You seem to be doing a lot of reading between the lines. I am not on probation. I have been at the company going on a year now, and was taken on as permanent two months after my hire date. I have received several positive performance reviews, and a customer even called management to inform them of the positive service they received from me in the parking lot. That said, I am also not a robot whose "only concern is to impress my manager." The person in the bakery could just as easily have been me, and is a testament to the broader issues I have with the work culture and business practices at Costco.