Tuesdays and Saturdays

I'm well aware that I'm not good with being....nice....in the morning.
My brain hasn't yet woken up enough to have the 'niceness filter' in place.
So it takes a lot more effort to not say something mean or biting first thing.
But it is super easy for me to get irritated and annoyed first thing in the morning when I'm confronted with an unexpected 'problem.' 

I got that this morning at work.
The unexpected problem that just...flared my irritability levels.

It was a note that triggered my irritation.

Left by my coworkers yesterday it went as follows: 

"All snakes, spiders, and scorpions will now be fed on Sundays. We are also going to start keeping record of when we feed the spiders and scorpions to reduce confusion because no one ever knows when they need to be fed or when they were fed last. Please be sure to keep up on feeding them all and keep record of it on their feeding charts. :)" 

*eye twitch* 

No one. Knows? 
NO ONE KNOWS?

Just. GAH.

THAT IS A LIE.
I've told basically Every. Single. Coworker. when we feed the scorpions and spiders. 
If you've opened the department. I usually bring it up at some point.
The scorpions and spiders are fed on TUESDAYS AND SATURDAYS. 

How is it confusing? How could you NOT KNOW when I'm pretty sure I told you myself that those were the days they were fed?

It was just....aggravating.
To the extreme to read that note.

I didn't care that my coworkers wanted to change the days.
No.
What I didn't like was the tone. The "No one knows, and so to avoid confusion." 

No.
When you mean "No one knows." 
You're meaning YOU don't know.
Because I know.
I FEED THE CREATURES.
I OPEN THE DEPARTMENT ALMOST EVERY DAY AND YOU'RE TELLING ME I DON'T KNOW WHEN TO FEED THE SPIDERS AND SCORPIONS?! 

*glares*
Yah.
I did not take it well.
Geez. 
The snake feeding confusion is understandable.
Because a) We haven't had snakes in for practically the entire winter/spring seasons and when we do get them in they've sold within a couple of weeks, so like...there's no time to feed the snakes.
Our latest batch came in a week and a half ago. 
And so yah, it's not surprising that there's confusion there.
Plus b) One coworker has kinda taken over the feeding thing. So like....it makes sense no one else would know when to do it. Because that coworker has recently cut back on their hours. But because before this recent batch came in, we'd been out of snakes for like a month and a half....it still makes sense no one would know when they are to be fed.
The schedule constantly shifts. If we ever get in all the snakes we're supposed to have in our store, we'd be needing to split up the feeding of them over a few days. 

But no.
The spiders and scorpions?
There should be no confusion.
I'm there Tuesdays and Saturdays.
If you open with me on those days I have told you "Oh hey, the scorpions and tarantulas get fed today."

So there shouldn't be confusion.
Because people have been TOLD this.
I've repeated it MULTIPLE TIMES.
So right now you're just showing me that you WEREN'T LISTENING when I TOLD YOU!

*exhales*
I mean....I get it. There's a ton of information that you get hit with in my department. So it makes sense that not everything I tell my coworkers when I'm training them on opening will be remembered. 
I get it. I'm all too happy to repeat myself (unless I'm doing it for the fortieth time then, dude, you really need to work on that memory thing.)

But assuming no one knows?
No. I know. ASK ME. 

Which really....
It bugged me too that the writer of the note had this whole game plan and took control.....
Without consulting the manager or myself. (As I'm in charge of the dept when the manager isn't there.) 
I mean, they couldn't yesterday. Because neither one of us worked then.
But like...Don't make this whole game plan based on the assumption that there's something wrong.
Communication is key.

Like I would have responded much better to "Hey, when are the snakes, scorpions, and spiders fed?" 
Because then I could be like "Oh it's Tuesday and Saturday for the scorpions and spiders, the snakes are fed in the evening on such and such days." 

But to basically write: "Okay, no one knows anything here about when those creatures are fed, so we're now doing it Sunday and WITH charts!" 
Yah, I don't like that. Because I KNOW. Geez.

*shakes head* 
If something in the department needs to change....the manager needs to be talked to first.
That way they can establish if a change needs to be made or if it's just a matter of clarifying the points of confusion. 

I admire that the coworkers wanted to take control and make sure an issue was being fixed....
But that wasn't quite the way to do it.

*exhales*

You don't know how much time I wasted at that board. (too much time0 
Writing and Erasing my message as I tried to figure out a polite way to say: "I don't see why you're confused, The spiders and scorpions are fed on Tuesdays and Saturdays in the morning, and have been fed on those days ever since they came into the store. Snakes are fed in the evenings, since we just got in a new batch, Sunday would be fine. But really, if you have questions about when animals are fed, you can always ask the manager or Sarnic and they would be happy to help you."

Seriously....
I struggled on how to word that in a much nicer and less...irritated way. 
I basically ended up with "??? Scorpions and Spiders are Fed on Tuesdays and Saturdays." And got stuck. 

It bugged me, like an itch I couldn't scratch. That note. Because how do you respond to it? How do you say "Nope, you're wrong, they have been fed, pay attention next time okay?" 

In the end, when I showed the manager the note that my coworkers had left....
he was just like "Erase it, there's no need to write anything in response." 

And oh, it felt so good to take the eraser and wipe that board clean.
One less weight of irritation on my shoulders, that was for sure lol. It helped me to be able to better focus on the tasks at hand that I needed to be completing. *shakes head* 

Until you next see these words;
I'll be watching the leaves.
Enjoy the day!

-Sarnic Dirchi