Tuesday, March 9, 2010

Your sea of stupidity bears an uncanny resemblance to rancid milk.

The nice thing about this blog is that people actually read it. Unlike signs that I hang up to communicate with others when I'm not there, it functions as more than just an apparent decoration. This blog has an almost-captive audience. And because of said virtue, I'm going to use it as the means by which I vent all my angst at the parade of morons who make my life difficult.

Because the morons won't listen to me, you'll just have to do it instead. Thank you. Your sacrifice will not go unappreciated.

Today's topic: Basic sanitation in the workplace and respect of your fellow workers.

Let's imagine for a second that you work in a grocery store. And in the course of your daily duties at the store, you run across a product that is unsellable due to damage or spoilage or expiry. Being the conscientious employee that you are, you remove the product from the shelf. But you can't just throw it away, because the store needs to make sure its demise is properly documented in order to maintain an accurate inventory. But since the store doesn't trust just any old employee with its inventory, it has designated a holding area (a few shelves and a crate) where this and other sub-par products can repose until such time as a  properly trained and authorized employee is able to catalog and dispose of them.

So, when you, non-properly-trained-and-authorized peon that you are, remove some offending item from the shelf, what do you do with it? The obvious answer is, it depends on what the item is. If it's a small carton of yogurt, you place it in the bottom of the crate. If it's a gallon of milk, you hurl it on top with great force, to ensure that it crushes the small carton of yogurt and splatters its contents everywhere. If it's already leaking, so much the better! That way, you can carefully arrange it leak-side-down and let it work its magic all over the area one drop at a time.

Now come on. I'll grant you, maybe you're too illiterate to read the signs all around the designated area that said, "No leaking items," (and I'll grant that if you are new to the business, you might never have seen them, since I removed them after they got covered with splattered yogurt after months of being ignored) but are you also totally lacking in common sense and empathy? When you remove a container from the shelf because it's leaking all over the place and it can't be sold, do you think it magically stops leaking when it hits the holding area? Do you know who is the trained and authorized employee that has to slosh around in the mess you leave? It's me! Why are you doing such a thing to me!?

5 comments:

Tariq said...

I could write a similar rant about chemical hygiene.

I definitely feel for you. Maybe I should get you a lab coat.

Anonymous said...

Hmm that's interessting but actually i have a hard time determining it... wonder what others have to say..

Anonymous said...

I just don't get people sometimes. But I do know that sometimes they get a kick out of making things harder for others and screwing up other peoples lives.. yet again something i will never understand. Too bad there isn't a video camera back there for you to figure out who it is...
-Julie

Anonymous said...

I just don't get people sometimes. But I do know that sometimes they get a kick out of making things harder for others and screwing up other peoples lives.. yet again something i will never understand. Too bad there isn't a video camera back there for you to figure out who it is...
-Julie

Anonymous said...

Are they supposed to throw it away if it's leaking, even though it is supposed to be documented first? Maybe they just don't know what to do with it.
-Amy