No title, just a rant about work

I work for 2 of the stupidest people I've met in my entire life. Considering how many people that actually is, that's saying a lot. Every day I'm amazed by yet another completely baffling experience at this place.

Today, flowers were delivered in the morning. There were about 10 boxes. I had finished all the orders and went over and started processing the new flowers. Processing basically consists of taking the flower bunches out of boxes, cutting them and putting them into water with flower food in it.

The owner came into the back, saw me processing and said she wanted me to make some arrangements for the cooler. Okay, the display cooler is full already. It has 25 arrangements in it. She wants some $35-40 vases in the back cooler to re-stock or add to when an order comes in or something is sold from the front. I don't have a problem making them, but one of my biggest problems with this shop is the complete and utter disregard for proper care and handling of flowers.

You don't have to be a florist to know that flowers last longer when they are in water. The longer they are out of water, the shorter the life span. That's common sense, right? Not in this shop.

The bottom line is they only want the delivery drivers to process the flowers because they pay them less. I, as the highest paid employee (and that's really not saying much), should be sent home rather than process flowers. And that's exactly what happened today. I was sent home at noon because, after making some back up arrangements, I started processing the flowers again. I was essentially punished for trying to make the flowers last longer. The sad thing is that this shop has so many opportunities completely unrelated to labor to become efficient. It's sad, really, that they've been in business so long and learned so little in the process. They seem to do things the exact same way they did them the first time 30 years ago regardless of technological innovations and shared experiences with other florists.

They also don't keep the old flowers separate from the new flowers. They "condense the buckets" which basically means putting the new flowers into the same buckets as the old ones. The problem with this is that not only can the inventory not be rotated (FIFO - first in first out - anyone?), the old flowers are in an advanced state of degradation. They have bacteria which pollutes the water which is then absorbed by the new flowers. The best example of the FIFO method (which is universally utilized with perishable products everywhere except this shop) is the produce section of any grocery store. While it is a health concern with produce, it is plain fraud in a flower shop.

Along with having a psychological disorder (Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder -they are pack rats; they have a room full of barrels filled with decaying rose petals - floor to ceiling, about 500sq ft of floor space), the store is disgustingly dirty. Actually, I mean filthy. A rat died in the ceiling and it took them 2 days to notice the smell. The intact cat sprays inside the store. Now that's a welcoming scent in a flower shop. Come on in, your flowers will smell great! Pay no attention to that disgusting smell.

I got into an argument with the owner about 2 weeks before Valentine's Day because I wanted to organize the room the baskets are in. The baskets were all tossed into a room along with empty flower boxes (in case they need one for deliveries). There were close to 1,000 baskets in this room.

It happened because I had an order for an arrangement in a basket and when I pulled it out of the pile the whole thing came crashing down. I brought the owner into the doorway and told her it was unacceptable to ask anyone to work in those conditions. People coming in to help during the busiest week of the year should not have to dig through a stack of anything to do the job they're being paid to do. She argued with me that it wasn't a problem. I looked at her like she was crazy and asked if she really meant that. It was an absolute hazard as well as a workplace safety violation without a doubt. Finally she agreed to let me organize it. It took 3 1/2 hours and I wish I had taken a before shot, but just imagine all of these baskets randomly piled in the middle of the floor. I grouped them like anyone who's ever watched Sesame Street would be able to do and arranged them from smallest to largest. Very simply, common sense = efficiency. Why they don't seem to have any I can't answer. This is just 1 corner after I finished.

These people have the store listed for sale for $600,000, which they have absolutely no chance of getting. They are so completely co-dependent on each other that when one dies (and neither is in good health) the other will be unable to function. That will be the reason the store closes. It will never be sold in the condition it is currently in. Rather than sending people home, they really should be trying to order correctly (ie. look at the current inventory and order what you don't have, not what you have a lot of - yes, really, I'm not kidding), improve on efficiency, and work to phase themselves out to rely on the store for passive income. It is not realistic to view the possible sale of this store as a vehicle for retirement income. It is never going to happen.

They do have a lot of house accounts and I have a theory about why people still order from them when the flowers are poor quality (due to improper care and handling) and the arrangements the owner makes look like they were made by a child (I'll snap a picture as soon as I can - was going to today, but left too early). Edit 3-4-2009: Got it! That's it on the left. Please tell me you see the difference. Notice especially the Alstromeria (the cluster of red flowers in the center), Spider Mum, (barely visible on the right), and the yellow Daisy (back left) which are all backwards and the poor use of color. The person who made this thinks I'm not a good designer.

My theory is based on my belief that their biggest strength is networking and they have done a good job of it over the years, especially with UT. They have accounts with lots of individual departments at UT. Anyone who meets them in person will no doubt feel pity for them. The husband has grossly rotten teeth with black oozing gums and the wife has to tilt her head slightly to see through the deep scratches in the lenses of her glasses. Who would want to deny them money when they are obviously in such dire need?

They put on a really good show for company, too. I don't have any questions about why none of their children want to be a part of the family business. If you met them you would walk away thinking how nice they are, but that opinion is not shared by anyone who works for them. They call other employees stupid to me, so I can only presume they call me stupid to them. They never learned that their business could never have grown to this stage or lasted as long as it has without employees. The truth is every single current employee hates working there and would leave tomorrow if another job offer was extended. Please make me an offer! Sphere: Related Content