Part of the reason why I joined this forum is because of my feelings of inadequacy and low self-worth - and while a lot of it dealt with trauma sustained by bullying, my current stress comes from my job and the toxicity surrounding it.
I have worked retail at a chain store that shall remain nameless. In my small town, full time jobs are almost impossible to find, so I have had to settle with retail. After 12 years, I feel as though I have learned a lot, but this past year, I've felt so bullied and so knocked down that I cry every single time I come home.
It's bad enough that my boss is a spineless sort who plays favourites - and it's become perfectly clear that I am NOT one of them. He purposely gives the best shifts to his pets (who basically do nothing all day), and whenever I have a legitimate concern about the lack of effort people put in, he'll always say that he'll talk to them, knowing full well he doesn't. Now, I get that this sort of thing happens at a lot of workplaces, but at the same time, I feel very disrespected. The clincher came when he and another one of my co-workers basically tag teamed me into forcing me to take a shift because she couldn't be bothered to book it off even though she had six weeks in advance to do so. Did I mention that I was confronted on the sales floor in front of customers? At that point I walked away and told them no, but I was left really livid.
And then there's the abusive co-worker - for sake of argument, we'll call her "Ashleigh". Ashleigh has been completely rude to me and to everyone else who doesn't work at her level. To her credit, she does work like a horse...but her detriment is that she has a really toxic personality and she will yell at you if she feels like you're slacking off. She also has a habit of giving people the silent treatment whenever she disagrees with something you say. The last time she did this with me, it lasted three months. Of course, I try to tell my boss about this and he basically caves and gives her whatever she wants - which likely has made Ashleigh the way she is today. If she doesn't get her way, she will take out her anger on everyone else in the area and she will literally cry and pitch a tantrum until my boss gives in.
It has become a real farce to work with these people, and honestly I don't know how much more I can take. Jobs are not easy to come by and I can't afford to go back to college (believe me, I would in a heartbeat). How do I keep from letting this cause me pain and stress?
I have worked retail at a chain store that shall remain nameless. In my small town, full time jobs are almost impossible to find, so I have had to settle with retail. After 12 years, I feel as though I have learned a lot, but this past year, I've felt so bullied and so knocked down that I cry every single time I come home.
It's bad enough that my boss is a spineless sort who plays favourites - and it's become perfectly clear that I am NOT one of them. He purposely gives the best shifts to his pets (who basically do nothing all day), and whenever I have a legitimate concern about the lack of effort people put in, he'll always say that he'll talk to them, knowing full well he doesn't. Now, I get that this sort of thing happens at a lot of workplaces, but at the same time, I feel very disrespected. The clincher came when he and another one of my co-workers basically tag teamed me into forcing me to take a shift because she couldn't be bothered to book it off even though she had six weeks in advance to do so. Did I mention that I was confronted on the sales floor in front of customers? At that point I walked away and told them no, but I was left really livid.
And then there's the abusive co-worker - for sake of argument, we'll call her "Ashleigh". Ashleigh has been completely rude to me and to everyone else who doesn't work at her level. To her credit, she does work like a horse...but her detriment is that she has a really toxic personality and she will yell at you if she feels like you're slacking off. She also has a habit of giving people the silent treatment whenever she disagrees with something you say. The last time she did this with me, it lasted three months. Of course, I try to tell my boss about this and he basically caves and gives her whatever she wants - which likely has made Ashleigh the way she is today. If she doesn't get her way, she will take out her anger on everyone else in the area and she will literally cry and pitch a tantrum until my boss gives in.
It has become a real farce to work with these people, and honestly I don't know how much more I can take. Jobs are not easy to come by and I can't afford to go back to college (believe me, I would in a heartbeat). How do I keep from letting this cause me pain and stress?
