Lessons Learned

I did it! I quit my job! I have a tentative start date with a new job, but I had to quit. I needed time to decompress, I needed time to release the negativity... I needed time to let it go so I wouldn't drag all of that with me to my new job.

I knew it wasn't healthy to stay there. I knew it wouldn't get better. I knew the hostility was gaining momentum all around. I knew I was going to walk in to work yesterday and get questioned over my decision to NOT stop someone. I knew that no matter what I did I was going to get questioned or told I was wrong. I knew it was time... I learned a valuable lesson, and that was it's not just about loving what you do, but about who you work with too. You can love your job, but those people that surround you can make you miserable.

If you are wondering, the night before last I was at work and a guy stole the back to an earring. One of those little plastic ones. There was still another back on the earring... they were sold with two and he stole one because he apparently needed one for his earring already in his ear. So I am sitting there going "Do I stop him? He didn't take the earrings, and we can still sell them as they are for full price. What value do you put on those backs and how do you charge it? Five cents? Twenty cents? Knowing my bosses they would say charge him for the earrings completely, and that is not something I would feel comfortable with. I would end up being a huge joke with the Military Police if I stopped this guy over the back to an earring..." so I decided not to make the stop, it wasn't worth potentially ruining a guy's military career or potentially ruining my reputation as an LP that is worth a crap. I don't make bad stops and I am not going to make a stop over something that more than likely has no value. Hell the MP's told my former coworkers that day that they didn't charge a guy with theft that they said stole a 98 cent chapstick. They stopped him, and the MP's said "He paid for it, it was broken, he exchanged it... he just didn't go through the proper channels to exchange it (bypassing customer service completely)", oh that pissed them off! I mean, it's understandable them being pissed, but sometimes you have to make a judgement call (on the LP and the MP side) that won't be popular with others. Oh, and FYI... if you steal from AAFES and are caught you will be charged $200 on top of anything you might have stolen. It's not worth it people!

SO...
I went into to work, neither manager was there. Bummer. So I went into the camera room, grabbed a resignation form, told the ESSA there I was quitting and went into the office to fill it out. I left my keys, credentials, and time card on the desk as well as a copy of my resignation and went straight to HR. I gave them a letter of resignation and told them EXACTLY why I was quitting. I told them it was a toxic work environment, I told them that I was micromanaged, I told them they were being petty, I told them that I was being treated badly, I told them I was talked to over anything and everything. I told them the job was making me physically ill with stress and anxiety from my first few days on and that I had to leave before it got worse. I told them it just wasn't healthy. They didn't seem surprised. I was asked if it was the manager. I told them it was BOTH the manager and assistant manager, more so the assistant manager because she was there more.

I told them I had done this previously, for years, and I knew the job. I knew what was right, I knew what was wrong. I told them that as soon as I started questioning their work ethics and whatnot that the attitude towards me changed. I told them that my mind was spinning at the moment, but I had everything written down of what had been going on and what behaviors and whatnot had been done to me. She told me that I was still good in their system because I turned in my resignation, even though I had not given notice... but I don't think I will EVER work for that company again.

I started thinking back to when I worked LP for the first time. My best friend/coworker and I complained about the boss because he did not know his job that well and he was annoying... but you know what? Overall he was a good manager. He trusted us. We didn't clock in and out because he trusted that we would come in and leave for our scheduled shifts, and we did. He trusted us to make a stop and not question us if we REALLY saw what we did thereby casting doubt. He trusted us as adults to eat in the camera room, and as such we often worked through our lunch because we WANTED to and LIKED to work. He trusted us to train employees and not take pictures and email them to him to prove that we were training employees. He trusted us to not have us call and email him with EVERY THING WE DID or any decision we made. We often texted him to let him know what was going on if we made a stop, not because we had to, but because we were excited and wanted him to know.

Everything was done with respect and trust, not because of micromanaging and mistrust. We had an awesome team of loss prevention people because we COMMUNICATED and WORKED TOGETHER AS A TEAM! We didn't work on cases and not let everyone else know what we were doing, we told everyone so that if they saw something or if we needed help we were there for each other. Fort Hood AAFES Los Prevention is "every man/woman for him/herself". No teamwork, no trust, no communication. 

ANYWAY....

Today I am going in to take a drug test for my new job which will start the background check. I will spend the rest of my day cleaning and whatnot that I have neglected since I started working again. I need to buy toilet paper too since I got trapped in the downstairs bathroom this morning and had to text my daughter to bring me some... luckily she looked at her phone (she normally has it on silent).

I will...

Is that song in your head now???