When I started there, things were really good, the longer I'm there, the more it pushes me to abandon my sobriety on a very serious level. Besides all of the completely unfair things that I see and hear about that go on, and how I wonder multiple times a day how many there still even have a job, it's my personal encounters that are really bothering me.
Just before the Thanksgiving break there were only a select few of us in the office and the department that I head up, so as a gift, I bought 6 people small bottles of Patron. It was always my absolute favorite, so I wanted to share since I couldn't or wouldn't enjoy it. I wanted to show and told them of my appreciation for them. Everyone seemed very appreciative.
After we returned from the break, one guy in said department was acting very differently towards me. Was just giving me a whole lot of attitude and just kind of being a jerk. I let it go continually but it just kept getting worse. As of recently he has decided to quit and move out of state, but not without a few parting words. At the nudge of someone else, who frankly is much more than just a drama starter, he's more of the grand master of all shit storms, there was a "talk it out" between me and this kid with the attitude. And by talk it out, I mean he pretty much just laid into me with much exaggeration to the real events. When I asked him what the real problem was and said we left for Thanksgiving, he hugged me for the Patron and things were good, his response was "well yeah I just thought about it and it all bothered me". His problem mostly is that I keep writing him up, except what he fails to understand is that when he messes up, the President and the owner of the company tell me to write him up; or anyone else for that matter that screws up. I cannot not do my job to spare someone's feelings. He blamed me for him not getting raises, except he wasn't getting raises because he punches in late nearly every single day. It was a very long, him invading my personal space too much, finger pointing, lack of self acceptance, ass chewing -- on my lunch break -- ugh.
So fine. We hashed it out, we hugged it out, and while I told him I've never gone out of my way to try to be rude to him nor did I every truly intend to piss him off (about 30 times in 10 minutes), it's all said and done with. However, how very typical of a guy, especially a guy in his early 20's. One minute things are good, you're laughing and joking, hug and spend some time away. And when you regroup, all the sudden they've decided they can't stand you. Frankly, I'm over it.
Then there was yesterday. I was leaving the Art Department when one of the guys from the warehouse, I think he's a Manager but I'm not sure of what, motions me back into the Art Department and closes the door. I thought he wanted to talk about a larger run of backpacks with me and art, because earlier in the day he was at my desk talking about it. Oh man! Was I sorely mistaken.
He starts out by telling me that the comment he made earlier up front wasn't meant to hurt my feelings and he felt really bad about it. I look at the girl in the Art Department completely confused, and asked him what comment. His foot was in his mouth. He filled me in about the comment, that I didn't even hear in the first place and backed it up with how pissed off he's been at me and not speaking to me for the last two months. Also, news to me; that just pissed him off more. At that very moment, I knew I was in a no win situation.
I had zero idea that this guy was being rude to me, ignoring me, and not just pissed off with me but enraged with me. What the hell is wrong with me that I don't even notice this about people?!? I mean, I know that currently in my personal life, it's a very narrow frame of mind I'm existing in and emotionally there's not just a lot going on, but there's a lot I'm trying to suppress, but holy dang!
Here's the thing that you have to understand, until lately I was always so completely busy in my position that on a normal day, taking a bathroom break was just about impossible to do. Guys come in and out of the front office from the warehouse all the time. If it's not related to screen printing, they don't talk to me; one of us tries to mainly handle core products and I mainly try to handle screen printing as far as customer service. So for me to notice that someone isn't talking to me, it would literally have to be one of my guys in screen printing.
So this guy goes on and on about how I accused him of stealing and got him into to a huge fight with the President. **Disclaimer, in October we were running a job for a customer with the Bears logo and mascot, I was assisting in production because the job was so large. Towards the end, I saw several extra shirts sitting off to the side. When I asked one of the guys (guy number one from above) if we needed to box and ship, he informed me they were for some of the guys in the warehouse. They took some of our in house blank stock shirts and threw them in the run with this Bears order. And furthermore gave me a list of who was all getting shirts, of which guy number two from this blog was on that list.
Now I was fairly new to the company still and I really didn't want to make any bad blood, however, the President had handed that department off to me to head up and before I said anything to him I talked to the girl in the Art Department, whom of which is the President's wife. I trust her and I didn't know what to do. After a lot of discussion, I had to inform the President of what I knew or had heard. He said, before it becomes an issue, he just wants to see what the Managers know.
That's all I ever heard of that. No one ever said anything after that to me about it. What I didn't know is that the President didn't ask but accused them and this guy took it like he had a yeast infection. As he's explaining why he isn't speaking to me, I explain to him that his name was given to me by someone in that department and I didn't accuse anyone, however what had happened was against company policy. Geez, I'm a nark. Whatever, there's so much more to this too as to why it was a huge issue for the guys to be doing this.
So he says his peace (most of which he was lying to my face about), and I say mine and also apologize. He says he's been trying as of late to talk to me more but wants me to know he isn't speaking to me. I said okay and he leaves. Only to open the door right back up, call me a bitch, and then leave again.
Whether they're in their 20's or they're grown and in their 40's, they're the same. For the last several years, I've been trying to figure out when guys became so incredibly sensitive. You have a job, if you come to work, do your job and don't screw up, then there are no problems. I come to work, I do my job, I deal with all sorts of customers some of which are so rude I could walk out. I deal with production guys who have attitudes, women in the office who get mad when I ask them to do their job.... let me tell you what I don't get. I don't get told by my boss that I'm not doing my job, I don't get written up for screwing up, I don't get grouped into situations that may potentially get me into trouble.
I don't care what your gender is but grow up. We are adults, at our jobs. Do that. Do your job, stop acting like you're in high school. The workplace isn't a popularity contest, it's a place that you should contribute to the growth of so that in turn, your paycheck grows. I pull out all my work ethic to make sure that the department that I was asked to take over, succeeds, does well, and is profitable. That's my job.
Now back to my regularly scheduled program, of suppression and narrow frame of mind.
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