28-year-old employee teaches 50-year-old new hire how to use a computer; new hire cries to supervisor when employee doesn't do her job for her: 'The one moment I don’t help her the way she wanted me to, she had a meltdown.'

Author image for Emmy Pratt
Emmy Pratt • Writer and Editor
Dec 19, 2025 11:00 AM EST

She is perfectly capable of doing the job; she wants her trainer to do it all for her.

It can be terrifying to be hired for a job you're not qualified for. A lot of people pad their resumes with skills that they haven't actually mastered, and they panic when they're tasked with using those skills flawlessly during the first week of their job. If you're determined enough, you will stay up late and wake up early before your job starts to do a crash course on the skills you said you had, so your new boss won't be able to tell that you lied. However, many people aren't motivated to cover their tracks, and when they face a challenge at work, they hope someone else will do the job for them. After all, they're the new guy! You can't expect the new guy to master a job in one day… or can you?

There is always a learning curve when you start a new position, but if you can't do fundamental stuff like using a computer or typing without looking at the keyboard, an employer might question their decision to hire you in the first place. 

Add as a preferred
source on Google
Advertisement

  • The new hire in this story struggles with the very basics of using a computer. Her younger coworker took a whole week to teach her the basics, and when it was time to show off her new skills to the supervisor, she still couldn't manage it without crying. 

  • A woman sitting at a table using a laptop computer
    via Diana Light (Unsplash+)

    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • Am I the bad guy for making a 50-year-old woman cry for not knowing how to use a computer for her job?

    TL;DR: my supervisor told me not to help her on the computer. She asked me how to make a window smaller, and I told her what button and didn't do it for her, so she cried to my supervisor.
    via u/Exact-Fortune4474
  • I am a quality inspector for a factory. I greatly dislike my job, mostly the shift. But I don't wanna leave my job, so I told my supervisor (Supes for short) I wanted to go to third shift so I can have some semblance of
    via u/Exact-Fortune4474
  • work life balance. So she told me the only way I could go to third shift, is if I trained somebody new for the position, so I can go to third shift. Told myself I would be the best trainer ever.
    via u/Exact-Fortune4474
  • A portrait of a young industrial woman engineer standing in a factory holding blueprints
    via Getty Images (Unsplash+)

    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • So the day comes and my trainee arrives, she's a Hispanic woman in her late 50s, and just for context I am a 28yo woman. I quickly showed her the ropes, and started off slow, and making her first day as smooth as
    via u/Exact-Fortune4474
  • possible. She caught on quickly in spite of the language barrier, things are going so well I told her I would show her how to do paperwork tomorrow. Well, tomorrow came, and I showed her how to do paperwork. But it
    via u/Exact-Fortune4474
  • was a struggle, because Trainee could understand English words that are said, read English words, but writing English words was a learning curve... OK, so I gave her a notebook so she could write the translated words in Spanish so she could understand.
    via u/Exact-Fortune4474
  • Then we were supposed to put our paperwork into the computer, so the higher-ups can see what rejects we had for the day. Then Trainee told me that she's never used a computer before... Okay, I showed her the basics of the computer, and
    via u/Exact-Fortune4474
  • everything she needed to know. Then I told her to open the audit application. She told me she didn't know how to open the app on the computer... Double click with the mouse ☺ she kept clicking and dragging it.
    via u/Exact-Fortune4474
  • Side view of female worker working with computer device on white office desk with camera and other supplies
    via Getty Images (Unsplash+)

    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • I manifested all the patience of a Buddhist monk to train this woman the rest of the week. I literally trained this woman on how to write in English, how to use a computer, on top of how to do her job for a whole week.
    via u/Exact-Fortune4474
  • Trainee would get super frustrated with the computer, and tried to ask Supes for another quality job, but Supes told her every quality position in the factory has to use the computer. Trainee straightened
    via u/Exact-Fortune4474
  • up after that and got more serious about learning the computer. That Friday, I decided to do something nice for her and went to the Mexican restaurant that's just around the corner, and got her some nachos with steak, chicken, shrimp, fajita style. It
    via u/Exact-Fortune4474
  • cost $30, but I don't know, I just felt like doing it to boost her confidence (and because I wanted to share some good nachos with somebody *). Monday came, and Trainee didn't show up to work. Today, she was
    via u/Exact-Fortune4474
  • there and the first thing my supervisor told me (knowing that she had some difficulties with the computer.) was she wanted to know just how much she learned, so she told me to shadow her, and let her do things herself. If
    via u/Exact-Fortune4474
  • she needed help, remind her what to do, but if she gets frustrated, I can do the task for her. But for the most part just do some shadowing. Okay, cool. Supes turned to her, and gave her the same rundown.
    via u/Exact-Fortune4474
  • So work started, and as expected, Trainee was doing great with the inspections. Then when she came to the computer, she wanted to make the window smaller since there were Multiple windows we needed to see. So she turned to me and asked for help, I told her
    via u/Exact-Fortune4474
  • to just click and drag the window from the top. Trainee clicked a button. I instructed her again to click and drag the window from the top, "take your mouse, and click and drag the top of the window". She clicked the same button, then asked me to do it
    via u/Exact-Fortune4474
  • for her. I sighed, and said "OK, just press the square button next to the X." She clicked the minimize button. She turned to me and told me that she's never done this before, but I told her no, we went over this twice last week and I just did it for her,
    via u/Exact-Fortune4474
  • then shadowed her for the rest of the order. While the next order was making its way to us, I talked to my friends, the next thing I know my supervisor was talking to her, and my trainee was in tears crying to
    via u/Exact-Fortune4474
  • Supes. Supes turned to me and asked what happened. I was in shock and I had no idea WTF was going on, then Supes explained trainee said something about the computer. The first thing I told Supes was she instructed me to NOT help her with the computer,
    via u/Exact-Fortune4474
  • that's when the trainee said no, that I'm supposed to train her on the computer, but then Supes told her that I'm not a "computer teacher" and that I was only there to teach her how to do her job. My supervisor turned to me and said clearly there's been
    via u/Exact-Fortune4474
  • some miscommunication, and sent me to help in another department and she would take over the rest of the training. I left feeling bad, maybe I did let out a little bit of frustration, but I didn't yell, didn't raise my voice,
    via u/Exact-Fortune4474
  • and didn't treat her like she was stupid. I literally did what my supervisor told me to do. And the more I think about it, the more frustrated I get. She broke out in tears in front of a bunch of coworkers, went to my supervisor crying, telling her I was mean to
    via u/Exact-Fortune4474
  • her when all that happened was, I didn't help her like she wanted me to, because of what my supervisor told me. She can do the job, because I trained her in every step with patience for an entire week. In fact, my supervisor was barely over there
    via u/Exact-Fortune4474
  • the rest of the day while the trainee pretty much did her job by herself. It's sad that she felt frustrated and cried, but upon doing that, she pretty much nuked my reputation with my coworkers.
    via u/Exact-Fortune4474
  • and my supervisor. I know that's an ice cold thing to say, but I can't help but be frustrated, because I literally taught this woman who's twice my age how to use a computer, taught her English, bought her food, and the one moment I don't help her the
    via u/Exact-Fortune4474
  • way she wanted me to she had a meltdown. But she does have the right to her feelings, maybe I am being an asshole. Am I?
    via u/Exact-Fortune4474

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

Tags

employee new hire coworkers factory computer supervisor workplace-stories new job typing training
Scroll Down For The Next Article