Snow Reason To Be Such A Jerk

I’m working on a farm just south of Canada in early February. As most people know, it’s cold and snowy in the northern states, and the farm I’m working on is no different. My boss owns a sugarhouse — a building in which maple syrup is produced. My boss tells me to shovel the snow at the sugarhouse as he is going to host an open house soon where visitors and tourists can check out the maple syrup process.

The building is in an L shape where people can hang out outside. The snow hasn’t been shoveled all winter, so there is a ton of snow to get rid of. I start shoveling and my boss comes over with his tractor to take away the bulk of it because I’m not lying when I say there is a TON of snow. We work steadily for an hour or so, he leaves, and I finish up, making sure the place looks neat and tidy for guests. My job is done and I go home.

I come back the next morning and I’m barely out of my car before my boss is yelling at me.

Boss: “How come you didn’t shovel the sugarhouse?”

Me: “What?”

Boss: “The sugarhouse! I told you to shovel it.”

Me: “I… Huh?”

Boss: *Sputters* “There’s snow everywhere!”

I look around, confused. I know I left the place looking nice. Did it snow last night? Nope. Was it windy? No. I’m trying to think of some explanation as to why he would say I hadn’t shoveled. I mean, he saw me shoveling, and he helped me for over an hour!

Me: “Okay, show me what I did wrong and I’ll fix it.”

We start walking to the sugarhouse, my mind whirling, trying to figure out what he’s talking about. Perhaps he told me something specific I forgot to do? Perhaps he thinks he told me something but never did? Both are a likely possibility. I’m not perfect, but neither is he, though he will never admit it. Once, he yelled at me for not cleaning something while I was on vacation. Turns out, he had given the direction to my fill-in while I was gone and she hadn’t done it.

The whole time we’re walking to the building, he’s berating me.

Boss: “I shouldn’t have to babysit you like this. When I give you a job, I expect you to do it and do it well. You need to get yourself a little book, and when I tell you to do something, write it down. I can’t be reminding you to do your job. You need to think. You need to think with your big girl brain.”

I used to work for him in high school and am starting to remember why I quit.

That last comment has me seeing red, but I keep quiet. We get to the sugarhouse and he’s still going on and on. I see the problem immediately. There is a perfectly straight and long pile of snow directly under the edge of the roof. The corner where the L is even has a pile in a perfect ninety-degree angle. I look at the snow pile, then at the roof, then at the snow pile again, and then at him. I’m waiting for him to get it. Nope. He’s still going on and on. I interrupt him.

Me: “I know what happened.”

Boss: “Well, you’d better.”

I point at the roof and then at the perfectly straight snow pile.

Me: “The snow fell off the roof.”

His face goes blank.

Boss: “Oh.”

Me: “How’s that big girl thinking for ya?”

I wish I could say he apologized, but he just walked off. I think he did feel a bit bad. He came to help me stack wood later, but instead of apologizing, he asked me why I hadn’t told him I’d shoveled. I didn’t think I needed to because he’d helped me shovel for an hour!