Issues at Market Basket

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Yeah, possibly he does have it in for you.

If you want to go legal against them, you should start making records of conversations, written communications, warnings, telling offs and directives etc.

The trouble is sometimes we unintentionally offend normal people without even knowing we've done it, so it's possible that you've accidentally done so during conversation with customers.

Does your manager know that you have AS? If he doesn't, it might be a good idea to bring it up with him when you have a talk. By law, anyone with a disability has to be accomodated so maybe they can switch you to a position where you aren't interacting with customers as much.

It's also supposed to be illegal to fire someone because of a disability, but that doesn't mean he won't do it anyway and come up with another reason as an excuse, so be on the lookout for another job in the meantime just in case.

There is a great deal of luck of the draw involved in all this. Customers receive all kinds of borderline rude and sub-par service and most of the time, they don't complain.

You might like kind of oblique humor, kind of David Letterman style? I know I do! That's not sub-par, that's not borderline rude. That's just trying to engage customers in a conversation. At many jobs that would be appreciated, and you would be appreciated for your offbeat sense of humor (if that's what going on, again I am just speculating). You might want to simply add to your verbal repertoire, more ping ponging back and forth, more straightforward jokes a la Bob Hope style, where in my opinion it's so straightforward it's hardly even a joke(!) 'What do you think of this weather?' Whatever customer says, 'Is that a fact,' and thusly you're kind of giving the customer permission to keep going, and you see where they take it. And it's kind of interesting how different people look at the world. And when I'm in more of a zen flow, I'm open to appreciating a fellow human being, no guarantee that I will, merely open to appreciating . .

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Okay, this guy sounds like he's kind of a petty dictator. Yeah, you might want to , entirely on your own terms, see what other jobs are available. Also, consider this option: get an advocate. For example, a coach, a church leader, a former teacher, some older adult that will be taken as a peer by this manager. Now, it may not work, I am not making any guarantees, but things currently are pretty bad and this might be worth considering. So, you and this advocate at a scheduled time would sit down with this manager 'a good worker . . . a neurological difference' and not more than that, so you're kind of doing medium disclosure. And if the meeting is relatively brief like 5 to 7 minutes, even if it's been scheduled for longer (and I don't recommend scheduling it longer, just say 'a couple of minutes of his time'), then it's probably successful. Doesn't mean you won't get fired. Frankly, this guy sounds like a bit of a jackass. But, it is likely to buy you some time. And also improve the working environment while you're there, and that's important. Okay, if the meeting drags on a big involved thirty minutes and the guy brings up issues, that's a much more iffy situation. Anyway, the advocate and meeting is something to consider. Trust your gut on it.

And hey, congratulations on your theatre group.

I agree he doesn't sound like a great guy but that's part of accepting life and work, you will encounter those types of people your entire life and you can either sink to their level and fight them or you can find diplomatic ways to deal with them and let it not bother you so much. I think the idea of an advocate is a great one and perhaps by doing that he will understand you more and as contary as it might seem you could try to understand him more too. I hope it works out for you.

Stereokid, I may have made an unwarranted assumption that you're a younger person. I'm forty-seven and am starting an entry level fast food job on Sunday, and I'm glad to have the job. I myself have been all up and down the board. I'm been a manager on at least three occasions (more if you consider unofficially) and generally successful. The hours drive me crazy, and I start feeling more and more a need to get back to my intellectual/creative work and I see the job not going anywhere. I also taught high school for one year and was generally not successful at it; my low-key leadership style played poorly. These days I'm also looking into starting a tutoring business which I have fairly high hopes for. And I'm open to other businesses.

One important thing is to keep rolling with a goodly assortment of positives, like your theatre group.

And I still think an advocate is potentially a good idea, key word on potentiallly. In his book YOU CAN NEGOTIATE ANYTHING, Herb Cohen says that the worst person to negotiate for a country is the president, and the worse person to negotiate for a state is a governor, so the thing to do is to get someone to negotiate on your behalf. But please trust your gut. Find a medium step to take that feels promising to you.

Okay, guys, sorry for playing the victim here. This past Thursday, I spoke with another front-end manager (Janet) that I get along really well with, about the issue, and she told me to just say hello, please, and thank you, and to smile at the customers, and if the cashier doesn't talk, then I shouldn't talk either, and that if a customer brings in kids that are acting all wild and silly, to not say a word to them, and I won't have any problems. I asked her if she received any of the complaints that George mentioned, and she said she did, and that he was cracking down on baggers and other workers talking too much. So guys, I'm so sorry for playing the victim and making George look like the bad guy. Part of it, a big part, was my fault, and I do need to improve my customer service skills. But thank you for your support anyway.