Published on 12, July, 2020
I work in a warehouse of a supermarket of a hardware store. We have guys with forklift license, I myself don’t have it and I don’t need it. I hope I will not, because it’s terribly noisy. One colleague finds it funny to honk on me with the forklift and watch me jumping scared. He literally scares crap out of me! And he laughs. His fun costs me hiding and crying like a child. And I still feel bad. And all of them make terrible noise and mess around they are like a whirlwind, they talk to me make some jokes, when I’m working with the shipment letters and I need to concentrate. It’s so terribly stressful! I don’t know if I can hold down this job. There is one guy, by his style of interactions with people I would say he might be an aspie, but I don’t know him well. Anyway working with him is pleasant because he is quiet and does not talk any bs, does not make stupid comments on others, we just give each other the relevant information and each of us does the job. With him I’m less likely to make mistake because it’s silence and no pressure. The saddest thing is that tomorrow is his last day. I’m new here so I don’t know the reason why he is leaving but knowing that I will be left alone with the whirlwind makes me even sadder. I also feel bad because with the whirlwind of my other colleagues I confused two separate deliveries. I’m so sorry I’m not even sure if I want any advice just wanted to share the story.
i skim read hope yo're ok
Uhane said: Another strategy is to become very boring entertainment. Use your imagination.
Now that is a powerful idea.
Think up incredibly interesting ways for your colleagues to die and write these into short stories (leaving your name off of course) and if it all gets a bit much then leave one of the more gruesome ones printed out in the locker of the offending party - keep your fingerprints off the paper, do it when nobody is around and you will quickly have a very paranoid offender...
Or not - that may be harrassment but it is worth at least doing the thought exercise over it to get the anger down on paper.
Later you can always compile these into a book and make your fortune from it...
one must weigh the anxiety of changing as opposed to the anxiety of staying. You are the entertainment at the moment. Another strategy is to become very boring entertainment. Use your imagination.
Thank you for your answer. Yes, there are other jobs but I’m anxious about changes and I would like to hold down a job for long and generally I like the tasks I have here. If it gets worse I will quit and look for other job
I haven’t told anyone, I’m not officially diagnosed and I’m not comfortable talking about it. They may see me as weird or childish maybe that’s why they bully me.
You could do the "man scaring thing" and bring out your best Mother voice and tell him to stop all his nonsense.! I've been told by quite a few men that the "mother voice" is really really scary!
Thank you. I don’t have diagnosis, it’s too expensive and too much hustle currently. If my mom have agreed to have me tested when I was a kid, I would have probably have it, as I was picked two times by the teachers. But at work hmm honestly most of those guys behave like him. I’m not expecting to be backed up or understood. The guy is leaving tomorrow so talking to him makes no sense. I’m working on the warehouse and I really enjoy this type of job and my tasks. If it gets worse I will try to speak to the boss.
You are not crap, you are a person with a busy hectic life who dosen't need to work in a zoo. I think it is harrassment, he knows what it does to you and does it anyway for his own ammusement, I bet he was one of those boys who'd catch spiders and wave them at girls at school! He sounds quite immature, so do the rest to be honest and you shouldn't have to be the only adult in the room. I would speek to HR too and try noise cancelling headpones, if the numpty ups the anti and does more or worse things to get your attention, then he definately has a problem, I wonder what the rest of your co-workers really think of him? I wonder if they're as easy with it all as they seem, could they all be masking? Masking isn't something just done by autistic people, I think a lot of NT's do it because they don't want to appear different and will go along with the dominant one.
Alienatedhuman said:His fun costs me hiding and crying like a child
If you have a diagnosis of autism then I recommend giving a copy to your HR/People dept and ask them to give Reasonable Adjustments of a quiet place to work without the "high spirits" of the warehouse crew interrupting you.
Once your probation period is over at work, I also recommend you speak to the manager of the guys harrassing you and ask if they can ask the team to be more professional as your autism makes you easily scared and is likely to result in an accident or injury as a direct result.
If nothing changes or it gets worse, email HR/People and the manager and ask for it formally to make sure your back is covered. It is likely to make you a bit of an object of derision from the forklift crew but that beats the alternative.
Joining a union as soon as you are out of probation is also essential as they will have your back on this - any team picking on someone because they don't like having pranks played on them deserves the sack frankly.
You may have to deal with some backlash but standing up for your safety is more important.
Please be kind to your self. You are just right and the harassment is calculated to elicit this very sort of self loathing. Ther is nothing wrong with you. It's warrior time. There are other jobs, yes?
Please don't be sorry. you are not at fault. Yes it is bullying. It's a toxic work environment. You can use noise canceling tech at your work? Find a nother place in the facility to work with an accommodation? Talk about this with the fellow who's leaving. He sounds like a good candidate to confide in, even if he is leaving.
This exact same thing happened to me when I was in my 20s: worked for McGraw Hill publishing co.. Drove me to quit and join a union shop. Best thing I ever did job wise.
Sounds almost like bullying in a way to me, knowingly doing something that causes someone anxiety.
If they know you're autistic then they have to make reasonable adjustments and should understand the distress their staff are causing you.
It all depends on how good the employer is though, if they have a strong awareness and policy for these things or not and also how much you want to disclose to them about your autism and the issues you face there.
Have you, or do you feel comfortable talking to your manager?
Now I feel like I’m terrible mother, wife, employee and everything. I used to cope a bit better before my pregnancy, now after 3 years home I’m absolutely not able to cope.