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When something awkward and uncomfortable happens at work, you have to handle it delicately, but professionally.
What would you do if a coworker had a bathroom accident at work that also left the bathroom very messy?
That is what happened to the young woman in this story, so she notified her manager about the situation so it could be addressed properly. Unfortunately, now the coworker is embarrassed and upset, so she wonders if she handled it wrong.
Personally, I think she did everything correctly, but it is a hard and awkward situation. Read through the full story below and see if you agree.
AITA for telling my manager that my coworker pooped his pants?
I (24f) work at a small family-owned liquor store that is extremely short staffed due to covid.
What is going on here?
I got to work this morning at 8:55am to open for 9am. My coworker “Pat” (36m) showed up about 10 minutes after 9am (he’s always late) and literally ran straight through the store to the bathroom without even saying a word to me or clocking in.
After about 10 minutes I hear the back door to the dumpster is open and slam shut.
This would be so embarrassing.
“Pat” comes back up to the register and tells me “I have to go home. I tried to hold it but I didn’t make it.”
He pooped himself on the way to the bathroom. Okay, no big deal. Happens to everyone at some point in their lives and I’m not trying to make him more embarrassed.
That is nice of her to let the boss know about the situation.
He told me he was going to go home, shower and change, and come back.
After he left the store, I texted my manager, who was home, that Pat had an accident and had to leave, and that he’d be back shortly.
Ok, he really should have cleaned up.
He left the store around 9:30am and came back by 11am. When he walked back in, he apologized and got to work.
I went to use the bathroom, (there’s only one bathroom, so it was the same one he used earlier) and there was poop on every wall, the floor, the light switch, the garbage can, the paper towel holder, etc.
Everyone is being very polite about it.
When my manager got to the store at like 12noon I told her to tell Pat to clean up after himself because there was no way I was touching anything in there.
At this point Pat has no idea that my manager knows about his accident. So, he pulls my manager aside and goes to tell her when my boss stopped him and said “it’s okay, just please go clean it up” and hands him wipes and cleaner.
Honestly, he doesn’t seem like a great employee.
So, now Pat is so mad I said something to my manager and so upset and embarrassed that he left at 2pm instead of 5pm.
The girls that work the 2nd shift said I “shouldn’t tell other people’s stories for them,” but I needed my manager to know I was alone for a long time, so she understood why nothing got done this morning.
She handled the situation well.
I can’t run the register and stock the cooler at the same time. I was just trying to make sure that A) my boss knew Pat had an accident and it wasn’t him being late or screwing around, and B) covering myself in case she was angry no work got done this morning.
AITA?
There really isn’t much else she could have done. The was polite about it and as discreet as she could have been.
Let’s see what the people in the comments have to say about this situation.
There isn’t anything else she could have done.
Can you imagine walking into that bathroom?
This doesn’t make sense.
If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about a man who gets revenge on his company after they fire him and try to steal his custom program.
How did this even happen?
He really should have cleaned up without being told.
She was in a horrible situation, but she handled herself well. Unfortunately, the coworker was embarrassed and reacted poorly.
There really isn’t anything she could have done differently, though.