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agonyaunt2019-06-23 03:21 pm
minoanmiss) wrote in agonyaunt2019-06-23 03:21 pm
Entry tags:
Ask a Manager: I’m in trouble for re-sorting a coworker’s trash — and I’m enraged
A reader writes:
I’ve worked at a medium sized tech company as a software engineer for the past two years now. Our city has an ordinance requiring all businesses to compost and recycle. I fully support this ordinance, as I’m a staunch environmentalist and care deeply about the future of our planet, for my sake and the sake of my children. I don’t want my kids growing up in a garbage covered wasteland.
[This one is a bit long so:]
For almost the entire time I’ve worked at this company, some anonymous employee(s) have been repeatedly tossing compostables and recyclables into our kitchen trash can, which sits right next to a compost bin and a recycle bin, with a giant sign posted in front of it showing what items belong in which bin.
The person/people who do this also have a nasty habit of leaving massive piles of unwashed dishes in our kitchen sink. It is not the responsibility of our coworkers or our janitorial service to clean these dishes after us and we are expected to clean after ourselves. There is even a giant sign posted over the sink requesting all employees to wash their own dishes.
I’m not the only person who is bothered by this, and several other coworkers and I have voiced our concerns to our office manager about it. Our office manager has been sympathetic and has organized numerous all-staff meetings where we went over these problems, asking everyone to be more mindful and to follow the directions posted in the kitchen.
Despite this, the people who do this continue doing it anyway. They don’t seem to care at all about the rules and they do pretty much whatever they please in our kitchen, leaving a big mess for others to clean up after them.
For the past two years, I’ve been voluntarily digging this person’s compostables and recyclables out of our trash bin and putting them in the recycling and compost. It’s pretty gross. I don’t enjoy doing it, but since no one else will do it, I do — for the sake of our planet. This issue is far bigger than the company and it has a lasting impact on the earth that will be felt by future generations long after we’re gone. It’s also against our city ordinance, and is just frankly a colossal jerk move.
I have no doubt that the person doing this is well aware of the nuisance they’re causing me and the other staff who actually care about this issue. They just don’t care.
About a year and a half ago, I decided that instead of putting their compost and recyclables into the compost or recycling bins where they probably wouldn’t even see it anyway, I’d leave them sitting on top of the bins so that the next time they step in the kitchen, they’ll be able to recognize their own trash and realize which bins it actually should have gone in. Unfortunately, they didn’t respond to that well. The very next morning after I did it the first time, I saw that this person threw all the recyclables and compostables I took out of the trash the previous day back into the trash bin, as if to say “F you.”
Well, I kept doing it anyway. A year and a half went by, we had several more all-staff meetings about the recycling and compost situation, and the problem persisted.
Then, just the other day, I was called into my manager’s office. He had our HR person on the phone, and she told me that she’d been getting complaints every day for a while now that I’d been taking recyclables and compostables out of the trash. She told me that the anonymous complainant claimed that they felt “offended” by my actions, and that they were now “scared” to use the kitchen because of me. I was astounded that anyone could be “offended” by someone trying to reduce unnecessary waste or feel “scared” because of some recyclables sitting on top of a bin. The HR person was totally unsympathetic to my situation even after i explained to her that this had gone on for almost two years, and ordered me to not touch the bins anymore.
This whole situation feels extremely bizarre to me. I never imagined that anyone would ever actually complain to HR about recyclables being taken out of a trash can and claim to feel “offended” and “scared” by it. I don’t see anything offensive or scary about what I did. I’m also pretty annoyed that someone actually went behind my back to whine to HR about what seems to me completely inoffensive and non-hostile behavior to get me in trouble instead of just confronting me directly like an adult. I find what they did to be incredibly petty and childish. I mean, really, over some garbage? If anyone should be offended, I think it should be me and all the other employees who have had to clean up after this person.
It’s also especially annoying considering I’ve done some really novel work for this company in the two years i’ve worked here. I’ve powered through an insane amount of projects that I don’t think any other developer here could have powered through at the speed that I did, while delivering on every requirement flawlessly. I haven’t been offered a single raise and am still being paid just slightly over minimum wage. I did a salary report online recently and it told me that I’m making less than 99% of the people in my field.
Am I wrong for feeling astounded and enraged by this incident? Am I really wrong for trying to protect our environment, clean up a huge mess left by some jerk who can’t follow simple directions every day, and keep our company compliant with our city ordinance?
Oh my goodness, you must let this go.
Yes, people should be putting their recyclables in the correct bin. And yes, they should be cleaning up after themselves in the kitchen. But they’re not, and it’s not your job to fix that.
You’ve gotten overly invested.
It wasn’t a great move to take it upon yourself to re-sort their garbage — that’s not your job. I understand that you’re doing it out of concern for the environment, but there are far bigger environmental crimes being committed all around you and you can’t solve all of them yourself. Moreover, I doubt your employer wants you spending your time that way while you’re at work.
But beyond that, it sounds like you got really invested in this at an emotional level that it really didn’t warrant. That report about someone being “scared” to use the kitchen sounds over the top without any more context, but your level of emotional investment/anger?/frustration over this may have legitimately rattled someone. The fact that the HR person didn’t find that claim ridiculous on its face makes me wonder if there is some context like that that makes it make more sense.
In any case, at this point your boss and HR have ordered you to stop, so you need to stop. Honestly, I’d be ordering you to stop too if I were in their shoes. This is just way more energy and drama than any employer wants on something like this. Feel free to be annoyed by how it was handled if you’d like, but being “enraged” is — again — way too strong a reaction.
There is something in your letter that you should find unacceptable though, and it has nothing to do with the recyclables. You’re being paid just slightly over minimum wage for work as a software engineer?! You’re making in the bottom 1% for your field. That’s not okay, and it’s a sign of a serious problem that you’ve been more focused on the recycling culprits than on changing your severely under-market wages.
In fact, your level of angst and agitation is so misplaced for both of these issues (way too high for the kitchen issues and way too low for the salary issue) that I’m wondering if there’s something more complicated going on … like do you feel powerless to find a better job, but the kitchen feels like something you can control so it’s getting all your energy? Something is out of whack here, and I’d take this as a nudge to figure out what’s going on — and to start looking for another job, one that will pay you what the market says your work is actually worth.
I’ve worked at a medium sized tech company as a software engineer for the past two years now. Our city has an ordinance requiring all businesses to compost and recycle. I fully support this ordinance, as I’m a staunch environmentalist and care deeply about the future of our planet, for my sake and the sake of my children. I don’t want my kids growing up in a garbage covered wasteland.
[This one is a bit long so:]
For almost the entire time I’ve worked at this company, some anonymous employee(s) have been repeatedly tossing compostables and recyclables into our kitchen trash can, which sits right next to a compost bin and a recycle bin, with a giant sign posted in front of it showing what items belong in which bin.
The person/people who do this also have a nasty habit of leaving massive piles of unwashed dishes in our kitchen sink. It is not the responsibility of our coworkers or our janitorial service to clean these dishes after us and we are expected to clean after ourselves. There is even a giant sign posted over the sink requesting all employees to wash their own dishes.
I’m not the only person who is bothered by this, and several other coworkers and I have voiced our concerns to our office manager about it. Our office manager has been sympathetic and has organized numerous all-staff meetings where we went over these problems, asking everyone to be more mindful and to follow the directions posted in the kitchen.
Despite this, the people who do this continue doing it anyway. They don’t seem to care at all about the rules and they do pretty much whatever they please in our kitchen, leaving a big mess for others to clean up after them.
For the past two years, I’ve been voluntarily digging this person’s compostables and recyclables out of our trash bin and putting them in the recycling and compost. It’s pretty gross. I don’t enjoy doing it, but since no one else will do it, I do — for the sake of our planet. This issue is far bigger than the company and it has a lasting impact on the earth that will be felt by future generations long after we’re gone. It’s also against our city ordinance, and is just frankly a colossal jerk move.
I have no doubt that the person doing this is well aware of the nuisance they’re causing me and the other staff who actually care about this issue. They just don’t care.
About a year and a half ago, I decided that instead of putting their compost and recyclables into the compost or recycling bins where they probably wouldn’t even see it anyway, I’d leave them sitting on top of the bins so that the next time they step in the kitchen, they’ll be able to recognize their own trash and realize which bins it actually should have gone in. Unfortunately, they didn’t respond to that well. The very next morning after I did it the first time, I saw that this person threw all the recyclables and compostables I took out of the trash the previous day back into the trash bin, as if to say “F you.”
Well, I kept doing it anyway. A year and a half went by, we had several more all-staff meetings about the recycling and compost situation, and the problem persisted.
Then, just the other day, I was called into my manager’s office. He had our HR person on the phone, and she told me that she’d been getting complaints every day for a while now that I’d been taking recyclables and compostables out of the trash. She told me that the anonymous complainant claimed that they felt “offended” by my actions, and that they were now “scared” to use the kitchen because of me. I was astounded that anyone could be “offended” by someone trying to reduce unnecessary waste or feel “scared” because of some recyclables sitting on top of a bin. The HR person was totally unsympathetic to my situation even after i explained to her that this had gone on for almost two years, and ordered me to not touch the bins anymore.
This whole situation feels extremely bizarre to me. I never imagined that anyone would ever actually complain to HR about recyclables being taken out of a trash can and claim to feel “offended” and “scared” by it. I don’t see anything offensive or scary about what I did. I’m also pretty annoyed that someone actually went behind my back to whine to HR about what seems to me completely inoffensive and non-hostile behavior to get me in trouble instead of just confronting me directly like an adult. I find what they did to be incredibly petty and childish. I mean, really, over some garbage? If anyone should be offended, I think it should be me and all the other employees who have had to clean up after this person.
It’s also especially annoying considering I’ve done some really novel work for this company in the two years i’ve worked here. I’ve powered through an insane amount of projects that I don’t think any other developer here could have powered through at the speed that I did, while delivering on every requirement flawlessly. I haven’t been offered a single raise and am still being paid just slightly over minimum wage. I did a salary report online recently and it told me that I’m making less than 99% of the people in my field.
Am I wrong for feeling astounded and enraged by this incident? Am I really wrong for trying to protect our environment, clean up a huge mess left by some jerk who can’t follow simple directions every day, and keep our company compliant with our city ordinance?
Oh my goodness, you must let this go.
Yes, people should be putting their recyclables in the correct bin. And yes, they should be cleaning up after themselves in the kitchen. But they’re not, and it’s not your job to fix that.
You’ve gotten overly invested.
It wasn’t a great move to take it upon yourself to re-sort their garbage — that’s not your job. I understand that you’re doing it out of concern for the environment, but there are far bigger environmental crimes being committed all around you and you can’t solve all of them yourself. Moreover, I doubt your employer wants you spending your time that way while you’re at work.
But beyond that, it sounds like you got really invested in this at an emotional level that it really didn’t warrant. That report about someone being “scared” to use the kitchen sounds over the top without any more context, but your level of emotional investment/anger?/frustration over this may have legitimately rattled someone. The fact that the HR person didn’t find that claim ridiculous on its face makes me wonder if there is some context like that that makes it make more sense.
In any case, at this point your boss and HR have ordered you to stop, so you need to stop. Honestly, I’d be ordering you to stop too if I were in their shoes. This is just way more energy and drama than any employer wants on something like this. Feel free to be annoyed by how it was handled if you’d like, but being “enraged” is — again — way too strong a reaction.
There is something in your letter that you should find unacceptable though, and it has nothing to do with the recyclables. You’re being paid just slightly over minimum wage for work as a software engineer?! You’re making in the bottom 1% for your field. That’s not okay, and it’s a sign of a serious problem that you’ve been more focused on the recycling culprits than on changing your severely under-market wages.
In fact, your level of angst and agitation is so misplaced for both of these issues (way too high for the kitchen issues and way too low for the salary issue) that I’m wondering if there’s something more complicated going on … like do you feel powerless to find a better job, but the kitchen feels like something you can control so it’s getting all your energy? Something is out of whack here, and I’d take this as a nudge to figure out what’s going on — and to start looking for another job, one that will pay you what the market says your work is actually worth.
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Yikes.
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LW needs to GTFO of that company.
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