I'm a good worker apparently. But I can still get fired (rant/advice)

[Herr R]

I don't know if this belongs here and if it doesn't then please move it to the appropriate forum.

So anyway, it's been an "okay" week for me. After a year of having moved up here, I have achieved true freedom after purchasing an awesome car. I've been looking forward to my vacation time and the stress levels at my job should go down considerably since we're now in the off-season, even though that means less hours and therefore less money. On top of that, I've thought I've finally found a reason to get back into writing again after finding a new enemy to fuel the anger I've been seeking to regain.

But as I've always known, good things never last very long in my world.

I thought that this week I would finally be rid of the shame that has accompanied me my entire adult life, but then life happened to Possible FWB and she's not up to it now. Kinda sucks, but no biggie. I'll just visit someone whom I met from Those Damnable Forums whom I promised to visit for over a year now, over in DC.

Okay, I now have transportation which means my whole world is now open. All is good. Right?

Well not so much.

As some of you know, I work in a highly stressful environment over at a resort out in the middle of nowhere. I was moved to an even more stressful station then the one I was at, simply because it's here, in this kitchen, where most of the head honchos can typically be found. Everyone from my boss to his bosses are always around and I always feel like I have to do the impossible. I obviously have no love for my job, but at the moment, it's the only one I have and I've learned to tolerate it for the most part. But apparently the stereotype that you see on cooking reality shows of chefs with huge egos is a very real thing.

So my boss pulls me aside to a back hall, all serious and shit and he tells me that the executive chef in charge of the kitchen where I'm working at right now is apparently "annoyed" with "my attitude" and that unless I changed it, said chef could fire me on the spot. My boss then told me that I', a good worker and he would hate to lose me because of that. I then knew what my boss was talking about.

I work in a very confined area, due to a bad redesign job, where everybody has to come behind me just to get their shit. During the start of the shift, I guess I'm okay mood wise. I got my music pumping and I try to get shit done with the only goal of not having anything left to clean at the end of my shift. On busy days this is nigh impossible and my mood soon turns dark, real quick. The cooks and chefs, who otherwise work longer hours than I do and have a more difficult and stressful job than I do, become annoying to me at best and at worst, my mortal enemies who's sole purpose in life is to push me to the brink of fulfilling the prophesies that most of my critics from my past have said I would do and go postal. I thought that putting on a bullshit facade of a pleasant face and acting cool would be enough to not make them feel bad. But I guess some of them don't buy it with one of the cooks asking me if I was pissed off at them and the aforementioned head chef, one day noticing my bad mood felt like he needed to state out that he wasn't trying to piss me off or anything. I was kinda taken aback and tried to reassure him that I wasn't mad at him or anything. But whatever. I brushed it off.

But then I was informed of this today and I realized that I could lose my job all because apparently I can't keep up with the charade of liking a job that I barely tolerate, yet apparently I'm supposed to pretend to like it while everyone and their mother acknowledges that it's a job no in their right mind would take and put a convincing smile on my face while I'm at it. The Russian attitude towards life and work becomes even more attractive after this.

So would anybody know how to put on an even more convincing show of contentment whilst I try and find a better job/beg my boss to put me back where I was?

[Enail]

When I had a terrible job with a boss made of pure evil, I found it bizarrely cheering to sing this song* in my head all day. Upbeat song, mentally sung with the hottest of hatred. Really, bizarrely helpful. That may just be me, though.

*The song is by Moxy Fruvous, the former band of Jian Ghomeshi, so depending on one's feelings about separating the artist from their work, that might be something some people would want to know before clicking.

[reboot]

You do not have to put on a show of contentment, you need to up your professionalism. I was a line cook once and kitchens are a place where everyone is under a lot of performance stress. I guarantee your coworkers probably want to stick a fork in your eye (and everyone else's) as much as you do, but they are showing it less and, more importantly, not impeding the function of the kitchen with their attitudes by creating more stress. My guess is the exec chef noticed the friction your feelings towards coworkers is causing, which is disrupting the kitchen, and that is why they are considering letting you go.

So what to do about it? You definitely need to up your poker face and probably work on your tone when speaking. There are deep breathing techniques you can use while working to dial back your temper and some math tricks that can distract you when you are stressed. You can also be more mindful before you speak to coworkers and aim for a monotone to keep hostility out of your voice.

[Sponsored content]