Sweet Catastrophe

Classes start tomorrow and I’m really looking to have a positive week so I think I’ll get this one last gripe out instead of sleeping on it.

You’ve probably read before about our ridiculous scheduling system at Lowe’s. Basically, my manager can’t format schedules. She freaked over it last year and got our much-hated HR manager involved and they implemented a system for part-timers where we have to provide a copy of our class schedule each semester before the availability form we fill out will be accepted.

Aside from the fact that it’s just plain wrong because as a part-timer, we’re only required to be available for ten hours, and Lowe’s has no business knowing my class schedule or why I have a certain availability as long as it isn’t unreasonable– the situation causes a lot of problems.

Registration is open for only a certain amount of time during the current semester for the upcoming semester. Maybe you weren’t able to get your schedule set during this time for various reasons, or even after the fact, financial aid likes to play little games that cause people to have their schedules dropped. I’m a prime example of all of these. I don’t recall many semesters that I haven’t had to jump through hoops getting overrides and such. Generally, I know in advance what my schedule will be, but teachers still have to wait until registration opens back up to perform overrides again.

At the beginning of December, my manager told me she’d need my availability for Sp ‘08 by the 13th. I told her I could give her my definite availability right then, but I wouldn’t be able to print a schedule reflecting the correct times until January. She, of course, has golf balls for brains and insisted she couldn’t do anything until she had the school schedule. Fine.

So I turned in my schedule this morning. Which means at least 3 weeks of busted schedules for me. For the next two weeks, I believe I have 3 days that I’m supposed to be at work at 4, but I’m not available until 6, and one day I’m scheduled for a shift during a time I’m not available at all.

I’m just gonna take it day by day. I believe, on the day I’m scheduled during an unavailable period, I could probably finagle things and go in, but my willingness to do so will greatly depend on how fed up with work I am when the time comes to decide. The smart money is on me not going in.