Read a Disgruntled Whole Foods Employee’s Epic Resignation Letter

[Liberal_in_LA]

Read a Disgruntled Whole Foods Employee’s Epic Resignation Letter

"All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing."

Dear Whole Foods Market,

My experience at Whole Foods was like an increasingly sped up fall down a really long hill. That got rockier with every metre. And eventually, just really spiky ... With fire, acid and Nickleback music. I was hired about five or six years ago. I appreciated and respected what the company said it's philosophies were at that time. The "core values" essentially. However, it didn't take long to realize what complete and utter bullshit they are:

Oh, you don't recycle properly? (Caring about our communities and our environment)

Oh, you throw out enough food to feed a lot of hungry university students. (Caring about our communities and our environment)

Oh, you're asking me to put latex gloves on the sales floor so customers can throw a pair out for every handful of gummy bears they take? (Caring about our communities and our environment)

Oh, you've installed massive television screens all over the store, sucking up energy and polluting the environment with tacky advertisements. (Caring about our communities and our environment, Supporting team member happiness and excellence)

more here. Note... a very long letter

http://gawker.com/5824287/read-a-disgruntled-whole-foods-employees-epic-resignation-letter

[WI_DEM]

1. hungry university students? how about hungry homeless people?

[lumberjack_jeff]

2. The author meant to say 'hungry vegan socialist university students"

What constitutes empathy today vexes me.

[Sarah Ibarruri]

8. Amen to that. nt

[Zorra]

9. Poor kids on a scholarship and/or student loans

are broke too. But they could always take courses in dumpster diving from homeless folks.

Homeless folks are pros at it, and are very clever at avoiding being arrested for it in places where dumpster diving is prosecuted as trespassing.

[Yavin4]

29. The Author Is Canadian

Maybe they don't have many homeless people there.

[Brickbat]

3. A union would solve some of this guy's problems.

Not showing up late, of course. That's his own problem. But there's a lot of shit people are eating there, when they don't have to.

[Sherman A1]

4. That was hilarious

The guy was a butthead, but pretty amusing.

[fredamae]

5. Sounds like a walmart indoctrination

Is WF part of the kochs or connected to them?

I don't/won't shop WF's.

[chrisa]

6. The writer just came across as being a huge tool, imo.

They probably spread this around, thinking everybody would be so impressed. I thought the bashing individual people part was pretty tasteless and lame. The rest, even if the complaints were legitimate, was a bit like sour grapes.

This person had some legitimate complaints, but others were just stupid or even nutty sounding. Someone that writes a letter like this is probably a self-righteous jerk.

[sylveste]

36. yep, i

think i know why he was fired. total douche.

[blkmusclmachine]

7. Whole Foods CEO is a GOP donator, IIRC.

n/t

[littlewolf]

11. I thought he was forced to step down ..... nt

[femrap]

18. He likes his big bank account....

cares really nothing about 'whole foods'....just a good way to make $$$$. Total repugnant.

[shireen]

10. not all Whole Foods are the same

It really depends on who manages the store.

I don't know anything about how employees are treated at my WF store in Mt. Washington, MD, but as a customer, I love it. The quality of produce is better than any other place I shop at, they use meat/poultry/dairy vendors that treat their animals humanely (well, compared to conventional grocery stores), employees are very knowledgeable about their departments, helpful, and friendly, their prepared food counter is great. Every Wednesday during summer and fall, they host local farmers at a farmers' market on their property. I feel very comfortable there. The prices are higher, but i like the quality. Because it's expensive, i've cut back on my meat consumption which is a good thing.

Their CEO (a libertarian, not Republican) may be a jerk, but i don't hold that against my local store.

[newspeak]

39. DU had a thread about Whole Foods

I always shopped at Wild Oats, loved the employees there and the laid back atmosphere-whole foods bought them out. The store I patronized was shut down with nothing to replace it. It still sits after a couple years as an empty building along the empty Longs Drugstore building I used to patronize. Loved buying Hawaiian products there. CVS bought them out. We signed a petition, pleading with CVS to maintain the hawaiian products, but it never happened. I see these corporate buyouts as less choice and less customer service. To me, they just make shite and figure you have to buy what they make not what you want.

I thought the CEO of whole foods helped bring down wild oats.

[greytdemocrat]

12. Guy sounded like a whiner. n/t

[TwilightGardener]

13. "Fire, acid, and Nickleback music"--LOL.

[LoZoccolo]

14. I like Whole Foods and I might go there tonight. n/t

[callous taoboy]

15. Used to shop at the first Whole Foods in Austin in the early 70's:

It was called "Safer Way," and it was in an old victorian house. John Mackey would usually be stocking shelves, then he'd ring you up. Later on when they moved to the first Whole Foods on Lamar the vibe was very cool, very relaxed, lots of B.S. ing between employees and between employees and customers. I read the letter, and it was as relazed as the letter writer wishes it could be now. Loads of money will fuck you up.

[NNN0LHI]

16. Wait a minute. The writer says "I was hired about five or six years ago"

Does anyone not know the date they hired in on their job? My hire in date was almost 40 years ago and I haven't lost track of the date.

Something is funny here.

Don

[SpiralHawk]

19. and he uses British spelling?

what's up with that limey shit?

Is this another phoney RepubliCon occultists black-ops crapola propaganda ploy?

[Blue_Tires]

22. He's Canadian

so it's not out of the question...

[femrap]

17. I can't afford to

shop there. I believe the CEO is just out to make money....I don't think he gives a damn about 'whole foods.' He cares about his wallet.

I enjoy reading letters written to corporations from pissed-off people.

Thx.

[CBGLuthier]

20. OKC's first Whole Foods will open in a few weeks

We plan on walking through it, laughing at all the in-fucking-sane prices, and then heading to our local Mercado and Super Cao where you can get a week's worth of fine produce for under $20 and then to a local Greek deli where I can get cheese and olives without having to take out a loan.

[Liberal_in_LA]

23. The prices are high but WFs has stuff that other stores don't

Just take their selection of olives - WFs has an olive bar.

[WCGreen]

24. Three of the five supermarkets around here have an Olive Bar...

actually one has an Antipasta Bar which includes a wide choice of Olives. It's a Union Shop as well...

[Liberal_in_LA]

33. Oh...ok. I stand corrected.

[sammytko]

27. our military commissary has an olive bar

really good produce and beef. Items are sold at cost plus a small service charge.

[Liberal_in_LA]

34. nice.

[kentauros]

31. Olive bars are becoming common.

However, WF does have vegetarian items that the chains either don't have, or don't go through fast enough to avoid freezer burn on the frozen stuff, or spoilage on the refrigerated stuff. More variety and even lower prices on the items stocked by the chains.

"Natural foods" aren't nearly as popular with the masses that go to the chain grocers like they are for your average WF shopper. The natural foods section at my local Kroger, for example, is maybe 400 sq.ft. or so. How can that compare to the entire footprint of even the smallest WF?

[emcguffie]

38. My shoprite has an olive bar. NT

[TwentyFive]

21. Letter writer is a jerk. WF is consistently ranked as a top 100 employer.

Compared to other supermarket chains, WF is progressive. The mainstream supermarket here still uses plastic and styrofoam. This is all about the union wanting to get in...but from what a friend tells me, WF is a great place to work.

[petronius]

25. The guy is a whiny tool, but a lot of the comments cracked me up...

:)

[Blue_Tires]

26. Newsflash for the writer: 90% of the jobs you'll work in this life are that bad and worse

Deal...You either suck it up or turn in your nametag and find a job that sucks just a little less...

And for the record, even though you have some legit points in your screed, they are undone by the whiny bitchiness of their general tone -- I'm betting your passive-aggressive ass was pure heaven for your colleagues to work with...

[WCGreen]

28. This one segment was hilarious....

I don't think you could calm down enough and become a happy, tolerable person if you were to do yoga in a hot spring while high on ecstasy. Daily. For the rest of your life. Just wouldn't happen. I haven't met a single person working under you or who has worked under you who doesn't loath the way you treat people. Your job doesn't matter AT ALL. Get over it, relax and start treating people with a shred of respect. Chances are, you'll improve a lot of lives. Possibly even your own. I do have a suspicion that you're a sociopath though. Especially now, after seeing your reaction to you-know-who's hospital visit. If that is the case, this was futile. May I suggest some acting classes? You're not very good at pretending to be a complete, emotional, sincere human being.

I agree with most everyone, the kid was a douche.

[grantcart]

30. A "disgruntled worker" . . .

The term always makes me wonder what a 'gruntled worker' would be.


One of my constant admonisions to my children is to never be a 'disgruntled worker' but always strive to be an 'outstanding gruntled worker', just part of the constant mash of nonsensical tips designed to get them to think and grin when they hear something pithy and tripe.

[Hangingon]

32. I'll bet this is about more than being 20 minutes tardy.

[Starry Messenger]

35. k&r

Virulently anti-union too. One of our late and unlamented former DUers was a fan of Whole Food Mackey's brand of "compassionate capitalism" though. It is to laugh.

[Maru Kitteh]

37. Childish. Sounds like a spoiled little tool. n/t

[cwydro]

40. He needs to learn how to use apostrophes as well. nt