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Thursday, May 9, 2013

Tests

I was cleaning up at work last Monday, basically taking stuff off the floor that didn't need to be there. As I came around the corner, I noticed something on the ground, 21 somethings. A ten, two fives and a one. Nice and neatly folded in half. Picking it up, I looked around for who could have dropped it. The nearest people were talking to a friend about an appliance. Silently getting his attention, I quietly explained I found something. The first words out of my friend's mouth were, 'Dude, keep it.'

Mmm, yeah let me get back to you on that one.

I took the money to the front and explained where I found it. They put it in an envelope with my name on it. If no one claimed it within a week, I would get it.
Sounds like a fair deal, right?
The next day I was informed that I wouldn't be given the found money. I wasn't told what would be done with it.
This whole episode reminded me of something they did at my first job. Basically, money is left for an employee to find. If it's turned in, then nothing is said or done. If they keep the cash, they are fired post haste. 
While I don't think it's right to steal, I think it's a piss poor thing to test a person that way.  
Judging by what I see in the break room fridge, a lot of co-workers are going light on meals. More than once, a buddy borrows ten bucks because they're out of gas. Heck, I've been in that spot!
Now, we're all good people where I work. Decent, hard working and friendly. I can say with 98 percent certainty that none of us would blatantly try to steal something, be it money or equipment.

But it's hard to stick to the moral high ground when your stomach is growling... Just saying.

There is an element of distrust in all retail, it can change in an instant. No one's job is 'safe'. No one is indispensable. Every person in my store can be replaced without warning. That said, we are told to show respect and trust our managers.
Seems to me that needs to go both ways. As far as trust and respect goes, I behave professionally to everyone. Liking a person is not required.
There is one manager at my store who buddies up to you, he tries to be your friend. When I met him, my first impression was to never turn my back on him. He'd be your friend until it was convenient for him not to be your friend. So my standing rule in dealing with him is: trust him only as far as your arm... and never turn your back on him. 
What got me on this track of thinking? The HR manager was smiling to the point of being smarmy today and yesterday. Not a month ago she threatened me with my job and now she's acting all peaches and cream to me? Now I'm all for creating a friendly work environment, but she was positively simpering.
Call me paranoid, but I think they targeted me with the loose cash. When I didn't take the bait, the money went back into the cash box.
Either you trust a person, or you don't. But enough with the loyalty tests and entrapments. That's just bullshit.
 

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