A Vet Visit

 So. 

Part of working at a pet store is caring for injured/sick animals. 

Which means vet visits.

And unfortunately 'exotic' vets ones that will see lizards, birds, and rodents. Are a rare sort of vet to have in the area. 

To the point where we now only have one vet local when we had at one point maybe 3 vets who could see them?

Which is annoying when it's a 30 minute round trip drive to drop off animals to the vet. Especially when corporate is pushing us to take animals to the vet ASAP. Either they see a vet within 3 days or they need to go back to the floor is the ultimatium.

Which when we don't have an actual exotic vet in the store and limited hours and limited staff...makes finding the time to go the vet rather difficult. 

And me, being the main manager in charge of the animals. It's often my duty to take the animals to the vet. Which I try to schedule appointments so that I can take them. Though occasionally a different manager has to take them in for me.

However.

A recent call to the exotic vet revealed that for whatever reason, the clinic we take animals to only does drop offs from the petstores (both mine and the competitors) on Wednesdays. 

So like we're suddenly limited to once a week where we can take animals to the vet, though I do know that the exotic vet is in other days...apparently those other days they're in are dedicated to surgerys on the animals, not check ups and 'figure out what's wrongisms'

Okay. Fine. Whatever. It wouldn't be a problem really.

Except.

Wednesdays are my normal day off.

It's been that way since I've become a manager. Because I usually close the store Tuesdays and I requested my day off be the next day so I wouldn't have to worry about doing Clopenings (closing the store then opening it again the next morning) 

Of course there's been exceptions to that. Occasionally my day off shifts due to vacations and scheduling complications and such.

But overall. Wednesdays I have the day off. 

So therefore it's rare for me to be able to take the animals to the vet that day because I'm not there.

Which means that the responsiblity of taking animals to the vet falls to my other managers.

Specifically. The two stocking managers. 

Because with how the days off work...both stocking managers are in in the morning. But we don't get another manager in until closer to lunch.

And the Vet....prefers us to drop off the animals in the mornings. Aka usually around 8am though sometimes they let us drop off as late as 11. But for the most part it's usually the 8-9am window that they tell us to drop the animal off at.

Which is annoying on one hand because they usually don't end up looking at our pets until closer to 2 or 3 pm. So like...why have us drop the animals of 6 hours earlier if they're just going to sit there and do nothing??

In any case.

I brought up this concern, the fact that wednesdays are the designated 'drop off' days for the vet, to the senior stocking manager.

To which they said they were fine with doing the drop offs. But they didn't want to do it every time. They wanted the other stocking manager too to contribute to the dropping off of pets. Aka have them both take turns in taking the animals to the vet.

Like, seems like a fair thing to want. So I figured it would be no big deal to request that of the other stocking manager.

Ha.

So. This morning. I discover one of our mice isn't doing too hot. So I call the vet and set up an appointment to drop it off on Wednesday since I already knew that was the only day they would recommend. Send a group text to the two stocking managers letting them know the details.

And then I go talk to the other stocking manager about the change up. Telling them that the vet is only seeing animals from our store on Wednesdays. Which means they or the senior manager would need to take the animals to the vet because I don't work wednesdays. And that senior manager is fine with it but doesn't want to do it every time so the other stocking manager needs to plan to drive to the vet every now and then.

I then asked if they had any questions. 

To which they said no.

So I figured it was all fine and dandy.

Until Head Manager comes over the radio wanting to double check when the mouse needed to be dropped off by. 

And I said that the vet said by 10am. 

And other stocking manager comes over the radio and is like "Can't we bring in the mid manager earlier so they can take the animal to the vet? Or have the vet let us take it in later?"

Which convincing the vet to let us do a later drop off time is like pulling teeth. It doesn't always turn out well.

And like....there's already TWO managers in the store Wednesday morning. BOTH stocking managers. So ergo ONE of them should be fine to take the animal to the vet.

And like if we bring in the mid manager earlier that would mean they would have to LEAVE earlier and we're required to have a mid manager. 

Because if the drop off time is before 10am that would mean the mid manager would have to show up by 930 am in order to get the animal and drive over to the vet before the deadline. Which if they're in at 930 that means they would have to leave around 5ish a full TWO HOURS earlier than expected.

Which would then put the closers in a bind because we usually rely on the mid manager to help cover the cashier and petcare lunches so that with the closing manager also present even if petcare or cashier goes on lunch we still have three people in the store. 

And since our closing shifts come in around 3pm....it would be silly to make them take a lunch within an hour of arriving to try and get them done before the 5ish pm deadline of the mid manager leaving.

In any case.

This whole conversatino of "can the mid manager bring the animals to the vet instead" happened because the other stocking manager texted the Head Manager (which why not go talk to them in person why text when you're both in the store) to complain about what I'd told them, and was wanting to know when SARNIC would start WORKING WEDNESDAY shifts so that SHE could take HER animals to the vet. 

...

...

...

Like dude. They're not MY animals. Yes, I am over the department and I'm in charge of making sure the animals are taken to the vet but they're not MY animals. They're the STORE animals. And  YOU as a fellow MANAGER are also RESPONSIBLE for taking animals to the vet as needed.

ANd like DUDE. I work a CLOSING SHIFT Tuesday nights. We already went over WHY there can't be a manager in earlier than ELEVEN on Wednesdays. Because WE. Do. Not. HAve. THe. Hours. To have an extra manager in at 9. 

Which means if I was to be the one to come in Wednesdays to take the animals to the vet that would require me to work a CLOPENING as I would be the morning petcare instead. Which I CANNOT do because I don't get off work until 930pm at the earliest and the petcare shift starts at SEVEN THIRTY AM. That's only a 10 hour difference. And I think we're supposed to have like a good 12 hours between shifts. Like maybe 10 hours is the minimum. But yah. I'm not sure. I've done clopenings before. But they're not fun and if I had to constantly do one every Tues/Wed I think the entire store would experience the wrath of a grumpy Sarnic. 

My head manager bascially rolled their eyes at the other stocking manager's whining because it's a stupid thing to be complaining about. Especially because there are multiple factors outside of my control and it's not like I'm planning *knock on wood* to have to take animals to the vet every Wednesday. Hopefully it will only be a once a month sort of thing. But we'll see. 

It's just annoying.

Because head manager is like "Dude, you signed up to be a manager. That means taking on duties outside of your main duties on occasion. That's part of the job." 

As this particular other stocking manager is very....single minded. Likes to sit in their little isolation stocking box and not help out in other aspects of the store if they can help it.

They prefer to focus entirely on stocking relating tasks. Counting inventory, putting product out on the shelves, organizing the back, unloading the truck etc.

Trying to get them to help out with anything else in the store -answering the phone, picking curbside orders, taking out orders, helping in petcare when I'm busy, etc....is like pulling teeth.

They just want to do stocking tasks. That's it.

Which if that's all they wanted to do they should have just stayed as a regular stocker and not as a stocking manager. 

*shakes head*

So yah.

I'm irritated.

So irritated at this other manager right now.

Thankfully, senior stocking manager said that they'd be able to take the animal to the vet Wednesday so I don't have to worry about it actually happening.

But that does mean 'next' time I need an animal to see the vet I'll probably have to ask and see if they will let us drop the animal off closer to 1130 if the other stocking manager is going to continue to whine about taking the animals to the vet. 

*exhales* I don't like complications. Especially stupid pointless ones. 

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

-Sarnic Dirchi