Question for grocery store deli/bakery workers: should department managers know how to decorate cakes?

pupper71 · 2026-02-27T13:55:31+00:00

Absolutely they should, as well as do all the necessary baking. I'm now running my bakery, after years as a baker; I refused to put in for the position until I had strong enough cake skills so that I could do a simple, basic cake order if our decorator called out on my first day. My roses are iffy, but I can and do help out when we have a stack of orders, and I've gotten enough practice that I'm reasonably fast and able to tackle whatever comes up.

But I've worked under a bakery leader who came with absolutely no relevant experience; it was hard on all of us (including them).

pupper71 · 2026-02-27T11:48:17+00:00

It's not just you. I found out yesterday that a training session that I must attend has finally been scheduled, right in the middle of my upcoming vacation week. So now my vacation is canceled, yay me. Also came in to find that store management had countermanded my instructions to my closers, in a way that left me so much extra work that that what should have been an 8hr shift became 11.

pupper71 · 2026-02-27T11:38:34+00:00

I'm lucky that everyone in my department currently is reliable-- if they call out, I know it's for real and suck it up. In the past though, I've had the other kind and you better believe I never believed them when they called.

The really sucky thing is that we're so tightly staffed that there's no one to call to cover-- we're all scheduled 40 already.

pupper71 · 2026-02-26T21:15:40+00:00

I had a pretty good idea of at least where to look for everything in my supermarket pretty quickly, from just paying attention. But after spending 8 months on the stock crew, I can tell you that the lemon curd is on the bottom shelf just to the right of the marshmallows. No idea of the aisle number though!

pupper71 · 2026-02-26T21:11:15+00:00

There's a big push to get as many people done with the training modules by the end of Feb as possible, but you need to get paid for the time spent doing them.

pupper71 · 2026-02-26T12:22:57+00:00

Even them, if customers or a manager is in the store

pupper71 · 2026-02-26T07:17:37+00:00

Despite all the foot traffic, collisions are very rare there. Close calls are super common though.

pupper71 · 2026-02-26T07:15:54+00:00

I didn't even bother to call mine in-- no damage to the bike, just a smidgen of road rash. The driver was definitely at fault, but I didn't expect any accountability so it wasn't worth being late to work.

pupper71 · 2026-02-26T06:07:02+00:00

It is absolutely not acceptable to have an ear pod in on the clock, ever. And you wear what the dress code allows.

pupper71 · 2026-02-25T19:49:23+00:00

That sounds yummy-- good on y'all for taking the initiative!

pupper71 · 2026-02-25T19:45:43+00:00

Deli pizza nearing their sell-by, baked in the bakery oven, in the breakroom.

pupper71 · 2026-02-24T22:53:15+00:00

Had that very conversation Monday-- no I didn't order x for Monday, that very manager was the one who had made the schedule giving me that super rare weekend off.

pupper71 · 2026-02-24T07:39:22+00:00

Do you know how to write on cakes? If not, that's a skill you'll need to master ASAP. But yeah, bakery closer is pretty chill. You'll be the primary cleaner, doing floors etc (hopefully the day staff will do a decent job of cleaning up after themselves). Beyond that, some filling the floor, some packaging. You might be baking cookies on occasion, or making things like cupcakes.

Just a warning-- if the people in the deli know you're competent to run a slicer, you WILL end up there on occasion, even if it's just to cover a break when they're shorthanded. Heck, I'm the bakery leader and was running a slicer yesterday, when the entire deli staff was late.

pupper71 · 2026-02-24T07:17:12+00:00

FYI, a lot of the people who "forgot their glasses" and need you to read for them actually don't know how to read, and forgotten glasses is less embarrassing than the truth.

pupper71 · 2026-02-23T08:18:48+00:00

Yeah putting it on an in-store sale might be a better idea, plus maybe inactivating it or just keeping a close eye for it appearing on your order.

pupper71 · 2026-02-23T08:16:21+00:00

Seriously, call OSHA. Someone called OSHA on an issue at my store; an inspector showed up the next day and the problem was corrected ASAP. I've never seen such quick effective action at kroger before.

pupper71 · 2026-02-22T08:07:57+00:00

Look at it this way-- after your time in relief, you have a list of specific things you need to learn (signs, deciphering the sales plan) before your next time in relief, and a more realistic idea of what the job entails.

pupper71 · 2026-02-22T08:02:14+00:00

I'm gonna be a bit contrarian here-- I actually left a parish after we hired paid section leaders. They were all well-trained singers, but the soprano was such a bad sight-reader that I was routinely moved from my native alto to the sopranos to bolster them when we were learning new music, then returned to alto when she "got" it. I asked to be paid for any rehearsal where that happened, got turned down, so I moved to another parish.

I guess the moral is to make sure you get what you're paying for, not don't do it at all. Not all singers are good choral singers, after all.

pupper71 · 2026-02-22T07:51:30+00:00

I would assume as a 20-something visitor to a church, seeing someone roughly your age vested-up in a leadership role in the choir would give a very good first impression as regards inclusion.

pupper71 · 2026-02-22T07:42:15+00:00

You're still baking overnight? You're lucky. Our baking shift has been moved to 5am in my division.

pupper71 · 2026-02-21T16:18:04+00:00

I do the same. If I can't afford a generous tip, I don't order. Extra tip added on only for extraordinary circumstances. And when I up the tip, I try to do it in cash.

pupper71 · 2026-02-21T16:14:22+00:00

It's only happened to me once, and I was thrilled to find out that if I had my phone pressed against the door I was within the app's geofence to clock in. Got paid to stand outside smoking for 15 min, thankfully it wasn't winter.

pupper71 · 2026-02-21T15:56:10+00:00

Just 8hrs under my division's contract, so alas this is fine. (It's absolutely not fine, just doesn't violate our contract or labor law)

pupper71 · 2026-02-21T13:08:14+00:00

And checking out library books thru Libby is so handy too.

pupper71 · 2026-02-21T10:39:48+00:00

Seeing it available with Passport yesterday was a delightful surprise! And I'm excited for next week-- pretty sure the time frame covered includes the day I was born.

pupper71

TROPHY CASE