[Mountaindewed]

I have an ear infection and I can’t hear in my right ear. That was my main problem. Also I’m feeling sick in general. Today at work I was told I was going to be doing a task with another coworker. This task involved lifting heavy objects. The coworker went in the back with the manager and started goofing off with him while I was lifting the heavy boxes by myself. I was struggling physically and I was getting frustrated. I walked over to a couple coworkers who I get along with who was doing some smaller easier tasks. I asked one of them if she could help me with one of the boxes since it was so heavy. I told her I was getting frustrated because the boxes were so heavy. She came over to help me and asked the manager if someone would be helping me. The manager then started talking to her in Spanish. They have done this before but not when it involved me. The coworker did not say anything to this manager after he started talking to her in Spanish. She just helped me and left. I just found it so incredibly rude to speak another language in front of someone especially the way the manager did it. Finally half an hour later the coworker did come over to help.

I left today upset and I think my coworkers noticed. This manager is the lowest ranking manager at the store. So he’s not exactly professional like the other
managers. I don’t want to get him in trouble or anything. I just didn’t like his behavior today. We are constantly being reminded about team lift and not to lift anything that’s too heavy yet he didn’t really seem to pay attention to that. I felt like crap so maybe I just took things too personally.

Does anyone have any comments or suggestions?

[Mountaindewed]

And I didn’t get the sense he was talking about me. I just felt like he was being rude in general.

[sarahsweets]

Originally Posted by Mountaindewed

I have an ear infection and I can’t hear in my right ear. That was my main problem. Also I’m feeling sick in general. Today at work I was told I was going to be doing a task with another coworker. This task involved lifting heavy objects. The coworker went in the back with the manager and started goofing off with him while I was lifting the heavy boxes by myself. I was struggling physically and I was getting frustrated. I walked over to a couple coworkers who I get along with who was doing some smaller easier tasks. I asked one of them if she could help me with one of the boxes since it was so heavy. I told her I was getting frustrated because the boxes were so heavy. She came over to help me and asked the manager if someone would be helping me. The manager then started talking to her in Spanish. They have done this before but not when it involved me. The coworker did not say anything to this manager after he started talking to her in Spanish. She just helped me and left. I just found it so incredibly rude to speak another language in front of someone especially the way the manager did it. Finally half an hour later the coworker did come over to help.

I left today upset and I think my coworkers noticed. This manager is the lowest ranking manager at the store. So he’s not exactly professional like the other
managers. I don’t want to get him in trouble or anything. I just didn’t like his behavior today. We are constantly being reminded about team lift and not to lift anything that’s too heavy yet he didn’t really seem to pay attention to that. I felt like crap so maybe I just took things too personally.

Does anyone have any comments or suggestions?

I would speak to someone above him about the lifting. Workman's comp is something most employers do not want to have to deal with.

I agree that it was rude to speak in Spanish and leave you out of the conversation. There probably isn’t much you can do about that except learn some Spanish. That’s what I did and my coworkers don’t know how little or much I understand when they talk.

In my experience, companies preach certain policies to cover themselves legally but in practice they don’t follow through. You have to be vigilant for yourself. The company doesn’t care at all about you and the policies are only in place to protect themselves. Sarahsweets is right though, they don’t want a worker’s comp case either so that manager is placing herself at risk by ignoring a safety risk.

My advice is to politely speak up and ask for help and never lift anything heavy by yourself. Don’t put yourself at risk just to avoid a potential conflict with someone who doesn’t want to do their job. I have been in these kinds of situations many times and I know how hard it is. At first you feel like a jerk or an idiot for rocking the boat... but that’s not the case at all. Nobody is looking out for you if you aren’t looking out for you. ❤️

[MickeyCheeky]

I'm so sorry, Mountaindewed I agree it was kinda rude. Can you talk to any figure that's above him in ranking about this? I agree with all the others that you need to take care of yourself. If you have to lift something heavy, always ask for help. It's not worth it to put your safety at risk. I hope you'll feel better soon. Take some time to relax yourself while you're at home. Wish you good luck! Let us know how it goes. Sending many hugs to you

[Mountaindewed]

Actually what happened today was the second I walked in the door one of the coworkers that was also there yesterday started talking to me and said “maybe it’s just me, but I felt like that coworker was being really rude to you. Was she?” And I said yes she was. And so was the manager. I guess the rude coworker was saying other stuff too but I couldn’t hear her because of my hearing issue. Then the Coworker I was talking to today told me that she and the other coworker (4 of us total yesterday and the manager) noticed that I was really upset when I left. So they told the rude coworker to lay off me and they told her that she owes me an apology. I guess the rude coworker felt guilty and didn’t think what she was saying was being rude. The coworker I was talking to said she heard the Spanish being spoken and thought that was really rude but agreed with me that the coworker who the manger was talking to was not engaging with the manager and was just there to help me.

This coworker today asked me if I wanted to tell another manager about the incident and I told her no since it would just cause more stress and anxiety for me. Plus my issue was more with the heavy boxes and me not feeling good then with the coworker and managers obnoxious behaviors. This coworker told me that if I needed anything to come to her.

I feel really good though that these two coworkers are sticking up for me and are on my side and are seeing things the way I am. It’s nice not to be alone in the work force.