I just accepted a part-time job at a large grocery chain. I'm trans, so it's incredibly hard to get hired in even a slightly demanding job market. The 'labor shortage' (pay shortage) is so desperate right now that they hired me without even an interview. While I really need the money for trans-related healthcare and to pay for college, I'm autistic, so it's going to be really, really hard for me. Are there any steps I can take to reduce my suffering?
Gonna reiterate what has been said already. Don't steal. Your new, people will be paying more attention to you than other employees and customers.
Do exactly what you are told, exactly as you are told it, and do what you can to not exceed those expectations.
Volunteer for as little as possible. When volunteering, do what you can to not be the first person to step forward. When you're being cornered and you know you won't be able to say "no", take as long as you can to tell your boss "yes." Maybe they'll find somebody else.
If you're asked to do anything you have not been specifically trained to do, by yourself, tell the supervisor/manager/trainer that you have not been trained and need training or an experienced partner to work with.
You can say "no" if the request seems more than should be reasonable. You will be asked questions by supervisors/managers to see how far they can push you.
Bit of advice from the Army, "Don't let anybody know you know things that they don't already expect you to know." (remember what I said farther up about "not volunteering", this is the silly way to say it)
Keep your power level hidden, when you need to be crafty, be like a ninja and work quietly and without attracting attention.
Came here to post exactly something along those lines lol. Remember: Minimum Wage, Minimum Effort make that your mantra.
-Be polite but assured if you ever have to remind your boss that you need a break, or are on break.
-If your boss asks you to cover a shift or otherwise change your schedule on the spot, never answer right away. Tell them you have to check your schedule, and get yourself out of the hotseat before deciding. This signals to your boss that you're willing to help but that you take your availability seriously and arent just going to pick up everyone's slack.
-i have to remind myself out loud, "stoic, im stoic at work, no emotions at work" if i feel myself getting angry or upset. try not to vent at work either, ESPECIALLY not to the boss or to anyone higher up. People feed off that energy and its hard to reel it in sometimes. If you have to talk to the boss about needed changes, write it in a polite email format first to organize your words.
-do a good enough job that you arent making your fellow coworkers' lives worse, but dont work so hard that you make your own life worse.
-Be polite but assured if you ever have to remind your boss that you need a break, or are on break
:this:
Damn, forgot to put that one in my list of Do's and Dont's. Gonna signal boost this one a bit.
If you basically want to keep your head down and not get bothered too much, remember that the first few weeks are gonna be what your managers assume you are like and that perception will be hard to change.
Basically you want to put in a reasonable amount of effort, be fairly polite etc. But dont overdo it. You want a reputation as a decent worker who can broadly be left to their own devices. You don't want a reputation as a slacker cos they will keep an eye on you and you won't be able to slack off as much in future but you also don't want a reputation as someone who works really hard and fast cos then they will bung all the jobs they need doing on you.
Minimum Wage = Minimum Effort, really just do the bare minimum. Past that theres not much else you can do
Make sure you know what the responsibilities/duties are for your job, and get it in writing if possible. Don't let them pressure you to do extra, especially if it means you're having trouble doing your core duties. Don't let them pressure you into working off the clock.
At least that's why I quit working at a grocery store: they kept pushing me to do extra work that wouldn't fit in my regular shift.
In terms of labor exploitation: you can't easily, not individually. Systemically, you will be paid less than the value you provide to the company. Trying to combat this individually would mean you either provide less value to the company, you get more pay, or both. But you'll never consistently reverse that relationship until the overthrow of capitalism.
Providing less value to the company: this is contextual. Basically, you do your job badly or half-assedly. So long as you don't get fired, this is good for you in the exploitation equation in the short term. Longer-term, if it is noticeable it will impact your ability to get more jobs going forward and improve your personal material well-being, which is not necessarily improving the balance for our fight. Socialists who are on the brink of financial collapse don't have as much time to organize, e.g. Also, if you're doing shared work, half-assing it by yourself will make others pissed at you and contradict the very good point made by Mao: it's our job to radicalize the radicalizable by being good examples. People want to emulate those who do good work and help others, etc. People will resent the "lazy socialist" who half-asses it alone and makes everyone else do their work. But if everyone is on board, or there's just one tryhard nerd, or it's not group work, absolutely have at it.
Getting more pay: outside of asking for a raise and crossing your fingers, you can't do this alone. You'd need a union and/or the abolition of capitalism.
In terms of just generally surviving the retail environment: makes buddies at work and commiserate. Retail sucks but it's better if you can bitch about the same things. With luck there might be a comrade or near-comrade there already, too. Also, your quality of work environment will depend very heavily on management, which means it's outside of your control. If conditions become intolerable, your only option will be to leave your job for a different one, so... just keep that in mind. Job-hunting sucks but if you put out feelers on a regular basis you will have more options, won't feel stuck, and will have more luck getting better working conditions in general.
Stealing is praxis but not only if you don't get caught. Only do that if you are 100% confident you will get away with it. No cameras, it's dark, nobody is around, no security, etc. I would tell most people to not steal in general because the downsides of getting caught outweigh the potential praxis. Though I've definitely gotten away with plenty of it :D.
Probably the safest way to steal would be the "whoops forgot to return it" type, borrowing stuff with permission, then just letting everyone forget you have it. If youre ever asked about it then youre just another person that forgot about it until now.
i'm a department head at a grocery store and wish this meant i could give you some good advice. my own situation was unique (i was a recent felon and snagged the job and clung to it desperately, despite abuse). what department are you being hired into? are you trying to avoid uncomfortable interactions with customers or co-workers/managers or both?
I'm going to be a cashier. Our store has a lot of self-checkouts, so most of the people that use the normal checkout are either older, on SNAP/WIC, or both (got my first anti-mask rant yesterday). Kinda nervous about facing shitty customers since I'm both autistic and trans, but the pay is better than anywhere else and working for a large chain protects me somewhat from discrimination.
