This was originally posted in the Bloggers section on the now-defunct Poopgang forum.
Back then, trivial little things that I couldn’t change about myself didn’t bother me, I just didn’t care as I was brilliant.
Basically running a shop, six months away from a promotion to my very own store, happy with life, happy with work, happy at home, but it all came crashing down. Leaving Game. The long search for a job. I thought I could work anywhere, do anything I put my mind to, I was so confident in my abilities, but I just got rejection after rejection… but it didn’t bother me as I knew I was destined for better.
Eventually, I got a new job, at Poundland. Went into the interview for a Senior Sales position thinking “Yeah, give me three months, I’ll be running the place”. Stupidly, I said in the interview that if I didn’t get the Senior Sales position, I’d gladly take a regular, sales assistant role. Guess what happened? I got the basic role. Undeterred, I thought “Give me six months, I’ll be Assistant Manager, I’ll show them”. After a week or so on the tills, I was moved to the warehouse as the Stock Controller guy. I figured it was a nice step up, but later found out they only moved me there as I was a big strapping lad who could lift the heavy boxes.
So three months up there, being a dogsbody, lifting boxes and processing all the rubbish, I suggested some things to the Management to not only make my life up there easier, but also make running the store easier, like when people bring rubbish up they put it in the machine instead of just dumping it on the floor for me to do and creating a fire hazard, and when they bring half empty boxes of stock up that they put them on the shelves themselves instead of adding to my work of trying to break down the 10 daily pallets of stock…
My suggestions went so well, that they decided I wasn’t needed up there any more! So, after being under-used as a rubbish man I was to go back out onto the shop floor again. Meanwhile, people were being promoted to Senior Sales left right and centre. Old ladies who really have no bloody clue get the nod over me, dumb bimbos that flashed smiles and fluttered their eyelashes at the bosses get the nod over me… One day I stormed into the Office asking “WTF is up with that?”, as in the interview I was promised to be next in line for the position.
The shop was located in the place I used to hang around as a kid, and quite near my old school. Loads of my old schoolmates used to come in, recognise me but not say anything, I used to feel so ashamed to see them with their flash clothes and stuff, looking down at me working on a till in a fucking Pound shop… It was quite demoralising. And time just dragged in there, at Game I was having fun and getting something done, achieving something, but at Poundland I was just staring at the clock, essentially wishing my life away. Then came the staff shortages. I had to come in at 7 to help with the deliveries for two hours, then work on the till for the rest of the day ’til 5, with only an hours break in between. And when you’ve only got two people on the tills when we really needed six people on them… It was an absolute nightmare.
Finally, we got more staff, but by that point my attitude towards the place was less then enthusiastic. Then came the company-wide hour cuts. Having just employed a new batch of people, the store I worked in was hit hard by this. Seeing these fresh-from-school children as better front facing images for the company, my hours were then cut in half, making me feel so fucking useless. They had broken me. From a full of ideas, up and coming management superstar I had been reduced to a part time shop worker.
Eventually, I just went in one day and quit, just like that, telling the Manager to stick her job up her ass and thanks for totally under-using me and my abilities.
Six months later, here I am. Clearly not the same overconfident, super friendly individual I was 2 years ago.
Thanks for letting me know you spotted that.
