What Next

While making a post yesterday, I realized/noticed that my next post (after this one) will be my 500th. So what do I do or say? You know what I am about. I post pictures and videos. I participate in a handful of memes (not every one regularly), and I write about what's on my mind or going on in my life from time to time.

Here's a little something that just happens to be on my mind. I lost a good job this summer for a combination of reasons including my lack of tolerance of those I found intellectually inferior, and my natural tendency to be a smart-ass. It came across in part that there were employees that worked for me who complained about me to my boss, and this was part of my downfall.

I now am in a position where I am titled as a head of a department, but I really have no authority to direct others. I am encountering difficulty with a supervisor and I think I am in the same position that those I directed previously had when it comes to issues with management personalities. In this case, I really hate having to work with one of the managers. She is the sister of another manager I have worked with, and they are exactly alike. The first sister I worked with told me she did not talk about work outside of work because she did not want to, but her sister replaced her here, and she told me she knows all about me, so she came in with a preconceived opinion of me based on talking to her sister.

I know an employee at another location of my company who worked with sister 2 and had similar issues with her, which makes me think I am not the issue, but in the back of my mind I fear that I may still be the problem. I do not want to rock the boat, but I fel like I am being mistreated by this woman. She and her sister are what they like to call "direct." (which is an excuse to be rude)

So today I am about to end my shift, and sister 2 comes to take over my postion (because we are short-staffed in my department). She called me over to reprimand me for something she thought I was doing wrong. In reality, I was doing exactly what I should in accordance with the proper use of the equipment in the lab, and avoiding unnecessary waste. I responded to her reprimand by explaining the proper use and operation of the equipment. You need to know that sister 2 has never used this machine before coming to my store 4 weeks ago, but her personality does not allow her to learn from someone who reports to her. Her comeback was an insincere "okay" and to start into telling me how she's had complaints about me. I decided to avoid further escalation of emotion. I told her I was off the clock and turned and walked away.

I enjoy the job, though not the pay. If I beceome a manager, my pay will double. If I pursue a resolution with sister 2 through proper channels, I feel I will risk becoming known to higher-ups as a problem employee. I know the guests I work with sincerely thank me and express real gratitude with the help I give them, but you seldom hear of a guest wanting to talk to a manager to pay a compliment.

So what do I do? I don't have the ability to walk away from this job. I have two degrees and have never worked in the fields of study I graduated with. I don't have the connections necessary to enter those fields, and I wind up wondering what good there is left.

Sorry if this rambled a bit, but I get distracted trying to tell the story.

UPDATE - SUNDAY 1:30 PM - I just spoke with one of the other assistant managers from work. He called me because of a question regarding a guest's order. We talked a little further and he told me he knew that sister 2 called the store manager last night after she screwed up the equipment in the lab and jammed the printer. I feel a bit righteous now.