This Actually Happened – April 6th, 2012

Check Mate

Before I get into this post, I have to set some background information. Without getting into too much classified detail, so I don’t get fires, I will give a breakdown of the workday. Basically, I go to different supermarkets and make sure that everything is up to the standards set by the company. Before I leave, I have to find a manager to sign my daily worksheet. The purpose of this signature is to prove that I showed up and performed my duty. The other day, I walked into a store and began working. About fifteen minutes after my arrival, one of the assistant managers asked an associate to mop the stockroom. He definitely knew I was in the store at the time, but he decided to make the request anyway. When I walked into the backroom, i asked the worker if it was ok for me to walk on the wet floor and he said, “it’s cool; go ahead.” I’m weird, but I took his words to mean, “it’s cool; go ahead.” I double checked with him and he assured me that it was fine for me to continue working. I made a couple more trips back and forth, then I hear, “Hey big guy. Do you know that the floor is wet?” I am not a big guy, but since I was the only person in the room, I looked up and answered, “Yes.” He continued. “You could have waited ten minutes. Do me a favor; grab the mop and redo the floor when you’re done working.” I processed his words before replying. “Excuse me.” “Yeah, mop the floor; you can’t just come in and walk through the wet floor without even asking anyone as if you own the place.” Clearly, he had no idea what he was talking about so I decided to catch him up to speed. “I asked the guy if it was cool to continue working and he said, yes.” The guy simply walked away. I ignored his words and continued working. When I completed the task at hand, I walked to the very same assistant manager and said, “I’m done; the store is all set.” He turned to me and said, “Everything is good?” I confirmed my previous statement and pulled out my worksheet. I asked for his signature and he said, “did you mop up the back?” I answered quickly. “No. I would have mopped the floor, but I asked your worker if it was ok for me to walk on the wet floor and he didn’t have a problem with it. I’m not going to mop the floor.” He listened to my words and replied. “Then I’m not going to sign your paper.” I thought I could reason with the guy but I was wrong. ‘So, you’re not going to sign the paper?’ He handed me back the paper and added. “No!” I’m a pretty laid back person, so I did what anyone in my position would do. I grabbed the paper and said, “Thank you. Have a nice day.” (Now looking back on it, I should have imitated Ice Cube’s voice and said, “I hope you got a mop in that bucket!”)   The store was my last stop for the day so I drove home and relaxed. The signatures are somewhat important, but definitely not as important as the assistant manager believed. The following day, I had to return to the very same store. I was prepared for the guy to kick me out, but he wasn’t there. The manager was there and he was an extremely nice guy. He asked if I was the one who worked the previous day, and I was expecting him to bring up the incident. Not only did he fail to mention “Mop-Gate,” but he thanked me for a job well done; saying that he noticed the quality of my work. He also went the extra mile and wrote Thank You along with his signature. It turns out that I was right for not backing down to the assistant manager, who was clearly a jerk on a power trip! BELIEVE IT OR NOT!

The first week of April is coming to a close and the weather has been perfect! Let’s see if we can disprove the April Showers nonsense and go the entire month without any rainfall!

@PeteTeix61