Tuesday was horrid, but even worse, my entire office is talking about it. I have no idea if they feel sympathetic or (as I suspect) they just like gossip around the office. It was Returns day (some data the drivers collect all week gets handed in to me for processing). Usually Tuesdays are busy and so are Wednesdays, but across three days I usually get them all processed. This particular Tuesday I'd already decided I'd devote any wiggle room to catching up on some other data logging and account correction that'd been piling up since we had two drivers up and quit(paper delivery) at the same time.
That morning my manager had asked me to put aside some time to watch our corporate safety video on chemical safety (everyone needed to watch and sign off on it). I talked with the other three people that cover the front counter and main phone and we decided to go in shifts of two. Two coworkers first, then the third coworker and I in a second viewing. That way we'd have the work covered.
It was about 2:50pm when the first shift went in (it's roughly 20-30 minutes). My manager came back while they were in there, and my evening coworker arrived for her 3pm shift. My manager asked if I'd finished the returns to which I'd admitted I hadn't started, I'd been working on other projects. She asked what, and I began to list them off. She told me to put away my current project and get the returns done first. Well… ok, strange but ok.
A few minutes later, the first shift came out of the video and my coworker asked if I was ready to go watch. I'd agreed and we also asked if our evening clerk wanted to come too. Well, my manger told her no, that she will watch tomorrow. No real explanation, so we were rather dumbfounded. When I was all logged out of our computer system and getting up to go, my manager explained that the evening clerk was to answer phones. Oh, okay, that makes sense since I wont be answering phones while I'm in the video. Right then, off to the video.
I was about 5-10 minutes into it when the door to the conference room (Where we were watching) opens and my manager pulls me out of the safety video. She was irate with me that I'd gone to watch the video instead of finishing the returns. I explained that she wanted me to watch it today, and this was the time I'd set aside for it. She demanded I get back to the returns stating that she didn't know if she'd be around the next day and demanded the returns be done immediately while she was still in the office today! I had to go back into the conference room to cross off my name and signature from the paperwork, as I did not feel comfortable lying about having seen it.
I'm just so furious! And on top of that, she made such a scene about it that everyone in the office is talking about it! I just walked in this morning to hear the pressmen re-telling what happened. I'm a quiet person, I don't like being talked about. I'm also paranoid, and usually don't think positively about people talking about me either. As I'd stated above, I fear that everyone just wants a piece of juicy gossip. They just want to say: "Damn, I'm glad that's not me." But, I could really use the support from them. 🙁
