The Irritations Of A Morning Stocker

Okay, let's get some things out of the way right off the bat. I work 40 hours a week at the local PetSmart.

Maybe 10 or a dozen of those hours are spent in the grooming salon as a bather- basically, I wash dogs, trim their nails, all that fun stuff. About all I don't do there is cut hair.

Anyway, the rest of the time is spent as part of the Presentation Team. Basically, that means I stock. A lot of product, a lot of boxes, blah blah blah blah blah.



I'm not complaining. I can honestly say I love my job. I've never worked for a better company, I've never made better money- well, never made better money doing a job I actually enjoy, I guess I should say.

But my standard shift starts at 5 in the morning. Which means I have to get up between 3 and 4 AM in order to get to work on time.

Which actually brings me to my first irritation. Gas Stations.
Why aren't they open 24 hours? When I'm driving into work is when I have the time to stop and get those cigarettes I'm going to need, since I didn't realize I was down to my last 4 on the way home yesterday.
Or I realize I desperately need a cup of coffee in order to survive the day at work.
There are only 2 local gas stations that are open 24 hours for anything other than pay-at-the-pump gas. And both of them are out of the way for the drive to work. One is an easy 30 minutes extra driving in the morning, and the other one is about 10 or 15.
I need more gas stations open when I'm actually needing what they sell. It doesn't do me any good for them to open after I've already clocked in.

Speaking of needing something open earlier, that brings my second irritation. Fast food. Specifically, the fact that I would kill for a breakfast sandwich on the way to work. But the blasted places are closed. They open about the time I'm clocking in. Which does me not a bit of good.

Most normal people appreciate a good (or at least edible and fast) breakfast in the morning, before they have to work. That's part of the deal with it. You eat it in order to give you energy to do your job. But my morning starts about 2 hours before they even think about coming in to work. Is that fair?

And that brings me to my final irritation. Which, oddly enough, stays with fast food.

As I said, my actual work day starts when, or slightly before, they open for breakfast.

Which means when the time comes for my lunch break, which is typically when I've been awake for 6 or 8 hours and could really use something filling for lunch, they're still serving breakfast. And just try to get them to serve you lunch instead. It won't happen. Whatever happened to "have it your way"? Is it my fault that my way just happens to be about 3 hours ahead of their way? Is it my fault that they haven't been open as long as I've been working? Should I be punished and forced to have a measly breakfast sandwich when I really could use something more filling?

Anyway, that's all I have today. Just felt like ranting for a bit. I'll try to post something better next time.