My Hell...

This post is dedicated to Kenny Boy.

Ken got his third strike yesterday for threatening to look at my personal information. This is not to say that he hasn’t done more then THREE things to piss me off- merely that he’s done one thing 3 times- saying that he can get information on me by looking at MY personal file.
I decided that even though I felt my manager would do NOTHING to Kenny, and I still think he won’t, I realized that I had to ‘respect’ the chain of command and I couldn’t go to the district manager without first talking to the store manager. And yes, when I spoke to the store manager- I told him that if Ken keeps this up I will go to the district manager. This was the first point that I got pissed at my manager- see while he said he was ‘glad’ I came to him… he pointed out that my ‘next step’ would be to go to HR… I thought of going to the district manager, because as far as I’m concerned- the manager and Kenny Boy shouldn’t be working with each other, as they are friends and the manager is likely to overlook Kenny’s shortcomings.

I started by telling the manager that the Employee Handbook, which was recently updated and given to us, talked about abusing personal information… and I asked him if Kenny Boy truly had access to MY file. He said No, Ken did not… Then he asked me if perhaps Ken was joking around by saying that he could look in my file. I pointed out that Kenny might have been joking but I didn’t find it funny. I then told him that on Monday, I was talking to another assistant manager- just shooting the breeze and the other ass’t manager LM when asked by Ken what we were talking about; and Lm didn’t seem to want to tell Ken so instead mentioned that he, Lm, was getting my phone number… And Ken pointed out that he could look in my personal file and get it for Lm.
My manager then pointed out that as a manager type, Ken does indeed have access to my number.

I then mentioned the first time Ken pulled this crap. He asked me where I lived, saying he didn’t know where I lived- and I told him, good- I don’t want you to know where I live. Ken’s counter, was to point out that he could check my personal file if he wanted. My manager responded to this by pointing out that Ken does indeed have access to this information. See we get our paychecks sent to the store- but as with most places of businesses( or at least the places I’ve worked) our paychecks are in envelops with our addresses on them( in case they have to actually be mailed to us). So my manager told me that Ken without access to my personal file still has access to my address. Way to make me feel at ease. I tried to counter by asking does that mean if I was given another co-worker’s check to give to them- does that give me the right to write down their address ? He tried to deflect, but failed, by simply pointing out that I should not be giving out anyone else’s check because I don’t have clearance; which I thought did nothing to make me comfortable…

So I told him of the time I was logging onto the system… and Ken was watching me a little too closely for my tastes. I told him I didn’t want him to see my passcode. He then mentioned he knew it was the last 4 digits of my social security, and he could find those out by looking in my personal file.

My manager ended by pointing out that he’s known Ken for ages, and that HE trusts Ken… oh and of course if I KNEW Ken, I’d trust him too. I ended by pointing out that of two previous assistant managers- La and S have contact information for me NOT because they looked at my information- but because I trusted them with this information. And I do NOT trust Ken.

I also was pissed because Ken pointed out what a good worker I was. We are right now tasked with the duty of asking everyone who spends $25 if they want to spend another $15 to get a museum tote bag. He showed me that since we started selling the bag- I’ve sold EXACTLY 100 bags, and oh he mentioned me in a note to other stores that I continue to sell the MOST of the bags. I did the math- we had sold about 578 of the bags, so I divided 100 by 578 and then moved the decimal place- so I could figure out what percentage of the bags sold by our store- I have sold. I tell you how I did my math in case I didn’t do it right- IF I did it right, then I’ve sold about 17% of that darn bag.
What have been the benefits of selling 100 bags to me- NONE. Though I have been told that a) the manager has received a raise and b) Kenny got a bonus for the STORE selling so many bags. Oh and I’ve been told that if I sell a bunch more… MAYBE the store will get a pizza party. So if I sell another 40 I’ll get a couple of slices of pizza; as will Kenny and someone who’s sold maybe 5 bags in the time it’s taken me to sell 100.

I’m 40 and I’m working retail. Yes, there is a Hell and I’m in it.

[Oh and yesterday a co-worker thought I looked like I wanted to kill someone AND she correctly guessed who I wanted to kill.]