"Popped" On The Head

There was a big turnover in employees in the vending business. It's probably the same in any part time job. So I couldn't understand why they were keeping me at the college account. All I got was excuses when I asked my supervisor about letting me have a different account. (I believe she was afraid she'd have to work it if I left before school was out.) When you work independently like that, your supervisor and sometimes the delivery man are your only sources of information about other accounts and who's coming or going. I didn't see either one for days or weeks at a time. But, I asked my supervisor to move me every time she couldn't avoid seeing me.

Then there was another incident that made me so angry that I phoned the office, yelling threats all the way up to the District Manager. It involved a delivery man who was sent to cover our regular driver when he on vacation for a week. The young blankity blank they put on our route didn't want this route, and he took his displeasure out on the vending attendants. He booby trapped our storage machines, (every one where an attendant wasn't present when he delivered) so that things fell all over when we opened the doors. The first day several girls phoned headquarters to complain. I was among them, without knowing of the other calls. The second time he delivered, I opened my storage and a 6 pack hit me on top on my head and I went ballistic. The top of the storage was for chips. Pop was suppose to be put away below. He set that up deliberately. Since I'd already complained about his methods, this time I let the BIG BOSS know that I wanted to see a lawyer about a law suit. I'd phoned immediately, the pop was still on the floor and my head and shoulder throbbed where I'd been hit. They promised to move him back to his own route in another city and that I'd never see him again. Later I learned that everyone in our area had threatened to quit if he came back. A maintenance man had to deliver our route the rest of the week. Why on earth didn't they fire him? He pulled that stunt on several of us and he was rewarded with the route he wanted in the first place.

My supervisor made her rounds trying to calm all her girls down and when she got to me; I told her I would be quitting if she didn't find me another account under one roof. I gave her a deadline and I was prepared to follow through. It was amazing how fast they finally managed to come up with a new job for me. (Man....if I'd gone through with a law suit every time I could have, would I be in this situation now?) ((At least my conscience is clear.))

Later on I learned the timing was coincidental. They'd already decided to put me at A.N.C. The large factory had gone through many attendants in the year since we'd gotten the account and if they couldn't get someone in there to make the customers happy, they were on the edge of losing the account. But I didn't know that right away. I was only aware that I was getting an account under one roof, (almost) with a huge storage room and my own sink, freezer, cooler and a large four wheel dolly to haul things on. I was not aware the I was about to be fed to a mass of angry humanity. Those poor workers had had enough. They wanted the account out of there and one more attendant after so many didn't make them happy. I was walking into the challenge of my life.