On Quitting #32

I did not, for the record, let the door hit my ass on the way out.

I had to quit my latest job.

When I applied, I told them I could only work 2 shifts a week, possibly 3 if the shifts weren't too long. If that wasn't possible then thanks anyway. They agreed, hands were shaken, and training commenced.

Like all restaurants (or maybe only those that are run poorly), staff members began to quit. Schedules were rewritten and I was suddenly given 4, then 5 shifts a week. I told them I couldn't do it. They told me it would get better. Then they added even more shifts the following week. Luckily, I was able to get the extra shifts covered, under the promise that they'd rectify the situation in upcoming weeks.

Yet when the new schedule came out, even more shifts were listed by my name, including 3 shifts in a 48-hour period; a 9-hour open-though-closing shift Saturday night, followed by an opening-through-closing 13-hour double shift Sunday. Only a 9 hour gap between shifts to eat and sleep. And they were so short-staffed there was no longer anyone to cover.

So I contacted the manager yet again. "I can not work these shifts," I said. "I'm sorry to hear that," he said. "Goodbye."

Did I quit? Was I fired? Either way, the manager demonstrated a complete and total unwillingness to work with the situation he'd agreed upon when he hired me. As a result, he lost a valuable employee and is now even more short-staffed.

The lesson, that appears to be lost on many managers, is

Don't Promise Crap You Can't Deliver: the topic, surprise surprise, of this week's column.