Picking up from where I left off…

Dealing with tension/conflict with co-workers in the office, almost feels the same as dealing with family. Not everyone in a family gets along, or sees eye to eye, but since you are related, you are obligated to get along with them regardless of how unreasonable they may be. This also applies to dealing with your co-workers, and you may spend MORE time with them than with your own family. If there are any unresolved issues, it can put a major damper on the working environment, which affects the whole team. I always considered myself to be team player, being that I am a twin from a family of six, however I do believe one bad apple can spoil a bunch. All it takes is ONE unbearable person who brings their home problems to work, to make an eight hour shift can feel like it’s never going to end. What really baffles me, is people who go out of their way to bother and harass their fellow co-workers. The stories I’ve heard from others regarding work place drama and shenanigans, always sounded like something out of a TV show, but they are as true as can be.

With all the problems in the world, and all the problems that we all deal with at home, why make life harder than it has to be??? It doesn’t make sense to purposely give your colleague a hard time at work, or attempt to sabotage them, when you are all pretty much on the same playing field. Petty High school jealousy games are played the most in the work environment. I never expected that when I first started working at a grocery store at the age of fifteen, there were so many weird conflicts and I felt very uncomfortable witnessing it. One of my co-workers, a grown woman, old enough to be my mother was being mistreated by teenagers who were my age. She also had a son around my age who worked with us as well, which made it even more awkward and strange to me. I come from a culture and era, where we  respected our elders. I had no idea what she could have done to warrant that type of treatment, so I sat back and observed…..One day my co-worker started venting to me in the back room, as we cleaned the bar-b-que equipment. She told me that most of our team didn’t respect her, and their energy was very negative. She continued to tell me that I was different than the rest, because I treated everyone with respect. She was crying, and I wasn’t sure what to say, because I didn’t really know her. She seemed like a very tough person based off of what I saw, I was shocked to see her cry over these people. Then I realized that this was her Full Time job, and her son was around, so she had to protect him. I thought quitting would be my first choice. I couldn’t fathom dealing with the type of bulls*** every single day, but I was just a teen, this job was her main source of income. Leaving would obviously NOT be her first option.

I truly sympathized with her,  and based off of that experience, I told myself I would NEVER stay at a job where I wasn’t respected…There’s more to come on this topic, stay tuned.

Love&Respect,

~Dawn Lovely Follow me @ :https://twitter.com/iamdawnlovely ,https://t.co/wfctLWHJ1W