Fed up :(

WolfSong2000

Don't let it get to you. As a teenager I worked in a shoe store, and the way I was treated by certain members of staff was horrific. On one particularly memorable occasion a customer who I'd served earlier that day with her granddaughter came back in and gave me a kit-kat as a thank you. After she left, a member of staff came up and started complaining - how come I'd got a kit-kat and she hadn't when she'd been working there years and I'd only been there a few weeks, blah, blah, blah. I said if it meant that much to her, she was very welcome to the kit-kat. She refused, and when I tried offering it one last time, she snatched it out of my hand and threw it in the bin.

On another occasion the manager shouted at me for supposedly doing something wrong. I knew I hadn't and told her that if she looked into it, she'd find out I'd done nothing wrong. After quite viciously laying into me she later discovered I'd been right, but no apology was forthcoming.

Didn't stay there long in the end, which was a shame as I loved the work. Now I'm older and wiser I like to think I could have dealt with their behaviour better, though .

molit

just a minor thing to add - there is a difference between deodorant and anti persperant - deodarant is just perfume, anti perpersperant has the chemicals in it to stop you sweating. TBH from what you have said, I am pretty certain that you don't have an issue, but I am a little bit of a pedant :-)

KiKi

People 'tut' at you because it makes them feel better about themselves by putting others down.

Rest assured that the reason is probably because they feel threatened because you're enthusiastic, new and keen, and they're just cynical and dislike your good attitude. Next time you're 'tutted' at remember how sad they are.

Also, when standing in a very large supermarket or queue it can be very hard to tell where any 'smells' come from. It might have been you, it might not. I have a colleague who's very clean and attentive, but even I get a 'whiff' from her sometimes! Nothing really bad, but just occasionally. She wears deodorant, but I think the fact that she never exercises means that when she has to walk fast to work from the station she sweats a lot more than someone else, perhaps, as she's not as fit!

I think if you're conscious of yourself you'll probably smell it anyway - I know on the odd occasion I've been to the gym and immediately gone back to my locker to spray!

KiKi

dandelionclock30

Its probably them being nasty and I wouldnt worry, however from my experience some deodorant is really rubbish.I was wearing some Arrid the other week and it said xtra xtra dry, well it was crap and I had to buy a can of Sure when I was in town because it wasnt working-enough said! I think Sure is the best all rounder and that cheaper ones dont tend to work very well.
For people that sweat a lot there is Mitchum which is quite dear but is supposed to be good. Just make sure you wear a good one and then theres nothing to sweat about!

Savvy_Sue

I've always understood that (re-)applying deodorant any other than when you've just washed your armpits is a bit of a waste of time (and money), and can make the smell worse ...

SevenOfNine

Personally, I've always liked bog standard Sainsbury's own brand roll on - cost £1. I hate to ask but OP does seem to have taken this 'smell' comment to heart, is your blouse/shirt clean on every day? We all get a tad stale towards the end of the day, but there's no point in washing your body every morning if you're sticking on yesterday's top! (Apologies if you're not though.)

Unfortunately, during my working life I've discovered that EVERY workplace has a few 'nasties'. It's taken YEARS (and a fair bit of job hopping) to realise this. I've learned to keep out of their way as much as possible and to choose my battles.

As a 'temp' don't say too much, let any sniping go over your head for now. The one-line retorts can be dished out when you're a permanent member of staff.

TrickyWicky

Complaint sounds like a setup if you ask me. People are strange about new staff especially if they're keen and fairly smart. They start getting scared that you might go up the ladder and leave them at the bottom. Trust me I've experienced this sort of behaviour first hand on so many occassions.

I don't know how to advise you to beat it though apart from to toughen up and stand your ground. Thats something I never really did and people walk all over you for it - no matter how nice they seem. Some of the nicest people I've worked with have stabbed me in the back the most so to a point, you have to stab them in the back first and put yourself in a position of respect. Sounds horrible I know but it really is dog eat dog in the working world.

Years ago I did some work for a mail order company in their customer correspondence dept. When a customer reported they'd moved house we had to send a letter to both their old address and new address (EG in case it was someone screwing with the customers orders etc). The computer system was crap, you had to do it all manually - typing the addresses into both letters, editing the name etc. It all took time yet the staff next to me would get it done in half the time. I got a lot of stick for it.. then it came out the staff next to me had only been sending letters to the new addresses (which explained a few customer complaints about missing orders - something the BBC watchdog was involved for). What do you think management said or did? - Nothing. Just stood their and stared at the staff for 30 seconds and then letting out a loud sigh. I'd done the job right (as trained) and got a b*ll*cking, the incompetent corner cutting lazy idiots got nothing. Needless to say I didn't bother hanging around there long as they valued lazy staff more than those who put in the effort.

As for the deodorant, accusing someone of having BO is the easiest way to make them paranoid about themselves. Sure, some people do just like others have stinnky breath. The fact that you've at least used a deo/spray at least shows you've made the effort and they're trying to put you down. I had a meeting once with a boss after a hard days graft, I'd run out of deodorant, stunk so bad I could smell it and was drenched in sweat. I asked the boss if we could have the meeting the next day because in my own admission "I stink and I'm covered in sweat". He laughed said "don't worry, it doesn't bother me and I can't smell you" and sat next to me for the next 20 minutes discussing the issue he wanted to see me about (and I'd just come out of the toilet after a stinky dump too ).

Another job I'd done was a night job. I'd been offered a supervisor role and (stupidly) turned it down. Needless to say they found a new guy to do it and he actually did have a BO problem. The management loved this guy though, no idea why but they just did. Anyway we got on fine for the first day, the next day he started the BO thing on me. I was horrified - I'd just had a shower a couple of hours before and used plenty of deo like yourself. That shift was hell.. he made life really miserable for me about almost anything (such as having a drink of coke from the bar - which we'd been told by the manager was fine). Anything he could think of was a problem. I walked. 4 days later I got asked to go and see the manager after an incident. They asked me why I'd left and I told them this guy was an !!!!! and I wouldn't work for them again under any circumstance (shot foot here). I was escorted back out and only then told that he'd been fired and arrested for nicking £300 from the safe. Turned out the bloke was homeless, hadn't managed a bath for many weeks (hence his BO problem) and I can only assume was paranoid about himself so decided to distract everyone by attacking them.

Some companies are just top heavy with bad attitude and it comes all the way from the top downwards. No idea why they just enjoy being able to make peoples lives difficult below them. Of course it also doesn't help when you're new and they're all chummy with the boss or they have family working there and friends from outside work and decide they've got it in for you. I've been in that situation (chummy with boss, family and friends all in one job) and it was a living hell for years. It really made life a misery and I hung in there determined not to give in and it made me ill. The reality is I should of walked sooner (though at least I got to see the result of their efforts come round to get them ).

DVardysShadow

TrickyWicky wrote: »

....

Great post. Shows how hard it is to know when to walk and when to stay.

TrickyWicky

DVardysShadow wrote: »

Great post. Shows how hard it is to know when to walk and when to stay.

I've been in a LOT of terrible jobs. Everytime I get into a different one and finally think my luck has changed it seems to get worse! I've learned a lot from it though and at least I can try to show others that they're not alone!

Sometimes you even get lucky against some of the bad companies. I worked for a company years ago selling gas and electricity to people at the door on behalf of a larger company. We were not directly employed by the larger company but by this smaller one. They didn't pay us for weeks.. XMas came and went and we were all hacked off but continued to believe they'd pay us.. February came and it still didn't happen. Unfortunately for the company a few weeks before they'd dropped me in the road where the energy companies CEO lived. BIG MISTAKE. He wasn't in but his neighbours (5 of them) were more than happy to tell me which house and give me the postcode :rotfl:

Needless to say he got a letter direct to his house explaining everything that had happened and I got a cheque through the post within days from the company.. along with a phone call threatening to get the police involved because I'd written to the energy company CEO! When the phone call came through I was working at the local police station as a temporary caretaker and offered him the chance to speak directly to an officer. He hung up and I never heard another word from them. I did get an apology from the energy company though who said they would review the contractors contract.

The worst jobs though are where the staff are chummy with the boss, they have friends working there and/or family. When they decide to make your life difficult then thats when it becomes personal and nasty. Don't stay, find something else and get out ASAP.

I've been through employee hell in the past so I understand what its like for people. All I can say is don't show any response and if you have to, fight back, pick fault with the aggressors work and show that you won't take their crap.