Unfiltered Story #314608

I find out one of my team is having some issues at home, and really isn’t in a good frame of mind, I decide that it’s better that she takes the day off (paid) to get herself sorted.

Less than an hour later , a sink fixture breaks, filling the ladies toilets with water.
I grab her coat and go fix it myself.

I’m not quite the plumbing expert she is, but I manage to stop the water , cleared most of the mess and mop the floors . I head outside and I reattach the closed sign when a woman tries to push passed me.

Me: sorry closed, please use the ones down the hall.

(She just grunts at me in frustration. Then tries to push passed me on the other side to go to the mens.)

Me: they’re closed, please use the ones down the hall.

Woman: this is ridiculous, let me through!

Me: closed means closed lady! there’s another set just down the … hey where are you going?!

(She gets past me and into the mens, I stick me head through the door but she SCREAMS at me for “following her”.
I decide to leave it, I go to empty the mop bucket and by the time I come back she has left. Leaving me a mess to clean up too!

I see this a lot, people only see the “cleaners” uniform, they think people are below them. That they can talk to them however the want. I make a mental note to report her later.

I kind of forget about it, until one of the HR bods call me over the next day.

HR: was (cleaner) in yesterday?

Me: oh I sent her home, did I not report it properly? I thought I put in the form.

HR: no, I got it. Thats what confused me. We had a complaint. She was very , very …angry.

Me: oh. oh! Yes that was probably my fault, I was cleaning toilets using her jacket. That woman was out of line though , her attitude was absolutely disgusting.

HR : hmm that does explain a lot. Anyway she won’t be a problem anymore. We let her go yesterday

Me: what really?

HR: she came in to complain about (cleaner) but was making really aggressive transphobic comments. She just wouldn’t calm down, so we had no other choice but to terminate her on the spot.

(It all made sense, the woman saw me, a man, in a woman’s uniform (jacket) with a woman’s name badge on, telling her what bathroom to use.
The “Cleaner” came back the next day , much happier, and none the wiser.)