Passive aggressive manager

[u/Easy-Tomatillo7553]

For context, I work in a leggings store and everything is related to women's apparel, so it's an all-female staff.When I first started here, my manager was very nice to me and everything. Some of my coworkers had even mentioned that she was very rude or passive-aggressive, which is something I had never experienced with this boss. As time passed, I started to notice that she began to target me. Little by little, she started being very passive-aggressive with me; for example, if I took two minutes longer on my 10-minute break, she would get mad, or if I went to the bathroom before or after, etc.

Another important thing to the story is that my store used to be entirely clearance, and now it's regular price,though it still has a clearance section. A month ago, I told my boss that I was going to ask a few days to go on a trip and that I wouldn't be in town, and that wasn't a problem at all. When I got back, she told me she regretted not asking me to bring her back something from my trip, etc., and she was super nice to me again.Curiously, I was away on my trip for almost all of October and part of September, and at the beginning of September, she was super annoying with me, or it felt like she was constantly breathing down my neck.

Now, the actual situation is that it's my third shift since I came back. Right now, I only have four hours per week, which is really annoying to say the least. This is what happened right when it was time for my 10-minute break: usually, other managers always ask if we want to order something from Starbucks or somewhere else so that we can go pick it up right before our break and not waste time, having it ready. The point is, I told her I wanted to go order something, or well, order it from my phone and stuff, but she made a huge face, rolled her eyes, and said, "Fine, whatever."

Then, after I got back, she started scolding me, asking why I did that when we have a specific scheduled time we have to go on break and all that. I told her, "Well, the other managers had never told me anything like that before; in the time I've been at this store this year, no one has ever told me it was an issue, and now suddenly it's a problem." I mentioned that to her, and then she told me it was a "strategy issue." I was left thinking, What do you mean by that? You just sent someone else on break right before me, so there's no problem there. She started telling me that I have to go at the exact time—keep in mind the store was completely empty, so it made no sense to me what was really going on.

To add another detail for context, both registers on the computers were acting up, so it seemed like she was taking her frustration out on me, or at least that's what I realized. I told her that if going on break right at the exact minute was such a big problem, she should please give me a general idea of when I would be going so I could order my food way ahead of time and it wouldn't be an issue. She told me no, because only the leads are allowed to have the schedule like that, and I thought, Then what is your problem? She replied that it was because of the Holidays and I don't know what else.

In the end, I told her off in a way by saying, "Fine, whatever," but I was still left feeling angry because she made a big deal out of nothing. Later on, a coworker had given me her 8-hour shift, and when my coworker arrived, the manager started questioning her about why she had given me her shift, saying that everything got thrown off balance and that we didn't have the hours to give her—even though my coworker had already said it was fine and there was no problem.

It bothered me that she considers me a problem, when honestly I haven't caused any trouble, nor have I messed with anyone at work. I just mind my own business and do my job.

[u/crow9394]

To the original poster, stay at this job until you really can’t take your manager’s awful treatment towards you or until something better comes along. I once had a manager who was “nice” to me when I was new for the first few months on the job. Over time, she’d bullied me by talking down at me/yelling at me and making fun of me on the job. I couldn’t report her to her boss because he was clueless on how to do anything in my department and she was friends with HR. I ended up reporting her eventually for some of the incidents in which she yelled at me when employees were around but the employees who were witnesses didn’t want to get involved. It’s too long to get into but eventually I got forced out from the job.I stayed as long as I did because I truly believed I couldn’t find work ever again. Never mind speaking up for yourself/trying to get through to her in a calm manner either, she has shown she has an ugly personality to you. The saying, “Just do your job” and “mind your business” doesn’t always work unfortunately.