(Lack of) VindicationWhen I got back from lunch at work today, one of my, usually nice, coworkers snarkily accused me of taking too long of a lunch. It probably sounds odd if I say that all she said was "good book?" (I always read a book while I eat my lunch) but the tone of voice she used was definitely sarcastic and accusatory. Then, later, I heard from another coworker that she said to him "Starfall's
finally back from lunch" when he asked where I was.
Here's the thing - the coworker accusing me of taking too long of a lunch left for her own lunch at 1:30, by the time I left for my lunch at 2:46 she
still was not back. I returned from my lunch at a few minutes to 4:00. Even if she came back from her lunch at 2:47, that's still a 1 hour and 15 minute lunch. Guess what? 2:46 to almost 4:00 is
also a 1 hour and 15 minute lunch!! This same coworker is scheduled to come in at 10:00am and thinks nothing of showing up a half hour to several hours late, just about every day!
To clarify - I have no set lunchtime, but usually I am at lunch from about 2:10 to 3:10, give or take a few minutes, but today I had a lot to do before lunch and ended up having to go later - but she was still gone when I went to lunch. Why, if you were gone, and had NO idea when I left, would you automatically accuse me of taking a leisurely 2 hour lunch?!? Back up off me, bitch!
Unfortunately, I was not able to correct my coworker of her error in assuming my lunch was too long. I was, frankly, shocked and confused that she would act so petty and I was unable to form a response that would clarify what she was getting at and explain the situation.
Different Story, same theme:A few weeks ago a customer was buying an item that was $9.95. She handed me a ten dollar bill and I remembered thinking "oh good, we need $10's because we don't have very many in the register right now". I put the money in the till and gave her the five cents she was owed. I started to ask if she needed a bag and she says flat-out "I paid with a twenty". This sent me into panic mode. I knew for a fact, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that she paid with a ten. I would have bet my life on it. All I could do was look between her and the till where I had already put the money away, while she looked through the money in her purse, then declared that she was sure she hadn't had a ten with her and she had to have paid with a twenty. So, since I had no way of proving what bill she paid with, I did the only thing I could do and gave her $10 back as change. The exact same $10 she had just paid me with!! As I did so, she said, "let me know if your till is off when you count it out tonight" in a tone that implied she was sure our till wouldn't be off.
I told my supervisor about the situation and asked him to pay special attention to whether our till was off that night. The next day he tells me we were short exactly $10!! This was, unfortunately, a situation where we just had to eat the loss. There was no way either of us were going to march down the street to where this customer's business was and demand our $10 back. That would seem rather petty and probably come off as rude.
So now, whenever this customer comes in, I have to be nice and pretend I was in the wrong, because it's not like I can mention to her that she was wrong and I was right, and she sure as hell won't bring up the subject. But the whole time she's probably thinking, since we didn't contact her, that it means she was right.
The last time I had to help her she paid, once again, with a ten and I was itching so bad to tell her "YOU OWE US $10 MORE".