I've been at our local Chipotle as [prep]crew for roughly 2 months now. I had visited it frequented as a customer, I won't lie: Its [fairly] cheap, filling, and pretty tasty [I am not entirely sick of it yet, but it would be difficult to pay 8 something for what I eat now, after I quit]. I'd prefer other foods, if given the choice, but this is a mere 5minutes away, as opposed to driving 25-35min for other [better] foods. The people were always nice and friendly, as they still are. I have a theory really, that people [read, younger kids between 18-22] stay at this place due to the comrade-like bands they form with their coworkers. I'll say, some of these people are people whom I'd grab a beer with [or frankly after every shift, a double whiskey...]. I think this fact that, the majority of the worker's friends are coworkers themselves. which is why people stay. They'd prefer not to abandon their friends....brothers in burritos if you will..

Unfortunately, the cool people I work alongside of cannot counteract the crappy conditions. Don't get me wrong, I don't hate hard work. Matter of fact, its pretty damn enjoyable to finish a huge work project and feel satisfied that you have accomplished something. Unfortunately, that isn't the case here. Obviously with the industry it is in, Chipotle has is day-in, day-out, same ol' crappy grind. Spend x hours making this, this, this and that. Guess what, repeat it tomorrow. I leave with no real sense of accomplishment.

I suppose if that were it, I wouldn't mind as much. But the place is a poorly ran....military so to speak. Way too many officers, with too few grunts. It seems the people that enjoy working there, is the upper echelon of the mangers themselves. No surprise, most of the time we do the same exact work, yet you get paid a helluva lot more for it, and can randomly stop said task after an hour and say, ahh to hell with the line, I am gonna grill for a while, or go prep, or do chips, or whatever. Freedom is a nice thing...speaking of freedom, I for one enjoy the concept of autonomy and sovereignty. Give me my daily tasks, and let me run my course. I am not an idiot, I know what needs to be done when, how to do it, and how to alter and be flexible during rushes. I do not need you, each manager, checking on me every 5minutes saying, do this next. There has been several times where I lay out my plans to the manager, they say, no, that order is wrong, do this first, A, B and then C. Fine. Guess what happens? Midway through working, the line runs out of item C. Item C, which was going to be first on my list, BECAUSE it was going to run out. Then I get yelled at for following YOUR [managers] orders? Hm...poor logic. I'd be a bit better off as a worker, had I a feeling of being my own person, and not some child which must be check on every 10minutes for progress.

Another thing that is weird...least I found weird, was that, after my third day, I was asked how I'd feel about becoming a manager eventually. Answer was literally: ....I'm not sure...I just started, so I have no real opinion on that. Promoting too quick without training...erm, how is that effective and efficient?

What got me today was this. I was called for jury duty. You know, that civil service that some of us get, and some of us never do. That civil service, which is ILLEGAL to miss and can result in warrants being put out, unless proper reason is given; however, saying, we are understaffed [big surprise], and I [scratch that, the restaurant] cannot afford to be a man down - Yeah, that won't fly. So i say to my manager, I won't know til the day before, so we need to be a bit flexible this week. She says: No, you can't go, tell em you have to work. Right. Cause Chipotle is the center of the world of jurisprudence. How did I forget about the landmark case where Chief Justice Scalia and Chief Justice Carnitas duked it out!

But i digress. I put in a 2wks notice, as I found a much better job, and it actually utilizes my degree. I was told, find yourself a replacement. Well, i walked in on my own accord, no one found me as a replacement. And I'd doubt that anyone would work there, after I'd fill em in. Desperation allowed me to go there for work, but now that finances have bounced back, I don't need that. Hell, I'll settle for a less paying job [which leaves a small window], with a helluva lot better environment.

As I said, these [well, about 90% of the people] would be people I'd party with and hang out with. They are pretty cool. Its a bummer that the environment there is such shit, that people come and go. Fuck, I held a job as a TELEMARKETER longer than this shit. THAT should give you an idea...