The Bird Bedding Change

It's always interesting to open my department with people I haven't opened with before.
Usually this is an occurrence with the greenies that we train.
Where it's always a learning experience of me figuring out how to train them so that they understand what is supposed to be done with minimal miscommunication.

However, yesterday was slightly different.
As we've been shorthanded in my department (due to people quitting) I've been getting other people from the rest of the store into my department who haven't...done the opening tasks for my department before, but have been working in the store for months even a year or so in other sections. Which is always fun because the other departments don't quite always realize how much needs to be done in the mornings or how time consuming and energy consuming opening can be.

Which is kinda what happened yesterday.
I was scheduled to open with a coworker who's been with us for a while, is trained in my department, but rarely actually works in my department....if ever. Like they were trained, and helped out for a week or two before being shifted to fill a different vacancy that had opened up elsewhere in the store.

In any case. 
I was a bit leery of working with this particular coworker when I saw that they were on the schedule as my opener.
Because a) I haven't opened with them. and b)...well...they're a bit....temperamental. Some days you can work just fine with them, and other days...it's like dealing with a two-year old who likes to believe that they're the boss of everyone else (when they're not.) and doesn't like to be told what to do. 

And yah...it was an interesting experience for sure. 
One that resulted in a headache because...well this particular coworker's energy/attitude is not always the easiest to deal with. And thankfully my interactions are usually limited to a few minutes at a time.
But constantly dealing with them for multiple hours? Definitely draining.
Because they're constantly being self-deprecating which always stirs up my instant "NO YOU MUST FEEL BETTER" instincts of wanting to help anyone in trouble. Which is annoying because in this case I'm pretty sure it's like pouring water into a bucket full of holes. *exhales* 

It started with me just checking in to see what they knew how to do.
Again, I haven't opened with them before, but I knew they had some experience in my department. 
And my coworker said they had experience with the regular opening tasks. But not the bedding change.
Which. Since they're a 'new' coworker to the dept, I was halfway thinking that they could just open the rest of the department while I worked on the bedding change as a) I'm more familiar with the bedding change and b) it's better for them to know how to do the rest of the department because that's a more...useful skill. 

Only my coworker was like "I'd love to learn how to do the bedding change!" 
To which I was like...lol, well I was amused. Because most people end up not loving the bedding changes. I'm probably the odd duck in that I like to do them. ^^;; 
So I was like "You sure? It's the birds today" 
-Which usually means you end up covered in feathers and dust because birds are spazzy panic balls that zip all around your head. So it's always an experience of having to 'defeather yourself' after that particular bedding change.

But they were insistent. My coworker wanted to learn this particular task as they'd never done it before and liked 'learning new things' 

So, when my coworker was officially in my department (as the first couple of hours of their shift they were scheduled elsewhere) I went and showed them how to do the bedding change.

Which with birds.
It's pretty easy.
Though perhaps I'm judgmental because I've been doing this job for forever.

But we have like this enclosure. Pretty small. Like Five feet by 3 feet? Who knows I never measured it. 
But it's cramped with two people standing in there. 

So usually what I do is I pull the tray with the bedding on it out of the cage, take it out of the enclosure and dump the bedding (which is pine pellets) into the garbage can, clean the tray, put in fresh pellets, and leave it sitting on top of the garbage can while I go inside the bird enclosure (and shut the door) so that I can open up the bird cage and clean the glass and such, before I go and grab the tray and put it back in.
Pretty easy process. 
Nothing too difficult.

I can usually get everything done in a couple of hours. It's the quickest of our bedding changes we do among all the animals.

*shakes head*
But...my coworker like....complicated it?

While I didn't think it was a major issue to constantly be opening and shutting the door to the enclosure. (as I'd open it to grab the tray and clean it, close it to clean the glass of the cage it self
 without fear of the bird inside the cage getting loose in the main store, close the cage, open the door grab the tray slip it in and repeat the cycle.) 

The coworker apparently thought it was too much work....
To open and close a door....

*shakes head* 
So they decided to pull the garbage can, the container full of bedding and themselves....into the tiny enclosure, and do the bedding changes in there. 
Which...
Like I said. It's cramped quarters.
They could barely move.
And bedding got all over within that cage because there wasn't any room to maneuver about and properly dump the tray and such. 
(Like outside of the enclosure it also makes a mess, but...this seemed....excessive.) 

And again, somehow, with every cage they opened, they managed to get the birds out of the cage...and into the enclosure....
Like the parakeets I can understand, that door is basically one side of the cage that opens up so it's very easy to get the parakeets into the enclosure.
But our canaries? Doves? Finches? No. The door is smaller and it's rare for the birds to hit the right zone to get out of it and into the enclosure. Doesn't mean it doesn't happen. It does. But it's rare. 
Yet, it seemed like everytime I glanced at my coworker, they had somehow gotten the bird out of the cage and into the enclosure.
*shakes head*
I'd told them that they didn't need to worry about taking the birds out of the cage, and to clean around them.
But to see the bird consistently out...means that my coworker possibly caught them and let them fly about their head while they were cleaning the cage.
*exhales* 

Again....why? Why complicate it?

I was expecting the bedding change to take forever.
That I knew from past experience because people who are new to things tend to move a bit slower because they don't quite have the groove down. 
That wasn't surprising.
So the fact that the bedding change was taking longer than two hours?
Yah, totally expected.
I didn't mind, kept my coworker mostly out of my hair.

What was odd though.
Was as they were finally finishing the bird bedding part of the bedding change. (where they only needed to sweep up and then go grab all the perches and dishes and such to put back in the cage.) 
My coworker comes over the radio and is like "So how is the rest of opening going?" 

Which, since I'd been the one on the floor while they'd been focusing on bedding changes...it was going slowly. As I was constantly helping customers as well as helping my greenie cashiers that were on registers as well as dealing with some other small issues. 
So at that point I was like. "Still got the fish tank stuff to do." 
Which is Scrubbing/Vacuuming/Putting Ornaments Back/and Feeding fish.
I actually would have gotten those done sooner, but I'd chosen to work on our bug shipment first because I didn't want this coworker working on that if they happened to get done with the bedding change. 

So I told them that I was still opening and they were like: "Oh, well...I was hoping that you could take over the bedding change for me, putting everything back, because you're so much faster at it than I am, and I'm kinda tired, so I was hoping to just watch the floor while you finished the bedding change."
*narrows eyes* 
Ummm what?
You're tired? And because you're tired you want me to finish the task that you volunteered to do?
Ha. Ha.
No. 
I ain't playing that game. 
*shakes head* 
If you volunteer to do something you're going to do that thing until you finish it or your shift ends, whichever comes first.

I honestly couldn't comprehend that statement though. "I'm tired, so could you finish it for me?" 
Um. No. 
If I'm able to do my job when I'm suffering from 3 hours of sleep, a major headache, and shaking like crazy. (not yesterday, but I have done it before) then the fact that you're 'tired' is well...pathetic really. 
(Yes I know I'm crazy in that I will stubbornly do something even if I'm not feeling well, and I know other people aren't like me.)
But still...a couple of hours cleaning glass and dumping bedding into a trashcan and you're tired?? *shake head* 

So I was like. "Why not go take your lunch then first?" 
Because it was my coworker's lunch time. 
"But the bedding change?" 
Ah yes. I remember those days where I thought I had to complete a task before I could take a break. :) 
So I was like. "It's fine. The birds will be fine for another half an hour while you go eat something." 
"Are you sure?"
"Yah, I do it all the time. Go take your lunch." 

Because if you're tired, go take a break. While I'm expecting you to get the task done, I'm not expecting you to work like a crazy person to get it done before you can rest. If you need to take that break, go take that break, I'm not stopping you. 
But I am not going to take over that task for you just because you're tired. *shakes head* 

So yah....
My coworker tried a couple other times *eye twitch* to get me to take over the bird bedding change. You know with the usual flattery "You do it so much better/faster than I would" 
Um. No. 
Stop being lazy. Get to work. 

And finally like five hours after they started the bedding change. They finished it. *shakes head* 

Like I said.  Not unexpected for it to take longer.
Though I do believe that they made things more difficult on themselves instead of easier. 

But yah...
My coworker still was trying to get me to do stuff for them.
"could you take this to the back for me, could you do this for me." 
*rolls eyes*
Some of it, sure, I could do.

but *shakes head*
Even the manager started noticing how much my coworker was asking for help.
(since most of it was done over the radios and everyone can hear everyone over the radios) 

And the manager was like "You're sooo needy, do you ever hear Sarnic asking for this much help?"

Which. No.
Because I learned a while ago (before I started working at Starsmet) that I am my own most reliable person. I don't expect help, because I a) don't expect to get help even if I ask (back when the managers were less likely to leave the office to help out in the store) or b) know I can do the task myself and if I want it done right and in a timely fashion....I do it myself.
Basically, I'm pretty independently minded.
And that is mostly because when I do need help...like 9/10 times I don't usually get it. 
I mean...it is slightly getting better with our radios as now I can ask for help easier, like if I get swamped with customers. 
But yah. It's not fair to compare me to other coworkers because I'm....really independent. 
Like it's great that my coworker was willing to ask for help. 
Especially if they weren't sure how to do a task.
The fact that they were like "Hey can you take this item to the back for me." yah...kinda lazy on their part.
I see that they want to 'save time' and try and get things done by having others help them...but at the same time...it's like...you're wanting me to step away from my own tasks in order to do something you could do in two seconds yourself, therefore pulling me away from my task therefore making my task take longer. 
....yah sometimes people don't think things through....

In any case.
Definitely a learning experience for my coworker on how bedding changes aren't the easiest to do.
And I am, if they end up opening the department with me again, plan to have them continue to do the bedding change. Because a) they need to learn and b) it gets them out of my hair and c) you only get faster with practice. 
So we'll see...
We shall see.

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

-Sarnic Dirchi