I snapped at a coworker, where do I go from here?
My coworker, who sits directly next to me, is genuinely lovely. On a personal level, she’s kind, thoughtful, and has always been nice to me. Unfortunately, at work she’s incredibly disorganised. She forgets almost everything, and when I’ve suggested writing things down or finding a system to help her remember, she brushes it off by saying, “I’m too old to remember all that.” She also told me her child took the notebook with all her notes, so there was nothing she could do.
Our job is heavily data-entry based, where accuracy and attention to detail are essential. Unfortunately, those are areas she really struggles with.
Every day, she asks me constant questions, many of which she could answer herself with a quick search or by taking a moment to think. After a solid week of nonstop interruptions, one question finally pushed me over the edge: “How do I BCC someone in an email again?” I snapped. I told her I really didn’t have time for those kinds of questions anymore and that she needed to pull herself together.
At the end of the week, we had our performance reviews and, although everyone expected it, our manager gave her some very direct feedback. Now I’m feeling conflicted. She is a genuinely kind person, but her performance is seriously affecting my own work and my mental health.
I’m off for two days, and I can’t stop thinking about how she must be feeling. Was I too harsh? Do I stand by what I said to maintain a boundary, or do I apologise for the way I reacted? I honestly don’t know what the right thing to do is because I really can’t keep working like this.