She’s Got You On The Hook

My coworker is complaining about a task that our manager gave her, telling me she finds it hard and time-consuming. It’s actually a task that I really like, so I offer to swap my final task of the day with her. My task was to move stock that is hanging on hooks in an aisle to a new position at the end of the aisle. It is literally moving less than a metre, an easy job as the stock could be moved while still on the display hooks. I have already cleared the new area.

I explain exactly what needs to be done and my coworker nods and agrees, and I head to the office to complete her task. Both tasks should only take ten to twenty minutes. I head back out after completing her task to find that both areas that I was supposed to work on are completely empty.

Me: “[Coworker], where is the stock that is supposed to be here?”

Coworker: “Oh, that’s in a trolley at the front of the store.”

Me: “What? Why is it in a trolley?”

Coworker: “Because you wanted it taken off ready for you to do.”

I sigh and grab the trolley, noting that all of the stock is now mixed together.

Me: “Where are all the hooks?”

Coworker: “I put them away, out in the dock.”

It took me almost two hours to sort all the mixed stock and find where she had put all the hooks, and I even had to print new tickets up as she had thrown them out. I had to stay back to do it in my own time. The next time she complained about being given the other task, I just shrugged and went about doing my own tasks. She could never understand why I wouldn’t do it even though I liked doing it.