This post's work stories are about TMAG, kayak races, ducklings, pussywillows, produce prostitutes, TMotM. OK... here we go!
TMAG
Earlier this month, my store had its yearly TMAG elections. TMAG stands for Team Member Awareness Group, and it's kinda like a union. Each department votes for their TMAG rep and this group of chosen ones meets monthly to talk about issues, thoughts, and ideas their co-workers have. I thought this sounded like fun, so I told my Team Leader that I wanted to do it. However, my co-worker Maieka wanted to be the rep too, so we had to campaign for the position. Uggg... so high school. Last week at our store meeting, the results of the elections were announced, and I won! After the meeting, all the TMAG reps had a mini meeting with our Store Team Leader. He told us that we need a Store TMAG rep and that we would have to campaign for that. Once again, I thought it would be fun, so I put my name down. I've been talking to my work friends from around the store and asking them to vote for me. Next Wednesday at our first official TMAG meeting, I'll find out if I won.
Kayak Races
The RPB Art Festival was last month and our store participated in the Corporate Kayak Race! Six people signed up to race: Me, Rachel (Customer Service!), Paul and Josh (Meat), Steve (Specialty), and Lauren (Marketing). The store gave me money so I could make t-shirts. I love how easy iron-on lettering is! We got to the lake early so we could practice, and it became apparent that I've never kayaked before. I have like negative upper body and arm strength. Since we really wanted to win, I decided to sit out and be a cheerleader. The race was relay-style, so two people got in the kayak, raced to the middle of the lake, paddled around the fountain, raced back to land, and jumped out so the next two people could jump in. There were 12 teams, so 2 groups of 6. With each group, 2 teams went head-to-head, with the 3 winning teams racing for a spot in the final race. Team Whole Foods totally kicked ass our first time out so we were so totally confident! When we raced with the other 2 winners, we were sabotaged! One team blocked us as we were trying to get around the fountain, and the other got in our way as we tried to switch team members. We ended up coming in third. All of us we pissed! Maybe next year...
Ducklings
I train just about all the new cashiers! I get them for 2-3 days before they get to be on their own. When I'm training, my work friends from all over will call me "momma duck" and the new guys are referred to as my ducklings. (You know, because whenever you see a momma duck, all her baby ducks are following behind her and going where she goes) When I'm training, that new person goes where I go and is like my shadow for those 2 or 3 days. It's fun training a new person and teaching them and quizzing them and hazing them. Oh yes, we haze at Whole Foods! We make my ducklings do trash and collect carts outside and all the stuff we don't really like doing. Nothing bad of course! I love being a momma duck!
Pussywillows
You know what pussywillows look like, right? Just google it. We sell pussywillows, and those fuzzy little things always fall off. When I see them, I pick them up and play with them. They are so amazingly soft! I feel like Lennie from "Of Mice and Men", petting this soft thing. One of my closest work friends, Bre, knows how dorky I get with he stupid pussywillows, so on my birthday, she gave me a bag of them! So, sitting on my desk in my room, is a bag of like 4 dozen pussywillow fuzzyballs. Soft.
Produce Prostitute
My work friends call me a produce prostitute. It's because I will flirt with the produce guys and they'll bring me fruit. I know this sounds really bad, but it's not. They all know about Chris, and they have their own girlfriends. It's just a fun game we play to pass the time. Bre's brother Anthony works in produce, but he once worked as a cashier (he was one of my first ducklings!). We flirt in front of Bre because we love how uncomfortable she gets. We call each other pet names and talk about fake dates we went on. It's fun. Then there's Brandon. He's really nice. When I go on my 15-minute break, he'll get me a cold apple from the back cooler and cut it for me. When he come to me for price checks, and I come closer to guessing the right price, he'll bring me a mango or pear. Everyone is jealous because he doesn't bring them fruit! One afternoon he let me come in the back where he and some other produce guys were making chocolate-covered strawberries!! Having friends in produce is like the best-kept Whole Foods secret!
TMotM
Guess who was the Front End Team Member of the Month... me! That's right! Haha! It was announced at the store meeting. All the department Team Leaders took turns talking about the new stuff going on in their departments and calling out the TMotM. My Team Leader got up there and talked and started saying, "Our Team Member of the Month is a really smart, intelligent girl", and I turned to my friends I was sitting with and said, "Well, it's not me". And then Jennifer said my name and everyone started laughing. That was when she said that I was the TMAG winner too, so it was a fun morning for me.
That's all the stories I got for now!
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
Friday, March 11, 2011
Whole Foods Stories 2
Some more stories from work...
The best is when we get free food! Our store policy is that pretty much everything in the store can be sampled if customers ask. When customers bring something to customer service and we let them try it, and they don't like it, we get to eat it! We've had everything from ice cream and cookies, to chips and crackers. Most of the time, I'll try something and like it and then buy it for myself! See, sampling does work!
The worst is when we have to throw away food when there are people going hungry. At the end of the night, all the uneaten prepared food gets thrown away. The prepared food is the buffet-style food area that each store has. When we close, the hot food, soup, and salad bar stuff goes in the trash. Obviously, we're not going to put it in the fridge and serve it as leftovers. That's gross. But we can't even give it to the homeless or food banks. I'm upset that we can't give the leftovers to the hungry.
The worst is when we have to throw away food because of customer ignorance. Customers can return anything, and when they do, most of the time we have to throw it away. Here are some of the returns I've had to take back and throw away...
When customers decide at the register that they don't want something, we call that item a "go-back". When I get bitchy because of customers and returns, I'll do go-backs and just wander around and talk to my co-workers in different departments. I work with some fun people! I still haven't gone to poker night at Josh-from-meat's house (ALI!), but a bunch of us do karaoke on Wednesday nights. Steve and Paul from Produce asked if I wanted to join our store's softball team (haha! never gonna happen!) and Lauren from Marketing wants me to do the kayak race at the Royal Palm Art Fest later this month (we'll see about this one!). When it's slow at night, we'll have the Store Team Leader put on 80's music at night and have dance parties. I'm training a new cashier now and she thinks we're all absolutely nuts.
The best is when we get free food! Our store policy is that pretty much everything in the store can be sampled if customers ask. When customers bring something to customer service and we let them try it, and they don't like it, we get to eat it! We've had everything from ice cream and cookies, to chips and crackers. Most of the time, I'll try something and like it and then buy it for myself! See, sampling does work!
The worst is when we have to throw away food when there are people going hungry. At the end of the night, all the uneaten prepared food gets thrown away. The prepared food is the buffet-style food area that each store has. When we close, the hot food, soup, and salad bar stuff goes in the trash. Obviously, we're not going to put it in the fridge and serve it as leftovers. That's gross. But we can't even give it to the homeless or food banks. I'm upset that we can't give the leftovers to the hungry.
The worst is when we have to throw away food because of customer ignorance. Customers can return anything, and when they do, most of the time we have to throw it away. Here are some of the returns I've had to take back and throw away...
- Frozen Thanksgiving turkeys. One customer was anticipating more people showing up, but they didn't, so she didn't need the 2 other turkeys she bought. Another customer said her oven broke. Turkeys in the trash.
- A whole un-eaten birthday cake, because the customer wanted vanilla but accidently picked up a chocolate. Cake in the trash.
- Gallons of milk. Always because the customer can't read the label where it says Skim, Whole, Low Fat. Milk in the trash.
- Meat and seafood, because customers buy too much and don't want the extra.
If something was frozen or refrigerated, we have no way of knowing if the customer kept the item at the safe, cold temperatures, so we can't risk putting it back on the shelf. We couldn't bring the cake back to the bakery because who know what happened to it once it left our store. Sometimes I just want to yell "READ THE LABELS" at customers!
There's this one customer who comes in weekly to do returns. She'll give me half-eaten boxes of cereal, crackers, pasta. She'll say she didn't like the way it tasted or that the food has gone stale. She'll give me fruits and veggies that have begun to spoil and rot. The receipt will show that she bought the food weeks ago, so of course her lettuce is turning brown and her corn flakes aren't crispy anymore. But I can't say that to her- I have to give her her money back.
When customers decide at the register that they don't want something, we call that item a "go-back". When I get bitchy because of customers and returns, I'll do go-backs and just wander around and talk to my co-workers in different departments. I work with some fun people! I still haven't gone to poker night at Josh-from-meat's house (ALI!), but a bunch of us do karaoke on Wednesday nights. Steve and Paul from Produce asked if I wanted to join our store's softball team (haha! never gonna happen!) and Lauren from Marketing wants me to do the kayak race at the Royal Palm Art Fest later this month (we'll see about this one!). When it's slow at night, we'll have the Store Team Leader put on 80's music at night and have dance parties. I'm training a new cashier now and she thinks we're all absolutely nuts.
Friday, February 18, 2011
Valentine's Day
This was the first Valentine's Day Chris and I didn't share together. With him on Dominica and me here, I didn't expect anything. I mean, I expected maybe an e-card from Hallmark.com, but that was it. I joked around with him saying that I was going to buy my own flowers and dessert and have a mopey V-day by myself. He said that was stupid and that I shouldn't waste money on flowers and that I eat too much junk. So yeah, I wasn't expecting anything from him this year.
Since I had no Valentine's date, I was scheduled to work all day. But I did look cute - I wore red and put a flower in my hair and painted my nails. A customer gave me $5! And one of the guys who does maintenance around the store gave me chocolates and a hug! Some guys from work asked if I wanted to hang out, kind of like a Lonely Hearts party, but I said I had a Skype date.
I ended up buying a bouquet of Gerber daisies (my favorite flowers) and a heart-shaped cookie cake from our bakery. Kinda lame, I know. When I got home, I went into the kitchen to start eating my cookie and mom asked if I went in my room. I hadn't, so I went in then, and on my desk were two bouquets of tulips and violets and daisies. When I saw that they were from Chris, I started crying and laughing. Crying because I missed him and that the flowers were beautiful, and laughing because I was completely surprised that Mr. Flowers-are-stupid actually sent me flowers in the mail on Valentine's Day!
Mom told me that she emailed Chris earlier in the month to see if he was planning on doing anything for me and if he needed help. She asked if he needed her to pick up flowers or something, but he said he already took care of everything in January before he left to go back to school. Chris told her to be on the lookout for the flower delivery.
I can't believe I doubted him. He's so tricky!
Since I had no Valentine's date, I was scheduled to work all day. But I did look cute - I wore red and put a flower in my hair and painted my nails. A customer gave me $5! And one of the guys who does maintenance around the store gave me chocolates and a hug! Some guys from work asked if I wanted to hang out, kind of like a Lonely Hearts party, but I said I had a Skype date.
I ended up buying a bouquet of Gerber daisies (my favorite flowers) and a heart-shaped cookie cake from our bakery. Kinda lame, I know. When I got home, I went into the kitchen to start eating my cookie and mom asked if I went in my room. I hadn't, so I went in then, and on my desk were two bouquets of tulips and violets and daisies. When I saw that they were from Chris, I started crying and laughing. Crying because I missed him and that the flowers were beautiful, and laughing because I was completely surprised that Mr. Flowers-are-stupid actually sent me flowers in the mail on Valentine's Day!
Mom told me that she emailed Chris earlier in the month to see if he was planning on doing anything for me and if he needed help. She asked if he needed her to pick up flowers or something, but he said he already took care of everything in January before he left to go back to school. Chris told her to be on the lookout for the flower delivery.
I can't believe I doubted him. He's so tricky!
Monday, February 7, 2011
Whole Foods Stories
Here are a few stories from work that I've collected over the past couple weeks...
Whole Foods has their own vocabulary. We aren't called "employees", we're called Team Members. I am a CSTM, a Customer Service Team Member. We don't have "managers", we have Team Leaders. Jennifer is my Customer Service TL. Blake is the STL, Store Team Leader. Each department of the store has their own TMs and TLs.
Our employee discount percentages are determined by how healthy we are. Everyone starts at 20%. Once a year, a company comes in and gives each person a physical. They test for blood pressure, cholesterol, body mass index, and if we smoke or not. After the results come in, you can either get a 22, 25, 27, or 30% discount. The testing in coming up, and I'm hoping for at least 25%!
There is this guy that lives in his car in our parking lot. He comes in and buy milk and/or orange juice. I've never seen him get anything else. I've been told that he uses the men's room to wash his hair, brush his teeth, sponge clean himself, and clean his plates, cups, and silverware. I see him at the library sleeping and reading. He always wears the same outfit. I guess since he's not bothering anyone, no one has bothered to call the cops about him. He's kinda nice when I ring him up.
One of our customers has extreme germaphobia and OCD. He comes in wearing three pairs of surgical gloves already on his hands. When he touches something, he takes off his outter layer of gloves and puts on another pair. He comes in with a box of garbage bags, and each item he plans on buying goes inside its own bag. When he comes over to check out, he doesn't take his stuff out of the garage bags, nor does put his bags on the counter or conveyor belt. He holds out each bag and tries to smooth the plastic over the bar code so I can scan it with the pricegun. Because he holds his stuff about two feet away from the price gun, the gun doesn't work, so he has to read the UPC number to me. He only pays in cash. He'll drop the money in my hands without getting his hand remotely close to mine. His money will often be wet. I'm hoping it's because he washes it. He won't take change, so he pays in singles and gets the amount down to the penny. Some people I work with will fake sneeze or cough when they see him because they think it's funny. It makes me sad. Before he comes in, he'll call the store and ask if Diana, Bre, or I'm working because he knows that we're nice to him.
A 5-year old boy came around the register area and smacked my butt. His mom appologized and said that he does that to girls he thinks are cute.
A conversation between me and a 50-ish year old guy. I've just finished ringing him up.
Him: I looks like this is the perfect job for you.
Me: Oh really?
Him: Yeah. This place has wholesome, naturally good foods, and you're just naturally beautiful.
Me: Oh, thank you. I like working here.
Him: Do you get a lunch break soon? Maybe we can get something to eat later.
Me: Oh, I don't think my boyfriend would like that very much. But thanks anyways.
Him: Well, if you ever wanted to get lunch, I'm always shopping here. Just let me know.
Me: Uh, ok, have a great afternoon.
Another conversation between me and a 40-ish year old guy. I'm standing by my register.
Him: This store is so clean and nice. Are you the one that keeps it so nice?
Me: No, that's not me. I can't take the credit on that one.
Him: Well, you must take the credit for something.
Me: I do my best keeping the register area and customer service booth tidy. But everyone works together.
Him: Oh ok. Well, the reason I can over here to talk to you is because I saw you from across the store and I just wanted to tell you that I think you're really beautiful.
Me: Oh, thank you.
Him: I'm going to finish my shopping, but I would love to talk to you more.
Me: Oh, sure. OK.
(I was lucky enough the escape to the back for a while, so I didn't have to see him again.)
Every day at Whole Foods is an adventure.
Whole Foods has their own vocabulary. We aren't called "employees", we're called Team Members. I am a CSTM, a Customer Service Team Member. We don't have "managers", we have Team Leaders. Jennifer is my Customer Service TL. Blake is the STL, Store Team Leader. Each department of the store has their own TMs and TLs.
Our employee discount percentages are determined by how healthy we are. Everyone starts at 20%. Once a year, a company comes in and gives each person a physical. They test for blood pressure, cholesterol, body mass index, and if we smoke or not. After the results come in, you can either get a 22, 25, 27, or 30% discount. The testing in coming up, and I'm hoping for at least 25%!
There is this guy that lives in his car in our parking lot. He comes in and buy milk and/or orange juice. I've never seen him get anything else. I've been told that he uses the men's room to wash his hair, brush his teeth, sponge clean himself, and clean his plates, cups, and silverware. I see him at the library sleeping and reading. He always wears the same outfit. I guess since he's not bothering anyone, no one has bothered to call the cops about him. He's kinda nice when I ring him up.
One of our customers has extreme germaphobia and OCD. He comes in wearing three pairs of surgical gloves already on his hands. When he touches something, he takes off his outter layer of gloves and puts on another pair. He comes in with a box of garbage bags, and each item he plans on buying goes inside its own bag. When he comes over to check out, he doesn't take his stuff out of the garage bags, nor does put his bags on the counter or conveyor belt. He holds out each bag and tries to smooth the plastic over the bar code so I can scan it with the pricegun. Because he holds his stuff about two feet away from the price gun, the gun doesn't work, so he has to read the UPC number to me. He only pays in cash. He'll drop the money in my hands without getting his hand remotely close to mine. His money will often be wet. I'm hoping it's because he washes it. He won't take change, so he pays in singles and gets the amount down to the penny. Some people I work with will fake sneeze or cough when they see him because they think it's funny. It makes me sad. Before he comes in, he'll call the store and ask if Diana, Bre, or I'm working because he knows that we're nice to him.
A 5-year old boy came around the register area and smacked my butt. His mom appologized and said that he does that to girls he thinks are cute.
A conversation between me and a 50-ish year old guy. I've just finished ringing him up.
Him: I looks like this is the perfect job for you.
Me: Oh really?
Him: Yeah. This place has wholesome, naturally good foods, and you're just naturally beautiful.
Me: Oh, thank you. I like working here.
Him: Do you get a lunch break soon? Maybe we can get something to eat later.
Me: Oh, I don't think my boyfriend would like that very much. But thanks anyways.
Him: Well, if you ever wanted to get lunch, I'm always shopping here. Just let me know.
Me: Uh, ok, have a great afternoon.
Another conversation between me and a 40-ish year old guy. I'm standing by my register.
Him: This store is so clean and nice. Are you the one that keeps it so nice?
Me: No, that's not me. I can't take the credit on that one.
Him: Well, you must take the credit for something.
Me: I do my best keeping the register area and customer service booth tidy. But everyone works together.
Him: Oh ok. Well, the reason I can over here to talk to you is because I saw you from across the store and I just wanted to tell you that I think you're really beautiful.
Me: Oh, thank you.
Him: I'm going to finish my shopping, but I would love to talk to you more.
Me: Oh, sure. OK.
(I was lucky enough the escape to the back for a while, so I didn't have to see him again.)
Every day at Whole Foods is an adventure.
Saturday, January 29, 2011
January
January started off amazingly!
Spent New Year's Eve with Amy and Nicole! Girl talk, "Love Actually" and mimosas! I miss you guys!
Chris came back! Picked him up at PBIA and was jumping around like a fool when I saw him! He acted like he didn't know me, which was funny because I'm ready to jump on him and he's looking around like, "Who is this crazy person. I don't know her". I still get all nervous when I see him! Butterflies in my tummy! It's the best feeling!
Within the first week of being on Dominica, he learned what he couldn't get on the island. And he realized that the prices of the things he could buy were astronomical. From August to December, he made me keep a list of all the things he misses from the States and all the things he wants to bring back with him in January. Thus, the first three days he was here, we were shopping. We went to Target, Walmart, Office Max, Publix, BJ's, Whole Foods, Home Goods, and this little Asian market on Lantana. We also went to the Gardens so he could visit Urban Outfitters and H&M.
In all, he spent nearly $2,000 on food, shower stuff, school supplies, toilet paper, new clothes, vitamins, work-out protein, and other random stuff. (Luckily he has a housekeeper who cleans his apartment and does his laundry, so he didn't have to buy detergent and cleaning supplies.) Since this was going to be the last time he'll be in the states until December, he needed to buy everything to last a year.
On Tuesday, we drove down to Miami to the shipping place. We had to take my mom's SUV because there was no way all of his stuff was going to fit in my car. My little car just barely fit all the food he got from BJ's alone! He was able to fit all his stuff in four shipping barrels, which was a miracle!
We didn't do anything large-scale when he was here. We talked about going to Disney or St. Augustine or Gainesville, but we ended up staying in Wellington. That was fine with us because we had things we needed to do. The shopping was extremely important, as was spending time with family and friends.
Chris's aunt, uncle and cousins live in Tequesta, so we had dinner with them one night. His grandparents came over, and Chris's sister Caiti and her boyfriend were in FL for a mini Christmas vacation, so they were at dinner too! It was such a fun night! Chris's little old granddad was drunk. His grandma speaks broken English so talking to her was an adventure. Two-year old Kiera was this ball of energy who wouldn't sit still. Baby cousin Lily is only a couple months old so she was this little sleepy mushball. Seeing Chris hold Lily and jump around the house with Kiera on his shoulders made me excited for the future when Chris and I could have a family of our own. During the car ride home, we talked about kids and how Chris wants to name his first son "Christopher Michael Shu the Second", and name his second son "Christopher Michael Shu the Third". Oh goodness! I told him there's only enough space in this world for one ChrisMike Shu... we don't need 2 more!
Chris thinks the next time he'll be back in the States is December, when his schooling is done. Ross University has an accelerated program, meaning no spring break or summer vacation. It was because of all the religious holidays in December that he was able to have such a long break this time. Without time off, he can't come back. It absolutely sucked having to drive him to the airport. When he first left in August, I knew he would be back in four months. This time, it is going to be a whole year. I cried really bad in the airport. I was fine during the drive to Ft. Lauderdale. I was fine while we checked his bags. I was fine sitting, waiting for the right time for him to go. But once we knew it was time for him to go, I couldn't hold it in anymore. I cried. Hard. I made Chris cry because I was so heartbroken. I don't remember driving home because I was just numb.
We're trying to figure out if I can visit. He gets a couple days off between semesters, and he would like it if I came during that period, that way he can take me places without having to worry about studying and class. As of rght now, it's either going to be April or August. I'm hoping April!
Spent New Year's Eve with Amy and Nicole! Girl talk, "Love Actually" and mimosas! I miss you guys!
Chris came back! Picked him up at PBIA and was jumping around like a fool when I saw him! He acted like he didn't know me, which was funny because I'm ready to jump on him and he's looking around like, "Who is this crazy person. I don't know her". I still get all nervous when I see him! Butterflies in my tummy! It's the best feeling!
Within the first week of being on Dominica, he learned what he couldn't get on the island. And he realized that the prices of the things he could buy were astronomical. From August to December, he made me keep a list of all the things he misses from the States and all the things he wants to bring back with him in January. Thus, the first three days he was here, we were shopping. We went to Target, Walmart, Office Max, Publix, BJ's, Whole Foods, Home Goods, and this little Asian market on Lantana. We also went to the Gardens so he could visit Urban Outfitters and H&M.
In all, he spent nearly $2,000 on food, shower stuff, school supplies, toilet paper, new clothes, vitamins, work-out protein, and other random stuff. (Luckily he has a housekeeper who cleans his apartment and does his laundry, so he didn't have to buy detergent and cleaning supplies.) Since this was going to be the last time he'll be in the states until December, he needed to buy everything to last a year.
On Tuesday, we drove down to Miami to the shipping place. We had to take my mom's SUV because there was no way all of his stuff was going to fit in my car. My little car just barely fit all the food he got from BJ's alone! He was able to fit all his stuff in four shipping barrels, which was a miracle!
We didn't do anything large-scale when he was here. We talked about going to Disney or St. Augustine or Gainesville, but we ended up staying in Wellington. That was fine with us because we had things we needed to do. The shopping was extremely important, as was spending time with family and friends.
Chris's aunt, uncle and cousins live in Tequesta, so we had dinner with them one night. His grandparents came over, and Chris's sister Caiti and her boyfriend were in FL for a mini Christmas vacation, so they were at dinner too! It was such a fun night! Chris's little old granddad was drunk. His grandma speaks broken English so talking to her was an adventure. Two-year old Kiera was this ball of energy who wouldn't sit still. Baby cousin Lily is only a couple months old so she was this little sleepy mushball. Seeing Chris hold Lily and jump around the house with Kiera on his shoulders made me excited for the future when Chris and I could have a family of our own. During the car ride home, we talked about kids and how Chris wants to name his first son "Christopher Michael Shu the Second", and name his second son "Christopher Michael Shu the Third". Oh goodness! I told him there's only enough space in this world for one ChrisMike Shu... we don't need 2 more!
Chris thinks the next time he'll be back in the States is December, when his schooling is done. Ross University has an accelerated program, meaning no spring break or summer vacation. It was because of all the religious holidays in December that he was able to have such a long break this time. Without time off, he can't come back. It absolutely sucked having to drive him to the airport. When he first left in August, I knew he would be back in four months. This time, it is going to be a whole year. I cried really bad in the airport. I was fine during the drive to Ft. Lauderdale. I was fine while we checked his bags. I was fine sitting, waiting for the right time for him to go. But once we knew it was time for him to go, I couldn't hold it in anymore. I cried. Hard. I made Chris cry because I was so heartbroken. I don't remember driving home because I was just numb.
We're trying to figure out if I can visit. He gets a couple days off between semesters, and he would like it if I came during that period, that way he can take me places without having to worry about studying and class. As of rght now, it's either going to be April or August. I'm hoping April!
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