'[She] said we needed to talk about how I “spoke to Nina’s child"': 20-year-old employee gets criticized by boss and coworker for scolding coworker's 9-year-old kid

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Remy Millisky • Writer and Editor
Nov 1, 2024 3:00 PM EDT

So much for the sentiment behind "it takes a village to raise a child"! That's definitely not the thinking at this person's workplace, and it's created an awkward situation between her, a coworker, and that coworker's child. 

In general, if there are a bunch of adults and a young child, it falls on everyone to look out for that kid. This makes sense for newborns, who have constant needs, and toddlers, who are constantly putting themselves in harm's way. But the older the kid gets, the murkier it is to scold someone else's child. That's absolutely the case here, with this person and a 9-year-old. 

As u/Different_Engine_2087 explains it, she was at work preparing some inventory to go out to a customer. Her coworker brought her 9-year-old kid in to work at the end of the day. For some strange reason, the kid chose the worst possible moment to hop onto a recliner chair, doing so as the original poster (OP) was in the middle of moving it. This seems pretty dangerous for everyone involved, and in hazardous situations, there aren't always time for niceties. Although the coworker was annoyed that the OP told the child to get off the chair politely, she would've been beside herself if the kid got hurt! The kid was probably embarrassed, but that still doesn't mean he can just cause an unsafe work environment without consequence. 

Up next, this worker is uncertain about being invited to a strange office function, and one commenter agreed, adding "A 'grandma shower' is just tacky." 

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    OLYMPUS
    via Emmanuel Maceda on Unsplash+

    This image is for illustration only, and the subjects are models; the image does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

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    AITA For "Snapping" At My Coworker's Child? | [20F] started my current job about a month ago. Yesterday, I came in and spent all day in the back preparing inventory, and only came out front to relieve my coworker Nina [35F] for her lunch break. When I showed up, she
    via u/Different-Engine2087
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    was on a phone call with her son [9M] and ended up clocking out and leaving to go pick him up. She brought him back around 30 minutes before close and stayed up at the register with him and our other coworker Alice [22F]. I continued my tasks in the back room, until yet another coworker appeared, Tom [24M], who told
    via u/Different-Engine2087
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    me that someone who bought a recliner came in to pick it up, 15 minutes before close. This stressed me out a bit, but it was worse when I ended up in the other back room and realized I was going to have to move this thing by myself,. I'm not terribly weak, and the lady who was picking up the furniture was
    via u/Different-Engine2087
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    following me step for step and trying to make conversation while I, a relatively petite woman, was trying to move a 60+ lbs recliner up two different ramps. I managed to get it up the first one, then stopped to readjust the chair on the roller. While I was stopped, Nina's son jumped into
    via u/Different-Engine2087
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    the chair. This is where I guess I upset her. I said "hey buddy, can you get out of there?" just as Nina came up and told him sternly to get out of the chair. He got out, but continued to try and play with it until she pulled him back. I started rolling it up the ramp, having to stop halfway because I felt the chair slipping
    via u/Different-Engine2087
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    off the roller, and Nina's son appeared again at the bottom of the ramp, trying to help push the chair. I was becoming more stressed and anxious, and very scared that this kid was going to be seriously hurt. I tried to ask him to back up and stop touching the chair, and Nina looked up and
    via u/Different-Engine2087
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    called him back over. Tom, who was watching from the register with Alice, asked if I needed any help and I said "I just need someone to keep the kid away from the chair."
    via u/Different-Engine2087
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    I finished getting the chair to the back and Tom came out to help me load it, and that was that. This morning, I showed up to work thinking things were gonna be pretty standard, but ended up being pulled aside by my manager [36F] before I could even clock in. She brought in Nina and the assistant manager
    via u/Different-Engine2087
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    and said we needed to talk about how I "spoke to Nina's child yesterday" and how I apparently snapped at him. I didn't get written up or anything, (probably because we have a rule in place prohibiting employees from bringing their children to the store, especially into employee only areas) but the issue wasn't
    via u/Different-Engine2087
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    really talked out or resolved, I was just chastised and talked over any time I tried to explain myself. It was a real emotional reverse from how good I'd woken up today. Nina isn't speaking to me, my manager is pretty neutral, but everything feels very tense now and I'm just counting down the hours until Nina leaves early. I don't feel like I did anything wrong, but am I the a hole here?
    via u/Different-Engine2087
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    EDIT - Thank you to everyone for your responses/feedback/insight. To those of you telling me to go to HR or Corporate: I don't think that would do much good aside from putting me in bad standing with my coworkers and manager.
    via u/Different-Engine2087
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    My manager has been here over 10 years and allegedly does other sketchy stuff and still hasn't been let go, and I don't wanna poke that bear. I'll be leaving this job anyway at Christmas because I have some personal things going on just after the holidays and will be unavailable for work for a week, and I know as a new
    via u/Different-Engine2087
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    employee I won't be approved for that much time off. I'm just gonna keep my head down and finish the next eight weeks of work and start putting in apps to new places in early December.
    via u/Different-Engine2087

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