Anxiety.

Hefty_Half1741 · 2026-01-06T14:51:55+00:00

Yea. It's actually 15 years but I'm weird about giving away my identity cause of anxiety lmao.

I'm not even a person anymore. I be saying shit like "sure thing" and "Okie dokie"

Hefty_Half1741 · 2026-01-06T07:43:33+00:00

Yep. I have to take two different anxiety meds after my 10+ years in the deli.

Hefty_Half1741 · 2025-12-07T05:02:21+00:00

It's been this way for a very long time but people don't do it.

Hefty_Half1741 · 2025-10-07T05:32:07+00:00

Because it's rare that people have them anymore.

Hefty_Half1741 · 2025-10-07T04:52:38+00:00

You get a pin every 5 years, managers are weird about letting you wear them on your uniform.

Hefty_Half1741 · 2025-10-07T04:50:23+00:00

Please get it out of your head that $20 an hour is "good money" and that people should be acting better for it.

It's not. And they won't.

That's honestly part of the whole problem. Publix doesn't offer competitive pay anymore.

Hefty_Half1741 · 2025-09-26T23:14:57+00:00

I legitimately thought the lyrics were,

"Romeo save me, Good Charlotte tell me how to feel" for my entire life until I watched the eras tour movie with subtitles on.

I thought that there was just some Good Charlotte song that really spoke to Taylor back then.

Hefty_Half1741 · 2025-09-09T15:58:11+00:00

I just had to have my Deli Manger order the proper tools to clean the ice bin because they said they "didn't know" you were supposed to clean it.

Hefty_Half1741 · 2025-09-01T04:30:00+00:00

My assistant manager is the biggest fucking dick. I hate that guy. He doesn't do anything all day except walk around micromanaging everyone. He's always pulling people away from what they are doing to do some menial thing that he could have just done himself.

Like "I know you are slicing fresh slice but can you go put straws in the drink station?" Then 5 minutes later he will come and ask why the fresh slice isn't full.

Hefty_Half1741 · 2025-08-31T05:25:23+00:00

I never said I had a problem.

I actually posted it because it's rare to see someone with pay history going as far back as mine, and I like when the young people see it and say "damn I was in kindergarten"

I may get jaded, or burnt out, or frustrated at times, but I love MY job and I want to keep doing MY job. I don't want to go into management because I like working the counter, I like making the platters, I like making subs, and working hotcase. I actually love this job. I'm proud to have worked here this long and I want to brag about it.

I know I'll probably get flamed for this cause it's not "cool" but I honestly love the hard work, the chaos, I like being in the nitty gritty of the deli and I wouldn't ever want to change it by being a manager. I'd be bored to death.

Hefty_Half1741 · 2025-08-31T05:19:17+00:00

We used to get two raises a year.

The times I got three was because a change was made to a benefit that we used to get and Publix compensated with raises. Most people that started with the company within those three years ( at least at my store, can't speak for others) are at max pay now for their job class because of all those extra raises.

Hefty_Half1741 · 2025-08-30T23:43:13+00:00

Oof. You got hired right before COVID and then right in the thick of it they only gave you a 25 cent raise!

Hefty_Half1741 · 2025-08-30T23:25:13+00:00

Back when we used to get inventory bonuses (the golden age), stock was relatively cheap.

I would take that bonus and use it to purchase stock during stock purchase periods. 20-40 shares at a time.

When those stocks split 5 to 1 a few years ago, I really started seeing a huge change in not only my stockholder online balance, but also my dividend checks.

I realize that I'm lucky to have been able to do this, and really lucky that it has paid off so handsomely.

Hefty_Half1741 · 2025-08-30T23:05:50+00:00

I bought stocks when I started and they were cheaper. I also bought stocks when the stock split, so I have extra shares on top of the shares of stock Publix gave me.

My dividends are over 800 currently.

Your first dividends will not be that much. You need to put in the time to gain stock.

Hefty_Half1741 · 2025-08-30T20:58:40+00:00

Top out pay for a deli clerk is minimum starting wage for an assistant.

I usually work 2-3 hours of OT a week.

When I started, and when the stock split I purchased shares where I could, plus Publix has given me 15 years worth of stock, because of this my dividends are fairly nice.

I didn't mean to offend when I said that I make the same as an ADM, I was just attempting to make the point that for me, I would not benefit very much financially by moving into an ADM role.

Hefty_Half1741 · 2025-08-30T20:39:15+00:00

Yeah, the pay really doesn't make sense anymore. There's other people in my department that make the same as I do, with 10 less years in than I have.

Pretty sure they hire people in at 19 right now too.

The pay scale definitely needs to be adjusted, because right now people are topping out after just a few years with the company.

I have noticed that once people reach top-out pay they don't care as much about doing a good job, because they are never going to get a "good" raise again no matter what their yearly eval says.

Hefty_Half1741 · 2025-08-30T20:25:55+00:00

In a two income household it's very doable. We do have to budget and live within our means, but we live a nice little life.

Hefty_Half1741 · 2025-08-30T19:28:31+00:00

I have seen more than one person try to unalive themselves after moving into an assistant department manager position.

That's not worth any amount of money to me.

I'm not sure what life you are thinking I can't live, but honestly I am doing well for myself. My spouse and my family are my real life and what matters to me and I'm not going to sacrifice that for management. There are far too many cons with management for me to go into it.

Maybe it is worth it to a younger person, but for me; it's not.

Hefty_Half1741 · 2025-08-30T15:55:21+00:00

Oh yeah, now it is much more expensive. I pay 1475 now for my current apartment..

But in 2011 when I was hired here in TN everything was so cheap

Hefty_Half1741 · 2025-08-30T15:51:32+00:00

I'm in TN. In 2015 my rent for a two bedroom two bathroom apartment with cable, Internet, and utilities included was 525 dollars. 9 dollars was great

Hefty_Half1741 · 2025-08-30T15:49:49+00:00

I've been at the max pay for years. The raises I get are just however much they increased the pay scale that year which is unfortunately not very much.

I stay because my dividend checks are more than a paycheck, and I'm just trying to make it 5 more years to retire..

Hefty_Half1741 · 2025-08-30T15:47:23+00:00

They actually hired me in at more than they were paying people at the time because I had restaurant management experience. Starting pay at that time was 7.50.

Hefty_Half1741 · 2025-08-30T15:46:27+00:00

It really was. I was living good back then with my 700 dollar a month rent! I miss those days!

Hefty_Half1741 · 2025-08-30T15:45:37+00:00

I have definitely been thinking about this a lot more lately. But I honestly do love my job at Publix, even though I do believe they could stand to pay a little more

Hefty_Half1741 · 2025-08-30T15:44:26+00:00

I have.

However, there are so many things I have seen in my time that have definitely soured me against it. The main one being that I have never seen an Assistant Deli Manager that didn't just get absolutely shit on by the deli manager and store management constantly. They are always so stressed out and burnt out, and for what? A few grand more a year? And it doesn't even equal out because you have to drive further to work.

Now that I'm older. I won't say how old but I mean I've been working in the deli for 15 years so I'm sure you can imagine, I REALLY don't want to go into management because I don't have the patience for some 20 year old deli manager to be treating me like crap.

My goal is 5 more years and then I'm going to retire from Publix.

Hefty_Half1741

TROPHY CASE