Mad That You Noticed

I recently transferred stores. One of my new coworkers is constantly upset about something. She’s surly and angry all the time and no one ever wants to work with her.

One day, I was clocking in at the same time she was. I saw that, like always, she had her “angry face” on. 

Like always, I thought, “What are you mad about today?” Today, however, I ended up saying it out loud.

I froze and started apologizing. But she looked like her birthday had just come early. She told me about something her boyfriend was supposed to do and didn’t and how he let her down. I could see how that could ruin a person’s day and told her so.

To my surprise, she was much less surly for her shift. I’m not going to pretend she turned into Little Miss Sunshine, but she was actually bearable to be around. 

I decided to try my luck the next time we worked together and asked what she was mad about again. This time it was her mom on her case about flunking some homework. I made the appropriate “that stinks” noises and went about my day. And again, she was much more pleasant to work with. 

This became our routine – I ask her what she’s mad about, she vents about it, and all is well. We’ll never be the bestest of best buds, but I’ve stopped dreading working with her.