All’s Well That Ends With Screaming
[Coworker #1] is profoundly lazy. [Coworker #2] figured this out early and hates his guts. I initially thought he was struggling and tried to help him, so he sees me as a sap who can be tricked into cleaning up his messes. When this takes place, [Manager] and [Assistant Manager] are out of town, and [Manager] told me to “keep [Coworker #1] and [Coworker #2] from killing each other.”
I remind [Coworker #1] twice that it’s his turn to organize the stockroom and that he ought to start before the afternoon rush. After the second reminder, he lectures me at great length about how he’s faster than me and doesn’t need that much time. [Coworker #2] interrupts to tell him to stop condescending to me, and he yells that he’s not condescending. Then, they loudly take out all their grudges on each other from the past several months, while I try and fail to get them to stop. I end up literally standing between them while they yell at each other over my shoulders.
I don’t do well with yelling, so I have a panic attack in the bathroom. Meanwhile, [Coworker #2] calls [Assistant Manager] to complain about [Coworker #1]. [Coworker #1] swears at [Assistant Manager] and calls [Manager] to complain. [Manager] is dealing with his father’s funeral and wants nothing to do with this! Somehow, [Manager’s Manager] gets involved in these two floor-level employees having a verbal slap fight, and the only question is which one is getting fired for this.
Eventually, [Coworker #1] screams profanities at [Coworker #2] in full view of customers and then walks out, never to return. I’m the one who has to organize the stockroom, cleaning up his mess one last time.