Responsibility

A few weeks ago, my manager hired a male sales associate. I’ll call him J.

J went through the mandatory training, as we all do, and was put on the weekly schedule to begin working.

I was excited to meet J – we don’t have any male sales associates at my store and I was curious as to what he’d be like and how he’d interact with our clients. I had really high hopes.

J didn’t show up for his first (non-training) shift. He called that day and spoke to my manager over the telephone and told her he was not coming in.

Why? He was too tired from working his other job.

WHAT?!?

What did J think a second job was? What did he think he was training for?

I never did meet J, because he also “no-showed” for his second shift. At our store, it’s three strikes and you’re out.

In J’s case, it was two strikes. By this point, we all knew J wasn’t coming back.

Heck, he never even really started.

All I know is that J was 19 years old and, from what I heard, he was very good. He even “high-fived” a client and she “high-fived” him right back!!

My manager replaced his shifts and did not schedule him to work again.

Here’s my question – does anyone take responsibility for their actions anymore? Why bother to apply, interview and train for a second, part-time job if you’re not committed to showing up?

I’m beginning to understand that working in Retail World is a series of hits and misses. There are some really good, committed women who work in my store, and I am grateful for the consistency. It makes my job a lot easier.

However, more often than not, someone quits after only working for a few weeks or months. I never really get to know these people and it leaves a bad taste in my mouth for all the time and energy we spent training them.

I know I should just move on. I never met J and I never invested anything in him, except for my expectation that he would actually finish what he started.