This Job Really Gets You Burnt Out

(I’m ringing up a customer when a grab a bottle of bleach to scan and feel something wet hit my hand. When I look down, I see the bottle is leaking badly and has hit my hand and the counter. I call up another employee who is doing float duties and he runs off to get an intact bottle for the customer while I wipe my hand and the counter as best I can with paper towels. The customer goes about their business and I grab a manager.)

Me: “I need to run to the bathroom real quick. I got bleach on my hand.”

Manager #1: “Your ten minute break isn’t for another hour. You’re just going to have to wait.”

Me: “I don’t need ten minutes; I need five, minimum to wash my hand.”

Manager #1: “Well, no one else is scheduled to be here, so you’re just going to have to wait.”

(My hand has begun to start burning painfully, so I’ve had enough.)

Me: “[Manager], I splashed a CORROSIVE CHEMICAL on my hands! I’m not ASKING you if I CAN. I’m TELLING you I’m going to the bathroom, NOW!”

(At which point I spun on my heel and bolted to the bathroom. Another manager is there ahead of me.)

Manager #2: “Hey, what’s the hurry? What happened?”

(I am rinsing my hands off at this point, but explain and show her my mild chemical burn. Manager #2 splashes vinegar from a chemical spill station over my hand to neutralize the chlorine on my skin and then has me wash my hands a few more times.)

Manager #2: “You’re the third employee to get hit with bleach in two days. Two stockroom clerks got spilled on yesterday. I think the shipment came in thin bottles or something.”

(I explain how Manager #1 tried to make me stay at the registers and Manager #2 sighs.)

Manager #2: “I’ll walk you to the registers and go over the procedure for chemical spills with them, again.”

(Needless to say, this and other bad decisions from that manager ensured that I had a very short stint as a cashier at that store.)