# What Are Your Work Place Pet Peeves?



## d.c. (Nov 2, 2008)

What are your top three workplace pet peeves?

Mine are:

1) Staff who are no call/no shows - Now that I'm a culinary arts teacher, this really isn't too much of a problem. After all, I have a captive workforce i.e. my students ... so if a student cashier is absent, it's generally not a problem. All of my level II and III students are cross trained, so I simply reassign one of the other kids to a vacant slot ... but in the real world of the commercial kitchen, it was a pain in the you know what to have to have no calls/no shows ... and as the general manager of my last restaurant kept the establishment perpetually short staffed to save on labor costs, staff absences really caused problems.

2) Teenage hormones - Yesterday one of my student counter servers kept forgetting his job because his girl friend came to visit during lunch. They stood at the end of the service counter(of our student operated restaurant) and held hands. The student cashier had racked up three orders before I spotted what was going on. The counter server was reminded of his job ... but his mind was lost in a romantic fog. While casting looks of longing at his lady love, he poured a diet pepsi instead of a rootbeer and served up pizza bread instead of a bean burro. I had to put the kid on dish tank and replace him with one of my paid adult staff. 

3) Cleaning ... one of the hardest things about being a culinary arts instructor is that I keep getting kids who have a misconception about what we actually do. Some sign up because they love to eat. Some of them actually like to cook. None of them like to clean. Some of the girls in particular don't want to soil their hands by picking up a scrub pad, so they try to clean pots and pans using a hose. Having failed to remove globs of food from the pot, they either put the dirty item in the dish washer or they bat their eyes and play "poor little princess" in the hopes that one of the guys will do their cleaning for them. I find this incredibly annoying.

I have largely solved this problem by tying a cleaning grade into the production grade. Before I assess a student product, I inspect their work stations. Since each student has an assigned job, I know precisely who was responsible for not wiping down the counters, cleaning equipment, or washing tools ... and the individual grades reflect this. 

Since some students don't appear to care whether they're downgraded for not cleaning, repeat offenders have been tasked with additional cleaning responsibilities: drain and clean the deep fryer, dismantle and sbrub the charbroiler etc.


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## phatch (Mar 29, 2002)

Ahh the joys of being self employed!


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## chefhow (Oct 16, 2008)

1. PPl who interupt you while you are in the middle of a conversation either on the phone or in person. I also cant stand it when they stand there and wait for you to finish.

2. Over use of cologne/perfume. Its just nasty

3. Using a cell phone while in line at the grocery store, at a restaurant when the waiter is trying to help you, just about anywhere you may be needed for interacting with a service related person. VERY RUDE!!

4. PPl who show up to work in dirty uniforms. Lack of self esteem and lack of respect for your employer


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## d.c. (Nov 2, 2008)

Ugh ... related to this is the staff member who takes a restroom break while wearing his apron. That's disgusting. 

Also disgusting is the complaint received FROM A CUSTOMER who observed a staff member use the bathroom AND NOT WASH HIS HANDS. Can you say "Trichinosis?"


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## just jim (Oct 18, 2007)

Top would have to be the no call/show.
Even a call in absence allows you to plan for that absence.
The no call leaves you wondering, and always fixing the short staff too late.

Second: When I ask someone to fix a problem, whether it's an item poorly made, lack of cleaning, etc, getting a defensive response, such as "I didn't do it".
It's counterproductive.
If I didn't ask who did it, it obviously isn't my top concern at the moment.
We have a problem and it needs fixing.
Be a part of the solution instead of another part of the problem.

Third: This goes especially for new people; Giving me all of your outstanding ideas to improve the operation before you have bothered to learn what our methods are.
The motivation behind this is rarely the genuine interest in seeing things improve.
It's usually a plan to avoid learning new things.
It's designed so that all of us can learn your ways instead.
Obviously an easier route for the newbie.
Now, if you've proven yourself competent in our methods I'm more than happy to take suggestions.
But doing so on day one just irks me.


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## donnaj (Nov 11, 2008)

no show and no calls...definitly #1 on my list...also the ones that interrupt and wont let you get a edge in to talk or add to the conversation...they yack and yack and yack...grrrr...thanks for posting....


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## maryb (Mar 21, 2008)

Coworkers who take a 15 minute break every hour to go smoke and then they have the nerve to call those of us who don't smoke lazy.


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## just jim (Oct 18, 2007)

Hate that.
Worked the line with a guy once and whenever we would clear the bar he would run outside to smoke.
Finally, after about 8 different breaks, I asked him "when is it my turn?".
He looked at me with all seriousness and said "but you don't smoke".
Grrrr.
I told him "I'm going outside for a coffee break, call me if you need me".
He never did get a clue, and didn't last long.


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## jim berman (Oct 28, 1999)

*Disorganization*. Because then it becomes YOUR problem.
*Lack of Initiative*. Just get enough to done to say "Hey, I'm doing my job"


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## deltadoc (Aug 15, 2004)

Pet peeve at work or anywhere for that matter: Guys who pee in the stalls and don't lift up the lid, and don't wipe up the splatter between the seat ends. One place I worked, a guy on the 2nd floor showed up to one of 2 bathrooms on the 1st floor every single morning between 10-10:30 and peed on both cubicles toilets. I actually walked in one day as he was exiting the handicap stall and going into the other stall. I kept washing my hands until he left and went to confirm my worst suspicions. Those suspicions were confirmed. I reported him to the Plant Manager, but to no avail. Plant manager has to see this guy in action to do anything. Evidence isn't enough. I suggested DNA. He didn't take me seriously!

May he be struck with diarrhea at 10-10:30 am!

doc


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## salliem (Nov 3, 2006)

RE: deltadoc's pet peeve....women do that as well...they "hover"...um, clean up after yourself please.

The no call no show is my number 1 pet peeve.
Bar staff leaving their garbage in the 3 compartment sinks


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## iconoclast (Aug 8, 2007)

work-place politics... if you have problems with someone else or have issues work it out, dont let your personal conflicts effect your work. which dovetails with gossipers... ppl who stop work to gossip about someone else... then the ppl who stop working to complain about others who dont work. lastly; smoking breaks. some ppl take a smoke break way too often, and its not just a smoke theyll go out with a group of ppl then it turns into one of the above and a twenty minute absence from your job.


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## chrislehrer (Oct 9, 2008)

I'm an academic, so for me, work-place politics are actual work. We're supposed to do this. Don't let anyone tell you academia makes any sense.

My version of no-shows and no-calls: students who just flat don't show up for things that are planned in advance. Missed classes, oh well, but if you were scheduled to give a presentation today and you just blow it off, then what? I can fill in, of course, but how am I supposed to squeeze your stupid presentation into a later class when everything is tightly scheduled anyway?

Or showing up 48 hours after a paper is due and asking for an extension. This is particularly good when your reason is that you had a Chem test. Didn't you know that in advance? Maybe you could have asked in advance?

My personal favorite, though: administrators who send emails telling you what happened at some long, boring, and noncontroversial meeting, but who put things in the email that didn't happen -- things they'd like to have happened, but knew nobody would agree with. So they put it in an email and hope you won't read it. When you do read it and complain, they apologize and say they sent the wrong draft. ARRRRRGH!


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## maryb (Mar 21, 2008)

As a college student(at age 48) I see all to much of the habits of the younger students. I had a team speech that we had 4 days to prep for, I had to give the conclusion and didn't get their parts of the speech until they actually gave it. I HATE having to give a speech on the fly :lol:

Then there are the professors who think you should be there very day unless you are dead(and then they want a death certificate to prove why you weren't there). I was snowed in on Tues and one of my profs was all bent out of shape because I missed class. I suppose I could have blown a path down the block to get out but at my age? I will wait for the plow :lol:


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## ishbel (Jan 5, 2007)

At this time of year?

STUDENTS...


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## rpmcmurphy (Jan 8, 2008)

how i only get stopped for not displaying my ID when i'm by myself and not with my long-legged co-worker...

...how I go to sleep every night not knowing if I'm going to have a job the next day...


...and...hmm....how we are "going green"...but not really...but hey, it "sounds" good....until you realize we generate more waste than most.


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## bryanj (Jun 20, 2008)

Wow man... find a new job? That really sucks.

No-call/no-show is the worst. I never have to deal with the supervisor logistics, as I'm just a cook, but I always get screwed by it. I just got home from my nineteenth straight day because people keep calling off/not showing up. I guess that means I'm more reliable and therefore worth more to my chef? Maybe I'll get a raise soon! That would be great.


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## ed buchanan (May 29, 2006)

When I was teaching I found I got to them through their stomachs. The kitchen had to be 99% clean before they ate or they didn't.. I also marked them on sanitation habits.


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## chrislehrer (Oct 9, 2008)

Any of you pros in the business have advice for Bryan? If this were academia -- my business -- I'd have some good ideas for how to approach the top person (here, the chef) and indicate that while you don't expect lavish rewards and praise and whatnot just for being reliable and competent and the go-to guy when others drop the ball, you're wondering what sorts of things you might do to move up in your profession.

As I say, I'd know how to do that in academia. But anything I could say about how to do this in another profession would be guesswork. Suggestions?


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## rpmcmurphy (Jan 8, 2008)

How executives get to stay in 1000$ a night penthouses (for almost a year) because they are too lazy to find a house, while I have to fire a guy under me who's salary is 40k a year.


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