Is this my fault or is my manager just an asshole?

[Silverhawk65]

Hello, I have a few situations that have happened at my work during the past year and would like you guys to give your opinion concerning them. I work at a grocery store and have worked my way up to customer service and front end supervisor. I have worked very hard over the past 3 years to achieve these positions.

Now comes the issues. My store manager is one of those hard ass corporate tools that barely gives anyone under him any respect. Several times I have been talking to my co-workers while walking up to the front end and he has stopped us questioning us about our current duties and when explaining ourselves, he still has the nerve to say that we should stop messing around and get back to work. A more recent occurrence of this was about 2 weeks ago. A coworker and I were doing out of stock reports, where you take inventory and we stopped to talk to a friend in frozen. We were talking for about 5 min and he comes by, again asks what we are doing and tells us to quit holding hands and get back to work. He later told the guy in frozen that next time he works, he expects him to actually work and not dick around. Those were his exact words, and all of of us took them as very disrespectful. I have talked with a lot of people that I work with and similar events have happened and everyone seems to dislike him. Was I at the wrong here? Should I not talk to my coworkers at all, or is he just an ass? I feel almost afraid to talk to anyone for an extended period of time because of possible interactions with him.

Granted this is a grocery store, so its not as serious as an office setting or anything like that.

 

[StriderShinryu]

Ir sounds like, yes, he may be a hard ass.. but at the same time, if you know what to expect from him, it's hard to blame him for you repeatedly getting in situations that, right or wrong, go against what he likes to see happening in the store.

Also you need to keep in mind that you are in a position of authority. Often being in that position means you have to hold yourself to higher a standard because your own actions are seen as examples by those under you (particularly if they like you better than the actual boss).

 

[Lionsfan]

Well he does across as a bit of a jerk...but you're also the one telling the story. Of course you're going to make him sound horrible, even if it's not on purpose

 

[senordesol]

Oh he's certainly an ass, but that doesn't mean he's in the wrong. He is entrusted with the smooth running of the store and he clearly adheres to the notion of 'Company time, company dime' and that is his prerogative as manager.

Assuming you work 8 hours; you've got an hour of collective 'break times' where you can talk to your friends all you like (not to mention when your work day ends). Given that when you're there, you're there to work: he's well within his rights to direct you to do just that.

Personally, I'd try to line up a more 'lenient' occupation. Having flexible managers does wonders for stress and morale. Just remember that they're a luxury, not a right.

P.S. as to his little 'comment', you could complain -but I doubt it will go anywhere. You're all adults 'I'm assuming', and I'm willing to bet it says somewhere in your handbook to keep all dialogue 'PG-13' (or equivalent). Shrug it off and press on.

 

[Silverhawk65]

I guess I will have to just take this with a grain of salt and watch out for him. Just doesn't feel right, but hey that's the real world I guess.

 

[Elamdri]

Hello, I have a few situations that have happened at my work during the past year and would like you guys to give your opinion concerning them. I work at a grocery store and have worked my way up to customer service and front end supervisor. I have worked very hard over the past 3 years to achieve these positions.

Now comes the issues. My store manager is one of those hard ass corporate tools that barely gives anyone under him any respect. Several times I have been talking to my co-workers while walking up to the front end and he has stopped us questioning us about our current duties and when explaining ourselves, he still has the nerve to say that we should stop messing around and get back to work. A more recent occurrence of this was about 2 weeks ago. A coworker and I were doing out of stock reports, where you take inventory and we stopped to talk to a friend in frozen. We were talking for about 5 min and he comes by, again asks what we are doing and tells us to quit holding hands and get back to work. He later told the guy in frozen that next time he works, he expects him to actually work and not dick around. Those were his exact words, and all of of us took them as very disrespectful. I have talked with a lot of people that I work with and similar events have happened and everyone seems to dislike him. Was I at the wrong here? Should I not talk to my coworkers at all, or is he just an ass? I feel almost afraid to talk to anyone for an extended period of time because of possible interactions with him.

Granted this is a grocery store, so its not as serious as an office setting or anything like that.

Your boss is not your friend, he/she is there to make sure you do your work. That's THEIR job. If I saw you standing around talking instead of working, I would tell you to get back to work as well. Not out of spite, but it's my job to tell you to do your job.

Now if your boss is mean to you, that sucks and is unnecessary, but it's part of life and you just gotta deal with it.

 

[senordesol]

I guess I will have to just take this with a grain of salt and watch out for him. Just doesn't feel right, but hey that's the real world I guess.

Again, if it's unbearable your best option is to bug out. Transfer to another branch, find a new job; something. You may have to deal with him now, but you *only* have to deal with his so long as you work for him.

 

[DoPo]

Your boss is not your friend, he/she is there to make sure you do your work. That's THEIR job. If I saw you standing around talking instead of working, I would tell you to get back to work as well. Not out of spite, but it's my job to tell you to do your job.

Yeah, this, your boss's job is pretty much to tell you not to talk during work and to work instead. And other stuff, too, but that's mostly what it has in common with you. That doesn't mean your boss has to come across as a a dick but there is at least of minimum amount of dickness he's required to cover. I can't say if he's overstepping that or not, since we are hearing a biased story (whether you wanted to do that or not).

 

[Silverhawk65]

Didn't really intend it be biased, pretty hard not to though. Just frustrated, thanks for the comments. This is one community I can always come to for constructive opinions

 

[DudeistBelieve]

Hello, I have a few situations that have happened at my work during the past year and would like you guys to give your opinion concerning them. I work at a grocery store and have worked my way up to customer service and front end supervisor. I have worked very hard over the past 3 years to achieve these positions.

Now comes the issues. My store manager is one of those hard ass corporate tools that barely gives anyone under him any respect. Several times I have been talking to my co-workers while walking up to the front end and he has stopped us questioning us about our current duties and when explaining ourselves, he still has the nerve to say that we should stop messing around and get back to work. A more recent occurrence of this was about 2 weeks ago. A coworker and I were doing out of stock reports, where you take inventory and we stopped to talk to a friend in frozen. We were talking for about 5 min and he comes by, again asks what we are doing and tells us to quit holding hands and get back to work. He later told the guy in frozen that next time he works, he expects him to actually work and not dick around. Those were his exact words, and all of of us took them as very disrespectful. I have talked with a lot of people that I work with and similar events have happened and everyone seems to dislike him. Was I at the wrong here? Should I not talk to my coworkers at all, or is he just an ass? I feel almost afraid to talk to anyone for an extended period of time because of possible interactions with him.

Granted this is a grocery store, so its not as serious as an office setting or anything like that.

No he's being a dick. I feel your pain man, I work in grocery too and I've dealt with many a corporate tool.

I don't know how to really advise you on what to do. My particular store is Union and the management I deal with are basically useless in terms of getting people fired... basically I could only get fired if I didn't show up or I stole something, so I basically learned to get really good at getting yelled at and not reacting because thats basically the worst I'll have to deal with.

Basically, if you know you pretty much can't get fired I'd just ignore it and let it roll off your back.

 

[Ickorus]

This is the job of a boss, I used to work in a shop and my boss would tell people to get back to work if nothing was getting done but he didn't give a shit about us talking so long as work was being done at the same time; you stopping to have a chat with someone is something your boss is well within his right to call you out on.

What you should be doing is working and when another employee happens to be within talking distance have a chat whilst at the same time doing your work, as soon as you or him/her is done with the task you're on break off the conversation and move to wherever you're supposed to be next.

 

[DudeistBelieve]

Hello, I have a few situations that have happened at my work during the past year and would like you guys to give your opinion concerning them. I work at a grocery store and have worked my way up to customer service and front end supervisor. I have worked very hard over the past 3 years to achieve these positions.

Now comes the issues. My store manager is one of those hard ass corporate tools that barely gives anyone under him any respect. Several times I have been talking to my co-workers while walking up to the front end and he has stopped us questioning us about our current duties and when explaining ourselves, he still has the nerve to say that we should stop messing around and get back to work. A more recent occurrence of this was about 2 weeks ago. A coworker and I were doing out of stock reports, where you take inventory and we stopped to talk to a friend in frozen. We were talking for about 5 min and he comes by, again asks what we are doing and tells us to quit holding hands and get back to work. He later told the guy in frozen that next time he works, he expects him to actually work and not dick around. Those were his exact words, and all of of us took them as very disrespectful. I have talked with a lot of people that I work with and similar events have happened and everyone seems to dislike him. Was I at the wrong here? Should I not talk to my coworkers at all, or is he just an ass? I feel almost afraid to talk to anyone for an extended period of time because of possible interactions with him.

Granted this is a grocery store, so its not as serious as an office setting or anything like that.

Your boss is not your friend, he/she is there to make sure you do your work. That's THEIR job. If I saw you standing around talking instead of working, I would tell you to get back to work as well. Not out of spite, but it's my job to tell you to do your job.

Now if your boss is mean to you, that sucks and is unnecessary, but it's part of life and you just gotta deal with it.

I often wonder why that has to be. I have had managers that I'm friends with, trust and treat me like a human being and when they need someone to count on they turn to me because they know I like them enough that I'd help them out.

Maybe I'm just the anomaly, but it's not like if those managers had to fire me or discipline me in some way that I would take it personally... If anything I'd take that kind of news better from them then the asshole corporate stooge that thinks because he goes by the books he'll eventually be promoted up (doesn't happen.)