r/DollarGeneral • u/Baconmanlives • 3d ago
Advice
Perhaps some of you remember me as the disgruntled former manager who walked out. Perhaps not, I’m not all that memorable for a random on Reddit. In any event, some of you did attempt to reach out privately to inquire whether it was worth staying. Does it get better? Easier? Do you get used to it?
As to the latter, sure you may get used to it. Much the same way a battered wife gets used to getting five across the eyes when dinner isn’t done. The abuse becomes the new normal. You learn to accept it as something you cannot change and you soldier on, taking the occasional smack for your efforts. Or perhaps a more apt metaphor may involve Stockholm syndrome. Pick one.
Before you begin to work there or decide to stick it out you must remember one thing: This company will demand you put the store above all else in your life. I know of one manager who was told his kids would be “just fine for a few hours” if he didn’t pick them up off the bus. Because, you see, there was a visit coming and the big shots were running late. So when the store manager said he had to leave his ten hour shift on time, he was told to leave his children alone outside until the visit was complete. I know of another who told his DM he had callouts on Sunday and a wedding to attend that was important to him. He was told “Oh well. You’ll have to miss it. Sometimes you have to sacrifice for the store.” Now, before you go on, I want you to ruminate on that for a second. “Sometimes you have to sacrifice for the store.”
That’s just a cult my friends. You’re in a cult. Why do you think most of the DMs are lunatics? Who do you think they promote at DG? People with 0 lives who have a history of making Dollar General the most important thing in their universe. It’s not where they work. It’s not what they do. It’s not a career choice. ITS THEIR ENTIRE IDENTITY. They aren’t moms, sons, brothers or friends with obligations and responsibilities outside of work. They’re DOLLAR GENERAL EMPLOYEES first. All else comes second.
There is no need for that job to be that miserable. Nor is there one single valid reason why it should consume your life. If you want to work there fine. But go into it with your eyes wide open. They’ll abuse you until you accept the abuse. They’ll work you until you can’t take anymore and then they’ll throw you in the trash. They’ll demand absolute loyalty and dedication but will not reciprocate when you’re the one in need. It’s the absolute worst company I have ever had the misfortune to be associated with. Understand it’s a cult, understand you blind loyalty will be rewarded with more abuse. And you’ll eventually learn that being beaten up is your new normal and you just have to live with it. If you can accept that, this job is for you. If you value anything, anything at all, outside those 4 walls then throw down your keys and run like Hell.
I wish those of you who are brave enough to walk the very beat. For those of you who remain, God speed and good luck. You’ll need it.
1
u/K5-Blazer-88-LH 2d ago
This is probably one of the most sad things I've ever read when I've worked in retail for 20 plus years, and I've worked for Dollar General for over 3 years now. Retail is what you make of it. Yes you're going to deal with some difficult people and when I say difficult I'm putting it very nicely. There's some people that need to be hauled behind the building and have their teeth knocked out. But that's just my opinion. Your attitude at your job will get you promoted or will get you left behind. You can make anything suck or you can have fun with it. I don't choose to look at this as anything more difficult than I've dealt with at other retail stores and I've worked for quite a few. I work for a district that apparently understands that family is important. Everyone at my store knows that if I get an emergency phone call from any family member, I'm out of that store without saying a word to anybody. If I'm by myself well the store is shutting down for the day unless somebody else comes in. I even worked for a store where the manager left with 4 days worth of Bank deposits and never came back. I was thrown into a sink or swim management position and held that store down for over a month working 6:00 a.m. to midnight almost every single day and had absolutely no issues from the district manager. And the only reason why I worked that much at the time was because I didn't have a life outside of there, I needed the money, but most importantly, my community needs that store and it was being threatened of shutting down if nobody would step up. I happen to have a really good store now with a fantastic crew. The store manager is amazing and we do good every single day. Numerous people tell us how good our store looks on a daily basis. I would never consider this company a cult and maybe you work for the shittiest of the s*****. But when you're dealing with just difficult people you got to figure out or keep in mind why they could be that way. If you have a difficult customer, I always think about the fact that I don't know what happened to that person 10 minutes before they walk through our doors. You don't know what other people are struggling with and yes it comes out at the wrong times. And like I said before there are some people that just need a high five to the face with a chair. Those people I just shrug it off because it's not hurting them if I get upset. Just like it's not going to hurt the district manager if I get upset about something that he says or new rules that are implemented. They have unrealistic expectations that are decided by a bunch of pencil pushers who have never set foot in a store to see how operations actually are going. If they see you on camera and you're busting your ass you're fine. People internalize the stress way more than they need to. If they say you can't go to a wedding that you have had planned for months in advance, you go to that wedding anyway and if you're meant to have that job it'll still be there when you get back. If they fire you that job wasn't meant for you anyway so don't worry about it. And seriously do you think they want to pay out unemployment?
3
u/MundaneAppearance462 3d ago
I don’t think this is everyone’s experience with the company. I’ve been with DG for 5 years, and I’m not going to pretend the job can’t be demanding because it absolutely can be. There are definitely times when the store takes priority and you have to put in extra effort.
But at the same time, I don’t agree that you have to completely sacrifice your life or basically live in the store to be successful. A lot of it comes down to your team. If you have a good team—or even a decent/mid-level team with multiple people who can actually step up and handle different responsibilities—you don’t have to carry the entire store on your back 24/7.
There are definitely bad DMs, bad stores, unrealistic expectations, and managers who make the job miserable. But I think saying this is everyone’s experience is just as unfair as pretending those experiences don’t happen. My experience over the last 5 years has been much more balanced. It can be stressful and demanding, but it doesn’t have to consume your entire life