It was a heartbreak to me when I was told to leave the coffee shop and transfer to one of the company’s sushi restaurants in Business Bay. I mean new place, new restaurant,
new menu, new people - everything. I was informed to move there a day before so it all happened so fast that I didn’t even get the chance to properly say my good byes to the staffs, regular customers and especially to the place where I fell in love with. Oh how I miss working in JBR! Anyways, that was just the start. So the next day I arrived at work with my usual coffee shop uniform but I had to wear a jacket to cover the coffee shop name in my shirt , I am in a sushi restaurant now and knows nothing about sushi and anything Japanese! There was a shy waitress on the floor and two sushi chefs who were there. Everyone was busy so I just kind of like started to blend in and kept the flow from running. There was a couple of people dressed in suits who walked in so I composed myself and presented the menu with a proper greeting. They stopped and stared at me hideously that I dropped one menu on the table accidentally. These are probably regulars and it was the first time for them to see me working there. There was this woman who looked at me as if she wanted to shoo me away. I felt so ashamed that I could I could feel my cheeks turning red from embarrassment. I quickly ignored the feeling and went on and before I knew it, it was time to close the restaurant. It was a very bad day. i felt like I don’t belong there. Nobody seemed to be friendly- the staffs, the customers, even passersby. Arrgh I hate the thought that I feel ignored whilst in JBR, everyone notices my presence and are all grateful towards me. I wanted to just give up.
A month later, I was able to bring connection to the staffs and everyone seemed happy but not too happy when it comes to work. You know why?Because we were salary delayed for more than 2 months and everyone is dying. I moved to Business Bay on mid December last year and by that time, we haven’t received our October salary yet. Then came November and December but we only got the October salary. You could imagine how frustrated everyone was. One superwoman from the Al Ain branch was bold enough to bring this issue to the Ministry of Labour and requested to take action into this improper treatment of employees. Baam! The company got busted and would face charges if they wouldn’t give the pending salaries of their poor employees. So everyone was happy for winning the battle. All of the staffs received their two months pending salaries but lasted probably in just a week. Half or more than half of it goes to our families back home and perhaps keep something for our savings. The rest is for the necessities and oh I forgot - for paying the amounts we borrowed from other people during the three month long of famine! I am happy and grateful to be alive, but disappointed for not losing weight!
So I spent my Christmas and New Year at this new workplace with nothing special happened or anything to consider it memorable except for the famous The Address Hotel blaze. The Burj Khalifa fireworks were astonishing while The Address Hotel was burning on the side. Thank God no serious damage has been reported or people killed in the fire. Last year’s fireworks display was better I might add.
Working in Businessbay is way too different. Too stressful. Too complicated.
Customers come in and order food then everyone gets mad if the food wasn’t served in a few minutes. Come on people, this is not KFC. Even the sushi you ordered are being cooked separately, then rolled and sliced. You should at least take that into consideration. It is not even a buffet! Arrgh, office workers and their business minded attitudes...
Another unfortunate thing to say? I still feel like a stranger. I missed being on the spotlight. I missed working in JBR. The worst feeling is when you get a very bad sales, you need to be prepared to be stormed by the General Manager with his words that you get to listen every time you send the sales to him...you have to formulate a reason different from the other. That even if you work so hard to the fullest, he still wouldn’t appreciate you because you didn’t reach the daily target sales. I wouldn’t be able to get my increment if I don’t work hard to increase the sales. Can I work naked???
Just kidding....
