Sả là một gia vị được nhân ta dùng phổ biến, đồng thời cũng là một cây thuốc chữa bệnh và trừ côn trùng tốt.
Sả là loại cây thảo sống dai, cao khoảng 1m, mọc thành bụi (tên khoa học là Cymbopogon Citratus (L.) Pers.), thuộc họ lúa (Poaceae). Củ sả là một gia vị được dùng trong chế biến nhiều món ăn, chủ yếu là để kích thích tiêu hoá, khử được mùi tanh của cá, thịt, giúp thức ăn thêm thơm ngon.
Theo Đông y, sả vị the, mùi thơm, tính ấm, có tác dụng làm ra mồ hôi, thông tiểu tiện và tiêu thực. Sả được dùng chủ yếu làm thuốc chữa cảm sốt, đầy bụng, tiêu chảy...
Liều lượng mỗi ngày 8 - 12g lá và củ sả dưới dạng thuốc xông hay thuốc hãm. Phổ biến nhất là nồi nước xông lá sả phối hợp với một số lá khác như lá tre, lá cúc tần, lá bưởi, lá tía tô. cây ngãi cứu.. mỗi thứ một nắm, đem nấu nước xông cho ra mồ hôi để chữa cảm sốt, nhức đầu.
Tác dụng chính của sả là ở tinh dầu. Trong lá sả có tinh dầu, thành phần chủ yếu là geraniola và citronelola. Vì vậy, khi ta vò lá sả thấy có một mùi thơm đặc biệt phảng phất mùi thơm của chanh.
Tinh dầu sả bôi lên da hoặc phun trong nhà có thể xua đuổi được ruồi, muỗi và các loài côn trùng khác như dĩn, bọ chét... do đó thường được dùng làm thuốc trừ muỗi và khử mùi hôi.
Phụ nữ cũng thường nấu nước lá sả để gội đầu cho trơn tóc, sạch gầu và có thể tránh được một số bệnh về tóc.
Ngoài ra, củ sả và tinh dầu sả còn dùng để chữa một số bệnh thông thường như : Lấy 3 - 6 giọt tinh dầu sả pha với xi-rô và nước, cho bệnh nhân uống để chữa đau bụng, đầy bụng, chống nôn và thông trung tiện. hoặc thái cũ sã đem ngâm rượu đễ dành khi đau bụng gió uống 1 li nhỏ
Coworkers, Government Office, Ignoring & Inattentive, Massachusetts, USA | Working | June 2, 2020
The building I work in opens at 8:15 every weekday. We have two doors: the front door to the street which we keep locked until opening time and the back door to employee parking which the public can use but rarely do. From the first employee coming in, the back door remains unlocked until we close for the day.
One morning, a coworker who works across town comes in through the back door around 8:05, ten minutes before we open. She proudly walks up to our counter with a huge grin on her face.
Coworker: “I bet you’re wondering why it’s so quiet, huh?”
Me: “What?”
Coworker: “I said, I bet you’re wondering why it’s so quiet in here.”
Me: “Well, it usually is this time of day.”
Coworker: “Yeah, want to know why?”
Me: “Why?”
Coworker: “Because your front door is locked.”
Me: “Yes, it is.”
Coworker: “Aren’t you late?”
Me: “Uh, no?”
Coworker: “What? Don’t you open at 8:00?”
Me: “No, we open at 8:15.”
Coworker: “Oh. I guess I could have checked the sign on your door with the hours.”
Me: “Yeah. It’s okay you didn’t know; you don’t work here.”
Bizarre, Coworkers, Restaurant, USA | Working | June 1, 2020
One of my coworkers seems like a perfectly normal, boring guy. He’s probably around 27 and works at a small restaurant in a small town, so my friend and I both assume he has a pretty basic, normal life.
One day, he comes in with a cast on his foot and complains about how it will probably be there for months.
Me: “How did you hurt your foot, anyway?”
Coworker: “So, you know that I do bullfighting, right?”
Employees, England, Extra Stupid, Manchester, Non-Dialogue, Office, UK | Working | June 1, 2020
I work as a manager in an office building for a small-ish family-owned business. We are not at all corporate.
After sixteen years, the office has seen better days and we decide to refurbish. All staff are moved into the downstairs office, so we can sort out the upstairs office. It’s a squeeze, I can tell you!
This takes over a year — way longer than it should — due to a number of idiot contractors. I even have to step in and do several jobs myself when said contractors have messed it all up or missed things. At the time of this story, I am resultantly run ragged.
The first day of the month falls on a Friday. After we close on Thursday, I switch off the downstairs setup and activate the upstairs. As a result, on Friday, all the staff will be in the swanky new office.
On Friday morning, before letting them upstairs, I instruct the staff that they need to move all their belongings with them, as anything remaining downstairs on Monday will be going in the skip when I tear out the old downstairs office to start the refurbishment of that floor.
I make no secret of the fact I’m on the autistic spectrum, and I talk very literally.
On Monday morning, I remind them that I’ll be binning everything downstairs and to take with them anything they still want. I then start taking apart the old downstairs office. There’s a lot to do.
On Wednesday, my third day of throwing everything out, one of our longer-serving staff turns up in a tizzy because they can’t find their backpack.
That they left in the downstairs office.
That morning.
Yup. Even after being told twice and seeing the downstairs office being gutted over several days and all the stuff being thrown out, they left a bag there.
Apparently, they deliberately left his bag there so as to not “mess up” the new office with it.
They thought it wouldn’t count against my previous instructions as it wasn’t there yesterday, and had thus been “put” there rather than “left” there.
I’m assured by my fellow managers that this was not a dream, I’m not losing the plot, and this actually happened.
Not sure if I need a new job, better staff, or a stiff drink!
Assisted Living, Coworkers, Health & Body, Michigan, Silly, USA | Working | June 1, 2020
I’m sitting at the front desk of the assisted living facility where I work, going through my opening tasks, when a coworker comes around the corner to talk to my boss near my desk.
Boss: “Hey, [Coworker], you doing all right today?”
Coworker: “Not really. My stomach is upset and I feel awful, honestly. I was going to ask—”
Boss: “Oookay!” *Backs up* “Go home! Get out! UNCLEAN! UNCLEAN!”
The boss makes shooing motions and then an X with her fingers. [Coworker] puts their hands up and laughs.
Coworker: “Thank you. I’m going! I’m going!”
The boss runs and hides in her office as my coworker starts toward my desk.
Me: “NO! Unclean! Go awaaaay!”
I hide under my desk.
Coworker: “Nice to know I’m loved! Bye, [My Name]!”
Me: *From under the desk* “Bye! Feel better!”
We’ve been dealing with a norovirus here for twelve days and counting now and we’ve pretty much all had it, me included. We’re all a little punchy and sick of it.
Apartment Complex, Employees, Instant Karma, Landlord, Lazy/Unhelpful, Massachusetts, Non-Dialogue, USA | Working | June 1, 2020
We moved into an apartment building which had been converted from a single-family dwelling. When we moved in, we ordered cable service simply because it was the only high-speed Internet in the area. This was the first time cable was installed to the building. We went ahead and got the entire digital package, since it wound up being cheaper with the bundle fee.
Our landlord grumped about the cable install because “TV is free through the air and no one needs Internet.” This was long before “ok, boomer” was a thing, but the sentiment was the same.
Fast forward a few months: it turns out our landlord has decided to get cable because he wants to watch all of the sports games and they’re not all “free through the air.” Who knew? Sadly, I learned about his cable order the hard way.
I get home on a Thursday evening and go to turn on the news, and I have no signal. Sometimes, that happens, of course. Likewise, my Internet is also out. Since I have VOIP, this means no phone, as well.
Fortunately, my in-laws’ place is just down the road. I head down there and discover that they have full service, so I use their phone to call in about my cable being out. The company reports that it is active and shows service. When I get home, there’s still nothing.
The cable company finally agrees to send out a tech the next day to troubleshoot. They guarantee me a service window of 8:00 am to 12:00 pm. I call my boss to let him know I’ll be in to work late.
The next morning rolls around, and the cable guy shows up and notices that, while my service is active, the cable was physically disconnected from my apartment and swapped to my landlord’s apartment. He swapped it back and then called in to his dispatcher from my living room so I got to overhear the conversation.
After a bit of back and forth, they discovered that the installer for my landlord’s service the day prior had shown up, discovered an active line, and rather than running a second cable, he just swapped mine over to the landlord’s side and called the job done. He was supposed to string a line from the pole to the house for the new service, like was on the order.
Since this wraps up close to lunchtime, I decide to eat at home before going to work. As I’m eating, I hear a frantic pounding on my apartment door. I go to answer and it’s a different cable tech. It’s the installer from the day before, who has been called off whatever job he was working in order to complete the install for my landlord that he screwed up yesterday. The installer has decided this is a good time to tell me off for calling in the problem, and don’t I know how hard it is for him to have to come back and fix it?
My landlord and I both call in complaints about his attitude and behavior. I mean, I might have felt bad for him having to, like, do his job and all, except he didn’t do it right and inconvenienced me and then whined about it. And then, he blamed me for putting him in the position of having to come back to do his job right the second time. So, no, I didn’t feel bad at all. F*** that guy.
Assisted Living, Awesome Workers, Michigan, USA | Working | June 1, 2020
I work in an assisted living facility. The phone starts ringing and, looking at the caller ID, I see the name of a home care agency whose worker I’ve just had to deny access to. Sighing and preparing for a fight, I pick up and answer.
Me: “[Business], this is [My Name].”
Caller: “Hello, this is [Caller] from [Home Health Agency]. We just sent over an aide and she told us she was denied access. I just want to apologize for that.”
Me: “Oh…”
Caller: “We had her marked in our system as credentialed when she isn’t yet, so that’s our fault. We’re working on sending someone else out as we speak.”
Me: “I… Wow, okay, great! Thank you for being understanding! Usually, I get yelled at when I have to deny someone.”
Caller: “Oh, it’s no problem. It was our bad.”
We went on to talk more about her new aide coming out, etc. But I’m still floored that she was actually understanding about me having to deny her worker access to the building. I just… that doesn’t happen. It was a very nice change
Employees, Food & Drink, Maine, Sub Shop, USA | Working | May 31, 2020
This story takes place at a popular nationwide sub shop. My mom is out dropping my brother off at some event and is driving back, and she decides to stop at this sub shop to get herself and me something.
She explains her order first and the employee gets it correct. Then, she gets to my order, which happens to be a sub that has a good amount of meat on it.
After my mom explains my order, the employee gets confused and asks my mom to repeat it, which she does, only to then add on to the end of the order that the sub is “like a meat bomb.” This confuses the poor employee even further, who then starts to reach for the meatballs.
My mom quickly stops the employee and explains the order again, more slowly this time, and he finally gets it and makes the order. The sandwiches are then moved to the next employee to finish them. My mom then hears the other employee ask the customer behind her what he wants.
Customer: “I’m not sure what exactly it was, but I’ll have what she’s having!”
For those of you who wonder what the sandwich was, here is the order: toasted Italian herb and cheese bread, pepperoni, salami, bacon, steak, American cheese, lettuce, pickles, and cucumbers. Behold, the Meat Bomb!
Bosses & Owners, Instant Karma, Iowa, Jerk, Tech Support, USA | Working | May 30, 2020
I am a system admin for a small manufacturing company that gets purchased by a much larger corporation; I’m not sure why exactly. As part of the buyout, in email and across the company, it states all employees that are retained keep the requested days off and holidays for that year.
As my wife is going to have some major surgery, I have requested to take a week off and had it all approved. I have my backup lined up: [System Admin #2 ] and [IT Tech].
The new company merges the IT department with HR and I meet my new boss as the old HR staff was all let go. At our first meeting, [New Boss] gives a long-winded spiel about how great the new company is and how they take pride in how they treat employees.
New Boss: “So, anything you think we need to discuss?”
I explain the situation with my wife and tell him that I will soon be taking a week off.
New Boss: “Not a problem.”
He gives me some more company BS and a “my door is always open.”
I immediately send an email reminding my new boss about our conversation and the dates I will be off. His response is, “Yes, that is what we discussed. Thank you.” I learned to cover my a** a long time ago
Fast forward a month. Literally the week before I will be taking off for my wife’s surgery, [System Admin #2 ] is let go. I remind [New Boss] that I will be absent for an entire week and they will be without a system admin or IT support other than [IT Tech].
New Boss: “What are you talking about? You never told me you would be taking time off, and even if you did it was never approved. And since it wasn’t approved, you will just have to not take your vacation or whatever unimportant issue it is.”
I have a bad feeling, so I email [New Boss] and explain again that it’s a surgery for my wife, it is important, I will be taking the time off as it was approved by previous HR, and it was our first conversation. I also make copies and forward all emails pertaining to the conversation with [New Boss] and the email as part of the buyout — i.e. contract — to my personal email.
New Boss: “There was never a conversation, and since you never told me and I never approved it, you will just have to figure something out for your wife.”
This email is copied and forwarded to my personal email.
Me: “It was approved prior to buyout and we did have a discussion. I will be taking that week off.”
I copy and forward this to my personal email, too.
Friday before I take the week off, this happens.
IT Tech: “So… Um, you did back up your emails somewhere that is not on our network, right?”
Me: “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
IT Tech: “Well, in case there is an issue and something happens to the exchange server and the backups, it might be a good idea to have some backups for… you know, since the buyout…”
He then walks away. I copy all emails, print them out, and forward them to a newly-created unrelated email account. I head home and have a nagging feeling, so I compose an email to the Corporate Human Resources of the company that bought out our little company. I explain the issue, mentioning that if I am let go while I am off with my wife, I will be retaining a lawyer — never mentioning I have proof of conversation with HR — and telling them they should look into it.
Lo and behold, the exchange server and our backup get corrupted to the point of losing all the emails for the year. Hmm, suspect.
I return from taking care of my wife (who is doing much better) and am immediately taken to the board room with [New Boss] and two people from Corporate HR.
New Boss: “I am going to have to let you go, as you took an entire week of unapproved vacation time off so you could take some trip to who knows where, and we had a major system failure that resulted in a loss of all the company’s emails for several months, which is causing headaches for shipping and accounting.”
Me: “Really. That is odd. We did discuss my week off, as I told you it was for my wife’s surgery and recovery.”
I open my backpack and pull out a binder and a notebook.
Me: “You see, an email was sent to all employees about the buyout, and part of the buyout contract was that we got to retain all approved days off; it was sent out on [Date]. After I spoke with you on [date #1 ], I sent you an email reminding you. I also reminded you via email on [date #2 ], and [dates #3 , #4 , and #5].”
New Boss: “While yes, the first email is correct, there was nothing in your file about approved time off, and also, we never discussed it, and I can’t corroborate your story.”
Me: “Here is the paperwork of the signed approval form from my old HR.” *Taking paper from the binder* “Here is a printout of me outlining our first discussion and all other emails pertaining to the approved time off.”
I slide over the paper, not to [New Boss], but to the corporate HR employees, who seem to have finally taken an interest.
Me: “Also, you will find that, since this is information only about me and not anything regarding the company, I did not break any laws by sending this information to my personal email.”
Corporate HR: “Can you step outside? We will call you back in shortly.”
To cut this already long story short, I was called back in, and after a lengthy discussion and the revealing that [IT Tech] also had some emails about being told to do some maintenance on the exchange server and backup, [New Boss] was promptly fired.
[IT Tech] was promoted to Temp System Admin, and his schooling was paid for him to get the correct degree.
As for me, after some heated discussion between me and corporate that mentioned a lawsuit, I was given a decent “bonus,” as well as a severance package — along with a non-disclosure agreement. I was able to easily find another job in my career field and am much happier.
Bad Behavior, Employees, Laboratory, New Hires, New Mexico, Non-Dialogue, USA | Working | May 29, 2020
The lab where I work requires that you either sign in at the front desk or swipe your ID card to access one of the exterior doors. There are very strict rules, enforced by security camera, that no one is to be allowed in by “tailgating” you through the exterior doors without swiping their ID card to open the door. Even if you recognize the other person, if you are spotted letting someone in, you will get written up and pulled into security retraining. So, we don’t do it, even during the morning rush. A person comes up, swipes, walks through the door, closes it, the next person swipes, opens the door, walks through, closes it, etc.
On this particular day, I’m coming in a bit later because I’m going to be working late into the night, and I see someone I don’t recognize standing around outside holding an unlit cigarette. It is pretty common for people to come out and take a smoke break, and he is in the area where people generally do that, so I don’t think much of it as I walk up and swipe my card.
As I’m stepping in, however, I hear hurried steps, and I turn to see him running up after me. On instinct, I reach out and yank the door close, and I actually hear him impact it on the other side, rattling it a bit when it proves to be locked. Cue him audibly cursing me out.
I am pretty shocked by that, and I report the incident to my boss. He looks into it, and it turns out that the guy was a probationary new hire who disliked being “treated like a baby” and being forced to sign in while waiting for his ID card to be issued. So, he thought that sneaking his way in would be somehow better.
On the bright side for him, the company certainly won’t be treating him like a baby, as he no longer works here.
Bad Behavior, Bosses & Owners, Coworkers, England, Optometrist/Optician, Sussex, UK | Working | May 29, 2020
I’ve been working for a local optician since I was thirteen. I started by doing their filing on Saturday mornings and progressed to doing full Saturdays or Sundays, working with customers selecting glasses and doing the pre-screen tests.
Eventually, I’m promoted to Sunday manager when I’m sixteen. This isn’t a big role and I’m mostly given it because often I’m the only permanent staff member working with one or two external contractors. Really, all it means in practice is that I have shop keys and the alarm codes.
This takes place on a Friday when the normal manager and the owner both aren’t around. It isn’t really a problem as we all know our tasks and everything has been fine until closing procedures. The team today includes me, a few others who are in their twenties, and a man in his late fifties who isn’t a manager but took the shop keys from the owner when he left.
Importantly, we all have the same status in the business; the older man has the same training level as I do. The shop closes at 5:00 but we’re paid until 5:30 to finish closing out. It’s currently ten past 5:00 and I’m doing paperwork, not noticing that a lot of others have already left.
Older Man: “Okay, stop what you’re doing. We can finish the last bits tomorrow. A few of us have a train to catch so we need to go.”
I’m doing closing paperwork.
Me: “Oh, it’s okay, [Older Man]. I’ve got my keys so I’ll finish this bit up and I’ll lock up.”
Older Man: “No, we need to go now. I can’t miss my train.”
Me: “No, it’s fine. You can go, and so can anyone else who has a train, because I have keys to lock up.”
Older Man: “No, I need to show you out of the building.”
Me: “Why? I have my own keys and I lock up by myself on Sundays.”
Older Man: “Don’t argue with me!”
Me: “But I don’t have anywhere to be, and if I don’t finish this paperwork, [Owner] will be really angry. We are paid for another twenty minutes, anyway. I’ll finish this and do the last closing out bits, but it won’t take long, so you can go. It’s fine for me to lock up; I do it every weekend.”
Older Man: *Shouting* “I will not be spoken to like that!”
Me: “Like what? I’m saying go get your train; don’t worry about me.”
Older Man: “That’s it! Go and get your coat and bag and get out! I’m not leaving you alone in the building!”
He’s about an inch away from my face and shouting. I’m sixteen and not used to confrontations, I also suffer from social anxiety disorder, so this is a huge situation. I feel my throat starting to tighten, so I wordlessly leave what I was doing and walk upstairs to get my coat.
Older Man: “Go! Faster! You’re making us all wait for you!”
Me: *Crying* “You don’t have to wait for me!”
Older Man: “Go! F****** H***, WHY DON’T YOU LISTEN!”
I grab my bag, accidentally leaving some of my things behind in a panic, and practically run out the door, still crying.
The next day, I’m called into the owner’s office and I expect it to be because of the unfinished paperwork.
Me: “Yes, [Owner]?”
Owner: “I want to speak to you about your behaviour yesterday. [Older Man] said you were really rude to him.”
Me: “What?! No, that’s not what happened! He wanted to leave early because of his train and I told him he could go but I needed to finish things up so I would stay and lock up.”
Owner: “That’s not what I was told, and it doesn’t matter anyway; I won’t have people arguing here. You need to go and apologise.”
Me: “I’m not going to apologise for offering to cover for him while he left early and being shouted at.”
Owner: “I’m telling you to go and apologise. If you don’t, well…”
He trails off but glares at me in a meaningful way.
Me: “No, I’m not going to.”
Owner: “Then I guess you’ve made your decision. Good luck finding another job at your age.”
I walked out of his office and then out of the store without speaking to anyone, upset and very angry but too righteous to ever apologise when I hadn’t done anything wrong. I wrote my resignation letter that night, and then I updated my CV and emailed it to a few rival opticians.
Thankfully, because I had years of experience and had been trained on everything that didn’t require a degree, from pre-testing to dispensing and fitting glasses despite having the low minimum wage and salary expectations of a teenager, I had a job offer within two days.
I’ve since been back to that optician as it was the cheapest place to get new glasses and the older man came over to say, “No hard feelings, eh?” I blanked him and walked away.
Canada, Coworkers, Current Events, Health & Body, Hotel, Jerk, Newfoundland & Labrador | Working | May 29, 2020
I work — well, technically “worked,” since I was laid off when the hotel temporarily closed until the world goes back to normal — as a hotel night auditor, and one of the other clerks has rubbed me the wrong way since he was hired last fall. From the get-go, he has come across as smarmy and arrogant. He’ll always compliment you to your face, while back-biting other employees, in a way that tells you he is doing the exact same thing about you to the others.
Even months after training, he still makes mistakes — entering guest information wrong, not following established procedures, and that sort of thing — and whenever I try to show him the right way to do it, he’ll tell me that someone ELSE told him to do it the way he IS doing it.
There were other things that annoy me about him — like his habit of reorganizing the front desk every few days — but nothing that’s really pertinent to this story.
A few weeks ago, when the pandemic was still in the early stages, after the shift change in the morning, he coughed without even trying to cover his mouth. We had a group of travellers sitting in the lobby. I called him out on it, and the conversation went something like this:
Me: “Dude, you should really cover your mouth when you cough.”
Coworker: “Yeah, whatever.”
Me: “Seriously. I mean, with that outbreak on the go, you need to be more careful about that.”
Coworker: *Smirking* “Yeah, like I’m just coming back from China or something.”
Me: “Look, there are people in the lobby that are travelling who knows where, and the last thing they need in the middle of an outbreak is to see you coughing all over the place.”
Coworker: “Hey, if I’ve got to cough, I’m gonna cough.”
I could see I wasn’t getting anywhere with him, and frankly, if I’d kept at it, it would’ve turned into a shouting match, so I dropped it.
I had that night and the next one off. When I went back to work a couple of nights later, I found out that the owners had closed our sister hotel and laid off most of the staff. Our manager had laid HIM off, as well, apparently for coming to work sick.
They closed our hotel about a week later, and from what I understand, that coworker won’t be asked back when it reopens. Apparently, the owners liked him even less than I did, and coming in sick at the start of a worldwide outbreak was the last straw. I can’t honestly say I’ll miss him.
Airport, Employees, Great Stuff, Jerk, Sales, USA | Working | May 29, 2020
Due to a delay, I have to rush to make my connecting flight. I get to the gate right at the last possible minute. Just as I’m about to turn at the gate, someone stops me.
Saleslady: “Can I speak to you about travel insurance?”
Bad Behavior, Employees, Laboratory, New Hires, New Mexico, Non-Dialogue, USA | Working | May 29, 2020
The lab where I work requires that you either sign in at the front desk or swipe your ID card to access one of the exterior doors. There are very strict rules, enforced by security camera, that no one is to be allowed in by “tailgating” you through the exterior doors without swiping their ID card to open the door. Even if you recognize the other person, if you are spotted letting someone in, you will get written up and pulled into security retraining. So, we don’t do it, even during the morning rush. A person comes up, swipes, walks through the door, closes it, the next person swipes, opens the door, walks through, closes it, etc.
On this particular day, I’m coming in a bit later because I’m going to be working late into the night, and I see someone I don’t recognize standing around outside holding an unlit cigarette. It is pretty common for people to come out and take a smoke break, and he is in the area where people generally do that, so I don’t think much of it as I walk up and swipe my card.
As I’m stepping in, however, I hear hurried steps, and I turn to see him running up after me. On instinct, I reach out and yank the door close, and I actually hear him impact it on the other side, rattling it a bit when it proves to be locked. Cue him audibly cursing me out.
I am pretty shocked by that, and I report the incident to my boss. He looks into it, and it turns out that the guy was a probationary new hire who disliked being “treated like a baby” and being forced to sign in while waiting for his ID card to be issued. So, he thought that sneaking his way in would be somehow better.
On the bright side for him, the company certainly won’t be treating him like a baby, as he no longer works here.
Bad Behavior, Bosses & Owners, Coworkers, England, Optometrist/Optician, Sussex, UK | Working | May 29, 2020
I’ve been working for a local optician since I was thirteen. I started by doing their filing on Saturday mornings and progressed to doing full Saturdays or Sundays, working with customers selecting glasses and doing the pre-screen tests.
Eventually, I’m promoted to Sunday manager when I’m sixteen. This isn’t a big role and I’m mostly given it because often I’m the only permanent staff member working with one or two external contractors. Really, all it means in practice is that I have shop keys and the alarm codes.
This takes place on a Friday when the normal manager and the owner both aren’t around. It isn’t really a problem as we all know our tasks and everything has been fine until closing procedures. The team today includes me, a few others who are in their twenties, and a man in his late fifties who isn’t a manager but took the shop keys from the owner when he left.
Importantly, we all have the same status in the business; the older man has the same training level as I do. The shop closes at 5:00 but we’re paid until 5:30 to finish closing out. It’s currently ten past 5:00 and I’m doing paperwork, not noticing that a lot of others have already left.
Older Man: “Okay, stop what you’re doing. We can finish the last bits tomorrow. A few of us have a train to catch so we need to go.”
I’m doing closing paperwork.
Me: “Oh, it’s okay, [Older Man]. I’ve got my keys so I’ll finish this bit up and I’ll lock up.”
Older Man: “No, we need to go now. I can’t miss my train.”
Me: “No, it’s fine. You can go, and so can anyone else who has a train, because I have keys to lock up.”
Older Man: “No, I need to show you out of the building.”
Me: “Why? I have my own keys and I lock up by myself on Sundays.”
Older Man: “Don’t argue with me!”
Me: “But I don’t have anywhere to be, and if I don’t finish this paperwork, [Owner] will be really angry. We are paid for another twenty minutes, anyway. I’ll finish this and do the last closing out bits, but it won’t take long, so you can go. It’s fine for me to lock up; I do it every weekend.”
Older Man: *Shouting* “I will not be spoken to like that!”
Me: “Like what? I’m saying go get your train; don’t worry about me.”
Older Man: “That’s it! Go and get your coat and bag and get out! I’m not leaving you alone in the building!”
He’s about an inch away from my face and shouting. I’m sixteen and not used to confrontations, I also suffer from social anxiety disorder, so this is a huge situation. I feel my throat starting to tighten, so I wordlessly leave what I was doing and walk upstairs to get my coat.
Older Man: “Go! Faster! You’re making us all wait for you!”
Me: *Crying* “You don’t have to wait for me!”
Older Man: “Go! F****** H***, WHY DON’T YOU LISTEN!”
I grab my bag, accidentally leaving some of my things behind in a panic, and practically run out the door, still crying.
The next day, I’m called into the owner’s office and I expect it to be because of the unfinished paperwork.
Me: “Yes, [Owner]?”
Owner: “I want to speak to you about your behaviour yesterday. [Older Man] said you were really rude to him.”
Me: “What?! No, that’s not what happened! He wanted to leave early because of his train and I told him he could go but I needed to finish things up so I would stay and lock up.”
Owner: “That’s not what I was told, and it doesn’t matter anyway; I won’t have people arguing here. You need to go and apologise.”
Me: “I’m not going to apologise for offering to cover for him while he left early and being shouted at.”
Owner: “I’m telling you to go and apologise. If you don’t, well…”
He trails off but glares at me in a meaningful way.
Me: “No, I’m not going to.”
Owner: “Then I guess you’ve made your decision. Good luck finding another job at your age.”
I walked out of his office and then out of the store without speaking to anyone, upset and very angry but too righteous to ever apologise when I hadn’t done anything wrong. I wrote my resignation letter that night, and then I updated my CV and emailed it to a few rival opticians.
Thankfully, because I had years of experience and had been trained on everything that didn’t require a degree, from pre-testing to dispensing and fitting glasses despite having the low minimum wage and salary expectations of a teenager, I had a job offer within two days.
I’ve since been back to that optician as it was the cheapest place to get new glasses and the older man came over to say, “No hard feelings, eh?” I blanked him and walked away.
Canada, Coworkers, Current Events, Health & Body, Hotel, Jerk, Newfoundland & Labrador | Working | May 29, 2020
I work — well, technically “worked,” since I was laid off when the hotel temporarily closed until the world goes back to normal — as a hotel night auditor, and one of the other clerks has rubbed me the wrong way since he was hired last fall. From the get-go, he has come across as smarmy and arrogant. He’ll always compliment you to your face, while back-biting other employees, in a way that tells you he is doing the exact same thing about you to the others.
Even months after training, he still makes mistakes — entering guest information wrong, not following established procedures, and that sort of thing — and whenever I try to show him the right way to do it, he’ll tell me that someone ELSE told him to do it the way he IS doing it.
There were other things that annoy me about him — like his habit of reorganizing the front desk every few days — but nothing that’s really pertinent to this story.
A few weeks ago, when the pandemic was still in the early stages, after the shift change in the morning, he coughed without even trying to cover his mouth. We had a group of travellers sitting in the lobby. I called him out on it, and the conversation went something like this:
Me: “Dude, you should really cover your mouth when you cough.”
Coworker: “Yeah, whatever.”
Me: “Seriously. I mean, with that outbreak on the go, you need to be more careful about that.”
Coworker: *Smirking* “Yeah, like I’m just coming back from China or something.”
Me: “Look, there are people in the lobby that are travelling who knows where, and the last thing they need in the middle of an outbreak is to see you coughing all over the place.”
Coworker: “Hey, if I’ve got to cough, I’m gonna cough.”
I could see I wasn’t getting anywhere with him, and frankly, if I’d kept at it, it would’ve turned into a shouting match, so I dropped it.
I had that night and the next one off. When I went back to work a couple of nights later, I found out that the owners had closed our sister hotel and laid off most of the staff. Our manager had laid HIM off, as well, apparently for coming to work sick.
They closed our hotel about a week later, and from what I understand, that coworker won’t be asked back when it reopens. Apparently, the owners liked him even less than I did, and coming in sick at the start of a worldwide outbreak was the last straw. I can’t honestly say I’ll miss him.
Airport, Employees, Great Stuff, Jerk, Sales, USA | Working | May 29, 2020
Due to a delay, I have to rush to make my connecting flight. I get to the gate right at the last possible minute. Just as I’m about to turn at the gate, someone stops me.
Saleslady: “Can I speak to you about travel insurance?”
Employees, home improvement, Jerk, Refund, Spokane, USA, Washington | Working | May 29, 2020
Last fall, I bought a bag of insulation for my yard shed to put up behind the pegboard I bought at the same time. It cost about $150.00. Geez, that stuff’s gotten expensive! Between laziness and procrastination, I didn’t look at it again until last week.
Oops. It turns out that my studs in the shed are a different size. What a hassle; I need to go swap out the insulation.
I go to the store. Nyet. They act like I am trying to defraud them out of a truckload of lumber or something.
Employee: “Do you have the receipt?”
Me: “Well, no. Sorry. It’s unopened in a big plastic bag.”
Employee: “Okay, do you have the card that it was purchased with?”
Me: “Uh, maybe. Let’s try this one.”
I try a couple of different cards; neither works.
Me: “Uh, I think maybe I bought it with cash or a gift card, so it’s gone.”
Employee: “When did you buy it?”
Me: “Back in October.”
Employee: “Sorry, no returns after ninety days under any circumstances.”
Me: “Okay, get me a manager.”
The manager comes and tells me the same thing.
Me: “Okay, where’s your manager?”
I wait, but nope. Same thing.
Manager: “Corporate policy changed last September.”
Me: “Sure, but what’s the purpose of the policy?”
Manager: “More profits, better customer service.”
Me: “Right. You’re not making or losing anything on this deal; just swap me the right size and take this back.”
Manager: “Oh, no, The system won’t let us do.”
Me: “Um, we don’t need the system. Just me and you, two humans here, take this perfectly fine, unopened pack back, and give me the right size — which would be cheaper, but I’ll forget the difference.”
Manager: “Sorry, policy is—”
Me: “Okay, sure, policy is policy, but that’s why they have store managers, so you can go around the policy and do The Right Thing for customer satisfaction, right?”
Manager: “Sorry, I can’t risk my job—”
Me: “Yeah? Who’s going to fire you for this?”
Manager: “Regional management.”
Me: “Okay, get them on the phone.”
Manager: “Sorry, I can give you an 800-number for corporate.”
Employees, Extra Stupid, Money, USA, Washington DC, Zoo |
Working | May 28, 2020
I’m on vacation with my son in our nation’s capital, visiting the National Zoo. The vending machines take large bills, and at some point during the day, I buy a drink and get dollar coins as change. Later on, we are buying a meal in one of the cafes and I try to pay with the dollar coins.
Cashier: “I’m sorry, I can’t accept these. We can only take American money.”
Me: “What? That is American money.”
Cashier: “No, it’s not.”
Me: “It says, ‘United States of America.’”
Cashier: “It looks fake.”
Me: “I got it as change in one of your vending machines. You must have had other people pay with them, too.”
She eventually called over her manager to confirm that dollar coins were, in fact, real money. No harm done, but how do you work at the National Zoo and not recognize American money?
Employees, Massachusetts, Theater, USA | Working | May 28, 2020
I have a friend who, despite identifying as female, dresses entirely in men’s clothing and is often mistaken for a guy. She has a very feminine name, as well.
We are walking through the bag and pocket check at a theater. My friend empties her pockets, begins to drop some quarters, and walks off without noticing.
He looks at me, desperate. I decide to help the poor guy.
Me: “Hey, [Friend]!”
The guard has a sudden spark of recognition.
Security Guard: “OH! [Friend]! [Friend]!”
She finally notices what’s going on and turns around to find me laughing like a maniac and the security guard looking at the both of us with a very sheepish expression.
Apartment Complex, Employees, USA, Washington | Working | May 28, 2020
I am going to my apartment complex’s office to discuss my current lease. I also happen to have a package waiting for me for pickup. When I get there, the entrance is locked.
A postal worker is nearby and sees me try the doorknob.
Postal Worker: “Is it locked?”
Me: “Yeah.”
Postal Worker: “Let’s try knocking.”
I’m a bit doubtful about anyone inside hearing the knocks since it is a multi-tiered entrance, so I let the postal worker do the knocking. A few seconds later, an employee opens the door.
Employee: “I’m at lunch and my partner is doing a tour. I’m not even allowed to open the door.”
Postal Worker: “Can I drop off some packages?”
Employee: “Yes.”
Me: “Can I pick up a package?”
Employee: “No. Can you come back in ten minutes?”
Me: “I can’t. I have to go to work.”
Employee: “I’m not getting paid. I can’t help you.”
Me: “I understand.”
Employee: “There’s nothing I can do. I’m not even supposed to leave my desk.”
I just nod and stare as I already said that I understood.
Employee: “I can’t help you. I’m on lunch.”
Certain she’s lost her mind at this point, I stop acknowledging her completely and just walk away.
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