(I HATE my job and am only going in order to continue to be able to pay my bills. I’m looking for something else that pays similarly, as I’m actually making above minimum. It’s a sunny afternoon moving into early evening, and there are three of us in the store: me, a coworker who smokes, and the unbalanced kitchen manager, who is technically higher ranked than us but also not our boss. My coworker has just stepped out for a smoke and I have just finished a task that required the step ladder, which is typically kept in the far back corner of the kitchen. As I am moving to the kitchen to put the ladder away, I see the front door open out of the corner of my eye. I call out to the kitchen manager that I’ll be right back to properly put the ladder up and whip around to the registers, a good six feet away on a slightly raised platform. The intrusion was my coworker and as I’m moving back to the kitchen to finish with the step ladder, it comes sailing at me from the kitchen door. I leap back and it clatters harmlessly to the floor, but I am badly shaken.)

Me: “What the f***, [Kitchen Manager]?! I said I’d take care of it.”

(I am so shaken, I actually don’t remember if he responded, or how. He leaves for the night soon after. A few days later, the store’s general manager arrives at my apartment to give me a lift into work, as he insists on scheduling me before the buses start for the day.)

General Manager: “So, [My Name], I heard there was an incident with [Kitchen Manager] the other night.”

(I’m unsure where he’s going with this, and I’m already uncomfortable with him because he’s my boss and I have some fear issues with authority figures and this guy has already proven to be unreliable.)

Me: *cautiously* “Yeah.”

General Manager: “Well, how could you have handled that better?”

(I am stunned enough that I respond in a manner much unlike my normal self with management.)

Me: “Besides call the police because that was attempted assault?!”

(At this point, my general manager started spluttering, shocked that I had reached that very logical conclusion. He began to try to placate me, telling me that it wasn’t [Kitchen Manager]’s fault, that he hadn’t been taking his medication for a while. I let him know that that wasn’t an excuse and then, fortunately, we were at our store and I ended the conversation by walking away to clock in. In the end, the kitchen manager was let go, but unfortunately, that was well after I quit for a job that paid about $1 less per hour.)

This story is part of the Convenience Store roundup!

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(At my job, everyone who works there is in either college or high school, so the oldest coworker is under 25. We also do not have a manager, so the store is run essentially by a bunch of teenagers. I am in high school, as well as another of my coworkers who is CONSTANTLY calling me to cover his shifts, sometimes three or four times a week, as there is not a manager to go through when we need to switch shifts. One time, he needed me to cover because an hour before, he remembered he had court on a Saturday — which isn’t a thing in my state — but there is another instance that takes the take for weird reasons.)

Coworker #1: “Hey, are you free to possibly go in tonight? I could trade a shift with you.”

Me: “No, sorry, I have to pick out my senior pictures tonight.”

(He tries arguing saying that the pictures should only take a few minutes. After a few more texts, I think he has given up, but then, a couple of hours later, he says:)

Coworker #1: “Can you come in for a couple hours?”

Me: *frustrated that he can’t take no for an answer* “Why do you need the time off so bad?”

Coworker #1: “I forgot I had a college meeting tonight, and if I don’t go I don’t get admitted, and it’s the only college that has my major.”

Me: “How did you just realize this today?”

Coworker #1: “My parents and teachers just told me yesterday.”

Me: *knowing it’s probably another excuse to go ditch work* “Ask [Coworker #2].”

([Coworker #2] is his best friend who is an adult and lives on his own.)

Coworker #1: “I did. He was supposed to have it covered but now he’s getting a lizard tonight so he can’t.”

Me: “So… [Coworker #2] is sacrificing your future to get a lizard?”

Coworker #1: “Yeah, pretty much.”

(I know my coworker and his wife pretty well — I went to their wedding — and they’re often in the store either helping with or participating in events when they aren’t working. They’ve finished both of their events this day and are going past the counter to leave, and they walk by me. I overhear their discussion, and they rope me in.)

Coworker: “It’s brown!”

Coworker’s Wife: “It is not! [My Name], what’s the color of my shirt?”

(Because she is wearing a BRIGHT RED JACKET, it’s pretty obvious what color the shirt is; however, if you just glanced at it, it might be misconstrued as brown.)

Me: “Uh, it’s green?”

Coworker: “Is it? But it’s brown!”

Me: *peering at it* “No, it’s green; it’s a dark green.” 

Coworker’s Wife: “It’s emerald green.”

Coworker: “Well, it had better not be olive green, because that’s a color that doesn’t exist.”

Me: “But… What?” 

Coworker’s Wife: “What color are [My Name]’s bracelets?” 

(On my wrists are a paracord bracelet and a FitBit band, respectively.) 

Coworker: “Well, I know that one is bright green and purple, and that one is… well, I dunno.”

Me: “[Coworker], it’s green. You’re colorblind.” 

(I guess you learn something new every day — and this came as a bit of a shock to him, too!)

I have one coworker who just doesn’t have any common sense. We have a list of customers who we are not allowed to accept checks from, because they have written bad checks in the past. One customer on the list comes during my shift, and I refuse her check. She leaves without buying anything, and I think that is that.

The next day, I am doing the daily deposit, and noticed that the same exact check was accepted! The customer had ripped off the top part of the check, where her name was. But her signature was very clearly legible. My coworker admitted to taking the check and saw nothing wrong with taking a check that not only was ripped, and thus missing important information, but was from someone on our clearly posted “no-checks” list! 

Sadly, he wasn’t fired, because he was one of the few employees who showed up for every shift.

When I was in my early 20s, I worked for a dental clinic where the dentist’s wife was the office manager. We weren’t permitted to take our own vacation days; we could only take time off when the dentist was closed for his own vacations. We worked Monday to Thursday, so any personal things could be done on Fridays. The wife was not lenient in letting us take any vacation or sick time, so we were expected to be there every day for all office hours. I don’t recall taking any sick days or ever asking for time off in the three years I worked there.

My boyfriend had been across the country working for a month and was due to fly into the airport at lunch time on a weekday — not a Friday. We live in a smaller city without public transportation from the airport, which is outside the city limits. I was very excited to see my boyfriend after him being away for so long and only needed to leave half an hour before lunch to pick him up on time.

I checked with my other coworkers that it wouldn’t be an issue for me to leave early this one time. They assured me they could cover the half-hour; we didn’t admit patients at that time of day, which was my job, so they would just be watching to make sure no one arrived off-schedule. So, I happily set off for the airport and picked up my boyfriend and drove him home.

I was back to work on time after lunch and my coworkers said everything was fine. When the dentist’s wife found out the next day, she called me into her office and berated me for ten minutes about how selfish I was for taking an early lunch, how irresponsible it was, and how I needed to grow up! I was in tears when I left her office. My coworkers were livid about the encounter but there was nothing I could do. 

I gladly quit for a new job a few months later. Thanks for having compassion for a loyal worker, lady!