Post-Survival update

So this will be the last entry in the long-lasting Survivor: Minimum Wage series. I know that I haven't posted in a while, and that is because I was busy relaxing and doing nothing lately.

To keep things in perspective, today is a Monday. My last shift was on the Friday of the week before the week before last week. 17 (seventeen!!!) days have passed since I worked. Kinda surreal that 17 days have already passed, and my memory about Harvey's are already fading, as well as any thought or focus on Harvey's. That's how lazy I've been in doing blog posts. To be honest, I haven't really been thinking about this anymore since I've been unemployed. Oh well.

So last Friday, I went in and got my last paycheck, as well as my vacation pay. As I was going in, the place was busy as hell, and it did not relent until at least 2:30. Because I went in at 2:00 in the afternoon, I had to basically wait 30 minutes and chat with Hussein, Mamoud, and his friends. They're actually telling me that Troll isn't as bitchy anymore ever since I left? Whaaaaat.

So on that day, I saw Konvikt, Troll, Boss, Mom, Harley, and two new employees. And a shit load of customers. Seriously. Harvey's food is stomach churning, why there are so many people that would eat that crap, I will never understand.

Once the line died down, Paul came up to me and gave me two checks, one for vacation pay and the other for the last four days of my employment. I ended up getting more than I actually expected. Around 100$ more than I expected. Excellent...

So now that I no longer have to go to Harvey's for any reason whatsoever, I will post the nicknames of the co-workers that I gave when I wrote this blog.

Boss - Paul
Troll - Karen
Hobgoblin - Amanda
Stupid Lying Bitch (SLB) - the short Jenn. Fucking hate her.
Skipper - Katie
Konvikt -Mo
Co-op - Ed
Mom - Natalie
Pandora - Neeshee
Colonel - Kevin

Now, I promised to say something good about my time working at Harvey's, but I seriously can't say anything that I will particularly miss. Well, I will miss the camaraderie between me and Ed and Mo, and when I worked nights with the high schoolers and Kevin, I eventually had fun there too.

I know what I won't miss. I definitely won't miss the batshit insanity of Troll, i.e. Karen. I definitely won't miss waking up at fucking 6:30 or 7 AM during weekends to slice tomatos and pickles. I definitely won't miss the shitty attitude of Amanda, whom I heard have apparently quit as well because her boyfriend called off the engagement... probably because he regained sobriety and saw what an fucking bitch her bride to be is, and thus has to move back with her parents in her redneck town (aka Kingston). Add to the feeling that this torture will never end, and Survivor: Minimum Wage was truly an experience I won't want to repeat. Anyways, since these bad things pretty much dominate and stifle over the good parts, I definitely will not be missing this.

When I was working, I thought I would never see the day when I don't have to work there anymore. The goal just seems too far fetched, working at the place seems like it will never end. And traveling to so many places for so long seems too... unreal. I still haven't quite processed what I've done, and what's going to happen in 44 days. A friend of mine said that it will start sinking in once I'm on the plane. Just like I have a hard time thinking about doing the hated job when I'm resting at home, so too is it hard to think about what traveling alone, in so many different environments, will be like. But, I think that, just like work, when I get there, I'll just know what to do.

This is going to be my last post on Survivor: MM. I'm not sure of the future of this blog. I think I will use this blog as a personal blog, and I will have a more serious blog (Survivor: MM has basically destroyed the seriousness of this blog) and have a more serious blog made up in another domain. How frequently I will update this blog is what puts this blog's future in jeopardy. However, I will definitely be posting a lot (whenever I can) in my travel blog at tomsbackpackingblog.blogspot.com.

To all those that I worked with, you guys definitely made my experience there an overall good and educational one, and for that, I thank you all. Except Jen, Amanda, and Karen. Go fuck yourselves. Seriously.

Day 143 - Like being hit by a fucking train

Today was the last day of Survivor: Minimum Wage. I went in slightly tired, because I only slept for around 6.5 hours.

Troll was there today. Great. Not going to leave on a high note then.

The day started pretty normally, and the regulars are all there i.e. me, Co-op, Konvikt, Mom, Hobgoblin, Troll, Pandora, and the Boss, like countless other days. Today is the definition of a typical day. The rush comes in, and we all started to do our thing. Except for the fact that the fucking cunt literally assaulted me.

Basically, I was garnishing some customer's orders. My hand slipped, and a tong dropped on the ground. So I picked it up and put it on an area of the front counter thats well away from the food area, to put in the back later, because there's about a billion customers waiting to have their orders garnished. Right then, the fat fucking bitch literally BODY CHECKED ME and grabbed the tongs and said "don't put dropped tongs on the counter". She violently assaulted me for no fucking reason. I was actually physically shaken by that, like a rape victim, because this was basically a rape. Holy fucking shit. That fat fucking thing was so heavy, when she slammed into me, it was like being hit by a fucking train. Fucking ridiculous. The last thing I ever wanted in this life was to have that fat, noxious, repulsive, wart-faced walking blubber against my body.

The thing that surprised me the most was the audacity of what she did. It was so audacious but so characteristically barbaric and disrespectful that I was shocked and not the least bit surprised at the same time. What a fucking classy act, on the last day of my work too.

For the next 10 minutes of work, I was completely distracted by the thought of what I should do. Maybe yell at her? Maybe threaten her? I thought about saying something like "if you ever fucking touch me again...", but I honestly can't think of a good way to end that sentence. What would my threat be? What is the worst thing I can do to her? Quit? How do I complete this sentence without sounding like a complete fucking retard? Complain to the boss? It's my last day, what would I gain by agitating or upsetting him by telling him what a bitch his loving wife is?

Konvikt and Co-op both said that I should have blew up on her. I guess I should have, I was completely justified in blowing up on her. But, in addition to not having a threat, I can't think of a good opportunity to do blow up on her because there were so many customers waiting to be served, and to be honest, I don't have the nerve to do something like that. The reason is because, honestly, I was afraid of having a 500 pound gorilla assaulting me, seeing as she had no problem slamming her fat vagina on me. Being assaulted by a large round gorilla can cause serious injuries, and I didn't go to my last day of work expecting to leave in a stretcher. In retrospect, I do kind of regret not being able to stand up for myself in this situation. But, I do take a slight comfort in being the better man, and more importantly, not blowing up and upsetting the Boss, who is crazy enough to actually care about this bitch.

Other than that incident, the day passed off normally and peacefully once I calmed down. I did my thing, cleaned tables, filled up the bowls, checked the pop tower (put ice in it), told Pandora that she was fired for the billionth time. When the time came, I said good-bye to the people I liked (Konvikt, Co-op, Pandora, and Mom), shook hands with the Boss, and thanked him for giving me the opportunity. I actually am thankful for this experience and to the Boss for giving me the chance. This is one of the few things in my life that I truly earned without feeling too easy and eventually end up not appreciating and squandering it (like getting into the University of Waterloo, for example), and it taught me some valuable lessons. Lessons like, for example, never to screw up on education ever again; school always takes priority over everything. EVERYTHING. That making money is hard, which I should know, because I was fired from 3 places before settling on this barely doable job. That persevering in the face of a long challenge is worth it, which is some a valuable lesson that I will remember in my time at school. Cause if these lessons weren't learned, I'm going to have to end up repeating these lessons, maybe at a job even shittier and with a more insane boss than this.

This is kind of surreal, actually. I can't believe that all these months that I've been looking at my spreadsheet for travel, that I don't have to go work at that place ever again, that I will (hopefully) never garnish a burger, or asking the customer if he wants a fry or a ring with his combo, that I never will have to slice tomatoes or pickles on that broken down slicer machine. No more constantly glancing at the digital clock on top of the drive through window. No more checking the schedule to see who's working that day, or more importantly, if Troll was working with me or not. All of this, I'm done. It's really a huge change, now I am confronted with LOADS of free time, something I haven't experienced in 7 months. It's like coming back from war or long-term traveling. I still haven't processed mentally these sudden changes, even though I have been looking forward to it for so ridiculously long. It still feels like I have to get to sleep at 11 tonight to get up for my 8 to 2:30 weekend shift. But I don't. I'm done. The reality hasn't sunk in yet.

This will definitely take a while to get used to.

I was going to write some closing thoughts about my time working there, some of the positive or funny things that have happened, or some nice things about it. Going in today, I was thinking that I might even be nostalgic of the times I spent working there, that I might actually miss working there, the teamwork, the rough, but hardworking people that eventually opens up to you and become a good friend (i.e. Mom), the friendships that I made, the funny things we said and the things we laughed about. But after having Troll being at work today, and especially with this bodychecking incident, I can't really think of anything good to write at this moment, and I honestly won't be missing this work. This bitch ruined it.

Actually, now that I think about it, this bodychecking incident is a good thing. It's a deterrent to me missing my time working at Harvey's, to not take school seriously and thinking that working at Harvey's is a fall back, a better option than it actually is, "Harvey's wasn't all that bad". This incident compelled, and really, this whole blog, are going to make me to work harder at school so I can never end up in this situation, and that's just a good thing, because I can't get nostalgic about this.

In spite of all that, I WILL write some good things about this job in a post-game follow up post in the next few days.

Survivor: Minimum Wage is over. Outplayed, outwitted, outlasted!

... and no, I did not show up early today :D

Day 142 - Twilight of the Survivor

So I haven't updated for a little while, unfortunately. I've been really busy lately with some school stuff (busy doesn't mean productive). Tomorrow will be the last day at Harvey's for me. So many people have quit recently, like Eric the world of warcraft guy (and brother of Skipper), countless high school girls. And now, it is my turn.

To continue from the last entry: after that shouting incident with the Troll, which was the worst incident of abuse that she has ever inflicted to me thus far, and likely ever (but I've seen other people get worse). I was exhausted from enduring the Troll marathon that were the weekdays of that week. And now the Troll blew up on me. I fucking had it. I knew that was the day that I will tell Boss that I'm quitting.

A few moments later, I told boss that I need to talk to him about something after my shift was done. When my shift was over, I stood by the back counter area, waited for the boss to come over so I can get this conversation started.

I have never complained to the Boss about Troll before, because I don't want to risk my job and Survivor and my trip. But now, I was pissed and I had nothing to lose. So when he came over, for the first time ever, I told him that today's abuse from Troll was completely unacceptable. He actually got offended at that, and started to defend her, saying that lately she's been under a lot of stress from working so much hours... yeah, no shit, cause she suspended Konvict and took all his hours for herself.

Then I told him that Troll horrible and counterproductive attitude and unacceptable behaviours. For example, when I ask her anything or say anything to her, she literally ignores it like she didn't fucking hear anything, and instead of asking or talking to me, to, for example, let her take over the cash, she would just not even talk to me and literally shove me aside with her grubby troll fingers. This kind of ridiculous behaviour is well-known to everyone. After I told the Boss about the Troll's behaviour, and asking him about what he will do about this, all he said was "have I said 'please' to her". I was completely taken aback by the statement, because this is probably the stupidest, most naive statement I heard this year. After all that, the guy is asking me if I said please to her, when she has never shown any civility since literally Day 1. The fact that I didn't spit on her face until my mouth is course every time I see her is an incredible act of grace on my part. It was just such an unexpected response that I can only mutter out "I don't need to say please", a lame, inarticulate response, but the only thing I think of after hearing something as ludicrous as that. The boss provided a non-sequitor. I am actually completely surprised by my Boss. I was expecting some degree of sympathy from him, maybe a lie about how he will try to get the Troll to be a little more civilized. No, the guy was actually defending her somewhat tenaciously. It's incredible how anyone can be this loyal to that fucking round thing, who frequently verbally and emotionally abuses the Boss in public. I guess the Boss has a fetish for the Fat and the Insane.

I closed the argument by saying, "this is completely unacceptable, and I have to quit. You'll get a written letter tomorrow." I was expecting him to be a little bit surprised, but he wasn't. He knew this was coming, and all he said was "well, okay." I've done it. I've quit.

After I left the store, I felt euphoria. The moment I've dreamt about for so long, the countless times earlier that I had to resisting to quit, has finally arrived. All the pressures and fear of losing my job, of losing my trip, of being afraid of the Troll, of having to appease that monster, all of it fades, and the end was coming. I can't believe it. I was full of adrenaline that day.

That day was almost two weeks ago. The two weeks following have been going so incredibly fast. It was incredible how smoothly and enjoyable these two weeks have been. The Troll no longer yells or abuse me anymore, because all her power have been taken away from her. I no longer said "please" or "can I ..." like I did occasionally to not have her explode on me, like that one time when she yelled at me for being rude because I didn't say those words ever to her, (LOL), even though she never deserved it and she never had a problem with that before. Everything was just easy going, I no longer felt pressure, and I ended up doing having much more energy and being more productive at work than I have ever been. This is what happens when the poisonous atmosphere don't affect employees, they work a lot better.

As was mentioned previously, because I've quit earlier than planned, I am missing about 8 days of wages. So, to make up for it, I shaved down a week off of my Western Europe time. Instead of having 35 days in Europe, I will instead spend 28 there. That saves me about 650 dollars, more than enough to cover the lost days. The 8 days lost isn't really a big deal to me anyways, because I actually had no plans for those 8 days. Unfortunately, the way the train schedule is and everything, that means I will spend less than 24 hours in Paris, instead of 4 as originally planned. Oh well, that place is for the rich anyways. I'll go back there some other time in the future, when I don't have to work in a minimum wage job to travel.

Looking back, despite the bad things about this job, namely the Troll, there were some good parts too. I've made some friends, met some cool people, the place was close enough to home that I can walk there, and it has some really good policies, such as that they won't give you a hard time if you are late a few minutes (which for the past 2 months I have been pretty much everyday). The last point really stuck out. People would think that it's obvious that you wouldn't get too much shit if you're late 1 or 2 minutes, or at the very least, on time. But no, some places, such as Canadian Tire, require you to be at work 10 minutes before the shift starts. I got written up because I was 7 minutes instead of 10 minutes early. Fucking cunts. Boycott CT!

I have to say though, that the managers at this Harvey's work hard, work long hours, and, from what I've seen, don't really have too much in their life except this job. It's hard not to feel at least a little bit of sympathy for them (with an obvious exception or two), because all of them, except Troll and Hobgoblin, are decent people. Well, I guess that really only leaves the other two managers, Boss and Mom. I do feel bad to have to kind of offend Boss as a way of giving him my resignation, and I didn't tell Mom that I handed in my two-weeks notice, because her son recently had a surgery for some cancer thing, and I didn't want to upset her, except she found out today that I'm going to quit tomorrow. Oh well. At least, from her mood, her son is probably doing well.

So tomorrow is the last day of Survivor: Minimum Wage. I will definitely savour it. I plan on showing up to work early (for once!). Hell, maybe I'll even buy a burger!

Survivor: Minimum Wage continues!