... last time I try to be nice.... (rant)

Thanks yall.
Since a big part of me being able to do my job well depends on them doing theirs at all, I have to be nice. They COULD make my life miserable.
It WAS my idea. And I'll be nice - I'll make it as pleasant of a 'company cookout' as can be (at a landfill.... LOL).
But inside I'll be

rant over... too much work still to do....

cane, I understand about you working well with them so that your job goes smoothly. But, I would go to the store and buy whatever you wanted, say bottled water instead of sodas. I would start the grill and everybody has to grill their own hotdog! Just very sweetly say, I forgot what everyone wanted so I bought water instead. Oh, and I'm so busy I only have time to start the grill for you. So sorry.

Mary

Gosh that sounds awful. I hope you manage to have fun anyway.

If Cane were to substitute bottled water for sodas, there will be a revolution and more ill will ... a BETTER idea would be to substitute beer / wine for the sodas resulting in a thunderous round of applause , then everyone will jovially want to prove who can cook the better bbqed hotdog , steak or any other cut of meat and a much more pleasant work environment later.

@canesisters, good for you. You put forth an effort above and beyond and that is the model for a valuable employee. Don't think your boss will not see what's happening.

Wish I were close enough to help. I'd grill dressed like a butler and pour the water into plastic champagne flutes for your co-workers. Since I can't be there, I'll help with hugs , good thoughts, and prayers that everything goes well for you.

I am 66 and still find it hard to say "NO". We little red hens need to stick together.

Cane, you have a good heart and you mean well. Do this, you got yourself into it, trying to be kind, but don't do it again. If they grumble about it on the next holiday, then tell the first grumbler that it is HIS turn and what is he cooking?

They are whining now but, they will be happy in the end.

Sounds like little children! "I don't wanna go to da party! Whine, whine! "

Then after arrival, "That was the bestest fun! "

Uggg.. it just got 'better'.
The boss just called and asked what I've been hearing from the drivers about who's hauling Monday. I told him that the drivers ALWAYS say 'I'm not working' but that doesn't mean that they won't be sent if the dispatch office is open. He is JUST NOW starting to contact our customers to see if they are planning to ship on Monday. If the 4 main ones aren't, then we're going to be closed....
After having a notice posted for a week saying that we were working regualr hours.
So - potentially - the cookout will be canceled (imagine the whining...) And I will get to face the angry drivers on Tuesday who DID come down Monday to find the gates shut...
Then to top it off, today is the safety meeting (free, paid lunch). I've got my note pad out taking orders and our rolloff driver comes through. I hand him the menu, tell him I'll be right back and go wait on the driver at the out-bound window. When I come back he is standing there with this confused look asking me why he has a menu in his hand...
..it's the last Friday of the month...
..it's a menu to Pino's (where we've ordered lunch on the last Friday of each month for about 3 years)
I TRIED... I realld DID try....
I snatched it out of his hand and said 'Never mind, you'll get a steak & cheese just like everyone else'
He snarled something that sounded like a nasty name and drove off.

I think I need a little more coffee.
And a weekend...

I can sympathize. I was parts buyer and general flunkie for 5 years at a garbage company. I really liked the work, it was always nuts, so I never got bored. Nothing like a front loader flipped over in the middle of a major state highway to make things interesting. Or a turbo going out in a truck on the far outer edges of our runs and me having to locate one in Houston, go pick it up, stop at the shop to pick up a specific tool from the mechanic's Snap-On toolbox (while on the phone with him telling me exactly what drawer to look in and what it looks like because I have NO idea what the darn thing is anyway) and me taking tool and turbo to the middle of nowhere so the mechanic can perform surgery and put the truck back on the road. The drivers were all Prima Donnas with a slight odor wafting from their uniforms by the end of their day. The mechanics delighted in rolling me under a truck dripping maggots and "juice" to show me a crud coated hunk of some unidentifiable metal for me to locate and get for them ASAP because the truck had to go to work the next day.

Cane, there is no way to make everyone happy. Their job is garbage. I don't know anyone who wanted to be a garbage man as a child. The pay is good-who knew? But the job is long hours, hard and exhausting. Again-who knew? We just set the trash out, it disappears and we forget about it. Until I was face to face with what it takes to pick up the trash, I had no appreciation for those who do the tasks we'd rather not do.

Ya'll--show a little love and appreciation to your garbage man/woman. Give them a Christmas card with cash in it. They have a thankless job and it will make their day that you thought about them. I wait on the truck to come by so I can tip the driver and the 2 guys riding on the back of the truck and you know what? The rest of the year, they just can't do enough for me.