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what not to do during an orientation
I attended the first day of a two day orientation. I am excited about the job and the company seems decent so it wasnt that big of a deal to sit through. I was shocked and amazed at some of the stupid behaviour or some of the other new hires. Yes its just an orientation and you probably will never see these people again (they do it by district so most people were from different stores) but you should still be on your best behaviour! Do you have any stories?
*We were told specifically not to eat or smoke in front of the store. A group of 15-16 year old boys decided to go downstairs anyway and EAT THEIR LUNCHES OFF THE TOP OF A TRASH CAN in FRONT of the store WHILE smoking. Wtf seriously who eats using the trashcan as a table?
*We were provided lunch (subs) and could choose from a few different types. Each was labled with a single letter based on what kind of meat. I ordered a turkey and grabbed what I thought was a "t". I then heard a guy say that they were short one vegie sub. I looked down at mine and on closer inspection the "t" could have been a "v". I gave him the sub and he went back to his table and started rather loudly making fun of me for possibly mistaking the two letters. When hastily written letters can look like others damnit! Well it ended up being a turkey one after all and I had to go and get another one from downstairs. No big deal but I still think it was tacky to make such a scene over it.
*No one enjoys sitting through these things but they do serve a function. Its not THAT bad or anything and anyone who cant sit through a few hours shouldnt have a job. There was this older lady at my table who asked stupid questions EVERY couple minutes. "I dont have **** paper" while she did causing the whole group to have to wait (she should have looked before speaking but more importantly not been so angry about it). Every time we had a simple task she instead of trying to figure it out like everyone else she asked. Basically she was doing that annoying asking unnecesary questions every few min like that one overly curious kid in school. Its one of those annoying but not *bad* things. For example if they briefly went over the programs listed for tuition reimbursement and said that only those programs were available she asked about ones not on the list. The worst was after one of the customer service traning videos she started loudly ranting about how the guy in the video wasnt wearing gloves while he used a special machine to core/cute a pinapple for a customer. Aparently handling the plastic container was unthinkable without gloves. She started ranting about anyone who handles food should "blah blah blah" and if you are touching something that food goes in how could you not. GRRR it was a freaking training video and the guy never even handled the fruit. Besides Im sure as a produce section worker who did that for a living he was following all procedures. But to bitch about the training video loudly!!! She even asked if they really actually did that (cut a specific fruit for a customer even if prepackaged stuff was already available). They do that all the time and I think its good service. Grr
This company has a surprisingly long list of neat programs and offers aimed at community service or just general good customer service. Aparently you get a free cake for your child on their one year old birthday or something. She asked "why dont they promote it I have never heard of it and neither has anyone else at this table". GRRRR bringing us into it when all we did was express surprise over the coolness of the program. None of us had heard of it but its not like we would have a reason to know if we dont have kids or use the bakery. Besides Im sure that they wouldnt be able to continue the program if they aggressively told everyone who walked in the store. There is a whole information section right when you come in. Tons of pamplets and info on everything including all of the programs/offers. Im GLAD they dont shove it down your throat in line. It sucks having to listen to a sales pitch every time you shop somewhere. "would you like to sign up for yada yada yaday" is something no one wants to hear when buying something small at a random store.
Its not that I have an issue with her or anything but it just seems a bit rude during your first day to question everything like that. I still believe that companies are capable of doing the right thing and cool things just because. Its not every time or every company but there is no reason to assume that there is some major fault with everything.
I guess Im just surprised at how people will make a scene at the drop of a hat during orientation. I also thought the goal was to participate but not start asking everything little question that should be saved for later or even for your hr person back at the store.
*We were told specifically not to eat or smoke in front of the store. A group of 15-16 year old boys decided to go downstairs anyway and EAT THEIR LUNCHES OFF THE TOP OF A TRASH CAN in FRONT of the store WHILE smoking. Wtf seriously who eats using the trashcan as a table?
*We were provided lunch (subs) and could choose from a few different types. Each was labled with a single letter based on what kind of meat. I ordered a turkey and grabbed what I thought was a "t". I then heard a guy say that they were short one vegie sub. I looked down at mine and on closer inspection the "t" could have been a "v". I gave him the sub and he went back to his table and started rather loudly making fun of me for possibly mistaking the two letters. When hastily written letters can look like others damnit! Well it ended up being a turkey one after all and I had to go and get another one from downstairs. No big deal but I still think it was tacky to make such a scene over it.
*No one enjoys sitting through these things but they do serve a function. Its not THAT bad or anything and anyone who cant sit through a few hours shouldnt have a job. There was this older lady at my table who asked stupid questions EVERY couple minutes. "I dont have **** paper" while she did causing the whole group to have to wait (she should have looked before speaking but more importantly not been so angry about it). Every time we had a simple task she instead of trying to figure it out like everyone else she asked. Basically she was doing that annoying asking unnecesary questions every few min like that one overly curious kid in school. Its one of those annoying but not *bad* things. For example if they briefly went over the programs listed for tuition reimbursement and said that only those programs were available she asked about ones not on the list. The worst was after one of the customer service traning videos she started loudly ranting about how the guy in the video wasnt wearing gloves while he used a special machine to core/cute a pinapple for a customer. Aparently handling the plastic container was unthinkable without gloves. She started ranting about anyone who handles food should "blah blah blah" and if you are touching something that food goes in how could you not. GRRR it was a freaking training video and the guy never even handled the fruit. Besides Im sure as a produce section worker who did that for a living he was following all procedures. But to bitch about the training video loudly!!! She even asked if they really actually did that (cut a specific fruit for a customer even if prepackaged stuff was already available). They do that all the time and I think its good service. Grr
This company has a surprisingly long list of neat programs and offers aimed at community service or just general good customer service. Aparently you get a free cake for your child on their one year old birthday or something. She asked "why dont they promote it I have never heard of it and neither has anyone else at this table". GRRRR bringing us into it when all we did was express surprise over the coolness of the program. None of us had heard of it but its not like we would have a reason to know if we dont have kids or use the bakery. Besides Im sure that they wouldnt be able to continue the program if they aggressively told everyone who walked in the store. There is a whole information section right when you come in. Tons of pamplets and info on everything including all of the programs/offers. Im GLAD they dont shove it down your throat in line. It sucks having to listen to a sales pitch every time you shop somewhere. "would you like to sign up for yada yada yaday" is something no one wants to hear when buying something small at a random store.
Its not that I have an issue with her or anything but it just seems a bit rude during your first day to question everything like that. I still believe that companies are capable of doing the right thing and cool things just because. Its not every time or every company but there is no reason to assume that there is some major fault with everything.
I guess Im just surprised at how people will make a scene at the drop of a hat during orientation. I also thought the goal was to participate but not start asking everything little question that should be saved for later or even for your hr person back at the store.
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