Last week, I accepted a part-time job as a receiving associate at a Burlington store. I had promised myself that I would never work in retail again, but I'm having it hard right now, and I thought working in the back would be better than working out front with the customers. I guess I forgot that coworkers can be just as unbearable as customers.
I did my orientation this past Thursday and was scheduled to start work on Friday. During orientation, the HR lady briefly introduced me to the lead receiving supervisor. The supervisor came across as somewhat cold and unfriendly and didn't seem very interested in meeting me. I tried not to think too much of it because I know we all have our off moments, but it still left me feeling a little uneasy. I'm usually good at picking up on people's energy, and there was just something about her that didn't sit right with me.
Unfortunately, my feelings were validated the next morning. After I arrived in the receiving area for my shift, the supervisor asked me in a snotty tone, “What are you doing here? I thought you weren't supposed to start until Monday??” I informed her that I was on the schedule for today, and then she gruffly told me to “get out of the way” and that she'd get to me in a few minutes. I stood off the the side and questioned my life choices that led me to taking this job.
Soon, another woman, presumably the assistant supervisor, directed me to a workstation and explained how to tag a pile of clothes. She explicitly stated that I must do it exactly as she was telling me because it is store policy. No problem. I began tagging the merchandise exactly as she told me.
After I finished tagging the clothes, the lead supervisor walked over and told me that I had done it wrong. I explained that this is how the other woman instructed me to do it, to which she replied, once again in an extremely impatient and snotty tone, “Well that's why I'm here, to show you how to do it right.”
My anxiety was really getting to me by this point, and I was just done with her attitude. I said, “You know what, I don't think this is going to work out for me.” She asked, “What, the job?” I answered yes, and she told me that she would escort me to the exit. Fine by me. I clocked out, and she hastily led me to the front door and didn't say a single word to me as I walked out.
As an introvert with severe social anxiety, I have a hard time dealing with people in general, let alone with people who are as rude, hateful, and unpleasant as she was. Perhaps I should have sucked it up for the sake of a paycheck, but I can't handle people like that. I just can't. Not to mention that she didn't even know I was supposed to work Friday and that no one seemed to be on the same page as to how the work should be done. I could tell it was a toxic, disorganized work environment, and I have no regrets that I left. Fuck her and that place.