S02.E05: Dog Adoption Day

[formerlyfreedom]

New parents Cheyenne and Bo fight, prompting Amy and Glenn to give them advice in very different forms; Mateo and Jonah oversee dog adoption at the store; Garrett taunts Dina when she refuses to adjust his time card.

[Kip Hackman]

I thought this was the funniest episode of the season. Jonah and Mateo was a good pairing, as was Dina and Garrett.

[BusyOctober]

I loved this one too.  The dog shelter lady was great, "Oh, no!  YOU don't have to kill them!  We have a guy that comes in."  Mateo cracks me up too.  My only nit pick is how does Glenn (or is it Glem?) have so much money to spend lately?  He bought all the Plan B pills for thousands of dollars,  then co-signs a lease and fronts deposits? 

And even though I knew Cheyenne's 2nd choice was going to turn out to be a teacher, it was still funny.

[Tiger]

I enjoyed Garrett vs. Dina, and Amy's reactions to everything Cheyenne was doing and saying.  America has a very expressive face.

[tennisgurl]

I liked the pairings in this episode, with Garrett and Dina and Amy and Cheyenne and Mateo and Jonah. Plus, we got to see puppies. Cuddly, lovable puppies. 

Really funny episode, especially when Glenn realized ll his money was about to go down the drain. This show might not be an Emmy contender, but it has gotten increasingly funnier and more well structured. I really enjoy it. 

[LydiaMoon1]

3 hours ago, BusyOctober said:

And even though I knew Cheyenne's 2nd choice was going to turn out to be a teacher, it was still funny.

I didn't. I completely fell for the sight gag and was looking at the young guy.  I felt just like Garrett when her high school graduation interpretive dance took a wrong turn.  I really should have seen that one coming.

[iMonrey]

I'm still not sure the teacher isn't a better choice for Cheyenne. I love how all the customers keep taking out their camera phones every time there's a fight in the store and Glenn keeps trying to distract them then ends up being the video himself. "The comments are mean! Do I really look like a giant red baby?"

Edited October 21, 2016 by iMonrey

[HeySandyStrange]

Quote

I'm still not sure the teacher isn't a better choice for Cheyenne.

He came off as pretty creepy though, especially when he was ordering Cheyenne around like a child to get "alone" time in his car with her.  Not that Beau is much better, though he did have some funny moments this ep.

Overall, I think this is my favorite episode so far this season and the one that has most captured the tone of the best parts of season 1.  I wonder when Amy will see when her advice isn't helping anyone around her and will learn to back off.

Mateo and Jonah/Dina and Garrett were great together. But holy crap, some of Cloud 9's policies are crazy. I assume no one really follows them, unless they are trying to make a point like Garrett did. One bathroom break per shift? If you are working 6+ hours?

[saylubee]

1 hour ago, HeySandyStrange said:

Mateo and Jonah/Dina and Garrett were great together. But holy crap, some of Cloud 9's policies are crazy. I assume no one really follows them, unless they are trying to make a point like Garrett did. One bathroom break per shift? If you are working 6+ hours?

The policies were pretty similar to my retail ones.  You only were guaranteed an unpaid 30 minute lunch if you worked more then 7.5 hours.  A lot of shifts were scheduled exactly 7.25 hours so employees didn't get a meal, which sucked if you worked 9am - 4:15pm.  Our company would only let us clock in up to five minutes early, so managers would be watching the clock hard to get employees out right before they were required to take a lunch.  You also couldn't leave your shift early to replace the meal if you worked 7.5 hours.  You had to clock out before you hit 7.5 hours, down to the minute.  Then you had to clock back in after your meal, work five at least five minutes, then clock out for the day.  I remember the managers basically standing over my shoulder watching me clock out down to the second.  They had a report that would generate every half hour to tell them who was approaching a mandatory mealtime or took too long for their meal.  The store managers would get audited by the district manager every week for meal time violations.

As for breaks, you got one 15 minute paid break for every four consecutive hours you worked.  You were expected to use the restroom, smoke, eat a snack, rest your feet, etc during this time.  Now our managers weren't so strict that they counted those down to the minute and if you had to take a second bathroom break, it was generally okay most of the time.  They did use the paid breaks against you when they wanted to fire an employee.  They would literally pull video footage of employees entering and exiting the bathroom to prove time theft.

Edited October 21, 2016 by Saytura

[ApathyMonger]

Loved the running bit with Sandra and the hornets nests, and the sad payoff at the end.

[Texasmom1970]

15 hours ago, Saytura said:

The policies were pretty similar to my retail ones.  You only were guaranteed an unpaid 30 minute lunch if you worked more then 7.5 hours.  A lot of shifts were scheduled exactly 7.25 hours so employees didn't get a meal, which sucked if you worked 9am - 4:15pm.  Our company would only let us clock in up to five minutes early, so managers would be watching the clock hard to get employees out right before they were required to take a lunch.  You also couldn't leave your shift early to replace the meal if you worked 7.5 hours.  You had to clock out before you hit 7.5 hours, down to the minute.  Then you had to clock back in after your meal, work five at least five minutes, then clock out for the day.  I remember the managers basically standing over my shoulder watching me clock out down to the second.  They had a report that would generate every half hour to tell them who was approaching a mandatory mealtime or took too long for their meal.  The store managers would get audited by the district manager every week for meal time violations.

As for breaks, you got one 15 minute paid break for every four consecutive hours you worked.  You were expected to use the restroom, smoke, eat a snack, rest your feet, etc during this time.  Now our managers weren't so strict that they counted those down to the minute and if you had to take a second bathroom break, it was generally okay most of the time.  They did use the paid breaks against you when they wanted to fire an employee.  They would literally pull video footage of employees entering and exiting the bathroom to prove time theft.

Wow that sounds like the big box store my best friend works at, they are awful!

Loved Mateo and Jonah using pictures of celebrities to help get the dogs adopted!

[Fostersmom]

19 hours ago, Saytura said:

The policies were pretty similar to my retail ones.  You only were guaranteed an unpaid 30 minute lunch if you worked more then 7.5 hours.  A lot of shifts were scheduled exactly 7.25 hours so employees didn't get a meal, which sucked if you worked 9am - 4:15pm.  Our company would only let us clock in up to five minutes early, so managers would be watching the clock hard to get employees out right before they were required to take a lunch.  You also couldn't leave your shift early to replace the meal if you worked 7.5 hours.  You had to clock out before you hit 7.5 hours, down to the minute.  Then you had to clock back in after your meal, work five at least five minutes, then clock out for the day.  I remember the managers basically standing over my shoulder watching me clock out down to the second.  They had a report that would generate every half hour to tell them who was approaching a mandatory mealtime or took too long for their meal.  The store managers would get audited by the district manager every week for meal time violations.

As for breaks, you got one 15 minute paid break for every four consecutive hours you worked.  You were expected to use the restroom, smoke, eat a snack, rest your feet, etc during this time.  Now our managers weren't so strict that they counted those down to the minute and if you had to take a second bathroom break, it was generally okay most of the time.  They did use the paid breaks against you when they wanted to fire an employee.  They would literally pull video footage of employees entering and exiting the bathroom to prove time theft.

I saw similar policies in my retail days. One chain had a time clock that would let you clock in like 7 minutes early or late, and you'd get paid for that 15 minute quarter. There were tons of people who would either make sure they clocked in at like 4:52 when they were scheduled at 5:00 to get an extra 15 minutes of pay, 4:53 was too late, or would punch in at 5:07 when they were scheduled at 5, 5:08 was too late. The clock game was a well played game. That time clock would also NOT let employees punch in or out too early or late. The time cards were like credit cards almost, you had to swipe it, and if you were too far off your time or not scheduled that day, you had to get one of us managers to swipe our red card to get it to basically unlock your card. That was a total pain in the ass if the store was super trashed or you were prepping for a big visit and your whole staff stayed late to clean. You'd have to stand there, swipe your card, they would swipe, then you'd do it for the next person. Sucked if you had like 15 people closing that night. 

The last couple chains I worked for watched time like hawks. Anything over 4 hours, you took a 15 minute break. 6 hours, you HAD to take a 30 minute lunch, regardless if you wanted one or not, and in theory it was supposed to be before the 5th hour of your shift. Sometimes you could get your lunch break to be at the 5:30 mark and just leave 30 minutes early. One of those chains was owned by a dollar store chain, and they had more than a few class action suits against them for over working employees without breaks or having people clock in early or late and not paying them, so the system was just insane trying to keep everything legal. The very last chain I worked for used the cash registers or the back office computer to punch in or out. That was a total pain in the ass. Cashiers would punch out, and then forget to punch back in. Or forget to punch in at all that day, the register would still let them sign in to actually ring people up. If you got called in and weren't really scheduled, I had to go in and approve the punches, in, out for break, back in, and out for the day. You left early or late, I had to approve them. I tried to keep up with the exceptions to the schedule on a daily basis, but I knew managers who would leave them all until Sunday when they had to clear them up to submit payroll, there were managers who would have like 50 or more for a week. That chain was especially strict, you had a 4 minute variance, and minute 5 triggered an exception I had to approve. God help us when the store was busy and all the lunches got pushed back. Don't even ask about trying to make sure minors didn't trigger a warning. 

I won't even tell you all the ways stores got away with working salaried managers like dogs, standard is 45 hours, that's the minimum, some require 54, and honestly, I was thrilled to work less than 50, only 5 hours extra. At the holidays, it's not rare to have mangers working 80 or 90. Once I figured out my hours vs pay, and McDonalds would have paid me more. That was a particularly rough week. I also heard more than once about managers getting friends and family to come work for them for free, off the books, these weren't even employees, or managers who would get employees to work extra for free this week, but then account for it next. 

I like the show is mixing up the pairings of the regulars. Garrett screwing with Dina will never not be funny. Jonah and Mateo working to get all the dogs adopted was funny and I about died when dog lady was basically bummed out she wouldn't see the guy who was in charge of putting them to sleep. I'd like to see the little old lady and the older guy who's always straightening up paired up. Cheyenne and Beau are so dumb, but sadly are so true to life, they crack me up too. Them throwing chip bags was just ridiculous, but so easily pictured. 

[questionfear]

8 hours ago, Fostersmom said:

I saw similar policies in my retail days. One chain had a time clock that would let you clock in like 7 minutes early or late, and you'd get paid for that 15 minute quarter. There were tons of people who would either make sure they clocked in at like 4:52 when they were scheduled at 5:00 to get an extra 15 minutes of pay, 4:53 was too late, or would punch in at 5:07 when they were scheduled at 5, 5:08 was too late. The clock game was a well played game. That time clock would also NOT let employees punch in or out too early or late. The time cards were like credit cards almost, you had to swipe it, and if you were too far off your time or not scheduled that day, you had to get one of us managers to swipe our red card to get it to basically unlock your card. That was a total pain in the ass if the store was super trashed or you were prepping for a big visit and your whole staff stayed late to clean. You'd have to stand there, swipe your card, they would swipe, then you'd do it for the next person. Sucked if you had like 15 people closing that night. 

The last couple chains I worked for watched time like hawks. Anything over 4 hours, you took a 15 minute break. 6 hours, you HAD to take a 30 minute lunch, regardless if you wanted one or not, and in theory it was supposed to be before the 5th hour of your shift. Sometimes you could get your lunch break to be at the 5:30 mark and just leave 30 minutes early. One of those chains was owned by a dollar store chain, and they had more than a few class action suits against them for over working employees without breaks or having people clock in early or late and not paying them, so the system was just insane trying to keep everything legal. The very last chain I worked for used the cash registers or the back office computer to punch in or out. That was a total pain in the ass. Cashiers would punch out, and then forget to punch back in. Or forget to punch in at all that day, the register would still let them sign in to actually ring people up. If you got called in and weren't really scheduled, I had to go in and approve the punches, in, out for break, back in, and out for the day. You left early or late, I had to approve them. I tried to keep up with the exceptions to the schedule on a daily basis, but I knew managers who would leave them all until Sunday when they had to clear them up to submit payroll, there were managers who would have like 50 or more for a week. That chain was especially strict, you had a 4 minute variance, and minute 5 triggered an exception I had to approve. God help us when the store was busy and all the lunches got pushed back. Don't even ask about trying to make sure minors didn't trigger a warning. 

I won't even tell you all the ways stores got away with working salaried managers like dogs, standard is 45 hours, that's the minimum, some require 54, and honestly, I was thrilled to work less than 50, only 5 hours extra. At the holidays, it's not rare to have mangers working 80 or 90. Once I figured out my hours vs pay, and McDonalds would have paid me more. That was a particularly rough week. I also heard more than once about managers getting friends and family to come work for them for free, off the books, these weren't even employees, or managers who would get employees to work extra for free this week, but then account for it next. 

I like the show is mixing up the pairings of the regulars. Garrett screwing with Dina will never not be funny. Jonah and Mateo working to get all the dogs adopted was funny and I about died when dog lady was basically bummed out she wouldn't see the guy who was in charge of putting them to sleep. I'd like to see the little old lady and the older guy who's always straightening up paired up. Cheyenne and Beau are so dumb, but sadly are so true to life, they crack me up too. Them throwing chip bags was just ridiculous, but so easily pictured. 

When I worked at Best Buy 13 years ago they had a similar clock in/out rule. Managers had to input a code outside of 5 min before/after you were scheduled. 

Agreed about McDonalds btw. When I was a manager for Borders (RIP), I saw a banner on my way to work about how asst manager at mcds started at 34k. I was making 31k and working easily 60hrs a week. 

[PJ123]

Guess I am the only one annoyed by the Beau house hunt thing.  Rest of the show was great but the whole thing with the realtor/co-sign drama was not amusing.

[proserpina65]

On ‎10‎/‎22‎/‎2016 at 10:08 PM, questionfear said:

Agreed about McDonalds btw. When I was a manager for Borders (RIP), I saw a banner on my way to work about how asst manager at mcds started at 34k. I was making 31k and working easily 60hrs a week. 

Awww, which Borders?  I worked at the Newark, Delaware one for 11 years.

I really enjoyed this episode, particularly the Garrett/Dina interactions and Jonah and Matteo getting all the dogs adopted.

[questionfear]

5 minutes ago, proserpina65 said:

Awww, which Borders?  I worked at the Newark, Delaware one for 11 years.

I really enjoyed this episode, particularly the Garrett/Dina interactions and Jonah and Matteo getting all the dogs adopted.

Yea Borders alums! I worked for a few stores-East Brunswick, NJ when I was home from college for a summer and winter break, and then Framingham, MA and Chestnut Hill, MA after college. Framingham has the slightly dubious honor of being the store that really broke the dam of store closings. It was a BIG DEAL when they closed Framingham, and they had all these talking points about how it was only the fifth store they'd ever closed, and how they didn't take this lightly and would be actively looking for a way to return to the area...and then within ~5 years they were gone completely. 

People did not take it well-at one point I was working in Chestnut Hill and someone recognized me from Framingham, and she proceeded to scream at me about how terrible Borders was for closing Framingham and how much she hated us...while she was in line to buy books from us. 

I think all my years at Borders are why I love Superstore so much, because half the crazy stuff that goes on is stuff I've seen. (No one lost a whole finger in our Borders Cafe, but we did have several employees nearly lose a fingertip to rushed bagel slicing, including yours truly). 

[iMonrey]

Doesn't it seem strange they would have a Dog Adoption Day at a store like Cloud 9? I've never seen one at a Walmart or a Target. You'd think a local animal shelter would arrange to have one with the local Petsmart or Petco.

[Fostersmom]

I've never seen one at a big box store, but my local Humane Society has a an adoption day a few times a year at a car dealership they have paired up with. They just had one a few weekends ago. They always have cats and dogs, maybe a couple rabbits if they have some rescues. A big box store would be win win for both though. Get the pet adopted and then the adopters would head straight to the pet aisle to buy supplies and toys for their new baby. 

[ally862]

On 10/24/2016 at 0:00 PM, questionfear said:

Yea Borders alums! I worked for a few stores-East Brunswick, NJ when I was home from college for a summer and winter break, and then Framingham, MA and Chestnut Hill, MA after college. Framingham has the slightly dubious honor of being the store that really broke the dam of store closings. It was a BIG DEAL when they closed Framingham, and they had all these talking points about how it was only the fifth store they'd ever closed, and how they didn't take this lightly and would be actively looking for a way to return to the area...and then within ~5 years they were gone completely. 

People did not take it well-at one point I was working in Chestnut Hill and someone recognized me from Framingham, and she proceeded to scream at me about how terrible Borders was for closing Framingham and how much she hated us...while she was in line to buy books from us. 

I think all my years at Borders are why I love Superstore so much, because half the crazy stuff that goes on is stuff I've seen. (No one lost a whole finger in our Borders Cafe, but we did have several employees nearly lose a fingertip to rushed bagel slicing, including yours truly). 

Aw!  I'm late to the game but I went to Framingham State and LOVED the framingham Borders!  I was so bummed when it closed although I promise I wasn't the person who yelled at you in chestnut hill.

[questionfear]

On 11/1/2016 at 1:38 PM, ally862 said:

Aw!  I'm late to the game but I went to Framingham State and LOVED the framingham Borders!  I was so bummed when it closed although I promise I wasn't the person who yelled at you in chestnut hill.

Ha, no, the person who yelled at me in Chestnut Hill was an older lady and a longtime Framingham customer.

The Framingham Borders was the perfect microcosm of everything right and wrong with Borders. It was funkier than the average bookstore layout, we had to tailor a lot more of our inventory to the community due to our small size, and we got to know some of our customers really well (I still wonder if the lady who bought a ginger peach tea and a cinnamon raisin bagel every morning switched to B&N/Starbucks, or if she found a new routine). On the other hand, as Borders tried really hard to be a big boy corporate chain, they had no clue how to handle stores like ours that were waaaaay outside the norm, and I think that's why we ended up getting the axe. 

Also, it cost an obscene amount of money to rent space on Route 9, and the building was literally falling apart around us; the second floor was crumbling into the first floor, and no one could agree if the landlords or Borders were responsible for fixing it, so we ended up just building a circle of bookshelves AROUND the hole. 

And if the writers on Superstore are looking for ideas, I once called the home office about a broken dishwasher in the cafe, and they suggested holding a seance, explaining that it apparently helped a store in Ohio (I think we were over on the repair budget). 

[topanga]

On 10/21/2016 at 11:05 AM, tennisgurl said:

Really funny episode, especially when Glenn realized ll his money was about to go down the drain.

I didn't realize that Glenn spelled his name with a double N at the end. Somehow it makes slightly more sense that Bo thought his name was spelled G-L-E-M. 

[Sarahsmile416]

On 10/24/2016 at 11:49 AM, proserpina65 said:

Awww, which Borders?  I worked at the Newark, Delaware one for 11 years.

I really enjoyed this episode, particularly the Garrett/Dina interactions and Jonah and Matteo getting all the dogs adopted.

Holy crap! Small world, I worked at the Borders in Newark, DE back in 2006-2007. 

[proserpina65]

On ‎11‎/‎09‎/‎2018 at 10:45 PM, Sarahsmile416 said:

Holy crap! Small world, I worked at the Borders in Newark, DE back in 2006-2007. 

That's wild.  I was there in 2006 until Black Friday.

[Sarahsmile416]

3 hours ago, proserpina65 said:

That's wild.  I was there in 2006 until Black Friday.

That’s about when I left as well lol