The Deli

The Deli 1994

Age: Nineteen

            “Are you F#cking Stupid? The ones go here, the fives go here and the tens go here.” These were the first words my manager Erin ever uttered to me at the University of Minnesota Deli. I looked at her with an expression I don’t think existed until that moment. My first thought after “you bitz” was, “Hey, I just got here, walked up to the concession stand and stepped into your wrath.” Who does she think she is anyway? Why is she talking to me like that? And why is she throwing out the f-bomb in front of a busy crowd? She huffed away so quickly that I didn’t have time to catch my breath let alone muster up any kind of rebuttal to her ferocious remarks.

Sophomore year, I worked at a deli on the University of Minnesota Twin Cities campus, which also converted into a concession stand during swim meets. That day, I walked into a swim meet, prepared to assist, not prepared to be humiliated in front of my co-workers and our customers.

Apparently, it had gotten so busy that my co-workers were running around doing three things at once, leaving the cash register a total disaster. Erin decided to blame me for the mess in the most inappropriate way and stunned everyone within earshot.

There was a sea of people in front of me, hungry people. After being publicly scorned, my only move was to help the next customer, fake smile in tow, with my tongue clenched between my teeth.

Normally there were four people who worked separate shifts at the deli during the week and more people were added for swim meets. Erin managed the employee schedule and food orders while she completed grad school and only occasionally blessed the deli with her presence. This is why I had never met her until that day. Man, did she live up to the hype. What a bitch.

I am not one to get mixed up with gossip at the workplace or judge people before I meet them, but Erin had earned herself quite the reputation. I could not find one person at the deli who spoke highly of her. The stories circulating were hard to believe. Nobody could be that bad.

Vern was in her sixties and had worked at the deli for years. She was nice enough, but extremely insecure and cranky. She complained about Erin 90% of the time that we worked together. She complained about Erin’s demeanor, disrespect toward others and that lousy attitude of hers that left people feeling defensive and pissed off. I was hired by Erin’s superior and had the luxury of keeping my distance from her. Until that fateful swim meet.

I would try to help Vern with her troubles by offering solutions that would allow her to tolerate Erin. I am the kind of person who works toward fixing problems not just complaining about them. I suggested that she find something in common with her; maybe a television show or a good book. Vern would just roll her eyes and state, “you don’t know her, she is awful, unreasonable and dealing with her is impossible.”

The complaints did not stop with Vern. The two guys I worked with also could not stand it when Erin dropped by the deli. According to them, she would come in, toss boxes around without acknowledging anyone and bitch the entire time. Then she would continue cussing while opening boxes and throwing shit around. A cup of yogurt here and an apple there would fly through the air because of her impatience. I was too optimistic of a person to believe that she was really that bad. I tried to listen without saying too much because I knew that I should meet her before passing judgment.

Well, I met her and wished that I hadn’t. She was a nightmare. Everything I had heard about her proved to be true. She was rude and unpleasant as she stomped into the deli, dragging her negative energy behind her. The door would fly open and she would complain about anything, big or small, as she forced the restock cart through the doorway.

You could say that my perception of her was biased because our first meeting was so dreadful but believe me, I am not the first person, nor will be the last person to find her character flawed. And my goodness, what makes a person behave in such a manner? Someone who manages people should be a charismatic, likeable person. Otherwise, that person should seek employment elsewhere. Speaking of which, who hired her in the first place? Were they drinking during the interview? Maybe she was attractive on paper and they were desperate to fill the position. Who knows? I finally came to the conclusion that she must have had some sort of connection to the company. I could accept no other theory.