You (Fake) Bloody Jerk!

After Halloween, I am told to finish a stocktake on all remaining themed stock as I pack it to store away. It was started by another coworker and is a time-consuming task, but I finish and submit the stocktake results at the end of the day.

A few days later, a report is sent back with a list of discrepancies. It is a common thing, as shoplifting can impact the numbers, but those are usually a difference of one or two items. This time, there is one item that shows that fifty pieces are missing.

My manager doesn’t particularly like me and will go after me hook and nail when she thinks I have done something wrong. She rants at me as I arrive at work.

Manager: *Thrusting the list at me* “Look at this, [My Name]. I trusted you to complete this properly, and look at how many things you missed counting, especially the first item.”

The first item is fake blood in tubes.

Me: “l don’t remember seeing any fake blood.”

Manager: “Well, you missed counting fifty of them. I asked [Coworker #1] if she saw them and she said that she hadn’t counted them; they were in the area you would have counted.”

Me: “I’m sorry, but I do not remember seeing them.”

Manager: “How am I going to explain the loss of all of these? I checked and we didn’t sell even one of them. I want you to go through all of the boxes you packed to find them.”

I start going through the boxes. I was told to just put things in loosely so this is time-consuming, too. I am halfway through the second box when another coworker walks in and asks what is going on.

Manager: “We are looking for stock that [My Name] missed counting.”

My coworker looks at me, sees my face is stony with anger, and gives me a sympathetic smile. 

Coworker #2: “What stock was it?”

Manager: “It was a whole carton of fake blood.”

Coworker #2: “Oh, that’s up on top of the lockers in the staff room.”

Manager: “What’s it doing there?”

Coworker #2: “You told me to put it there, as you didn’t want to have fake blood out on the shop floor.”

Manager: “Oh, I did, didn’t I?”

She then got it down and dropped it into the bin so she didn’t have to explain why the carton hadn’t even been opened. No apology to me. I didn’t last much longer in that job; I handed my notice in a couple of days later.