During COVID times I took a relatively low-paying job at a small business. I took this job, and remain in it, because it is ‘meaningful’ to me, ie, it is adjacent to/serves a pastime that I find very important.
There are six employees at this business spread across two stores. At Store 1 we have a guy we’ll call SO. He started working at the business several years ago as a favour to a previous owner. His partner was in gaol at the time. He has participated in indecent acts toward children — this is on the public record.
There’s another employee at store 1, C. Both the boss and SO continually white-ant her so it’s hard to be objective about her ‘performance’, but she is occasionally rude and dismissive toward customers she views as ‘amateur’. At the same time she is the only person who cleans and tidies store 1 which keeps things safe over there.
Store 2 is a combination warehouse, retail shop, and manufacturing facility. At store 1 we have YG, the youngest employee, and two other employees including me.
When I first started working at Store 2, it was extremely untidy to the point of being unsafe.
Here’s an interpersonal breakdown of the business:
YG has a mild learning disability and is a
very hard worker. Unfortunately he will often not do things that I ask (ie those simple tasks that keep the place running for instance letting me know how much of a certain item is at a particular store). He is often singled out for praise by the owner and other employees, even for tasks he didn’t do (which in my opinion is not doing him a kindness). He will do anything the owner asks no matter how dangerous. He frequently drives the forklift despite not having a licence.
SO talks to YG a lot over WhatsApp. SO once accidentally posted a message about me to the employee-wide group which was basically telling him to ignore me because I’m a bitch. I assume this is still going on. (The owner will also put me down for being female and ‘bitchy’ and put another employee down for being ‘old’. He claims this is to boost YG’s ego).
SO only answers the phone to customers he likes.
The other two employees are very checked out.
The owner is a dreadful micromanager. He frequently steps in to interactions I have with customers and contradicts me (and himself).
Up until recently I could deal with all this crap because of the essential goodness of the broader area in which I’m working. But with the owner overseas I’m basically invisible. I don’t even get micromanaged. I post to the group and it’s as if I don’t exist.
I dread going to this place every day. I used to enjoy it despite all the bullshit because of the association with the pastime I love. Now I feel like an idiot for falling for that.