WillowMarie
Silver Member
This morning at work, I had a big stress. I work in retail in the electronic department and was working freight. I had my cart of merchandise behind the counter and was the only one in the department since the other guy was pulled to another department. I helped a customer, then went back to continue working the freight.
But it was GONE! I was freaking out! I was thinking, I am going to be fired, I am going to get yelled at, I am going to be in trouble. (Getting in trouble is a trigger for me.) The only thing I could think of, is that a customer walked away with this huge cart (not shopping cart) full of merchandise!
I alerted my supervisor who had recently arrived and asked it he could page over the walkie and ask if anyone took the cart. No answer... He is also a very chill person (which I like about him), but when someone doesn't respond with much concern when I am freaking out about something... it is a bit of a trigger for me. I think it has to do with being minimized.
So now, I am struggling with this huge fear of getting in trouble and yelled at, as well as struggling to reach out and ask for help because my supervisor didn't seem worried about it. I did ask if he knew if Lose Prevention (LP) was here and to contact them, and he calmly replied to try dialing her on the phone.
I headed over to the phone and saw another manager and asked if they knew if anyone from LP was there and mentioned that I couldn't find my cart of freight. The manager said, if it was a customer, they are probably out the door by now and try not to worry about it. Also, she said, maybe the LP person took it, maybe try looking a bit more for the cart if they moved it.
So now, I was already worried about telling LP because I feared they would blame me and yell at me because a customer took it, and now I was also worried the LP person maybe *did* take the cart and was going to tell me when I talked to her that I am in trouble and was going to yell at me.
Which doesn't make sense because as a department, we all take the cart to the floor and work it. I wasn't doing something I was told not to.
I was working so hard on positive self-talk/reassurance. Reminding myself that I am not in trouble, they are not going to yell at me, that I didn't do anything wrong, that I need to alert LP as soon as possible so they can help me look into what happened.
So, after taking another look everywhere I can think of, I call LP and tell her that I had a cart of freight behind the register, but it is gone and I have looked everywhere. I was kind of worked up and not thinking straight, and the LP person asked, ok, and who is this? I forgot to mention my name and department, lol....
The LP person went to look into it, look at the cameras, etc.. It was around this time I realized, or maybe it just kicked in, that I was pretty dissociated. All of a sudden I felt like I was walking on air and everything was a dream around me. I worked on some grounding and kept reassuring and positive self-talk.
In the end, one of the co-managers took the cart to prove a point that anyone can come by and steal stuff. When my supervisor went to talk to him about it, the co-manager said he wants the cart to be kept in back when we are not actively using it. So if we are asked for help by a customer, we have to tell the customer, give me a few minutes, take the cart to the back, and then help the customer. (I find it easier to work off the cart from the back because we get a lot of customers in this department!)
But, seriously!!! Why do this to me?? Why not talk to the supervisor or department associates before pulling a stunt like this?? WHY put me through THAT????
I did have a giggle because the LP person came by and mentioned positives, like I noticed the cart was gone right away. And that she could see on the video how freaked out I was when I realized the cart was gone...
But it was GONE! I was freaking out! I was thinking, I am going to be fired, I am going to get yelled at, I am going to be in trouble. (Getting in trouble is a trigger for me.) The only thing I could think of, is that a customer walked away with this huge cart (not shopping cart) full of merchandise!
I alerted my supervisor who had recently arrived and asked it he could page over the walkie and ask if anyone took the cart. No answer... He is also a very chill person (which I like about him), but when someone doesn't respond with much concern when I am freaking out about something... it is a bit of a trigger for me. I think it has to do with being minimized.
So now, I am struggling with this huge fear of getting in trouble and yelled at, as well as struggling to reach out and ask for help because my supervisor didn't seem worried about it. I did ask if he knew if Lose Prevention (LP) was here and to contact them, and he calmly replied to try dialing her on the phone.
I headed over to the phone and saw another manager and asked if they knew if anyone from LP was there and mentioned that I couldn't find my cart of freight. The manager said, if it was a customer, they are probably out the door by now and try not to worry about it. Also, she said, maybe the LP person took it, maybe try looking a bit more for the cart if they moved it.
So now, I was already worried about telling LP because I feared they would blame me and yell at me because a customer took it, and now I was also worried the LP person maybe *did* take the cart and was going to tell me when I talked to her that I am in trouble and was going to yell at me.
Which doesn't make sense because as a department, we all take the cart to the floor and work it. I wasn't doing something I was told not to.
I was working so hard on positive self-talk/reassurance. Reminding myself that I am not in trouble, they are not going to yell at me, that I didn't do anything wrong, that I need to alert LP as soon as possible so they can help me look into what happened.
So, after taking another look everywhere I can think of, I call LP and tell her that I had a cart of freight behind the register, but it is gone and I have looked everywhere. I was kind of worked up and not thinking straight, and the LP person asked, ok, and who is this? I forgot to mention my name and department, lol....
The LP person went to look into it, look at the cameras, etc.. It was around this time I realized, or maybe it just kicked in, that I was pretty dissociated. All of a sudden I felt like I was walking on air and everything was a dream around me. I worked on some grounding and kept reassuring and positive self-talk.
In the end, one of the co-managers took the cart to prove a point that anyone can come by and steal stuff. When my supervisor went to talk to him about it, the co-manager said he wants the cart to be kept in back when we are not actively using it. So if we are asked for help by a customer, we have to tell the customer, give me a few minutes, take the cart to the back, and then help the customer. (I find it easier to work off the cart from the back because we get a lot of customers in this department!)
But, seriously!!! Why do this to me?? Why not talk to the supervisor or department associates before pulling a stunt like this?? WHY put me through THAT????
I did have a giggle because the LP person came by and mentioned positives, like I noticed the cart was gone right away. And that she could see on the video how freaked out I was when I realized the cart was gone...
