Kind employee guides new 16-year-old new girl through shift after petty coworkers get "stressed out" and refuse to train her: 'Over the next 5 hours I worked side by side with this child'

Author image for Remy Millisky
Remy Millisky • Writer and Editor
Sep 25, 2025 11:00 AM EDT

Being the newest employee at a company can be an awkward position to be in. You've probably felt that way at least once in life, if not many times! When you first start off at a brand new company, no matter how much prior experience you have, you're going to make a mistake or 2. Now, if this is your first job… you're going to make all the mistakes, one by one, as your bemused trainer looks on. It's your first time working on a cash register. It'll be your first time serving food, or working with customers, or juggling orders, or replenishing stock. Despite that, a lot of retail stores don't give their new employees much time to train, which is crazy, since a lot of them are still literal children, much like this young employee in this person's story. 

At just 16 years old, this kiddo is a fresh-faced team member, and she knows nothing. That's kind of bugging her teammates! I totally understand where they're coming from, because it certainly is irritating to have to work with a new person for an entire shift. Instead of doing the shift with your work bestie, who can almost read your mind and work with you like a smoothly oiled machine, 

Up next, have a laugh at some truly baffling birds' nests that people discovered, like one person who was psyched to provide an "Update on my dove's Dorito nest." 

Advertisement
  • 01
    I get it, ok? Being stuck with the new person is not always fun. But ...
    via u/SuperChick027
  • 02
    So I covered a shift I don't normally work on Saturday evening. From the moment I walking through the door, to getting to sit my purse down, to walking to the time clock, I was told no less than 3 times that everyone was so happy I was there. They were all behind on their work. The new girl is an idiot and making everything so hard... They're so stressed out because they don't know what to do with this idiot new girl...
    via u/SuperChick027
  • 03
    I look around the time clock and see this 5 ft, 90 lb, 16 year old girl standing there with mask and gloves looking like a deer in headlights and shaking like a leaf. I said hi to her and she stumbled through saying hi back. You can see from a mile away this girl is terrified. I sent other coworkers off to go get tasks done and decide to stick with this girl myself to see what's up.
    via u/SuperChick027
  • 04
    (For reference, I am not a manager but have been around the company so long, and am respected enough that even some of the managers take orders from me. It's a privilege I enjoy.)
    via u/SuperChick027
  • 05
    Over the next 5 hours I worked side by side with this child. She not only understood every single thing I taught her, she volunteered to do tasks, she asked questions... Good, relevant questions, and was generally a sweet little girl. Her hands even stopped trembling.
    via u/SuperChick027
  • 06
    I think some of us need to keep in mind when we work with minors like that, that their only frame of reference for the real world is high school, and they don't even have that right now. All of this madness going on is just as stressful, if not more so, for these kids... Especially at a time in their lives where anxiety, the need to fit in, and social interactions basically define them. Plus, puberty is a b . . .
    via u/SuperChick027
  • 07
    Young woman in pink shirt and apron writes on notepad, to her right a male worker in an apron touches glasses and peers at her with one hand in apron pocket
    via Getty Images For Unsplash+

    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

  • 08
    I would bet money on what happened before I got there... I guaranty this girl showed up, people were p ed they had to train, she didn't understand one thing, and then was automatically deemed a useless idiot. Then they treated her that way, which made her MORE nervous and more likely to make mistakes... I mean... She's literally a child for f s sake.
    via u/SuperChick027
  • 09
    You cannot train young teens the same way you do adults with job experience and expect instant results. I don't understand what's so hard about knowing that. This girl will be fine. Just be nice to her, it!
    via u/SuperChick027
  • 10
    Young cafe worker in orange shirt and brown apron touches glasses with one hand and places other hand in apron pocket
    via Azhar khairi on Unsplash+

    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

  • 11
    stormsandshowers Thank you for doing this. I've been in the situation of being the terrified child in a business of a h_les who don't want to help. A kind person like you makes all the difference
    via u/stormsandshowers
  • 12
    bookmavin I'm happy she was properly taught by you! When I got my first job I had zero training and any mistake I made management acted like I was dumb! Like you don't train me but when I screw up it's entirety my fault!? Retail really s ks
    via u/bookmavin

Want More? Follow Us and Add Us as a Preferred Source on Google.

Tags

boss workplace-stories jobs job bosses work coworkers workplace
Scroll Down For The Next Article