Today was an incredibly tough day at work. I wanted to scream more than a few times. And yet I held it all together, right til the end.
At work we have this team of people (3 of us to be exact) that are peers working in the same side of the store, but we are in charge of our own areas. We also have a team of people underneath (and above) that basically end up doing the grunt work and occasionally fun projects that we need help with. Most days it isn’t so bad, but some days are spent doing the crap work all day long. When the three of us work together not only does it run smoothly, the work is just that much lighter all around. I hate to admit that ever since I started working there has not been much cohesion among the three peers. Granted one of them (I will call her 3) just started about a week ago, but you would think I would be in better standings with the other (I will call her 2 for posting sakes) because we have worked together longer, but I am not. Not by a long shot.
3 comes in and works her little ass off and basically runs into very similar frustrations I have been dealing with since I started, except (and forgive me for the way this sounds) she has me. Because of what I went through I have gone above and beyond to help her out and ease as much pain as possible. I am working double time to help her out, work the people around her into her grove. We communicate like mad cats when calls come in, things need to go out on the floor, etc. But there are some things that require all people working together to achieve.
And 2 just doesn’t want to pull her weight. 2 pretty much stays in her designated area the entire time. In fact she actually disappears sometimes. She complains that no one helps her. She doesn’t help out with anyone else’s area and if you ask her if she can do something she gets upset and turns all the people below us against us. This happens a couple of times a week. I have asked more than a few times if I could help 2 with her area. If there was anything I could do period. No. She looks at me like I am a moron. Okay then, moving on.
When our boss is around she is a completely different person. I just want to strangle her when this occurs. And I want to call her on it, but I know from past experience these people prevail because you can not pin anything on them. They look good when it is necessary.
So I wait.
Well, until today that is.
Today myself and 3 were running around like crazies getting a million projects done, communicating, helping, pulling our weight and other such. It was working out fine until a couple of times our boss called us to stop what we were doing and focus on a project together. When I looked around halfway through the project 2 was no where to be found. Nor had she ever showed up to help. The final project we had to work on together, same thing, I got pissed and called our boss.
I am not a rat. I am not out to complain or be difficult, but enough is enough.
While 3 was there with me we both explained the situation - You called us over to work on this and notice that one of us is not here. This is not the first time and we have tried talking to her, but she gets mad. We were wondering if you could help us out. (short version mind you).
Now I know the first thing 2 will say is that she is busy working on a project, so we covered this base too. We both have a million projects to work on, but we know this needed our immediate attention (since boss lady called us for it).
Boss lady went over to 2 and then came back. Told us she was busy, but I could tell her face said she was aware of the situation and would keep an eye on it in the future. I hope.
It is so frustrating to be the whistle blower, but not only is 2 not contributing making my job harder, but it is making me look bad because it takes twice as long to get shit done. Especially when 2 work is always done with her work (b/c she doesn’t help with other stuff).
I feel like such a whiner, but I am frustrated. I feel like 3 and myself handled the situation the best we could before going to boss lady, but you never know when it will backfire in your face. Y’know?