Day one-hundred-twelve

 Today has been an incredibly frustrating day at work. I've had about enough. Something's got to change because things are not working as they exist right now, and if somebody has to be fired, maybe that's for the best.

I need to explain. Truth be told, though, I don't really know where to start.

Maybe, first things first. In particular, the first shift and the people who work it. The cutter literally doesn't care what gets done or how, so stuff gets stacked everywhere with no sense of organization. Of course, this leaves the packers/shippers little else but to completely ignore it and leave it to us, on the second shift. Also, I now know that I'm not the only one who's noticed that the first shift (which is known to be less busy across the board) seems to get very little done, especially since they have three packer/shippers while we have two, on the busier, and thus more needful, second shift. If stuff has to be diecut or drilled for hanging, they'll box it but they won't send it out, so we have to make the time for it. This is doubly unfair for the people on second shift whose job it is to do these things, when they can be done first shift. I think it boils down to this: they don't have to make sure things get done on time, so they don't care. The second shift doesn't have that excuse.

Secondly, the second shift in the digital room is critically understaffed. Occasionally, one the of first shift workers, Marcos, will stay for overtime, sometimes for as much as four hours. There have been days where we would not get everything done on time if he didn't stay. Honestly, we don't need occasional help, we need a third permanent packer, and we've needed one since I got into the digital room two months ago. I have said repeatedly that we need another packer. If the first shift has one, we definitely need one, and we need one now.

Pray for wisdom for me, as I try to figure out what I should do. I know I need to talk to someone, my manager, Human Resources, whoever. What I do know is that I need to trust God in all this, and I need to do the right thing, whatever that may be.

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Update-8:35 pm: Right after lunch, I had the opportunity to talk with our shift supervisor, Raul. I told him we needed more help in the digital room immediately and permanently. He has always been friendly, patient, and open to what I've had to say. He said he would put someone in with us permanently.

He decided to place a girl named Christina with us. This is a very good choice and a blessing for many reasons. She's friendly, helpful, and takes direction well. Perhaps most importantly, she actually wants to work in digital. To me, just having that attitude makes a world of difference.

Now, if we could only get the first shift to do what they're supposed to be doing, things would be fantastic. I'm not holding my breath.

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Update #2-10:33 pm: I'm working a hour of overtime tonight; I'm on my last break for the night. We finally got everything done that was due today. Of course, we finished it less than ten minutes ago, which technically makes it late, but no matter.

Now's the rare chance to get ahead on what's due tomorrow. There's a lot due tomorrow, and I'm working on gathering everything that needs to be sent out for diecutting, drilling, etc.

I'm glad this day is almost done. I've written enough about work today.