I should probably start posting new stories under Workplace Stories for this new job of mine but perhaps it's good to write about this one which happened today, first.
We have a supervisor and then there are a number of us, team members. There's this coloured guy, and I don't use this term to degrade him or anything like that, it's used just because I rather not to give any information about the stories I write here so tracking could be almost impossible(!), who doesn't want to accept the fact that he's part of the team and has to follow whatever the supervisor's order is. They've had issues previously and a few days ago it lead to a sort of nasty exchange of words. In my opinion, and I say that before I tell the story, it's because the supervisor has given the guy more than he deserves, room to maneuver around and I have told him but he sites what the guy has done for the company as the reason why he has been given so much credit.
Nevertheless I was working and I heard the guy asking something from me on the radio. Of course everybody else heard that. He asked me why I had not done, lets say, job X. I told him that I had been told, by the supervisor, to leave it to another colleague. He asked me to do that and that was when the supervisor interjected by saying: I tell you when things should be done! Of course it's not his exact words but is close enough. The guy went silent for a few minutes and then responded by saying: I was nice to you ... ! The supervisor in response said that he would go to him to talk to him in private. Obviously he didn't want to escalate the issue, especially while everyone was listening to that on the radio! We didn't hear what went down between the two but on the way back to his office, the supervisor told me that he was defending me while the guy kept pounding. And in a way he was right. I simply followed the supervisor's order. And then later in the day I saw the guy and he asked me what the supervisor had told me. I told him that was the other guy's fault. I wanted to divert his attention from the fact that I had appreciated the supervisor for defending me! In fact this has always been the case in the past three months or so. The supervisor would say something about the guy and then I say something about the supervisor to the guy and then the guy says something about the supervisor to me! So I'm in between these two guys and that's what I enjoy the most at this work. Anyways it then seemed that the two guys were discussing the issue at the end of the day. I heard that the supervisor apologized to the guy, which is something that I had not seen before. I didn't notice what the reaction of the guy was to that but the supervisor told me later that he didn't accept the responsibility of being wrong by insisting on job X! That was when I told him it was because he had given the guy much room to roam around and now he thinks he has the right overrule the supervisor's request/order. Now still after a few days both guys talk to me about the unwanted incident and it seems that they are parted. They guy used to hang out in the office, have a chat and share a laugh with the supervisor, every day, before he leaves. Now he bolts out and barely says good bye! He complains about the supervisor by saying that he was treated that way because he is a minority. Every time I am with one side, I show my support to him! That's how I keep everyone happy because I need this job and I need to work in a pleasant and peaceful environment.
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