You will not, I think, be surprised to hear that I lay awake last night trying to go back in time and redo the interaction with my supervisor about a co-worker’s lack of a mask. “It’s just…Andrea doesn’t wear a mask. And I don’t know if she’s vaccinated or not, and of course I know not to ask about that. So with Edward’s immunosuppressed….” RRRRRZIP. “It’s just…Andrea doesn’t wear a mask. *MEANINGFUL LOOK, TRUSTING SUPERVISOR TO UNDERSTAND*” RRRRRZIP. “Oh! I wanted to talk to you about that. It’s a little bit tricky, because Andrea doesn’t wear a mask, so of course I…” RRRRRZIP. “Oh! I wanted to talk to you about that. It’s a bit tricky to figure out how to do the newspapers safely—but what if I left an hour or so early on a day we weren’t busy, and then I could come in and do them on Saturday morning when Andrea isn’t here? Because why should ANDREA be even SLIGHTLY inconvenienced by having to follow THE RULES SET BY OUR GOVERNING BOARD, when I could instead rearrange MY whole….” RRRRRZIP.
Sigh.
Well! We have continued watching baseball, and here is the thing about baseball: it is more hours per week than a half-time job—and that’s just following one single MLB team. I am interested to know if people who follow baseball tend to watch ALL the games played by their chosen team, or if it’s more of a “tuning in when I’m in the mood”/”watching the important games” sort of hobby. Well, that’s a silly question, since of course the answer is yes: some people watch all the games by a certain team; some people watch even more games than that; and some people just tune in to some of them, using various ways of deciding which ones (in the mood, have the time, like the team, game is important, etc.).
In other news: toilet paper rolls have narrowed again, just since I last bought toilet paper:
Just how long do they think they can keep doing this, when the spindle provides an easy way to measure how much shrinking has happened?
So much room on the spindle!
If I were in your shoes, I would revisit the topic with my supervisor. I would say something like, “Hey, I wanted to clarify my concerns around the newspaper task. I am concerned about working in a small space with Andrea due to the fact that she sometimes chooses not to wear a mask. Although I am vaccinated, I have immunocompromised family members and am being extra cautious regarding the Delta variant.” That way, you don’t say that Andrea never wears a mask, but that you have seen her without a mask. And it makes it clear that you are not unwilling to handle the newspapers, but your concern is Andrea.
Oh, yes, this is a really smart idea!
perfect!
I was going to make the same comment, Shelly! I’ve been a manager before, and I was always relieved when employees would come back to me and follow up. In a stressful moment, it can be hard for people to say what they actually mean, and as a supervisor it is difficult to know when to push when you sense someone having a hard time.
I don’t watch baseball anymore, but I used to back when the Blue Jays won the World Series. So, like, 1992. Anyway, here they have a “game in 30” which is the highlights of the games because damn, baseball is SLOW. Especially if you go into extra innings. So the 30 minutes is like the hits and runs, etc., without all the other stuff. I mean, not great if you want to see those things but good if you, like my husband, are obsessed with All Things Sport and just want to keep up with Literally Everything In The Sports World.
Oh HEY! That is exactly the year I too watched baseball! I had a Sports Boyfriend that year and decided to give watching hockey and baseball with him a try.
When deciding who to root for I picked the Blue Jays because they were my local team at the time for baseball, and I picked the Pittsburgh Penguins in hockey because I liked the cute skating penguins on their jerseys. The Jays won the World Series and the Penguins won the Stanley Cup and I dusted my hands off briskly and announced that I was going to stop watching sports because it would have to be all downhill from there.
I love the fact that you rooted for the Pittsburgh Penguins because of the cute penguins in their jerseys. ❤
Hmm. I hadn’t noticed the toilet paper thing before, but now I’m going to watch for it. What I HAVE noticed is a name brand which was formerly good for my septic system and comfy on my bum is now unbearably scratchy and low quality. (@ngel $0ft, I’m looking at you.)
OH! I am looking at them too! I thought it was just me and I had become overly sensitive in my old age…
I’m from New England so I grew up being a huge Red Sox fan. We watched games as a family every night on channel 38 and then NESN. My dad (a NC transplant) loved the Sox. He passed away in 2003, the year before they won the world series for the first time since 1918. We were all extremely invested (OBSESSED) in the 2004 season and emotional (HEART-BROKEN) that he didn’t get to see them win it. It was a whole entire thing that’s difficult to explain to anyone who was outside of Red Sox Nation during that time.
Since then, I don’t/can’t reach that same level of emotional investment in baseball, even Red Sox baseball. I haven’t watched a game in years. I think it’s a combination of them finally winning + the grieving process + social media + getting old. I miss it sometimes but not enough to do anything about it; bottom line I know it’s a nostalgia ache that can only be truly soothed by the invention of time travel.
Omg this was beautiful.
I am a fan of a baseball team, and what I do is watch the games when I feel like, listen to games on the radio app when I want, and if I don’t watch or listen if I will check in on the box score or on a fan site to find out what happened.
The key for me is I only do any of these things if I feel like it. Baseball is a LONG season and there is no way that all the games matter.
We’ve recently started going through more toilet paper in the house. The culprit, the dog, who EATS TOILET PAPER. I have to retrain the kids to keep the bathroom doors shut, because this is ridiculous. Toilet paper is expensive (red package Charmin, please)!
In my house, we are all life-long fans of a particular baseball team (LGM!). We turn on the game almost every night but it’s like white noise in the background until something exciting or aggravating happens. We all fiddle around on our phones, talk, read, play games or do puzzles, then pay attention when the announcers sound animated. It’s a relief when the season ends but then we miss it and look forward to opening day. On another note, Shelly’s idea of revisiting and clarifying the mask/vaccination issue is a great one!
We’re not really baseball fans, but my wife follows the St. Louis Blues hockey team. Her interest in watching full games ebbs and flows depending on what how busy she is, but she likes to watch the highlight reels (maybe on YouTube?) and follow the scores online. We were all DEFINITELY watching when they won the Stanley Cup finals a couple of years ago. And it was cute to put the baby into Blues apparel, but that’s about where my interest starts to peter out.
I believe your supervisor was taking the easy route. It makes no waves to simply move you off the task and avoid any confrontation with Andrea. My husband works in IT at a HOSPITAL in a rural area and while masks are required, many of his co-workers don’t wear one. Its baffling and truly infuriating. Many of them are also unvaccinated. There appears to be no one from management willing to take on this issue in a HOSPITAL. My take on the front-desk worker and that instance of her taking on your work: once someone starts a task they take ownership of it, sometimes stubbornly and inexplicably. Its like a point of pride to finish it, silly as that sounds. If you’re comfortable you could explain how you sometimes need tasks to fill your time and therefore, you’d like to do task X next time you come in.
I worked in libraries for awhile and I think you are fine and your supervisor should have handled it better. Library people aren’t always good manager types! I would maybe clarify that you actually LIKE doing the newspapers, you just have to keep your immunocompromised kid in mind, and then it’s up to them to figure it out.
I have been a huge Red Sox fan since my childhood and now my teenage son is as well. Sometimes we watch from opposite sides of the house and text each other when something awesome or awful happens. Teen bonding! I don’t pay attention to the whole game unless it’s against the Yankees nor do I watch every single game but I check in on most of them. It’s usually just on in the background and I cook or crochet or draw while it’s on. Sometimes I put it on the radio instead of the tv because the play by play is better if I can’t watch.
I have never been a baseball fan but I am one of those weird people who enjoys (or used to enjoy) watching golf, which can also take quite awhile. Back in the day before I had kids, I used to settle on the couch and fold laundry and watch golf. I had more time on my hands back then. Post kids I didn’t have time to spend all day Saturday or Sunday watching the Masters or something and ended up no longer following golf. Now that my kids are grown and I have the time I seem to have lost the inclination to start again. It just seems like such a huge time commitment and no one else in my family is interested so…
I have not noticed the toilet paper issue, but I think, in time I can be as appalled about it as when I realized they were in fact, making DOVE bars smaller, only including 3 not 4 in the box, and charging more for them. :(
Ugh, I noticed the same thing with the Nestlé chocolate chip cookie ice cream sandwiches! The small box has 4, which is perfect for our family of 4; the large box has 7. SEVEN. I’d rather they just kept 8 in the box and charged us a bit more!
My 13 yr old is a huge baseball fan. He watches part of a game probably every day, but we all tune in a lot more during Spring Training (it’s new and exciting after several months of no baseball) and during the playoffs. We also always watch the Homerun Derby. My son doesn’t have a phone but he uses mine to keep up with scores and standings and can always tell you what team is where in standings. He also has notifications set for his two favorite teams on my phone so he (and I…) always know their game scores. I have always enjoyed baseball on TV but I kind of hate going to baseball games in person bc they take forever and it’s always hot and it’s only exciting if there are lots of hits, which doesn’t always happen.
I second the idea to revisit it with your supervisor. I supervise a team of roughly 25 people and can’t always keep track of who does or doesn’t do what and for which reasons – though it is important to me! In the situation you described, I’d be VERY happy if my employee came back to me to explain why they asked the question, and gave me a second chance to deal with the issue. The wording Shelly proposed would make it easy for me to hear it (no blaming me for not handling it correctly the first time), and laying out all the variables (home situation, problem presented by behavior of coworker, willingness to do the task) so I can find a proper solution that actually meets everyone’s needs (yours and the workplace’s).
Your always good at looking at things from many perspectives, so thought maybe it’d help to get one from a supervisor’s point of view :)
*Obviously that should have said “you’re always good at…” not your… :/
If I’m home I’ll definitely have a game on (1st choice: my team 2nd choice: the other city’s team 3rd choice: any other team). I’m not always invested/care about the outcome but to me it beats watching the Real Housewives or whatever other dreck in on tv. If I’m out I check scores on app/social media. People in my life also know that if we are talking at night I’m usually also half-watching the game and will pepper my conversation with “catch the ball idiot” or “why didn’t he score” or hopefully some kind of cheering.
Ugh, I hate laying in bed, rehashing things in my mind! In case you like to hear Coping Thoughts:
This is MY coping thought for whenever I have an awkward work situation with a boss: My supervisor/boss brings skill sets that others do not have – that is indeed WHY they are in their particular position! It is PART OF their skill set/expectation of the role to have social graces, to generously interpret awkward wording of their employees, to recognize when their employees are feeling uncomfortable, etc. etc.!
And also, for the record (of course): YOU didn’t make it awkward. ANDREA made it awkward!!
I live overseas in an Asian country where all the TP is small like that, even brands that sell in America like AngelSoft and Kleenex. I wonder if due to shortages they are bringing in the TP that was meant for the Asian market? Are paper towel rolls getting smaller too? I have an American paper towel holder and it looks comical with the tiny paper towels I buy here that only take up 2/3 of the bar.
We don’t have a Costco here, but we do have a “Warehouse Store” that sometimes gets a shipment of Kirkland brand TP and paper towels. Oh my goodness, I have never known such joy as bringing home those giant rolls. *sigh*
I consider myself a baseball fan, but I watch almost no games ever anymore. There are many reasons for this – I live in a different area from where my team plays, so they are almost never on TV here; listening to local games means listening to the Enemy team play (same with going to live games); we cut the cord over a decade ago, and almost all games, even for the local teams, are only on cable now; my husband doesn’t enjoy most televised sports; my team won three World Series in five years when my kids were little, and that felt like a highlight that would never be repeated. But I still love the game. If baseball is on in someone else’s house, I will watch. If I catch a game on the radio while driving, I will listen. And I usually tune in to at least a few games during the post season – if I remember that they’re on.
I feel like a fair-weather fan, sometimes, but honestly, I think baseball is a great game to move in and out of as you like. The season is long, there are many games, and if you take a break for a while you may suddenly realize that your team is in first place and get to be excited for the playoffs for the first time in years :)
Two separate podcasts I listen to regularly have independently brought up “shrinkflation” lately. It’s a sneaky kind of inflation that most people don’t recognize like you did – things getting smaller but the prices staying roughly the same. It’s the alternative to keeping the products the same but putting up the prices, and it makes a lot fewer waves among consumers. Sadly the conclusion in both podcasts was that things almost never go back to the original size. Eventually when portions/sizes can’t shrink more without being kind of ridiculous they just put the prices up on the smaller versions.
I will be forever grateful to you for drawing attention to the fact that Baker’s unsweetened chocolate went from 8oz to 4oz in a package for the same price. Because my holiday chocolate handed down from my mother’s grandmother was 1 package of Baker’s unsweetened chocolate to 1 can Carnation sweetened condensed milk. And it would have been horrible if I hadn’t known about it beforehand.