Statistics, damned statistics
I finally had a day at work where I wasn't completely slammed with calls so combine that with the fact that I actually got a lunch hour and it seems I have enough energy left to manage a blog entry. I think it's been weeks since I posted and I know it's been weeks since I felt I had any sort of life. This ability to compose a coherent sentence after a day on the phones isn't entirely due to a reduced work load though. It has more to do with the fact that as of today I've stopped trying so damn hard to do the best job possible. My call statistics and QA ratings have already taken a hit due to the ridiculous workload so I really shouldn't slack off now, but I'm to the point where I just can't keep putting every ounce of my energy into this job, even though I need the paycheck. In addition, the absurdity of measuring job performance by statistics hit me in the face tonight when I stopped at the HEB for groceries on my way home. I was fighting my way through the isles, dodging screaming children and arguing couples, when an announcement was made about cashiers' scan statistics. A few cashiers were praised and then there was an admonishment that the cashiers as a group had not met their target. I seem to hear this every time I'm in HEB and aside from the fact that I think it's an inappropriate announcement to make, I don't like the effect it has on the cashiers. They start frantically scanning items and I always end up with crushed chips and smashed bread. Besides, it's not the scanning of items that slows things down on the check out lanes, it the lack of grocery baggers. This causes one of my biggest gripes about HEB because after the cashier bags my groceries, she/he just tosses them to the end of the lane and then starts scanning the next customer's items before I can even get the bags in my cart. I always end up sorting out someone else's cans of green beans from my items. All for the sake of items scanned per minute statistics.