14/365 - Got a job at Harrods!

Baby face 2009

November 2009

London was becoming very grim and since we did not have a group of friends or a community to be a part of, we were feeling lonely most days.

At the beginning of November I had my induction days at Harrods and although my experience with big companies amounts to only four, I still believe to this day that their attention to detail was exceptional.

I keep thinking that I will run out of stories, but when I start writing and going down the memory rabbit hole, I get flooded with words and events. I cannot remember what I had for lunch the other day, but will I never forget a feeling and the feeling brings out the picture of that moment in time.

I asked myself many times if I should write this, but at the end of the day, this is my truth, my feelings, my life and they are subjective, right?

It was a small Café on the fifth floor and it could get crazy busy. We were often understaffed, overtime was a normal thing and it was mandatory for women to wear heels back then, kitten heels - they make my back hurt so, I hated them. Running around and standing for a minimum of eight hours a day is not fun!

Have you heard of Secret Guest Shopper? For those that have not - it is an anonymous client that comes, gets served and then makes a report about you and the whole experience. You could get one two days in a row, it could be one in a month, but I was alone a lot so, I would get one often. My scores were considered low, in the 70’s and 80’s/100. Criteria like how soon you acknowledge the client, how friendly you are, how special you make them feel, clean table, clean floor, time taken to serve drinks/food, if its tasty etc. To do all of that during peak time was for me “mission impossible”. One time I got a bad review because the sandwich was “soggy”, forget about the dictionary, this is how I learned new words! Senior managers would come and check the café at least twice a day, that added to the pressure for everything to be perfect, but I never had problems with senior managers.

I never shy away from hard work so, I look at that period as a Discipline and Mental Callusing School and a very hard goodbye to my “career” as a waitress.

My line manager had recently been promoted and she was my age, 23. All the things from above? I think I was fine with them, adversity builds character, right? But she was into some serious psychological games and traps and I have had enough of that growing up. Those 9 months have been the toughest for me in my whole work experience to date, but not because of the frantic pace. I remember feeling sick to my stomach when I had to go to work and if you ever feel like that, get the hell out of there! I also remember talking about my troubles in the company and outside and not being believed, that hurt and like I said you do not forget a feeling. I was in a dire situation, she knew, I did not have a position to be vocal.

There was nowhere to go, no other option, but to keep quiet and start applying internally. I managed to change departments and move to the Food Hall and that is where I found a new family. It was a completely different environment!

I heard after I left that she was dismissed in an abrupt manner, not even allowed to complete her notice, but by then I was happily away. I think management did take into account the complaints, but probably they waited for them to pile up, fair enough, if you are not the one that has to put up with that.

A good thing did come of that, because there is always a silver lining, I found some incredible humans and we have remained friends till today. More on that later…

I say stuff and I think, how many stories are like this out there? How many character-building situations have you been through?

I wish people would post more than just pictures, stories are more interesting. If we are willing to watch YouTube videos for ages from complete strangers why not listen to the stories of people we have actually met?

If you are going through anything like that, I hope you have a plan and you are staying strong!

You got this!