Skeeterette

OK, so remember my old, nasty little bosslet, Skeeter?  Well, I must be working with his big sister. When the season first began, it was fun.  We worked hard, as truck after truck brought so many carts of plants that we could hardly keep up with finding homes for them on shelves.  In fact, lots of times we had carts all over because there was no shelf space.  We all did everything, arranging, watering, putting away.  Then the end of May came, and with it came a new "live nursery specialist".  <sigh>

Let's just call her Skeeterette.  She is slightly younger than me, and came to us from Texas (where the market was completely different, for one thing).  She is loud and rude, and she apparently knows nothing - I mean nothing - about plants.  She told us that she was a seasonal at a store in TX 18 months ago, but now she tells everyone she has worked for the company for two years.  IN two years (2013 and 2014), maybe, but not FOR two years.  Anyway, my main gripe with her is that she is so ignorant.  She consistently puts sun plants in the shade and vice versa, she does not seem to grasp that certain kinds of potting material do not hold water well, and no matter how often or how much you water them, they will not stay wet for any period of time.  As time has gone on, she has become increasingly hostile to me, and at this point she either ignores me or talks down to me.  I can't even tell you how many times she has talked to me as though it was my first day and I was somewhat slow.  Irritating as hell, especially from someone so stupid.  She is a total control freak and it has gotten to a point where I am afraid to do anything, like putting things away, because I know she will come behind me and change it.

A couple of times it has really come to a head.  In one instance, we were told by a manager to put small palm trees against the fence and the larger ones on a low table.  We installed signage above the small ones, on the fence, and everything was approved by the manager.  That night, she came in, swapped the two sizes around, tore down our sign, and threw it in among the small palms.  In the morning, we put it back the way it had been.  When she came in in the afternoon, she blew a gasket, demanding to know WHO kept doing this, changing what she did.  When I told her that the mgr had told us to do it that way, she went stomping off to him to see if I was lying.  A few minutes later, she came back, but said nothing to me.  Then about 20 minutes later, she told me, in a very, condescending way, that we had to put the small palms by the fence because the big ones would get knocked over by the wind.  I said I knew that, that's why we were told to do it that way in the first place.

The other day, she came in and found me checking my (company) email, and asked if I was watering.  I said yes, that is what I was supposed to do.  Then I went to refill my water bottle.  When I came back, I told her that I had been told that I was now on weekday team, but was assigned to garden until they no longer needed waterers.  She barely let me finish my sentence before she cut me off, saying her boss had told her all about it.  So I asked why she asked me if I was watering.  She completely ignored me, turned to another guy, and started a different conversation with him.  So I asked again why she asked me if I was watering.  She then turned back to me and snapped, "Nancy, I am helping Kevin right now.  I was just thinking out loud, that's all, just thinking out loud!"    She was still calling me by the wrong name two months after she came (we had words about that one day, too).  She can't ever be wrong, or ever apologize, by the way.  She just acts like it's no big deal.  She called our only black employee by the wrong name repeatedly, and when she was corrected she just waved her hand, like "so what".  She also bought everyone a Gatorade one day, but didn't buy him one, even though he was standing right there.

Today, it poured rain most of the morning.  The other waterer ended up going home mid-morning because he was soaked and cold.  I was outside working, though, and didn't know he had gone.  One of the other managers came out looking for Skeeterette, but I said I had no idea she wasn't in the house plants, where I had last seen her.  When she finally reappeared, she was carrying a huge coffee.  I asked if she had been at lunch, and she said yes, she had gone to get coffee.  I told her she might have mentioned to me that she was leaving, since I was alone in the department, but she said, quite snottily, that she had "told everyone". Funny - there were three different people looking for her - plus a truck driver waiting to unload - who didn't seem to know where she was.  I guess they weren't "everyone", either.

I have complained to HR about her attitude toward me, but she told them she thought I was "out to get her" from the beginning (which, I admit, is sort of true, but for good reason). One of the other knowledgeable waterers left instead of being assigned to another area because he simply could not stand to be around her one more minute.  The company wonders why we have so many write-offs and don't make sales numbers.  Maybe they should take a look around at the wrongly placed plants, and watch her as she discounts stuff randomly for people, even at the checkout!  They haven't asked for a discount, she just gives them one.  Now she has some customers trained to ask for a discount.  They aren't getting one from me.  Anyway, I will only have to work with her for a few more weeks, two of which I will be gone.  Then it will all be on her.  Once there is no one else to cover her butt it will be very apparent that she knows nothing.  I really hope she won't be out there next year, or I might have to reevaluate whether I want to do it again.  It's really a shame because, even though it was tough, it was really fun in the beginning.  We had a great team and we all got along.  She has ruined everything.  You know it's bad when even people from other areas complain about her and her attitude and her big mouth.  She has only one known ally in the store, another ex-Texan in flooring.  The assistant store mgr in our area tends to side with her, too.

One little funny:  As I was leaving today, she was outside on the fork truck, and she hollered to me to ask the seasonal guy to come unlock the gate so she could get back in.  I found the guy and told him she needed him.  He said, "You know, you could walk really slowly if you want."  I think he thought I had to go back out.  I told him I was leaving, I had passed the message, and now it was up to him, so he meandered along, going the opposite way from the back gate, and I assume he eventually got out there (he's obviously not a fan, either).  As I passed the back door, though, with her still outside the gate, I saw it start to pour rain again.  Heh.