenures with the business. From what I understand, this little characteristic of hers has driven many an employee to quit. Some with warning, but most without. Sure, they'd give their reasons for leaving, but conversations between them and me afterward suggested it was her attitude that really drove them off. To be entirely honest, as long as she and I were working together in the same store, I was rarely in a good mood (despite my joyous composure) and it was most often because of her.

My second reason for leaving is that it took over three goddamn years of dedicated service before they gave me a raise. Yes, by the way, they did give me a raise to seven dollars an hour, but threatened me with my job if I told anyone. I'm not even joking about that last part. But really. Three years. Even then, it took several months of me asking, then pleading, then threatening to leave before they even considered it. That goes to show how much my three years there were valued. Oh, right, and did I mention the raise-free promotion? I think you get it.

My third, and most important reason, kind of ties in with my first reason. When I had been with Napoli's for a few months, Holly was in dire need of a job and I happened to mention it one night at work, so I was told to have her come in and, possibly, start working there. She did go in and she was hired. However, she received absolutely no training despite that it was her first job waiting tables, and if she made a mistake it didn't matter how minute it was; bosses/managers would chastise her, were rude to her, and would literally insult her in front of customers. The worst offender in these cases was, you guessed it, Certain Un-Named Tyee. Eventually her rudeness drove Holly to quit. Certain Un-Named Tyee insulted my fiancee, in front of customers and then, I suppose, thought I wouldn't hear about it or would be fine with it if Holly did happen to mention it to me one day. Well, after a prolonged three-year feigning of friendliness I can finally say no, I was not fine with it. I am not fine with it. I was never fine with it. Certain Un-Named Tyee was never forgiven, nor will she ever be.

So that's how life at Napoli's was like. In case anyone who reads this just so happened to be considering seeking employment there, I really hope you think twice and, if necessary, read this long and tedious note over a second time.

That all said, this note is finally over.

So long, and fuck you for all the bullshit.

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I wrote this as a Facebook "note" Saturday, August 11th.

# posted by D @ 2:43 AM 0 comments