I just need to rant about somethings happening at my job.

I work at a Party store, and have been since the beginning of June. My close friend named Mason told me about the job and helped me to get it since his mom worked there seasonally for 10 years and since his aunt is the assistant manager there.

So this aunt of his and assistant manager, was super nice to me at first, we got along super well and I liked her the most. Then she goes on vacation for a week and ever since she’s come back she’s treated me like total garbage and has been singling me out over everything.

The owners (it’s a locally owned small business run my an elderly couple) told me my first day there that we are allowed on our phones if there are no customers in the store, since it’s super slow during the week (like REALLY slow, sometimes not a single person comes in for hours). Well I get bitched out for just checking the time now, by the assistant manager (my friends Aunt, let’s call her Lauren) even if there is NO ONE in the store. And this chic is on her phone watching YouTube videos IN FRONT of customers, and other employees have their phones out in front of customers and when the store is empty. But I’m the only one getting reprimanded for it.

And then, she tried to accuse me of lying and tired to make it sound like I was lying about having college classes on Mondays and Wednesdays (I have those days off from work bc of my classes but she doesn’t believe me for some reason and tried to make a scene over it two weeks ago).

Her nephew Mason and I have been super close friends for 4 years, and he works there now too, and he has messed up a few times but his aunt always yells at me for his mistakes.

There have been other instances but I want to get to the main point that I really need to vent about.

So this party store is RIGHT across from the main mall in my city (literally right across the street) and at that mall there is a Victoria’s Secret PINK store there, a few weeks ago I applied for their seasonal part time position bc I need another job if I want to move out of my moms. Well they called me today to set up an interview, but they only do interviews every other Friday, and they only had 3 times to pick from this Friday, and all 3 of their times were right in the middle of my work shift at the party store.

Now heres the best part, my friend Mason last Saturday, during our shift together goes and asks his aunt Lauren if he can leave (to go across town) to a job interview for another job, and he gives her no warning in advanced, yet she still says yes and let’s him go. He’s gone for like an hour.

Perhaps it was foolish of me to assume since he could, that I could (cause fuck treating employees fairly right?) but I scheduled the PINK interview for this Friday, and afterwards I texted my friend Mason and asked him if he thinks they would let me go if I asked them in advanced. He said probably so I go down during an hour break between my classes to the Party Store to talk to the main manager, but she wasn’t there so I go over to Lauren to talk to her about it...and surprise surprise she totally bitches me out in front of customers and employees and totally humiliates me, “you realize you’re being super rude right? You’re asking to go to a job interview at another job in the middle of your shift at your current job?” And she just continues to be super loud, rude and condescending. I didn’t argue with her, I didn’t say anything despite how mad I was and how much I wanted to say “but you let Mason go with no warning in advanced” etc etc but instead decided not to argue and I just left, called the main manager (she said it’s fine if I go to the interview and was super nice and chill) and then I proceeded to cry for a whole hour in my car.

She’s been picking on me super badly the last few weeks and everyone is super cliquish there bc it’s a small local business and literally everyone that works there have been working there for at least 2 or more years, and Lauren has been working there for 7 years and everyone is super close with each other and the owners so I feel like I have no one to talk to there about this, and I’m too afraid to talk to the owners about it bc of how long they’ve known Lauren and I don’t want it getting back to her that I “snitched” and then just have more problems from her and the other employees. I’m not sure if I should quit or what. My friend Mason said to wait till the end of October (their busiest month) at least to end in good terms but I don’t even know if I can endure that much longer after today. It’s been super stressful constantly being yelled at for things everyone else is doing, or things I’m literally allowed to do as said by the owners but she for some reason is suddenly not okay with me doing. And like I said we used to be really chill and got along super well and I really liked her but now she just hates me for some reason. At first I thought it wasn’t personal and it was just a bad day, but it’s been like a month and a half now and she’s only gotten meaner, and its literally only to me.

My mom later told me that you can get fired from a job if they find out you have a second job etc, but the owners told me my first day when they were going over their policies that they are willing to work around “school and other job schedules” so I didn’t think it would be such an offense. Maybe I did do wrong, but I don’t think so bc the actual manager didn’t seem upset about it one bit, it was only Lauren who got all riled up about it.