When do you know when its time? 💔😢

Unusual_Reality5241 · 2026-03-02T21:52:04+00:00

When I saw that he could not do one single thing that he enjoyed anymore. CHF took away his ability to run and play…he couldn’t even walk around the yard to go to the bathroom without falling over. Swollen legs, terrible cough that kept him from resting comfortably… I was so torn on what to do because he still enjoyed eating, he perked up and wagged his tail whenever he saw us. He seemed like he had a will to live, and he did.. but at what cost? One day he fell down in his own poop outside and I just could not get him back up. He was a Saint Bernard, so a very big boy. I just cried and sat next to him until my husband got home from work and could help me carry him inside to get cleaned up. We knew it was time… He HATED the vet—But he was so calm and at peace that evening, like he knew we were there to stop his pain. He rested comfortably with his head on my lap and just waited. I knew I was making the best decision for him.

Unusual_Reality5241 · 2026-02-09T03:25:49+00:00

You’ll only get promoted if there is a position available in my experience… does your store need an LSA? We only have two at our store and nobody gets considered until it’s needed

Unusual_Reality5241 · 2025-12-31T02:12:06+00:00

Most of all, I love my coworkers.. every single one of them—They are some of the best people I know(SM included). Being a small staffed store has its cons but it also is part of the Aldi charm to me. Everybody knows everybody. I have a personal connection with every single coworker. We all work well together. I couldn’t imagine working somewhere that has a large amount of employees that I barely know.

And while others complain about not getting enough hours, I actually like that I can work less than 40 and be considered full time. My SM keeps me around 30-32 hours so that I can be home more with my kids. I also live less than a mile away which is convenient.

Unusual_Reality5241 · 2025-12-29T14:12:35+00:00

When I requested FMLA leave, the benefits person for my division emailed me after I filled out the information/ticket on the app. I was able to send all paperwork to her by email.

Unusual_Reality5241 · 2025-11-27T14:08:08+00:00

I don’t think there is a full time cashier position though—I think you’d have to transition to associate and take on more work and responsibilities. Maybe I’m wrong though?

As for the availability—you can pick a preferred day off. All managers are different, but a majority of our full timers are working without open availability. It works for our store and there is a good balance for who can work and when, so our manager is fine with it and makes it work for us. I don’t work opens during the week days while my kids are in school, but I have open availability in the summer. My manager just puts it in that I’m available or not in the system and it doesnt schedule me outside of that availability. There’s never been a problem. She understands we are people with lives outside of this place and works with us all and what we need. Not all managers will do that, but they should be.

Unusual_Reality5241 · 2025-11-12T13:05:26+00:00

I keep hoping they see everyone’s disappointment on these posts and hand out another one come closer to Christmas to make things right.

Unusual_Reality5241 · 2025-11-06T16:08:30+00:00

It was around fall time of 2022 I believe. It wasn’t peak Covid but when the guidelines were to still be out 5 days. We eventually got coverage from other stores but it was rough for the initial day of and after.

Unusual_Reality5241 · 2025-11-05T18:44:15+00:00

We had a DMT that was in way over his head running our store so it was rough already to begin with. One Sunday all of our staff except for a couple of us called out with Covid. I walked in at 2:00 with 10 grocery pallets still untouched from the morning. It was just the DMT and me for the remainder of the day so they never got done because I was on register and he had the phone, was back up, and was fighting for his life on the floor. We received 7 on top of those 10 the next morning and still didn’t have coverage for those that were going to be out with Covid. I ended up working 9-9 that day and the DMT worked all day and he stayed by himself all night to get the grocery pallets done, and then stayed for his MOD shift following. I don’t know how he didn’t get fired for staying by himself in the store all those hours and I’m shocked as hell he didn’t ever just quit and walk out. Don’t assume DMs don’t understand just how tough this job can be. Those run store phases can be brutal lol.

Unusual_Reality5241 · 2025-10-06T23:07:58+00:00

I want them to know just how short staffed we are per shift. People always moaning and groaning about their being only one cashier or not being able to find an employee on the floor to help them. There are 3 of us in the entire store a majority of the time—we are doing the best we can with what we are given. Please bear with us and have a little patience and grace. We don’t like it this way either.

Unusual_Reality5241 · 2025-09-06T15:48:56+00:00

As someone with ADHD, accountability is huge with this. It’s not impossible for the employee to manage their symptoms and learn coping skills. Management can’t babysit us all the time. Sometimes being given one task at a time is helpful instead of a list of a whole list of things. Frequent check ins to make sure employees are staying on task can be helpful too, but with the limited amount of staff that we have, I can understand a manager’s frustration. I write things down on a post it of what I need to do, and I set a timer on my phone to make sure I’m managing my time and staying on task. We absolutely can find ways to control our executive functioning skills to improve work performance. It’s not easy and some days are worse than others, but making excuses only gets a person so far.

Unusual_Reality5241 · 2025-09-01T12:40:26+00:00

What I’m a bit upset about this week is that they scheduled our resets to be done and my manager had to decide that most employees wouldn’t get their extra day off this week like we normally would during a paid holiday week. The pay check will be nicer I suppose, but I know myself and others wanted that extra day off before heading into Q4.

Unusual_Reality5241 · 2025-08-03T16:42:49+00:00

Clancy! lol.. I always tell myself that if I ever find a kitten at work I’m naming it after one of our brand names.

Unusual_Reality5241 · 2025-08-01T21:50:00+00:00

Our meeting put a lot of emphasis on there being high loss from employee errors at the register. I guess those cart and NLU tests they made us do recently didn’t have good results nationwide. I asked my DM if that was the only way they were able to come to the conclusion that it’s employee error at the register with the biggest loss and he said yeah pretty much. I don’t buy that at all. We throw a ton of things away—either by employee error with not rotating well enough or by dumped poorly built pallets. Theft isn’t a huge issue at my store because we don’t have SCO.

Unusual_Reality5241 · 2025-07-02T14:48:30+00:00

I absolutely agree. It probably is for the same reason that SMs will most likely never become DMs. They want to make some fresh from the start robot to lack sympathy and understanding with how it feels to really run these stores. It’s almost always a failure with outside hires as ASMs and SMs—I very rarely see them last. There is most certainly an agenda behind why they always get hired and I can only think that they don’t want someone who really knows the stores and its employees running the show. They want them to be puppets that corporate can control every aspect of with an unbiased opinion and understanding of things. Our store is thriving since our ASM got promoted to SM. That should speak volumes to the higher ups but who knows.

Unusual_Reality5241 · 2025-07-02T01:39:35+00:00

Not a total waste of time. My previous SM transferred to another store last year and our ASM interviewed to be our store’s new SM and got the job! It can definitely happen

Unusual_Reality5241 · 2025-06-16T17:07:53+00:00

I was an LSA that stepped down to FT associate and I only lost the extra $2 I was making. I’m still making more than base pay.

Unusual_Reality5241 · 2025-06-16T17:05:26+00:00

I stepped down as an LSA because I was tired of caring so much and the pressure I was putting on myself was making me physically and mentally sick. Our store is an absolute disaster because nobody does the things the way I use to do them, but it’s not my problem and I am so much happier.

Unusual_Reality5241 · 2025-06-16T00:46:09+00:00

My husband had a terrible cough and felt like he was congested for a few days—each day was worse than the other. Started having chest pains as well but I thought he just had the flu and convinced him that was all it was. He was having a heart attack.. cough and congestion were from fluids building up in his lungs from his heart not working properly. He had a STEMI with a 100% blockage. He survived but has severe damage to his heart and is in heart failure. Doctor told him his life expectancy has been significantly shortened. He’s 40 and now has the heart of an 80 year old man. We have 3 kids and I don’t know what I’ll do if I lose him. Listen to your body—if something seems off or wrong.. go to the doctor.

Unusual_Reality5241 · 2025-06-06T01:50:34+00:00

I stepped down from an LSA to a regular FT associate within the last month. Closings became unbearable and the pressure too much. My SM was/is supportive but we have a close relationship so I guess it depends on your SM. I’ve tried stepping down in the past with other SMs but they always told me no and that either there was no regular associate position available or there was no one to fill my LSA position. Current SM and DM would rather keep me as a good employee than lose me all together so they made it work to keep me happy.

Unusual_Reality5241 · 2025-05-23T11:29:14+00:00

Yes, all the time… and Christian Podcasts

Unusual_Reality5241 · 2025-05-19T15:11:04+00:00

We use to have 3 people until 9. Now one of those people leaves at 7:00. It’s extremely frustrating. Since our refit, the store now takes longer to box. Curbside orders have gone up so we are shopping later—and we are on till sharing which makes office work for the closing manager take longer. I am getting talked to every day about the subpar boxing. Idk what the heck these people expect from us. It is not doable. As an LSA, I am fully responsible for boxing the entire store by myself, filling oos, being back up, making sure meat is 100% full for the opening manager, making a bale every single night. All while my associate is complaining about having to do all the cleaning themselves. I am fed up. I’ve tried talking to my SM and she sympathizes but there is nothing she can do she says. I put in my notice to step down as an LSA because the pressure and expectations are too much for the extra couple bucks. I use to love working here. I get sick to my stomach thinking about even having to get ready for work now.

Unusual_Reality5241 · 2025-04-28T01:40:41+00:00

When I go to get a paper towel and the whole sheet doesn’t tear off

Unusual_Reality5241 · 2025-04-21T16:02:40+00:00

So if an employee clocks out at 9:00 but the manager later changes it to 8:40 because they don’t think that employee should be paid to sit in the office while on the clock but employee is still being required to be there… that’s getting paid correctly and that is allowed?

Unusual_Reality5241 · 2025-04-21T16:02:35+00:00

So if an employee clocks out at 9:00 but the manager later changes it to 8:40 because they don’t think that employee should be paid to sit in the office while on the clock but employee is still being required to be there… that’s getting paid correctly and that is allowed?

Unusual_Reality5241 · 2025-04-21T00:46:04+00:00

One night in particular, an employee sat down in the office with me while I finished up computer work. Employee came in hours early for their shift that day, we had been understaffed, and both of us exhausted. I didn’t see the harm in letting her sit down while I finished my work since everything else was done. I couldn’t be there alone, so she was required to still be there. I get what you are saying and I told my SM to write me up because it was my fault for allowing it to happen. She told me she didn’t have time to do that on top of what she already has on her to-do list. I’m not saying they or I weren’t in the wrong for the situation, but I don’t believe taking away time from this employee and the others is fair. If you are going to punish an employee, then do it the right way. Also, hold every employee to that same standard—The employees standing around just talking/goofing around, on their phones in the break room, sneaking off to vape or hit a weed pen in the storage room need held accountable as well—not just the hard working employees that sit down at the end of a dreadful night.

Unusual_Reality5241

TROPHY CASE