By Jessica
Miller
I am a
glorified adult babysitter. Being a manager of a business, you deal with phone
calls even after you leave for the day. I receive phone calls about employee no
shows and conflicts, computer issues, catering orders, and even from the store
owner, my boss.
When an
employee doesn’t show up, I am the first person who receives the phone call
that they didn’t show up. I then attempt to reach the employee who didn’t show
up to find out if they are just running later or if they quit. I had an
employee named “Sam.” He thought it would be a good idea to show up to work
drunk. He was so drunk he couldn’t hardly talk because his speech was so
slurred; he was unable to stay balanced while standing, and also smelled like a
skunked can of beer. When I told him he needed to leave, he proceeded to say, “You’re
nothing but a fat dumb bitch and you need to go fuck yourself.” I then told him
a second time to leave and he continued to scream and yell until finally after
the third time I told him, “Either you leave or I will call the cops and have
you escorted off my property.” Needless to say, he left. If they are running late, I inform them they
need to hurry up and get to work. If they quit, I, then have to make more phone
calls to find someone to work. If I can’t find someone to cover the shift I
then have to go to work. I also receive calls about petty feuds that my
employees have between each other. I then get to play therapist and try to help
resolve the issue so they can go about the rest of their shift. I had an employee named “Rich,” who was so
distraught because he was labeled the “store snitch” because he came in and
talked to me about “Vince,” his co-worker not doing his job. When I confronted Vince about it, he knew immediately
who said something and went to Rich. Rich ended up quitting because I talked to
Vince about not doing his job just like Rich asked me to do. The worst part of
this is that my employees are all grown adults.
As a
manager, you also have to deal with technological problems. When our POS (point
of sales) system goes down, we trouble shoot what could be wrong over the
phone. The problem could be something as simple as changing the receipt paper
to being as complex as the programming and internet having an error. One of the
biggest technology problems I have experienced was when our computer system
went down on “National Sandwich Day.” We lost thousands of dollars in sales
that day all because of the internet being overloaded and there was nothing
that I could do about it. So I had a lot of upset customers when we couldn’t
take any credit cards. We are usually able to fix the problem but there are
those instances when we have to contact Technology Support to get the problem
fixed. Other minor issues I have to deal with are cash or bread shortages in
the computer or how to void a transaction because someone rang up the wrong
sandwich, or hit cash instead of credit card. Most technology problems are just
minor ones.
Every now
and again I have to explain how to complete a catering order. I walk them
through the process step by step. They have to ask for personal information
along with date and time pick up for the order. They have to find out what kind
of bread, meat, cheese, vegetables, and sauces they want. However, our catering
is not limited to just party subs. We offer sandwich platters, cookie platters,
lunch boxes and meat and cheese trays. We can accommodate any size group that
you need to feed. I truly enjoy making the giant party subs. It is a very
relaxing task to do because I get to braid the bread and make something as
plain as a loaf of bread into an astonishing braid. The biggest party sub I
have ever made was 27 feet long. “Marissa,” my assistant manager, and I braided
all the bread for that order and it took us over 2 hours to braid all the bread
for that catering order. Generally it would only take a few minutes to make a
small 3 footer. It is very time consuming but also very awesome to see what
exactly I am capable of.
Last but
certainly not least, I receive calls from my boss “Mitch,” the store owner. Our
conversations range from finances to store maintenance and repairs. Our
financial conversations are usually about employee raises, store profit and weekly
and daily sales. One such recent conversation was about my closer “Debbie.” Debbie
always worries about if she is doing a good enough job or if she is going to
lose her job to a new hire. I reassure her almost every day that she does an
outstanding job and that her job is not in jeopardy, but she still worries. So
one night, while Debbie was working her normal closing shift, Mitch, our owner
called Debbie at the store and told her what a phenomenal job she was doing and
to keep up the good work. So because of her outstanding job performance, she
received a raise. The maintenance conversations we have are usually about how
to improve the appearance and functionality of the store. An improvement we
currently have been looking into is putting an outside dining area for our
customers for during the summer and more parking space. Our recent repair was
the cooling system to our bain. The bain is our sandwich unit where the meats,
cheeses, vegetables and condiments are kept for the customers. Although it seems
like a lot, my boss and I don’t have lengthy conversations all the time; just
when it comes to serious issues. The most serious issue I can remember having
is I went in to go to the bathroom and oh my goodness it was absolutely
disgusting. I was literally wading in human feces and urine because of the city
pipes backing up. After the city got the pipe replaced and everything settled
down I had to go outside into my parking lot and clean up nasty used tampons
that had helped plug up the sewer line. I also found straws, paper towels, and
a pocket knife. It was by far the most disgusting thing I have ever had to do
as a manager.
My job as a
manager at Subway is not all about phone calls and other job related functions.
However, I do spend a lot of my personal time on the phone with work related
issues.
