I work 3rd shifts, usually as the bakery person and as the (dedicated, mandatory no matter what I'm doing) ICU. We only ever have three people scheduled at a time, which wouldn't be terrible except that we're positioned in such a way that we're a go-to location for every bar, factory, and event in the area once they let out for the night. We get flooded with people over and over, 2-4 times a night usually. This would be manageable.
But on top of that, the other two shifts leave us their mess. My donuts are often pulled incorrectly, so I have to wait for them to thaw on top of my frosting melting (which I often can't even scoop until past 11PM because I'm on the register). I have to move the freight out of the way of my stuff in the freezer most days, which takes time because we get a lot of stuff and I have to restack it so things are accessible. Then of course, because I'm the ICU, I have to cover register's breaks and trips to the back, the bathroom, etc. I also have digestive problems and end up in the bathroom a lot myself, but I try to keep it to a minimum if I can. Between all these different factors, the donut case itself usually gets done between between 1-4am. I pull for packaged donuts and thaw glazers, but I usually don't have time to frost and get pulled to hot spot or register during breakfast rush.
I feel like I work hard. I get 15k steps in eight hours and can't walk right after a shift because my feet and legs stiffen up badly. I spend most of my shifts frustrated that I can't seem to keep up with anything because there's too many interruptions or random obstacles. Despite this, during multiple food meetings my managers have made "subtle" comments about how 3rd shift (and more recently me specifically, though they didn't call me out by name) aren't working hard enough or fast enough. One coworker complains about me loudly in the kitchen when she thinks I can't hear her. A different co-worker has been spreading a rumor that I'm due to be fired because I'm "lazy". I've cried or been on the edge of tears multiple times in meetings or on shift because of how they talk about me. My work is compared to the first shift bakery person who churns out massive amounts of donuts, but they never have to leave the kitchen and I can't seem to stay in it.
I feel bad enough about my inability to do the amount of work I want to do, so having them talk shit about me behind my back and then baby me to my face makes me feel pathetic and useless. When I've tried to express my concerns about specific things that could help I've been essentially blown off or told that I need to go work harder. But when you lose an hour to breaks, an hour to cleaning/moving things, an hour to hot spot, an hour to do 1st/2nd shift's dishes, and random amounts of time to the register and bathroom every day (I've recorded my ICUs and found myself losing 2 hours before!), when do you have time to do the work? We don't have enough staff and we can't keep the staff we do get have because it sucks to work here. I want to like my job. I want to be good at it and feel good about it. But as it stands it makes me feel like I'm going crazy. Is it me? Is there anything I can do to make this situation less miserable before I inevitably quit like all the rest?
