Walking into a bank of warm cases is the worst! Ranks right up there with working a holiday with the flu...
one time i did a stretch from halloween to the second week of january feeling like garbage, only to find out that i had pneumonia and bronchitis. need less to say a lot of diner food and 10 hours of sleep a night got me through it... work. food.sleep. wake up and repeat
Being a sick MeatCutter is rough.....We have one of those jobs that you just CANNOT call in on. You know how bad it is when someone calls in....makes the day ridiculously harder for everyone else. Everyone has dealt with those *mostly young guys* that tend to do that on Load days.......There are a few of us in my generation, though, that still have a great work ethic. *twice in the 7 years I've been with Harps....family emergencies both times* I'm actually proud of that. I'm sure some of you could kill that with your dedication to the craft.
i have to admit and i am deeply ashamed that 3 or 4 times over the winter I couldn't make it because of the snow. i was living an hour and 30 minutes from work and we got some really bad snow storms this year and i just have this little car. ..each time i tried to make it but when the drive got too treacherous i turned around and went home..called in and the people who back me up only live a few minutes away so its less risk for them but i still feel bad about it. before that i never called in sick in probably 10 years. ...now i live within 30 minutes of the store so i hope next winter won't be such a problem.
I know what you're sayin' man. I live about 35 minutes from my store too. It gets a little hairy in Arkansas during the winter, but probably not as bad as where you are. Even though it snows and frost over like crazy...those late bloomer customers still manage to trek their way to the store at 6a.m. to buy food they just can't go without. I just get tired of the fellow employees that are "sick" far too often....everybody has dealt with one or two. It just makes it hard. But that's how meatcutters roll! We just go with whatever comes our way.
i used to tell my habital sick guys they can't come back to work til they get a note from their doctor saying they are ok to work. way i see it if they are sick that much there must be something seriously wrong with them lol...most just ended up quitting after that and i could replace them with someone a little more reliable
last spring/summer I did a four month stretch, after my boss retired, with 6 six days off total. I worked a lot of 14 and 21 day stretches. A lot of sleep and takeout made it easy but, I gained 20 pounds and my health suffered. If i had to be in the same position like that again, I would take every Sunday off regardless if they had another cutter to help or not.
Leon, it's funny you just reposted this. I took off an hour early today (I NEVER DO THAT), because I was having a minor anxiety attack. Just too much to do, inventory coming up, the first of the month, , senior day and the 4th right around the corner, and a bunch of new mandates from corporate and... I was starting to freak out a little. Need to take a deep breath and get some new ideas from the gang. What do you do to Relax?
I've been in one of those dangerously close to burnout runs for about 10 weeks now (have averaged over 60 hours since the end of March). Other than telling our meat god he doesn't have a clue one what it's like to run 20-40 hours short week in and week out with several other choice words thrown in, I've actually been okay this go around. I jog, fish, golf, read, tinker with my truck, play guitars, and drink beer....among other things I do to unwind.
Seems like in my store that we have a higher level of pride than other departments, which = me and my backup putting in tons of hours. Must be nice to just say f*ck it after 8 hours every day no matter what your department looks like, but I never seem to be able to. Once I walk out the door forget it though, I'll fix it tomorrow.
We'll see how I feel at the end of this 20 day stretch though LOL
I honestly havent figured out how to not let my job get the best of me. Seems to me that cutomers are never happy about anything and bitch about everything. One day a customer got the best of me and I went to the parking lot after him. Lucky for me the asst. manager stopped me and I still have a job. I have found that shooting my guns is somewhat relaxing and hunting works for me. I just take my anti-depressants and looking foward to retirement.
This job really wears on you if you don't have a strong number 2. I have had 1 reliable wrapper in the 2 years I been meat manager and its rough. My wife is having a baby in August and the owner of the store is talking about me taking a week off to be with the baby and only thing going though my mind is I might get 2 days maxs. I am gone to the extreme of letting my phone die or not even turning it on when im on my days off.
long term is a week off by my self on the beach with a little fishing
Be careful. I hear hot tubs and alcohol don't mix very well. Not so much the drowning, but sometimes you don't realize that you're getting too hot and can have a heart attack.