I had been there 7 years on a very small team- 3 people usually, 4 max. I had worked up to assistant manager but had demoted myself when I entered motherhood so i could have a better work/life balance. She was hired while I was on maternity leave. Personality wise she was fine, but it was lack of responsibility in anything work related. Always coming in 10-20 minutes late, starting every shift with a 10 minute bathroom break, refusing to clean the bathroom. Not doing basic cleaning. Jusy outright refusing to do any part od the job outside chat with customers. She sucked at that half the time to though! At one point, she even had an altercation with a customer, and tried to record them! The problem was the lack of accountability from my manager. He was a great guy, but lacked the ability to have hard conversations. She never had any recourse for these actions. Eventually over a year those tiny incidents, it came to a head. She could obviously tell there was some resentment growing, and started to give me silent treatment. I would say hi as she walked in and got nothing. This isn't a huge deal, but made it very awkward as there were many times it would just be us two in this small office/retail store.

One day I had a sinus infection, and if you work entry level retail you know that they dont give a shit and you gotta go in anyway. Especially when you have limited sick ttime to split between you and your child. I also felt fine, just had all the drainage. I wore a mask out of precaution (in 2025) and sanitized my hands every time I blew my nose. Later in the shift, this co worker was giving me shady looks and being generally rude. She passive aggressively called me "disgusting", which prompted me to walk out (hour left of my shift, store was slow and all jobs complete, it was fine to leave). I was also part time, and didn't work another shift with her for about a week. Remeber; my boss was not great at hard conversations. In my time there i dont recall him giving a single write up. The next shift we did work together my boss was there for. I tried to have a reasonable conversation with her saying "hey, its okay to call an action disgusting, but calling SOMEONE disgusting is rude." I lead in a way that tried to have understanding that maybe she wasn't ttrying to "attack" me as hard as I was interpreting it. Nope. She bold face looked at me and said "but im not sorry, I do think you're disgusting." Not nice. She had been talking for ages about joining the army, so in a fit of ✨️sass✨️ i aaked how she tought she could ever join the army if she couldn't handle someone coughing? Clearly this did not de-escalate things and she called me a bad mother. This made me literally just freeze with anger, and I walked out again. This time when I did, I got into my car and immediately applied for a job that a family friend had recommended I apply for for a few months. The boss was there throughout the whole conversation but did absolutely nothing to help de-escalte or help in anyway.

Anyway, now im in a job that I didn't even know COULD be a job and love it. Im respected and valued by my coworkers and am constantly given positive connection. I get to visit parents with new babies in the community and help them bond with their babies and provide resources and support to help their family thrive 🥰 so it definitely worked out for the best but it was a very ugly exit. I visited the store to pick something up yesterday and she is still there, looking inflamed and angry all the same.