Tweet
When I was a dog food rep, this one got related to me by a colleague.
Right after the Michael Vick case broke, two competing pet food reps (ha, competing, as if we ever did more of that than chatting during dull periods) were chatting about how horrible that was that someone who was so rich and famous would be cruel to animals, and wasn't that such a bad example to children, the usual- what everyone said after that case came down.
An employee comes up and begins challenging them, despite never having been invited to the conversation.
"I support dog fighting! It is a cultural thing, not a crime, and making it a crime is RACIST!" This is repeated in different forms for several minutes, ending with him backing one rep- a diminutive woman, and him a large man- into a wall. He was then called to the front, at which point he yells, "AND I WANT TO CONTINUE THIS CONVERSATION LATER!"
The rep told him she was uncomfortable being in this situation with him and that if he wanted to continue the conversation, they could do so in the manager's office with the manager present. He, of course, refused.
This same employee was also said to have run around the store lifting his shirt and telling female employees to look at his nipple rings and to suck his nipples.
Naturally, both reps and coworkers complained. Corporate was called, and the store manager was told that the district manager would come in to handle termination as this was such a volatile element and they did not want a major incident with just the store manager there to handle it. The DM showed up for the meeting with the employee- and the employee broke down in a fit of tears, promising he hadn't known his actions were wrong and that he would behave next time, that he never knew dog fighting was not something the pet store employees weren't supposed to promote (?????WTF???) and that he couldn't afford to lose the job.
The crying fit and apologies won over the DM and she let him keep his job!
Now, I appreciate that apparently there is someone with a soul in management with that company, which surprises me, but if someone working for a pet store EVER said anything in favor of animal cruelty and I were in charge, they would be gone in three seconds flat, tears and apologies be damned. That is crossing the line where an apology will cut it!
Right after the Michael Vick case broke, two competing pet food reps (ha, competing, as if we ever did more of that than chatting during dull periods) were chatting about how horrible that was that someone who was so rich and famous would be cruel to animals, and wasn't that such a bad example to children, the usual- what everyone said after that case came down.
An employee comes up and begins challenging them, despite never having been invited to the conversation.
"I support dog fighting! It is a cultural thing, not a crime, and making it a crime is RACIST!" This is repeated in different forms for several minutes, ending with him backing one rep- a diminutive woman, and him a large man- into a wall. He was then called to the front, at which point he yells, "AND I WANT TO CONTINUE THIS CONVERSATION LATER!"
The rep told him she was uncomfortable being in this situation with him and that if he wanted to continue the conversation, they could do so in the manager's office with the manager present. He, of course, refused.
This same employee was also said to have run around the store lifting his shirt and telling female employees to look at his nipple rings and to suck his nipples.
Naturally, both reps and coworkers complained. Corporate was called, and the store manager was told that the district manager would come in to handle termination as this was such a volatile element and they did not want a major incident with just the store manager there to handle it. The DM showed up for the meeting with the employee- and the employee broke down in a fit of tears, promising he hadn't known his actions were wrong and that he would behave next time, that he never knew dog fighting was not something the pet store employees weren't supposed to promote (?????WTF???) and that he couldn't afford to lose the job.
The crying fit and apologies won over the DM and she let him keep his job!
Now, I appreciate that apparently there is someone with a soul in management with that company, which surprises me, but if someone working for a pet store EVER said anything in favor of animal cruelty and I were in charge, they would be gone in three seconds flat, tears and apologies be damned. That is crossing the line where an apology will cut it!
you!
Comment