| Ah, Drama; How I loathe thee, let me count the ways... | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Jul 30 2011, 11:55 PM (225 Views) | |
| The Frostbound Prince | Jul 30 2011, 11:55 PM Post #1 |
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If you can read this, you are not illiterate. Congratulations! Have a cookie.
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OK, so, I am currently suffering from an overdose of drama, and quite honestly, if I don't get it off my chest, I'm probably not going to be able to sleep. And I like sleeping. So eff you, drama, I'm going to rant about you and then hopefully promptly get over you. So here's the sitch. I quit my job back at the end of August last year. When I left, I had been the longest-remaining staff member of our specific store, since when the new owners took the store over about three or so years ago, they promptly drove most of the original staff off, and have made the atmosphere so toxic that most of the rest of us have been leaving on and off since, with my sister and I being the only real hold-outs. Anyway, long story still really long (let's face it, this is me telling the story =P), I was a good worker, I gave like, six weeks advanced notice that I wouldn't be working, and my final shift I probably did the best close of my career, which is saying something, since I always make sure to do the best job possible each night I'm on. In short, I was, at least in my opinion, an excellent worker, and left on good terms...or so I thought. I've been trying to get a new job since November. I spent September and October sick, and trying to get a letter of reference from Sharon, my store's current manager, which never panned out. Finally, after two months of waiting, she just told me to put her as a reference and she'd be sure to give them a "glowing review". So, for the last at least six months, anyway, I've been throwing out a couple resumes at a time, hoping to hear back from people. Of the probably two-dozen resumes I put out from at least February to the end of July, I got an entire two replies---one from the Census people, about a month and a half after I had already given up hoping they'd call, and the other from a specialty coffeeshop just two blocks down from my apartment in Ottawa. Unfortunately, both of these happened in the same week (two days in a row, really), and the people at the coffee place emailed me first. Anyway, long story short, the people from Bridgehead (the coffee shop) never returned my email back to them, and I declined the Census job, since the week in which they phoned didn't leave me with many options to arrange anything with them, and I figured I had a job at the coffee shop guaranteed when I got back up to Ottawa. So, eff. Anyway, skip ahead, and, out of desperation, I put my name in at a trio of Tim Hortons (the coffee/donut shop chain I worked with for five and a half years previously), figuring I'd pretty much be guaranteed a job there. A few more weeks pass, none of them call back, so I go home and put my name in at another local Tim Hortons that's supposed to be hiring. I'm told they'll be picking their staff out in the next week, and two more weeks go by, and no call. So, I'm desperate now. It's mid-July, I plan on going back to school in September, and I've been unemployed since the end of August, effectively 11 months. I am poor, my sister's covering rent for our place in Ottawa, and my student loans, because I took the year off, mean an extra 250-odd dollars a month are vanishing from my account, and aside from some lucky income tax returns and such, I've had no actual income. So I put my name in at another local Tim Hortons, then reapply to the one I quit from last year, figuring they'd stay true to their word and "rehire me on the spot". Sharon informs me as I hand in my new resume that "they just finished hiring a bunch of new people", so she'd have to have a talk with one of the supervisors and see what they could do. Another two or three weeks go by, and nothing. My sister was still working there at this point, and they wouldn't even bother trying to inform her of what's going on and you know, let me know there isn't room for me. Anyway, in the meantime, my sister went through a kind of messy falling out with the management of the store, so she put in her two weeks' notice, and because they stripped her of her keys the following shift (she was a shift leader/pseudo-supervisor, and needed those keys to get into the office and, you know, do her job), and told her not to show up during the busiest weekend of the year, so she finally had it, and the next shift, dropped off her uniforms and that was that. Anyway, that had nothing to do with me, and the same day she quit for good, a few hours earlier, I got a call back from the Tim Hortons I had left a resume with the month before, so I went in, did an interview with their Assistant Manager on Tuesday, and since she had yet to call my references, and I had my old manager as my primary reference like she said to, I did bring up the fact that my sister was going through the process of resigning from the store. She said that shouldn't matter, and I agreed. I was told that either yesterday (Friday) or sometime early next week they should be phoning to let me know, and that was that. ...now cut to tonight. My sister and I are coming home from our town's biggest tourist draw, which for the last six years we hadn't been able to enjoy since we'd worked all three days of it. So we went to see some of it, since the last time we went we were pretty much toddlers, it was kinda overrated, whatever, we came home. On our way back, we see one of the original manager/supervisors for the store back when we were first hired, say hello, and a minute or so later, she warns us that Sharon's been giving us (or at least me) bad reviews. Helga, the store's old supervisor, now works at the other store I put my name in at, and the manager there called Sharon, who proceeded to tell him that my "entire resume is lies, he's slow, rude, and a terrible worker". Um...WTF? Are you kidding me? I was nothing but a hard worker, right up to when I left, and while it might sound all haughty and self-involved, I was easily one of their best workers. I was fast, efficient, well-trained, I knew how to do pretty much everything but morning bake, open, and the office-related stuff, I would always stay later or offer to help if things weren't done, I pretty much supervised the nights I was working, and if nothing else, I got the chores done and still managed to get out at a decent time. Helga thankfully stood up for me, and supposedly looked over my resume, and told her manager that all of the info on it was accurate. She then reminded him that SUPPOSEDLY NO ONE GETS A GOOD REVIEW FROM SHARON, and all the people who've used her as a reference never get anything close to a nice review from her. So, Helga suggests I remove Sharon from my references, include her (Helga's) sister-in-law, Wanda, who also used to work with us, as my new reference, and resubmit my resumes. So yes, odds are, anyone who did phone Sharon was told wonderful lies about me, and declined to phone me at all, meanwhile here I am wondering why I still don't have a job, and why, if Sharon's giving me these "glowing reviews", does that not translate into some job offers. ...what a b!tch. I mean, honestly, I was nothing but friendly and welcoming to her when she first started working, when she got quickly promoted, and continued after I quit. I was a good worker, I didn't slack off during my last shifts like most people do, and despite the horrible atmosphere of the place, even after I left I didn't publically say anything bad about the place. And then to find out she's sabotaging me behind my back while being all sweet and pretending to care to my face. I mean, unless "glowing" means something completely different in her vocabulary, she was NOT giving me reviews like that. AND THIS WAS BEFORE MY SISTER EVEN QUIT. Imagine what horrible lies she's adding now that her and Brett had such a terrible falling out. Anyway, so yes. Long story short, I've wasted the last eleven months trying to get a job, only to find out that, like I was kind of thinking the last few months, someone wasn't saying the great things they claimed to be. Which is disappointing. It's one thing to have suspicions that your reference isn't being as flattering as they claim, it's another thing entirely for them to make up bold-faced lies, both to me and whoever's calling for references, and then be all sweet and concerned whenever I come in to visit. So yes. What a b!tch. I had a feeling, but it's just totally aggravating to realize it's true. I mean, it's one thing to sabotage my chances at other places in the hopes I come back there and they can rehire me. They obviously DON'T want to do that, though, since they've had their chance, and have spent the last four-ish years trying to get rid of us. On the plus side, though, now that I know it's her who's been damaging my chances at finding a new job, I have an easy, simple solution to my problems: edit her out of my resume, replace her with someone (like Wanda, an old co-worker and probably one of the ones who helped me originally get my job) who will actually tell the truth and say the flattering things they say they will, and resubmit some resumes to places I actually want to work. I'm still trying to decide, though, how to deal with the Sharon half of this. Part of me wants to confront her and chew the lying bastard out for the out-and-out career sabotage she's pretty much made me suffer this past year. The rest of me just wants to ignore it, continue to be my pleasant self to her, and then go in, all smiles, once I find a new (hopefully awesome) job somewhere else, and cheerfully tell her about it, and watch and see if she tries to take credit for it or not, or see if she asks herself how it's possible I got a job without someone calling her. Meanwhile, my mom's absolutely livid about the whole situation, and is planning on getting in touch with my cousin, who's a lawyer, to see what, if anything, we/she can do about it. Because, yes, Sharon is LYING. It's one thing to embellish someone's faults and cheerfully ignore their strengths, but it's another thing entirely to claim that someone's resume is "all lies" and that they are slow, a bad worker, and horrible with customers when it isn't, you know, true. And I'm sorry, I don't take pride in much, but I was a good worker, and worked hard for the money I made (which was conveniently minimum wage since they never bothered to do the 3-or-6-month reviews that would lead to raises should you do well, and they took away the ten cent raise my sister and I had under the old management as soon as minimum wage went up the following February). So yes. Eff. I'm pissed. It's one thing if I'm sabotaging myself whilst trying to find a job, or if the one-whole-shiny-job I have had isn't "enough" for people, or whatever. It's another thing entirely if someone else is sabotaging me behind my back, and I only happen to hear about it because of a chance re-encounter with an old co-worker who just happened to be in a position to overhear things after I just happened to put a resume in at the place she currently works. I`m lucky I even heard about it, all things considered. Needless to say, come Monday morning (maybe Tuesday, since Monday's a holiday), I'm revamping my resume, removing all references to Sharon entirely, and printing out some new resumes and handing them in to places I actually want to work. If the one store doesn't end up hiring me, I'm going back up to Ottawa and putting my name in at the hospitals there for housekeeping or something. My other major reference (who also once worked at Tim Hortons) works at one of the major hospitals in Ottawa, and I'm sure she'd put in a good word for me there. Cuz yeah, eff this. I've wasted almost an entire year waiting for call-backs only to find out that it's quite possible that -I- am not the problem with trying to find a job. Fun times. Anyway, that's my rant. Any comments/suggestions/feedback/rant-backs would be appreciated, but I suppose I'm content just getting it off my chest, so whatever. But yes. Whatever. Way to ruin my weekend. All I can say is, what an unimaginable bastard you have to be to say such wonderful things to someone's face then stab them in the back the moment they turn around. Although thankfully it's a quick and easy fix, and I look forward to karma royally biting all those backstabbing pricks that are still there in the a$s. Meh, tomorrow I should be over it. For tonight, I shall stew in my undying rage, and be content knowing that I'll eventually graduate and go on to awesome, amazing things. And she'll still be slinging coffee for fifty cents more than minimum wage whilst going senile, and will finally get caught in her lies and get what's coming to her. In the end, I suppose that's enough. =P Edited by The Frostbound Prince, Jul 31 2011, 12:07 AM.
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| Blehs | Jul 31 2011, 06:59 AM Post #2 |
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SeeD Candidate
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Ok im going to give you two kinds of replies here. Reply no.1 - screw her over hard You said your cousin is a lawyer? Well im sure she would tell you that you that if you really do want to take her to court, your gonna need some good solid evidence against her. So probably something like calling the employers whom you sent a resume and asking what they heard from Sharon. If its possible to get this evidence, and its rock solid stuff then take her arse out. Reply no2. - She aint worth it. Taking her to court would mean extra legal fees for you for a CHANCE to get compensated. Confronting her is going to achieve nothing really. If she really is the b!tch you make her out to be, she will deny everything, say you have no proof, tell you that your sh!t right to your face and leave off feeling like she won the battle. You have your own life to get back into so screw her, she isnt the last b!tch your going to come across anyway! Besides, theres always the option of egging her house on a really hot summer's day =P Edited by Blehs, Jul 31 2011, 07:01 AM.
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| Curse | Jul 31 2011, 10:33 AM Post #3 |
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Cursed one
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tl;dr >:3 I do hope things work out for you at any rate! |
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I only play mature games for mature gamers such as myself | |
| The Frostbound Prince | Jul 31 2011, 12:19 PM Post #4 |
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If you can read this, you are not illiterate. Congratulations! Have a cookie.
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@ Curse: tl;dr version: I found out last night that my former employer was telling the people who called her for references that my resume was all lies and that I was a horrible worker, while she was saying to my face how she'll give such "glowing reviews" to anyone who calls. In other words, she was sabotaging me the entire time. I've effectively wasted all year since she was my primary reference, and she was lying to anyone who called her. and @ Blehs: I probably won't be doing any legal-action-y stuff, since yes, the only person I'm (pretty much sure) actually called her and got this info was the manager of the store one of my old supervisor/managers is now at. I have no actual proof she actually talked to any of the other places I dropped resumes off at, and odds are at this point, they've forgotten about my existence anyway even if they did call to see if I was hiring material. More than likely, the most I'll do is go around to all the remaining staff members I like and "warn" them not to use Sharon as a reference if/when they leave, and possibly inform Sharon that I'll no longer be using her as a reference. I came up with a rather double edged "explanation" about how I'll be "slightly editing" my resume to remove a "minor, insignificant detail that's been likely ruining my chances all this time", and "replacing it with information that is actually accurate and will properly gauge and share my abilities with the rest of the world", rather than "seem to say one thing to me, but something else entirely to whoever else ends up reading it", since it seems like that's been my one major stumbling block type thing. I'd like to see if she can read between the lines and realize that this "one little insignificant detail" I'm editing out is her as a reference, or if, more likely, she'll just nod along thinking I'm changing "fast and efficient" to "quick and effective" or something. I think the double meaning works nicely, though, and that way, if she "gets it", she's been made aware I won't be using her as a reference any more, and is she's too slow on the uptake to realize there's a double meaning, well, her loss. But yes. It's a simple enough fix, and while I might not be able to reapply to the places I originally did, on the off-chance they've "black listed" me or something over her potential reference info, I didn't drop off resumes at a few places I was interested in, and quite honestly, there's more than enough people that have worked with me that will tell it like it is, and not come up with total lies in some ridiculous attempt to sabotage me. The saddest thing is, I used to really like (and, to a lesser extent, respect) Sharon. Sure, she really wasn`t "manager" material, but she was better than the other manager we had before her, and she at least seemed concerned about us, and made an effort to talk to us, be involved, and seem to care. Turns out, I guess, she's just a two-faced b!tch (or I/my sister/both of us ended up doing something to inadvertantly piss her off, and rather than confront us, she just does the sneaky, underhanded crap she's obviously done at least once, so...fun times x_X), so this whole thing is slightly depressing. I could see the manager before her, Holly, being this much of a two-faced cute doggy, since we were well aware that Holly is a horrible person and would do anything to sabotage you. I expected more from Sharon. Oh well. Like I said, a quick fix and use of actual ex-co-workers who will actually say what they claim they'll say, and with any luck, I'll have an awesome job I can flaunt at all the douchebags by mid-month at the latest. So whatev, yo, whatev. =P Thank you both (even if you didn't read it, Cursey =P) for the replies, I appreciate it. Drama is...annoying.
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| Curse | Aug 1 2011, 07:05 AM Post #5 |
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Cursed one
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woah now that's a cute doggy o_O i'm actually speechless, that's one terrible person |
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I only play mature games for mature gamers such as myself | |
| The Frostbound Prince | Aug 1 2011, 03:18 PM Post #6 |
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If you can read this, you are not illiterate. Congratulations! Have a cookie.
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Inorite? x_X Some people are just douchebags. Whatev. If she wants to be a total backstabbing biotch for no apparent reason, that's her prerogative. I have a feeling it'll come back to bite her in the arse, and I no have absolutely no sympathy for her, or the store in general. They lost a good worker, and I hope the weekend that just passed was horribly sh!t for them, since it was the busiest weekend of the year, and they had at least 50% of their staff still as trainees. I hope it was the worst week of their lives, I really do. Aside from that, I know now, and it means that I'm not (necessarily, anyway) the one effing up my chances at a future job, so one good edit probably tomorrow to my resume, and I'll be ready to go try again---this time probably with better results, since I won't have two-faced a-holes sabotaging my chances. tl;dr: Yup, people are douches. She'll get hers, I'll go on to have (at least in comparison) an awesome job, and someone ballsier than me will end up throwing a pot of hot coffee at her. All in all, she might've won the battles for most of this year, but starting now, I win the "war" I didn't even realize was happening. ![]() ...and I'm glad it isn't only me who thinks this is totally b!tchtastic of her. *sigh* Some people... |
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| Lovin | Aug 2 2011, 09:42 AM Post #7 |
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Goddess Lovin
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I just wanted to announce that I actually did read all of your post! Also, you don't have to b!itch her out, but you need to confront her about her lying and how it affected you. Make her feel terrible for what she did. |
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| The Frostbound Prince | Aug 2 2011, 03:12 PM Post #8 |
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If you can read this, you are not illiterate. Congratulations! Have a cookie.
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*high fives* Yay for reading 800 page posts! =D In related news, yes, I probably will confront her with a (much less b!tchy) speech or whatever explaining things. Before I do that, though, I am concerned that, while I do trust the person, more or less, I got this info from (she has absolutely no reason to lie, unless Sharon actually /is/ saying awesome things about me, and she [Helga] actually secretly desires my prolonged failure. Even still, setting up Wanda as a reference instead shouldn't lead to worse job opportunities anyway, so...) But yes. I'm trying to decide now if I should just call her out on it and let her know how insulted I've been to be treated this way, or actually find out "for sure" if she is actually doing what I'm pretty sure she is. And by "find out", I mean probably ask a friend to call in claiming to be another potential employer, and see what she says to them. That just seems really underhanded though, and I don't really wanna sink to her level. On the flip side, though, if this was only a one-time thing, or if she isn't actually saying these things at all, it would be nice to not call her out on something she isn't actually doing. Oh, the drama. Blah. x_X But yes. As soon as I get in contact again with the former co-worker I will be using as a reference instead, I figure, new resume, and if I wanted to, I could never have to speak to Sharon again. ...although if she is saying horrible lies about EVERYONE, I would lie to actually warn the four or five people I still like that work at the store to NOT use her when they finally do escape/quit. But whatever. Yay for drama. Keeps us...annoyed. ![]() Thanks for your suggestions, Lovin, I am almost certainly going to do something to that degree, it just now depends on exactly how I wanna deal with things
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| Sora | Aug 28 2011, 01:45 PM Post #9 |
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If you embrace the darkness... You might enjoy it.
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o_o;; Well... "The rest of me just wants to ignore it, continue to be my pleasant self to her, and then go in, all smiles, once I find a new (hopefully awesome) job somewhere else, and cheerfully tell her about it, and watch and see if she tries to take credit for it or not, or see if she asks herself how it's possible I got a job without someone calling her." I would suggest doing that. XD Would be funny as hell to confuse her. "More than likely, the most I'll do is go around to all the remaining staff members I like and "warn" them not to use Sharon as a reference if/when they leave, and possibly inform Sharon that I'll no longer be using her as a reference. I came up with a rather double edged "explanation" about how I'll be "slightly editing" my resume to remove a "minor, insignificant detail that's been likely ruining my chances all this time", and "replacing it with information that is actually accurate and will properly gauge and share my abilities with the rest of the world", rather than "seem to say one thing to me, but something else entirely to whoever else ends up reading it", since it seems like that's been my one major stumbling block type thing." That would be funny as well. XD "But yes. I'm trying to decide now if I should just call her out on it and let her know how insulted I've been to be treated this way, or actually find out "for sure" if she is actually doing what I'm pretty sure she is. And by "find out", I mean probably ask a friend to call in claiming to be another potential employer, and see what she says to them. That just seems really underhanded though, and I don't really wanna sink to her level." Doing that might be one of the few ways to find out for sure what she's been saying, though. Companies often get many applications and resumes, so they can often sit on the manager's desk for some time. Even if, by now, she has come to the knowledge that you know what she (might have) been saying, there's still a possibility of an employer calling her for you... I know I'm a bit late, but I hope by now ya have a new job, and that she is recieving some bad karma. Edited by Sora, Aug 28 2011, 01:49 PM.
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| The Frostbound Prince | Aug 29 2011, 06:07 AM Post #10 |
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If you can read this, you are not illiterate. Congratulations! Have a cookie.
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No worries, I haven't really done anything yet regarding this, so the more opinions I get, the better. Unfortunately, seeing as how I can't exactly post this up on Facebook or anything (since it's unsubstantiated, it would probably fall under "slander" or something, and enough of my friends, I'm sure, at least know who I'd be talking about even without naming names, and I'm sure it'd get back to her if I did that, seeing as how even with my profile blocked to people who aren't "friends" with me, I'm quite certain she'd find a way to find out, in any case. x_X But yes, I'm still pondering having a friend (or, at this point, I'm also contemplating asking a cousin who lives (and works) in town to call in, since based on (last) names I don`t think Sharon would piece it together that we`re related, but we`ll see. I need to call my (only real still-living-in-the-area-that-haven`t-worked-for-the-store-before) friends and ask if either of them would mind trying it and seeing what she says, but we`ll see. I have yet to get in contact with my new potential reference (will hopefully manage that either today/tonight or tomorrow, but yeah. At this rate, however, I'm starting school, what, next week now? So any potential job I do get will have to be part-time, and not so hectic that it messes with my ability to actually be a decent student, since my year off and general laissez-faire attitude to my education will be bad enough. x___X But yes, your feedback's been helpful (as has everyone else's...thanks much for replying, everybody!), and here's hoping that I make up my mind as to what to do before the week ends, and I'll let you all know (if anyone actually cares) how things go
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2:16 PM Jul 11