Jury Duty

     I had a very stressful Monday morning. And came home VERY tired and feeling highly overworked. It started Sunday night, when someone called out sick, and the manager in charge at the time, couldn't figure out how to move the associates around to cover gaps. Or think to call someone in. Or leave a note, that certain associates were given approval to leave early, leaving the store with no afternoon help. I got the phone call, when I was off work, that there would be 1, ONE, schedule issue, that I quickly tried to cover. Why, though? Why, am I figuring out how to cover shifts, when you are an assistant manager, that has been one for years? Why, was there no thought process before I received the call? Why, didn't you tell me any of your ideas first? WHY, WHY, WHY? All of that before, I have even started my 5am Monday morning. The it all begins to fall slowly downhill, with this jury duty summons.
     I work with someone that received a jury summons and didn't take care of their summons properly. Correct me if I am wrong, but you generally get your summons early enough to take care of whatever arrangements need to be made, whether it be; transportation, time off, letter of excuse, childcare etc? What is puzzling me to no end, still today is the lack of responsibility by the associate to get this taken care of. Just because you have never served, has nothing to do with taking responsibility for yourself and making sure your shift is covered properly. I don't understand why the excuse letter was never picked up for yourself, since it is known that such a letter exists for you as an associate, that a) does not get paid for serving and b) does not have proper transportation. What I also don't understand is why on earth you would call 15 minutes before your shift to let your manager know that you now have to report, per your call in, which you have to call the weekend before (i.e FRIDAY) Which in turn means that you had 3 days to let the store now that you have to report for jury duty, because you did not properly mail the letter back with your letter of excuse.
What I also don't seem to understand is, why managers knew that you had a letter for jury duty, yet never "managed" to tell said opening manager of the possibility of a call out for that particular shift. I am having a hard time swallowing this "pill", with the excuses for this associate. This associate has no consequences for anything, because this associate is in my opinion untouchable. Quite a pain in the ass to be honest, and I can't wait until they are either given the responsibility, of taking responsibility for poor attendance habits, or they are removed all together. What is troubling, is the fact that had this been any other associate, there would be a different conversation.
     I am having frustrations with this job, because I don't understand why people work? What is the purpose of having a job, if you are not there to actually work? Why complain about not having hours at work, when you call out, or when you have people covering your shifts? I just feel there is unnecessary stress for myself, in this job, because there are no consequences for constant associate call outs. There are no guidelines, or rules, for proper call out time frames or notifications.

     I am very irritated because I feel like there is a lot of management being done on my end, as a shift supervisor, yet I make no money. From my understanding, I am just a shift, which according to these people is not even a manager. I don't get sick pay, I don't get to partake in the bonus. I am not contracted to work 45 hours a week. I am paid less than a current assistant manager, and I am training that person.

I just don't appreciate it, and I need either a promotion, to happen VERY soon, or to move on where I can be appreciated for my efforts.
     I may not do everything perfectly at this job, but I am still learning. I have never held a management position, so I think I am allowed learning experience. But any one that is above me, and has been a manager before, should NOT be allowed to let a shift suffer for lack of proper coverage. A person with prior management experience should be able to see where there will be gaps or issues and leave proper notification for the next day.
     Let's hope that tomorrow's open will be much smoother. I will not have this drama two days in a row. I have already told the big boss, so let's see how it is taken care of in the future. I have quite a few opens coming up, so I need this situation rectified by Tuesday night.