What is a Dominoid you ask? Well, I'm not 100% sure if it can be used in this context, but whatever. So I consider myself a Dominoid as an employee of Domino's Pizza Enterprises (actually, as of now - EX-employee). Today is the 25th of January 2014, the day after I officially quit my job (I'll let you know why later on). I began my life as a Dominoid sometime in September in 2010 and since then I've had incalculable number of encounters and experiences.
I first acquired this job through my friend Sidney Wong who was already there for about 1.5 years. There began my glory days at doms (lol not really). Anyways I've seen numerous people come and go in these few years. The most significant few first began with Liane and Jacinta Milligan - my store manager and assistant store manager. Yes they're related, mother-daughter duo actually. Liane (Millies) was really nice to me and made sure I settled into the store all right. Jacinta (Cinta) and I had a lot of time to get to know because we worked a fair share of close shifts later in the days. These two taught me so much over these years. Cinta taught me most of my skills as an instore, how to cut pizzas, prepare sides, do dishes then eventually making pizzas. Millies, during 2012 trained me up to become a shift runner. She taught me how to count stock, prepare driver floats, organise and deposit money, input data into the system, pay staff correctly, order stock and actually closing up the store. These two played a huge part in my time at Domino's Springwood. However in late 2013, a sudden decision from corporate meant for an end of an era. Millies, who's been at Springwood for ~11 years was transferred to Upper Mt Gravatt. Cinta, who's been at Springwood for ~7 years was transferred to Calamvale.
Then comes Sam who left for a fulltime job at Telstra sometime early 2012 I think. Sam actually taught me how to answer phones, it begins with picking up and saying: "Thank you for choosing Domino's Springwood. My name is Jeff. Would you like pick up or delivery today/tonight?". Of course I eventually turned this into a more concise version and just said: "Thank you for calling Domino's Springwood, was that pick up or delivery? "In doing so, I've also eliminated taking responsibility for whatever happens by taking out my name from the introduction. Sam the cutter became Sam the saucer then eventually Sam the traitor hahaha. At least he left us with his legacy aka LUCY Macgregor, his sister.
I'll talk about Lucy for a bit. So she's pretty fun to work with. I can never be nice to her, I always have to insult her or just be mean to her cos it's fun.. I'm terrible to her but she seems to be friendly still. Once she actually threw several dots of cheese at me and one rolled into my ear and I shivered really hard. She is still at Doms and I don't think she knows I quit yet, but she's said on numerous occasions that by the time I leave, she will also leave cos everyone she knows is gone.
Next is Shann. I actually went to highschool with her, all the way back from grade 6. We were never really close, but working together we had a good run. I took over her Monday closes (the easiest night to close). She eventually left for a full time nursing job at a children's hospital after she graduated at the end of 2012.
Clare and I had a good run too, we were the only close shift runners in the store for a while from late 2012 to early 2013. We had to basically run the nights when the Milligans were away on their cruise. It was a stressful time and we felt pretty worn out by the end of it. Then there was a period when Clare and I closed together (tuesday nights when we still had 3-man-closes). It was either Cinta, Clare and I. Millies, Clare and I or Dylan, Clare and I. We would absolutely destroy the night and have everything ready for close at 9:30pm when the store closed at 11pm. That's the perks of having 2 shift runners on I guess, we shared paperwork and cleaning for maximum efficiency. Clare had some rough times at Domino's, from misunderstandings and miscommunication to inconsiderate treatment and unproductive resolution. Eventually Clare left to work at Dan Murphy's sometime mid-2013.
Which brings me onto Dylan, who's actually still with the store. This guy is unique. He got his red Ps I don't even know when... so he became a driver and then I think within the year he crashed at least twice and lost his license like four times... Despite all that, he's actually a really nice guy, I've had some good times with him.
Last but not least Sidney Wong ofc. This guy came from Malaysia and joined my school in grade 10 and became one of my closest friends. We had a solid run at Domino's actually. We did Tuesday closes for about a year I think. We would slack off so badly haha. We'd get most of our cleaning done then just talk about cars or go on our phones and end up losing our head start. This guy was always ahead of me, took me ages to get onto make bench to make with him, but it was fun when we got to make together. We would often get yelled at (jokingly) by Cinta cos we're too busy talking about what we'd do to a wrx or an evo, or talk about the mechanics behind torque steer or something awesome. He eventually left in 2013 while working at a design place. I guess he just had enough of Domino's, which is fair enough as it HAS been like 5 years for him...
I think that's enough people-talk. So couple of things that meant it was time for me to go:
- I actually made a joke a while ago about Millies and Cinta leaving, I thought it was so improbable that I said I would just leave if they were gone.
- Justin (who is now a Regional Manager in-training) became our acting store manager and Lachan became our Assistant Store Manager. Lachlan made an effort to promise me I could continue what I was doing until I found a full-time job, as we both understood that it was nearing the end of my time with Domino's. I was really thankful for that.
- Lachlan was transferred and promoted to acting store manager of Nerang and Bree came in as our new store manager.
- AJ and Dion also came along as assistant store managers so we had three full-time workers at our store requiring 40 hours each (per week).
- I was unable to work any close shifts and my pay rate is just too high and from a business perspective it was undesirable and wise to pay me for something a 16 year old could do (and pay them half). In saying that, I do it like 3x better.. and I know what it's like to have to close so even as an instore working during peak, I'll try my best to clean as I go and just get things done before I leave - whereas someone without any closing experience would do the minimum and go home. The couple of weeks before I quit I was essentially working one peak shift a week (2 hours on Monday). With these little and uncertain hours it was hard for me to commit to this job, whilst retaining my practical skills, head knowledge and keeping up with online training.
So I guess with all of the above, I knew it was a good time to go. I'm actually pretty sentimental and I really treasure memories. I thank God for providing me with such an awesome work experience and the ability to generate an income for myself during my uni days. I'm now left with one job at PBJ Certification which pays much much less ($16 an hour as compared to $24 at Doms). However, I'm grateful for having work to do and being able to earn some money in doing so. Even before I left Doms, I was challenged with various issues and I know God was helping to prepare me for the real world. I hang onto a passage from Job 1: "The Lord gives and the Lord takes away, praise the name of Yahweh." Although I sometimes worry about my financial circumstances until I find a full-time job in town planning, I am able to remain hopeful in the unchanging God and know that these things happen for a reason and according to His will. I will continue to do the work He provides me with, to the best of my abilities, with a joyful heart.
To finish up, at least I know I can make a Supreme pizza from the beginning to the end in 23 seconds: Tomato sauce on a classic crust -> flour the edges -> put a make ring over it -> 90g of cheese -> 8 pieces of peperoni -> 30g of capsicum -> 30g of mushroom -> 30g of pineapple -> 30g of beef -> 30g of sausage -> 30g of bacon -> sprinkle of oregano -> take make ring off.
