There are lots of different jobs that need to be done at a grocery store.

What would you do if you volunteered to clean the back of the store, which nobody else liked doing, but then your boss got upset that this is where you were spending your time?

That is what happened to the employee in this story, so he stopped doing the back of the store, resulting in it becoming filthy within a couple of days.

Check it out.

It’s nice that you want me to make money, guys!

A few years ago, I worked in a grocery store as a bagger/delivery guy.

I was 16-17 at the time and it was my first job experience.

I was optimistic that if I volunteered for all the crap (sorting the empty bottles, emptying the can machines, cleaning, etc.), the staff would appreciate me and leave me, an awkward/anxious teen alone.

So, I did all the crap jobs that left me in the back of the store and, if need be, they’d call me back when a rush came by.

Working on your own can be very rewarding.

I didn’t even care about tips.

I enjoyed doing my thing by myself and helping out on rush hour.

Well… it turned out that my coworkers used the time they now had to complain about me behind my back.

I wasn’t there for the huge orders, I wasn’t there for the beginning of the rush, I wasn’t there for other things that related to our job with the clients.

The staff (chief cashiers) heard their version and called me to their desk.

I was told, almost angrily, that I wasn’t to go to the back of the store anymore, except to bring carts (full of empty bottles) to the back.

Nothing. More.

They said it was unfair to the others that I wasn’t there for the start of rush hour.

(Who cares about the “start” of the rush?! The moment the employee/client ratio counts is at the peak!)

I said they could just call me earlier and I’d be there and it was much more useful if I was in the back, while the others hung out in the front.

NO

They were right, in their minds, so I let them believe it and followed through with their idiotic policy.

Things got messy fast.

It took two days with that policy, while the other guy who worked similar to me was off, for the back of the store to become a cesspool.

The back of the store was filled with empty beer bottles that weren’t sorted and smelled like old beer.

The can machines were sticky (as if soda had drooled over it) and were full more than in working order.

The staff didn’t realize why it was happening, but they sure saw what was happening.

Meanwhile, I was making a buck, hanging around with the cashiers and getting tips.

Great for the wallet, bad for the store.

After a while, the pressure was too much and they bent.

Now everyone has to do the work that only this guy wanted to do.

They called all the baggers and told that we had to participate in the back of the store’s cleaning.

I asked if that included me.

She didn’t answer, but her non verbal expression was enough for me to understand that I was even more hated.

A few weeks later, the manager’s nephew was hired.

He was the laziest kid I met there, but it was clear he was to replace me and I’d be fired over some excuse.

So I did my best and showed him all around the place.

Sorting the bottles, emptying the machines, cleaning, etc.

He knows he will never have to work hard.

He “watched” me do it and never cared a single second, even using his phone in my face as I spoke to him.

So I resigned before I finished his training.

I wouldn’t be blamed for his laziness.

From a friend who worked in a different department, the kid lasted because he was part of the manager’s family.

The back of the store became dirty again and the pallets of bottles became a subject where all the baggers argued that “not me, someone else should do it”.

They should be grateful that someone was willing to do the dirty work in the back.

Read on to see what the people in the comments have to say about this situation.

The support team is critical.

This person worked in a similar environment.

I’m sure he is doing well.

Sadly, laziness is often rewarded.

This person says to write down the work he did.

He was the hardest working one on the team.

And of course, no one noticed until it was too late.

If you liked this post, check out this story about an employee who got revenge on a co-worker who kept grading their work suspiciously low.