Managing Hell: No Days Off, Ridiculous Complaints and Jabba The Hut For a DM

Greetings RHUers.

What a week from hell! I became manager of my convenience store back in November, but for the past 8 weeks I've been going to bi-weekly management training seminars.

These take place at the company HQ which is a three hour drive, but a manager trainee from another store about 30 miles away has been riding along and splitting the gas with me.

There are 16 people in my class who are kind sweet and caring... to your face, but have no compunction whatsoever about stabbing someone in the back.

4 of them including myself are already store managers, the other 12 are assistants. I knew (or rather, thought) that two people in particular were running back to my district manager and telling them that I do things differently at my store, be it reports, or schedule rotations, etc.

They fail to realize that I have an archaic register that functions differently than theirs.

C-Store employees on RHU.. two words... Verifone Ruby. 'nuff said.

Either way, the day after the seminars, I would get a cranky phone call from my DM, call her Jabba, as in, The Hutt. Jabba will not start a conversation with "hello, how are you". Her first words are "I wanna know EXACTLY what policy you don't follow at your store"... that sort of thing.

This Tuesday was no exception, except, instead of calling, Jabba visited me in person. "Someone" complained because I peeled out in the parking lot when leaving the office complex. She also informed me that I need to hire an assistant manager before I can take days off or a vacation.

I have not had a SINGLE day off since November 1st, 2011. I work 7 days a week. She also told me that I cannot borrow "E" to cover my vacation. E is the assistant who rides down to the seminars with me, who until Tuesday was my one confidant.

As I said, I thought K and L were the ones running back to Jabba and starting crap. I found out that was not the case. Some of the things that Jabba gave me hell for, K and L knew nothing about. E on the other hand, was the ONLY person to know about it. She was the only one who knew I peeled out of the parking lot, all the others had left already, and E was the only one I mentioned vacation coverage to. She has been being friendly with me the whole time, being a good person to talk to about personal matters, while also working for Jabba.

I have always had a hard time trusting people, because this sort of thing happens all to often. Now I know that E is nobody to trust either. We have one more class this coming Tuesday and I promised I would let her ride with me because her truck is expensive to fuel and her transmission is on its way out. My offer to her is still open, as much as she hurt me, it would not be Christian of me to break a promise. I will however, not say a single word to her until I drop her off at home when I thank her for showing me exactly who she is.

--C-Store Manager

 

Comments

[Alecia]

*Shudders* Ruby system... Ugh. That's what I have at work and I'd like to drop kick it into the busy intersection by the store and set it on fire. It holy-balls-locked-up on me the other night and I had to lock the doors until they rebooted which was 20 minutes of blissful solitude other than the idiots who couldn't read banging on the door.

As for your commute "buddy", I've worked with people like that so I understand exactly how you feel. 3 hours of angry silence should be fun. Every time she opens her mouth, turn the radio up a little louder. >:)

[Soft Ice Girl]

I think that you should start with angry silence, and when he or she inevitably asks what´s wrong, you should confront her. Just to see how the person tries to wriggle out of this. And there is still a chance that she is innocent- perhaps Jabba got it from a mysterious other canal that you cannot know about. If E is innocent, I think you would see it from the reaction. And if not, it will be very satisfying to watch her wiggle and then shout at her.

Let us know how it ended, if you can.

[Cell-Circuit Chick]

Maybe E thinks that if she tattles and kisses ass enough, she'll be promoted to full fledged manager as opposed to assistant manager. That happens all too often in retail, sadly.

It always sucks when you find out you cant trust the people you have to work with - or in this case, ride along with.

[The Last Archimedean]

Sounds like your DM needs to grow a brain that works. Invite her over to manage the store while you take a well-deserved day off and then after she has to deal with everything you do, ask her if she still has any complaints about your work.

[Hellbound Alleee]

Oh come on...there's got to be something in that bible of yours that lets you stand up for yourself.

[C Store Manager]

Hellbound-

Yes, the Bible permits people to stand up for themselves, Luke 17:3 "if your brother sins, rebuke him (call him/her out), if he repents, forgive him"

There is a difference between righteously standing up for yourself, and being a self-righteous jerk.

As much as E has been a jerk to me, its against my values/ethics to be a jerk to her. I have no problem calling her out on it, but i will not take back what i offered her (ride to the meeting).

BTW, thanks for taking my one use of the word Christian and making this a religious thing. I was simply giving RHU a general idea of my code of ethics, but when you made your slightly standoffish remark, I felt compelled to respond.

[TychaBrahe]

But here's the thing: you are justifying your unwillingness to assert yourself and protect yourself because you think it's required by your religion. Is it really?

Seriously, the Bible does not require you to offer yourself up as a martyr. That was already done for you. This person has BETRAYED you. You did E a favor, a huge one I think, and your kindness and generosity was returned with evil. And besides, you are telling E that s/he can do whatever s/he wants with no repercussions. I bet his/her parents didn't have any repercussions for bad behavior either, and that's why s/he is like this.

I think you should get on the phone right now and call E and say, "I agreed to drive you to these training sessions, and I have come to believe that you are reporting things to my manager in an effort to get me into trouble with her. I am not going to be able to drive you any more."

[Damn Yankee]

Might I make a suggestion?

Forget about the religious thing. Just offer the poor Manager stuck in hell some constructive advice without bringing faith into it. C Store has already said stopping the rideshare isn't an option, so leave the poor dead horse alone.

Now, me being the bitch I am, I'd feed E a pack of horrid stories, complete fiction, to discredit her flapping jaws.

[carotte]

I didn't see that remark as a "my religion impose me to do that so that is what I will do", regardless of it, it's the grown-up, adult, hight-road way to deal with it, and Cstore should be praised for it.
No need to stoop to E's level, it would be a quick but short revenge.
So I'm all up for what Damn Yankee said and to trick E into acting stupid or let her shoot her own foot.

[Nobody]

Let the silence sit as long as she'll stand it. Then, when she asks if something is wrong, say something like, "Oh, sorry. I'm just not in a good mood. I recently found out someone I had trusted betrayed my trust in a major way. I don't really feel like talking." Then just sit and let her stew the rest of the way.

[Hotel Whore]

This has nothing to do with religion. That's really like comparing an apple to a sloth.

I think a nice, awkward silent treatment would do the trick. Nothing beyond the usual, expected formalities.

And, as someone else said, keep in mind the remote possibility that it wasn't E after all. There is a chance that E mentioned these things to someone else, off-hand, and that person ratted you out. Or another possibility is that, even if it was E, it may not have been malicious or could have been off-hand to Jabba.

The situation may seem cut and dry but there are different possible scenarios as to how Jabba came by this information and they may not all lead to E.

My biggest piece of advice, however, is to get the gas money before any confrontation takes place! :P

[MA_Nightmare]

Personally, I'd say feed her a line anyway. That's the one surefire method to finding out if she's the one ratting you out or not. Once it gets around to Jabba and she comes calling, you know that E is guilty. Just be careful that it's not something that could blow up in your face.
PS: While I may not share the same views of faith here, I think it's incredibly childish to torpedo someone for mentioning her faith as a reason for taking the high road. Just my two cents.

[Mcarp555]

I'd have to tell E that you've heard (in strictest confidence) that she's going to get canned. They're waiting for the right time to lower the boom, and you think that's rotten. Better she knows now so she can get her resume out and land a new job right away.

If Jabba calls you out on it, deny the whole thing. Instead, tell her that E has been complaining about how she has to kiss Jabba's worthless ass (her words, not yours!). While you stood up for Jabba, E had nothing whatsoever nice to say about her.

That should set the cats amongst the pigeons.

[TechTiger]

As a cat, I approve this message. :D

[ScanGunMonkey]

As a cat masquerading as a monkey, I too approve this message! And think that's a definite and twisty way to go about it. >:3