VERY frustrating day at the hardware store.

GloBug

Senior Flea Coller Tester
I've posted a lot about the customers that come in, but I've never posted about some of the workers there. One of them is the most frustrating individual I have ever worked with.

Dave is 70+ years old, insists he does NOT have a hearing issue though he constantly does not understand what customers are saying, and is famous for doing only what he wants to do. He sees nothing wrong with talking on his earpiece and eating a sandwich while waiting on customers. He and my boss have had numerous arguments about how Dave goes against my boss's orders, but he continues.

My boss left work yesterday for the rest of this week, and I knew that Dave would Do His Thing during that time. Didn't realize it would be today.

He wanted to clean something, and decided that gasoline would work. He filled a Styrofoam cup with the gasoline and when the cup dissolved and leaked the gas all over the carpet, he just shrugged and walked away. The smell started making us all nauseous, and I told Dave he needed to clean it up. He said no and insisted it would go away on its own and that there was nothing you could do to clean up gasoline in a carpet.

I printed off for him a very easy procedure to remove the gas and the horrible smell knowing he wouldn't do much more. (You blot up as much as you can with newspaper, you pour baking soda all over the stain to absorb the remaining gas and neutralize the odor, and leave it for 4 hours before vacuuming. Repeat if necessary.)

He absolutely refused to do anything with the gasoline in the carpet, said it would stop smelling by the time the boss got back. I pointed out that we were not closing down the store until the boss got back, and that customers were complaining about the smell too, and that it was not healthy to breath those fumes. Not to mention static electricity??

So he sprayed it down with 409 and insisted that was all it needed. Hello, this is GASOLINE! He still refused to do anything further about it :hot:, so I picked up two boxes of baking soda, poured it on the gas, and went back to my cash register.

Ten minutes later he decided to vacuum it up. He used an old vacuum without a bag, and within seconds he was surrounded by a white cloud of baking soda. The gardening section has a fine white haze on everything. He just shrugged and walked away from that.

I give up. :bang:
 

JacquieP

Staff Captain
Glo, I know you aren't a tattletail, HOWEVER...this is a safety issue, not just an uh-oh. The boss really needs to know about this when he returns. It isn't just safety, it's a liability issue, and all it would take is a simple spark with the gas fumes to start a fire or explosion. I can see the pack of attorneys advancing already. It's bad for you and your co-workers and bad for business, and it just can't be allowed to continue. The guy must be stopped before someone gets hurt or killed.
 

popcorn

Staff Captain
I agree with Jacquie. The guy is a danger to all of you & to himself. He needs to be put out to pasture before he does you all in.

Liz
 

Rubysky

Staff Captain
I also agree with JacquieP. Retirement time.
I bet Calgon has a new hero despite Dave's inability to do things in a safe manner.
 

Whimsy

Staff Captain
I have worked in places where the boss will not deal with issues like this. Very frustrating. I hope the boss does something because it IS a big problem when someone's declining abilities interfere with their work. Fumes, fire hazard, etc. and then to ignore it? He is definately in need of a gold watch and farewell dinner.
 

GloBug

Senior Flea Coller Tester
Whim, I have no doubt that when I tell my boss about this on Monday he will not deal with this issue either. He constantly takes the path of least resistance. Maybe he'll surprise me.
 

JacquieP

Staff Captain
This is something that should be forced, even if he chooses to take the path of least resistance. Would he really want his store to go up in flames and take a customer and clerks with it? Actually, it sounds like that guy needs to be evaluated by his doc, because he has big problems in judgement.
 

GloBug

Senior Flea Coller Tester
This is a family run hardware store, since the 1940's, when the main road was still a dirt road. My boss is the 3rd generation to run the store. He has no one to answer to, so he does as he wants. And that's usually the easiest way possible. We'll see what Monday brings.
 

JacquieP

Staff Captain
Glo, I know you see this guy do stuff every day, but this time, he's gone too far. Leon and I love you guys and I really don't want to have to go to another funeral. Messing with gasoline is going over the edge!
 

GloBug

Senior Flea Coller Tester
I agree 1000% with everything everyone has said. I also know my boss will most likely shrug it off. It's very frustrating. I'll let you know what he does.
 
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