I worked for a charity in a shop in England. In a large city, during the covid pandemic.
During that year of lockdowns, we barely made sales. People weren’t coming out and with the restrictions on the amount of people we were allowed into the store, most weren’t going to stand outside and wait.
Fast forward to the final lockdown (I don’t remember dates anymore) we were informed that we were to get a new area manager.
Awesome, not a problem. The last one seemed supportive and helped, couldn’t see why this one wouldn’t.
First day we met her, she belittled me (the manager at the time) for not doing more to bring in sales between the lockdowns.
After I explained that the footfall was low (I had proof) and that restrictions on numbers allowed in was also a factor, she basically told me I should’ve ignored them, allowed people in, just stay away from them.
Her words were, “the pandemic is the equivalent of a rainy day. People were out, and if they weren’t coming in, that’s your fault, you did something wrong.”
She then continued to berate my storage (I had 3 tiny floors and no lift to carry donations up and down on) and my lack of volunteers (most were shielding,
She knew this)
I called my union and walked out that day.
She’s still working there and has since gone through 2 other managers in the last year.
Don’t take any crap. Life’s too short to be spoken to like that.