There's nothing more frustrating than dealing with people who are not good at their jobs. At work, weboth deal with people who are really not competent to do their jobs, so it often falls to others to ensure the work gets done. We both wind up doing things for those kinds of people because we love our jobs and want the workplace to be successful.
And yes, we've both refused to do things so that people will learn. They haven't. One person that works with me (Rob) has been at the workplace 10 years. She still can't do the basics. Recently she also told me that she is "overwhelmed with emails" and because she has a newly diagnosed behavioral disability "it takes over an hour to write a 2 sentence email" to check her grammar and spelling (which are never correct). So, I suggested that when I have a question for her I will just call her.
She's in her 40s and manages people. This condition of hers didn't exist 10 years ago or 5 years ago. That's all I'll say. (Don't even ask about her not working 40 hours a week...)
What brings this all up? A trip to the Post office.
Last week I had to mail a watch to Hong Kong to get a replacement (it was under warranty). So, we double and triple checked the address, packaged it appropriately, filled out the international form, and I took it to the local post office. There's a guy there who is older, and extremely slow in his work. He needs to retire. I've unfortunately had him wait on me before and he takes 10 times longer than everyone else to do something simple. This was the case on this visit, too. I stood at his window for 25 minutes while he "tried" to figure out how to mail a small international package.
While I waited and watched him type in the address using one finger, the line of people grew to about 20 and reached the front door of the post office. There were 2 other clerks on the job, and it was very busy.
After 25 minutes of standing at the guy's window, he hands me the package back and says "I can't do it. I don't know how. Bring it to another place." Of course, the other clerks were busy and couldn't help after he dismissed me. So I took the package, steaming, and left.
We drove 20 minutes to Annapolis where I handed the package to a clerk, and she was done in less than 2 minutes. She said "the union prevents the Post Office from releasing people who can no longer do their jobs." How sad. How infuriating. How ridiculous. Of course, I wrote about the guy and told them to either get him training or move him off the window.
What is it with people who can't do their jobs? If I can't do something I ask for assistance!!
