“My Job, [New Hire]. My Job.”
I work in a big box store. I’ve been working there for about a year when they hire a part-timer who is maybe seventeen. This is almost definitely her first-ever job and she is, to put it delicately, not very good at it. Unfortunately, due to my tendency to be friendly towards new hires — innocent until proven guilty and all that — she gloms herself onto me whenever we are on shift at the same time. This isn’t necessarily a problem, since I don’t mind doing some training, but she winds up being… a little grating.
No matter what I am doing, she comes up to me and asks the same question, always in the same incredulous tone, resulting in variants of the following conversation almost every day.
New Hire: “What are you doing?”
Me: “I’m printing new price tags.”
Or:
New Hire: “What are you doing?”
Me: “I’m downstocking.”
Or my personal favorite:
New Hire: “What are you doing?”
Me: “I’m checking the schedule.”
New Hire: *In the same incredulous tone* “Why?”
Me: *In my head* “Well, it changes every day, you see.”
Me: *Out loud* “To see who’s working when…”