Co-Workers Egos, problems at work. Options

[Valo666]

So i finaly got a job back in Dec working in the automotive feild. Any ways, since then, ive been treated like crap at my work. Its a good job, money is alright...but im sick of dealin with the people i work with's egos. Theres one girl who i work with at the counter who takes the info for the work orders and such who has the biggest ego of all. She thinks shes the manager and tries to boss me around. Plus shes dating one of the other tech's, so she will give me 5 times more work then her boyfriend. The other day i had to take out tires, i took out probably 25 tires to the scrap pile, there were 20 more...i was in the middel of a job and she comes over and says "SO, are you gonna take out thouse other tires??"...this was about 5 min b4 the end of the day...so i said "im in the middel of a job, and theres 5 min left in the day..so how about you ask James *her boyfriend* or Dan *the other apprentice* to do them?" And she looks at me and goes "Are you giving me lip?...i would ask them, but you know what the difference between them and you is? They actually do f*cking work during the day" Even though i acumulate more hours of labour per day then they do on average.

So i have had to deal with her for the last 2 months being a big b*tch, but now one of the other techs is being a dick too. Since ive worked there, hes had at least 1 of his 4 cars in the shop every single day. He buys cars that are broken or that need work and flips em for some $. So he had a Neon with a blown tranny in it when i first started there. Had it in the shop for a month...then he had an alero with a blown motor in the shop for a month. Now hes got his 98 2500 Dodge Ram Diesel in the shop for the last 3 weeks. He never has any work orders open on them, leaves the cars in the shop, gets pissed off at us if we try and move them and is a bit of a dick when it comes to that kinda stuff. So today we were completely dead. We had 2 appointments all day..both in the morning. So i had the entire afternoon with nothing to do. So i asked if i could bring my car in and put my backseats back in *i took em out about a week or 2 ago and didnt get a chance to put them back in yet*. So i told them i was gonna put my back seats in and seafoam my car. They said sure. I said "do i need a work order??" They said no cuz its my own car. So i bring it in, put the seats back in and start seamfoaming the car. But i had an exhaust hose on it, so the smoke was blowing outside. Some of the smoke was coming out from around the hose, so it was leaking into the shop a tiny bit. So this guys bright idea...OPEN THE DOOR!. Lets see...Hot shop, Cold air outside, and Smoke outside....i wonder what happens? So all of the smoke rushed inside the shop...So he freaks out and goes over to all 6 bay doors and opens them. Then starts SCREAMING at me. "DO YOU HAVE A WORK ORDER FOR THAT!!????" so i said no it doesnt need one "DID THEY SAY YOU COULD BRING IT IN!?!?!?!?!?!"...yea...."ARE YOU ON YOUR BREAK!?!?!?!?!"...no..."WELL GET THAT PEICE OF SH*T OUT OF HERE RIGHT NOW!!!!! I HAVE 2 JOBS TO DO AND I CANT HAVE ALL THIS F*CKING SMOKE IN HERE!! GET THAT PEICE OF SH*T OUT RIGHT NOW!!!!!"......so i was like..ok...wtf is his problem? So i go to hook my vacuum line back up, but i needed a set of plyers to pinch the clamp back so i could slide the hose back on. He comes up again and SCREAMS at me again...so then after i get the hose on, i went to put the plyers back on the bench and close the hood...and what does he do?...SCREAMS at me...then throws a 1" wrench at me. It just missed my shin and hit the bench. So i take my car outside, run it for 5 min to get all of the seafoam stuff out...then i come back in. My shop manager wasnt at work today, but the store manager was. So as i come in the door, the store manager is standing there lookin at me. So he asks "what happened?" so i told him what i was doing and told him i didnt need a work order and that i had permission..and he was like..oh..ok. And walks off. SO i got screamed at for doing work that i was allowed to do, but just so happened to piss this guy off because he starts 1 job, does 5 min of work, and starts another one, then gets stressed out.

The stupidest thing is, we had a 2 hour long sales meeting last night after work about this stuff thats exactly like seafoam that we are just starting to sell. SO he knows that we have that stuff and that will happen sometimes. Im trying to figure out why it was such a big deal that this happened on my car..but at the same time thinking, what would happen if it happened to a customer's car?? Would he completely flip and throw a wrench at me then too??

The best part about this guy too, he shows up when he feels like it...so he will show up randomly in the morning...and leaves early every day. And our other tech is on vacation for the next 3 weeks, so legaly we cant even open the shop up untill he gets there. 2 apprentices and 1 lube bay guy cant legaly be working unless there is a lisenced tech onsite to supervise.

Oh, and also my boss hasnt signed my up with the goverment so i cant get my apprenticeship hours started, but yet, we have this one guy whos been there for 2 years now, hes 31, just went for his GED *highschool equvilance test* and failed, hasnt done any post secondary education, isnt registered with the government as an apprentice or with any organization and cant be because he doesnt have his highschool yet, but they are giving him jobs that me and the other apprentices should be getting. So they are giving a guy who legaly cant be doing any thing but oil changes, jobs that we should be getting.


So any ideas of how to deal with these people? I actually left 2 hours early today cuz i was sick and tired of being around the guy who threw the wrench at me.

[mrgrape]

didnt read all..but why waste ur precious life workin somewhere u hate it
live it up! only one life

[Valo666]

yea forgot to mention...the job market where i live is pretty much dead..it took me from june to Dec to find a job in the automotive feild. The only job i found between then was working at a dealership washing cars. So leaving my job for another one...not an option at the moment. But I am thinking of moving back to Toronto at the end of march, so im gonna look for a job b4 i move back there. But i just gotta figure out what to do for now because i cant be unemployed.

[Supersprynt]

Start looking for some place else. Sounds like a nightmare. Nothing sucks more than waking up in the morning and hating your job, you don't need to deal with it.

Since it's not an option - your just going to have to deal. But always stick up for yourself. If someone threw a wrench at me I'd be pretty pissed off.

This post has been edited by Supersprynt: Feb 26, 2008 - 6:02 PM

[BlackCelicaGT94]

lol Vallo I can always expect you to have a job you hate or be in some sort of predicament.

I hope things get better..gotta be honest i didnt read your post because im sick and that looked like way too many words. Anyways you know my IM so hit me up sometime

[Random_Stranger]

From my experiences, you either confront whoever is giving you a problem in a way that is suitable for a workplace or go somewhere else. In life, things are very simple, but in human nature, it is always easy for us to make things out to be much more harder.

There are pros and cons to everything in life. Maybe she is hot but dumb as rocks? Maybe the celica is a really slow car but has potential? Maybe the pay is good but you go through hell each day? Maybe there is a country that is awesome but ruled by idiots which can take it down a few notches? *coughcoughamericacoughcough* You get what I am saying? People can only be sick and tired until they are sick and tired of being sick and tired. At that point is where you decide your next move, and that my friend... Is called a Breakthrough.

I am sure you will find some way to make peace with your hardship. I guess you can always think about those who are having more trouble finding a job. But if you feel singled out, then ask yourself why. Confront them or speak to someone up top. You can always go above even the head person, until you find yourself with the founder. Good luck to you.

[Valo666]

lol Vallo I can always expect you to have a job you hate or be in some sort of predicament.

I hope things get better..gotta be honest i didnt read your post because im sick and that looked like way too many words. Anyways you know my IM so hit me up sometime

Holy crap Nat is alive!..lol I will though

From my experiences, you either confront whoever is giving you a problem in a way that is suitable for a workplace or go somewhere else. In life, things are very simple, but in human nature, it is always easy for us to make things out to be much more harder.

There are pros and cons to everything in life. Maybe she is hot but dumb as rocks? Maybe the celica is a really slow car but has potential? Maybe the pay is good but you go through hell each day? Maybe there is a country that is awesome but ruled by idiots which can take it down a few notches? *coughcoughamericacoughcough* You get what I am saying? People can only be sick and tired until they are sick and tired of being sick and tired. At that point is where you decide your next move, and that my friend... Is called a Breakthrough.

I am sure you will find some way to make peace with your hardship. I guess you can always think about those who are having more trouble finding a job. But if you feel singled out, then ask yourself why. Confront them or speak to someone up top. You can always go above even the head person, until you find yourself with the founder. Good luck to you.

lol..i find it funny that you put "Maybe the pay is good but you go through hell each day"...my pay sucks..im gettin $0.50 more then minimum wage. So only $9/hr. My buddy whos doing the same job in toronto is gettin paid $16/hr working in a smaller less busy shop. About the confronting thing, ive talked to my manager a few times about these things, but my manager is new to her job...only been there about 5 months, so shes still gettin used to having power in her position. Im gonna talk to her tomorrow about what happened today with the whole wrench thing. Im also gonna be talking to her tomorrow about taking some time off in a week or 2 so i can head back to Toronto to go see if i can find a job there. Ive been thinkin about moving back home for awhile now, but i think today reasurred that idea. I mean if i move back home, i will make more $ per hour, wont have to pay rent or utlilites, and wont have to drive 40 min every morning and night to get to and from work. Like even now..$9/hr, i make just under $600 every 2 weeks..but i spend $325 for rent and between $80-$190 a month for bills *depending on the month*.so pretty much..with my tools i have to buy from Snap-On + bills +rent = first paycheck + half of second paycheck gone...it sucks. My buddy whos making $16/hr...went from driving a 88 Lesaber that he got from his grandmother for free to a 2006 Cobalt SS supercharged in 5 months and managed to buy more tools than me, and all snap-on ones too.

So hopefully things will blow over tomorrow, and if not, then when i leave that place, im leaving in a way they wont forget.

[Random_Stranger]

Yeah man, sometimes you gotta go that route. Heck, I had to move back home due to less issues and well... Though I may look like a 25yr old loser (even though I do pay rent), it was the best choice I have made. I am going back to school, helping out my mom, keeping things safe around here. It's not bad at all. Except I have a curfew! LOL Just kidding. But that would be funny.

[Valo666]

well today was a bit better...except for the shop truck broke down on me while i was about 40 min away from my work. I blew a tire and shifted all the belts in it driving on the highway, So i spent 20 min in -10 weather with 50KM/H winds..on the side of a highway changing the tire...put the spare on...it hasnt been taken off for 5 years...so it has no air in it....then trying to get some air...the tire fell off the bead and went flat. SO i had to wait for 2 hours for a tow truck to come to bring it back to my work. so i didnt leave work untill 6:30.