Wrong Substrate

So I'm pretty much a peacemaker. 
I don't like there being 'problems' 
And so if there's an issue, I automatically step in to see if I can help fix it, solve it, make it better.

Because I don't like dealing with conflict. Or being near conflict.
So most of the time, I'll do what I can to make the conflict go away as quickly as possible. 

Causing conflict?
Not usually anything I want to start. 

*exhales*
Yet...I basically instigated a conflict today. Or at least continued it as a third party.

You see, 
One of my coworkers has been going a bit....rogue...in the store.
Doing things because They think it's the right thing to do. Relying on their own knowledge more than the knowledge of professionals, or the policies that work has come up with to have the animals stay healthy and happy.

Which has resulted in some difficulties with customers and such. Misunderstandings and the like.
Like it's great to have your own knowledge...but if it makes work look bad....*exhales* It's not good. 

In any case.
Today...
this particular coworker had been scheduled out of the department. Working elsewhere in the store. 

Yet in the middle of my own tasks....
I looked up and discovered my fellow opener, who should have been finishing the bedding changes....
Was instead where the other coworker should have been. 

I didn't think much of it at first. 
Like maybe my coworker needed to go on break or grab a drink of water or something. 
Though considering this coworker doesn't like going on breaks....would have been a bit out of the ordinary.
Still I was giving them the benefit of the doubt. 

Only...a while later.
I looked up.
To see my fellow opener still 'covering' for my coworker. 
Having finished my task, I went to investigate. 

And discovered that my coworker had decided to go rogue again.
I don't know if my opener asked to be switched with my coworker or my coworker asked to switch with my opener.

But the point was.
My coworker had come into my department,
And had decided that our Ball Pythons weren't getting enough humidity in their cages.
Which the snakes do best with humidity at 50%ish 
And apparently the cages were only at 10% humidity.

Normally the snakes are placed on an aspen bedding. (wood shavings) as that's the set up that the store's guidelines say to use for the snakes. 
But because that wasn't 'helping the humidity' my coworker decided to clean out the already cleaned cages. -wasting bedding- and use a dirt substrate instead. 
Why? 
Because dirt holds the moisture a lot better than wood shavings do.
I mean, we use dirt as the bedding for our tropical reptiles. 

But. Not. For. The. Snakes. 

But my coworker decided dirt would be better and so switched out the bedding to that in order to hold the moisture in better.

Which....while I get that you want to make sure the snakes are happy and such.....
isn't how you set up the cage. 

And my main concern with the dirt bedding....
is that it could confuse customers. 
If we tell them to use Aspen shavings (as is recommend in the care guides we give customers) yet they see that there's dirt in the tank....
They'd probably question why they weren't told to use dirt too. 

Really thinking it over and being 'out of the moment'
I probably should have gone to my coworker and been like. "What are you doing?" Here their reason and go "That's cool, but...that's not in our set up guide. You need to change it back to Aspen as that's what policy says that the snakes need to be on. We can get the humidity up a different way, like spraying the cage with water a couple of times a day just like we do with the tropical tanks." 

But I didn't do that. 
Mostly because I wasn't sure if my coworker would listen to me.
As I often feel like I tell them to do something and then they're like "Yah okay." and then don't do it.

And like...I could have just ignored it all. 
Let the change in bedding slide.
Wait to see if anyone else noticed the problem and mentioned it. 
Which...in all likely hood wouldn't have happened...as people are rather unobservant. 

And then next week changed the bedding back. 

Instead....
I went to the manager. 
And told them that the coworker had switched out the bedding in the snakes. 
To which the manager was like "No they couldn't have, they're in a different dept." 
And I was like "Nope, my opener switched with them." 
And the manager was like. ()_() >.> "Why would they do that?!" 
"I have no idea." 
Seriously I don't. I don't know what triggered the switch to happen. Which coworker decided to do it or what. 

So my manager was like "No, coworker needs to be in the other dept!" And so went off to go find them.
I trailed behind, indicated which changes had been made so the manager could see for themselves that the snakes weren't on the right bedding. 

And then basically went off on my coworker. (off the floor away from customers) Telling them that they needed to be in the other department, that the snakes need to be on aspen shavings, and that my coworker needed to follow our policies and guidelines and such. 
Which coworker tried to explain why they were going off the book and such.
But the manager wasn't having it. 

*winces*
Like...I really felt bad. 
I know my coworker had good intentions and was trying to look out for the snakes and such.
but there were other ways that could have been done. Ways that stayed within store policies and procedures.

*exhales* 
And maybe with the manager noticing...my coworker will lay back on trying to do things 'their way' for a while and hang low.

Who knows. 

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

-Sarnic Dirchi