A New Trend

so, i have been noticing a new trend lately, and im not talking about a good one either! if you have been keeping up with my blog, you should know i read Michael Rulhman's The Making of a Chef last quarter for a book report in school i did. if you have read the book you know what i am talking about when i discuss this. if you havent read it, i recommend it! its a great book and he is a great author. so, there is a part when michael is supposed to show up for a test and the chef that was giving the test was talking about values and how cooks just show up. so, here i am, going to school for culinary arts, it doesnt matter what my major is, but i apply the same value to my job. i always have. it doesnt matter whether i am working fast food or retail. i always try to show up. currently, i work at a bakery and i just work at the retail location and dont bake bread but i make sandwiches and serve soup and do dishes, i am a one man show. the owner pops in occassionally and helps out but i am pretty much on my own. so, yesterday, it was snowing, again, and it was a snowstorm. i opened the bakery and was there by myself until about 10:30 when the owner showed up. he was there for maybe 30 mins and left. my replacement, also a culinary student at the same school, was supposed to be there at 2 to relieve me so i could walk home. i live a little over 1/2 a mile from my job and dont always have a car so i walk frequently. i know that the snow was starting to blow around and it was getting pretty slick outside so i gave her about 30 mins to get there before i started to worry and call her. which she has an out of state number so i have to use my cell phone and my minutes to do this. no answer. i dont understand how someone in the same field doing the same job as me can just not show up or call. i called her again later. i also was calling the managers and texting them. i didnt get a response from the owner right away and called my chef to see what he said. he calmed me down because i was worried about walking home after it was dark. lately we have been having really cold temps here so i dont want to walk in a snowstorm. with our money problems, i havent had extra money to take a cab home. anyways, the girl never showed up. this isnt the first time she has been late with me. but last night, she no call/no showed. finally, at 7:30, after i worked open to close then walked home (it was almost 13 hour day) she called me. my phone was dead and i couldnt call her back right away. she told me she didnt know. how do you not know? how do you rely so much on other people to give you your schedule? i see this as a growing trend because there was another occassion with someone else where they were late because they set their alarm for pm instead of am. i am one of the oldest people working with the company, with the exception of the GM, the owner, and the bakers. is it because i am older and i value my job? i know the economy is bad so i really knew that once i got a job i cant mess it up because i really need it. are these kids not caring because they just ask their parents for help? i dont have that luxury. maybe i need this explained to me because i really wouldnt want these "kids" running the world with their work ethic. i sure wouldnt put up with it if i was an owner of a company. i had to get this off my chest because its renting space in my mind and i dont need that. its not paying rent, unless you count the extra money i made yesterday :)