u/spot-the-psycho

today was the worst day i've EVER had as a pickup person. even worse than memorial day. we had all kinds of promotions going on, sales, etc, all while the 4th of July rush is hitting the store i work at really fucking hard. i had to give up one if my trolleys for the first time ever to the ASL because i couldn't finish it in time because people were either in the way, we were out of the item, or we were so busy that no one was on the ither end of the walkie. we also set a new record for how many orders we had in one day, which was nearly 500 when i clocked out at 4:30 😇. i truly wish we could just shut it down early because of how many orders we had. i've never wanted to smoke before, yet i was craving a cig when I clocked out lmfao.

plus its just hot as fuck, the AC is busted, and people keep cramming themselves into the tiny ass store, and being stupid as hell. i've watched so many people cut me off in the mkddle of an aisle when i'm doing a trolley, and so many other people stop me to ask questions about something that was right in their face. not to mention that we are so out of stock, some balances are showing negatives. my times are soaring because of how long it takes to get through the store because there are so many people. i just hope my tiny shift tomorrow isn't that bad (i'm coping) and i'm glad i get to go home and do fuck all now.

first of all, came in this morning for my second EVER 4 am shift for pickup, and still had barely any idea what to do. I'm also sleep deprived, since I'm not used to waking up at three in the morning (I usually work late morning/afternoon shifts), so they may contribute something to this whole situation.

I get my trolley prepped and everything, and it's all going good until I get to a specific brand of yogurt that's not in stock. Alright, no big deal, I can just ask someone who knows. Except, there's not anyone around. It's me and two other pickup guys, and they were busy enough already so I didn't bother them. I skip it, and see if I can find someone later. But soon enough, something else comes up out of stock, and I can't ask anyone, and this continues until I have over ten items that are out of stock but have a balance, so i freak out. I comb back over and manage to find and get a few things, but not all of them. So I start freaking out even more, and reason with myself that if I substitute a few items, it wouldn't be THAT bad, since it was items I genuinely couldn't find and couldn't ask anyone for, either on walkies or anyone just wandering around. I turn the trolley in, and start on the next one.

In the middle of it, I hear one of the management (not the manager of pickup) get on the intercom and say that all members of pickup need a walkie. Okay, cool, I scan one more thing, put it on the trolley, and go to get a walkie. The lead hands me one, brungs me aside, and says (in an incredibly nice way, btw) that i shouldn't just substitute without asking again, and I said i understood. I take my walkie, and go back to my trolley, and work until i hear "(my name) do you have a walkie?!", yelled through the walkie. I answer saying yes, and then continue working. A few seconds later I hear (again, yelled) "DOES ANYONE HAVE EYES ON (MY NAME)?!", and this sets me off to go to the endcap to see if there's anyone I can tell that I do have a walkie, and, again, over the intercom I hear "ALL PICKUP PEOPLE WITHOUT A WALKIE MUST HAVE COME PICK ONE UP!!", yelled and said like she was angrily condescending someone. Finally, I flag someone down, and tell the manager that I do, in fact have a walkie, but that it's not working. She cuts him off, and says "well *she* needs to walk over here and get *herself* one.", again, angrily condescending. I emphasize the she/her because it is known by the pickup manager and a few others that i do not use she/her exclusively, and i very much do not look like a woman.

So again, I walk back to the pickup room, and the manager cuts me off just before I get there, starting in on me about the substitutions before I even get a chance to say a single word. Saying things like "you can't just do that!" And "We've had this conversation before!" Which is true, since another thing like this happened when I was, again, UNINFORMED on what to do whenever I couldn't find something/it wasn't on the shelf, since i had no form of training. The previous incident was on my third day ever of working this job, when I was told to stay over and finish an almost 200 item trolley, and she also got really snippy and yelled at me that day, too.

I stood there like a deer in headlights, and couldn't even take everything in because she's talking so fast and hatefully that it makes me freeze up. I begin to visibly tear up, and say my explanation, saying that I didn't know that I was supposed to just hold trolleys whenever I couldn't find something on an early morning shifts. But she flies even more off the handle, and gets even more upset at me, and eventually walks off. I'm shellshocked, and I go to find another walkie, I just start crying, and I'm so upset that someone notices and has to talk me through it, because of how this woman treated me. Later, while i'm working on another trolley, the same manager walks by me from the packaged meat section, near where the back room is, holding one of the items i had substituted. And as I pass by I hear "...on the shelf the entire time." So, very obviously mumbling and talking about me behind my back, and out of the way of everyone else. Even later, she confronts me again, saying that all of the things I substituted were on the shelf (which wasn't true by the way! None of these things were on the shelves. I may be oblivious sometimes, but I'm not stupid.), and blames me, instead of just reasoning that it must have been stocked AFTER I finished it. And she goes on and on about it, and I freeze up again, apologizing, and saying that I didn't know what I was supposed to do in an attempt to defend myself. She eventually walks off again, and I go back to working, just drained for the rest of my shift.

So is this just a case of me being sensitive, or an actual issue?? I also had someone tell me later on in my shift that they treated me way too harshly, but i feel like I'm overreacting. I don't want to be treated like this anymore by her and I don't like the way she only calls me by she/her, whether intentionally or unintentionally. Is there something I can do other than just not fuck up again and not be around her???