Post by nancybotwin on Mar 9, 2024 22:30:54 GMT -5
PDQ
Next door to my work is a convenience store. This week a staff person came to tell me that whenever they are at this store, they see another co-worker buying scratch tickets. They came to share that they are concerned that the co-worker has an addiction problem.
I don’t supervise the person who told me this information (I supervise their supervisor) but I do directly supervise the reported scratch ticket buyer.
They came to tell me out of concern. We are a workplace with a huge emphasis on wellness, in case that matters.
Do I address it with them? Just be aware? Leave it alone and forget it?
Ok douche, go ahead and call it mud. My husband DID have halitosis. We addressed it after I talked to you girls on here and guess what? Years later, no problem. Mofongo, you're a cunt. Eat shit. ~anonnamus
I would do nothing about this. I don’t think scratch tickets are a huge red flag and it requires way too much speculation to address this, especially since it has zero bearing on the person’s performance (right??) and is occurring off-site.
Post by underwaterrhymes on Mar 9, 2024 22:38:04 GMT -5
Why is it anyone’s business if this person is buying scratch off tickets? Unless they’re missing work and scratching away at their desk, I’d disregard it completely.
Honestly, I’m irritated this person even brought it to you. (And I’m not a scratch off enthusiast. We get them for stockings and that’s it. I just don’t think this has any bearing on this person’s performance.)
I worked at an organization that employed people who used drugs (former addicts) and it was tricky to navigate these type of “reports” even when coming from the most caring place. It got very toxic, very fast.
Someone came to you to report legal behavior, in a legal place, in the open, during non-working hours. This has “trust your gut, momma bear” vibes. Very “I saw a kindergarten teacher drinking at the bar at Applebees.”
What would I do? I would judge the motives of the reporter. I don’t know if this person has a raging scratch off ticket addiction problem. I don’t know if anyone I work with does.
Post by wanderingback on Mar 9, 2024 22:56:40 GMT -5
What? This is nothing I would think a thing about. Our front desk person says she buys scratch offs and lottery tickets daily, I never thought anything of it. (I also know how much money she makes cause she shared it with me and it’s not very much unfortunately, but that’s not my place to judge). Unless it’s impairing work then buying scratch offs is none of my business.
Why is it anyone’s business if this person is buying scratch off tickets? Unless they’re missing work and scratching away at their desk, I’d disregard it completely.
Honestly, I’m irritated this person even brought it to you. (And I’m not a scratch off enthusiast. We get them for stockings and that’s it. I just don’t think this has any bearing on this person’s performance.)
Ok douche, go ahead and call it mud. My husband DID have halitosis. We addressed it after I talked to you girls on here and guess what? Years later, no problem. Mofongo, you're a cunt. Eat shit. ~anonnamus
Post by wanderingback on Mar 9, 2024 23:03:07 GMT -5
Also, just because your job has an emphasis on wellness, unless the employee manual says you can’t buy scratch offs, what in the world would you talk to the employee about?
I’m pretty sure everyone does something that isn’t wellness related in their personal time. Are they going to report someone being addicted to chips next?
Post by UMaineTeach on Mar 9, 2024 23:03:42 GMT -5
I would do nothing.
You have no evidence of excessive gambling. There is nothing illegal about scratch tickets. Even buy a lot of tickets. Even gambling addiction is legal.
If there was evidence of excessive gaming and it was interfering with work, then there might be a problem. In which case, work can only address work. New rules, no gambling in the building, no leaving for the store outside of legally required breaks, no personal shopping when sent to the store for company business…
I think both things can be true: as a retailer who sells a lot of lottery tickets, I believe the person can tell when something is “off” - dropping huge amounts, visible agitation, etc. I don’t necessarily think the reporter must be some busybody with nothing better to do.
That still doesn’t mean you should mention it. IMO, bottom line for employers is it is none of your business until it interferes with work or (in some circumstances) is illegal.
If your wellness- oriented workplace wants to have a seminar on resources for all kinds of addictions (alcohol, shopping, gambling, etc), that’s a different story.
Post by nancybotwin on Mar 10, 2024 1:44:38 GMT -5
Thanks, all. My hunch was to do nothing, keep it in the back of my mind if I think their work is not meeting expectations etc. but I was worried I was being negligent in some way. I appreciate the reassurance.
Thanks, all. My hunch was to do nothing, keep it in the back of my mind if I think their work is not meeting expectations etc. but I was worried I was being negligent in some way. I appreciate the reassurance.
May I ask why you have to keep it in the back of your mind? Are you having a problem with this employee? If so, how does buying scratch offs correlate to the problem? Is it that this person Is going to the store too much? If that’s the case, isn’t the employee who reported them also going there a lot to see them there all the time?
Thanks, all. My hunch was to do nothing, keep it in the back of my mind if I think their work is not meeting expectations etc. but I was worried I was being negligent in some way. I appreciate the reassurance.
May I ask why you have to keep it in the back of your mind? Are you having a problem with this employee? If so, how does buying scratch offs correlate to the problem? Is it that this person Is going to the store too much? If that’s the case, isn’t the employee who reported them also going there a lot to see them there all the time?
I think she meant maybe file it away as a data point. If other data points present, then all together they may indicate a problem. There are a lot of small individual things that by themselves aren’t a big deal, but together paint a bigger picture.
I don’t personally know enough about gambling to know what other signs of a gambling addiction might look like. Angry phone calls about money? Taking out payday loans? Someone seeming stressed out all the time?
It’s possible that this report came from a place of genuine concern for someone else’s wellbeing, and not out of a desire to get them in trouble with the boss. But that doesn’t mean that any action needs to be taken, now or ever.
Post by maudefindlay on Mar 10, 2024 6:25:59 GMT -5
I agree with wanderingback's point. This is nothing related to work and nothing that needs to be filed away. I would definitely be filing away about the employee who reported a nothing situation to me and would have a talk with them to shut this narrative down.
I would do nothing with this information. It doesn’t seem weird to me that someone would buy daily scratchers- unless it was literally hundreds of dollars. I appreciate that the workplace focuses on wellness but something like this is none of the work places business unless it effects their job.
May I ask why you have to keep it in the back of your mind? Are you having a problem with this employee? If so, how does buying scratch offs correlate to the problem? Is it that this person Is going to the store too much? If that’s the case, isn’t the employee who reported them also going there a lot to see them there all the time?
I think she meant maybe file it away as a data point. If other data points present, then all together they may indicate a problem. There are a lot of small individual things that by themselves aren’t a big deal, but together paint a bigger picture.
I don’t personally know enough about gambling to know what other signs of a gambling addiction might look like. Angry phone calls about money? Taking out payday loans? Someone seeming stressed out all the time?
It’s possible that this report came from a place of genuine concern for someone else’s wellbeing, and not out of a desire to get them in trouble with the boss. But that doesn’t mean that any action needs to be taken, now or ever.
But to me buying scratch tickets daily is the same as buying chips daily to be honest. Maybe it’s how I grew up and where I currently live and work, but this is normal behavior. Coming to work smelling like alcohol? Falling asleep at your desk? Yes, file those away since they are affecting work!
I have a good friend that always buys scatch off every time she's in a gas station. I've know her for 25 years and have seen her do it a hundred times. I've never thought she has an addiction, lol.
I think both things can be true: as a retailer who sells a lot of lottery tickets, I believe the person can tell when something is “off” - dropping huge amounts, visible agitation, etc. I don’t necessarily think the reporter must be some busybody with nothing better to do.
That still doesn’t mean you should mention it. IMO, bottom line for employers is it is none of your business until it interferes with work or (in some circumstances) is illegal.
If your wellness- oriented workplace wants to have a seminar on resources for all kinds of addictions (alcohol, shopping, gambling, etc), that’s a different story.
I read the OP as the reporter was another employee at OP’s company, not an employee of the convenience store.
I think both things can be true: as a retailer who sells a lot of lottery tickets, I believe the person can tell when something is “off” - dropping huge amounts, visible agitation, etc. I don’t necessarily think the reporter must be some busybody with nothing better to do.
That still doesn’t mean you should mention it. IMO, bottom line for employers is it is none of your business until it interferes with work or (in some circumstances) is illegal.
If your wellness- oriented workplace wants to have a seminar on resources for all kinds of addictions (alcohol, shopping, gambling, etc), that’s a different story.
I read the OP as the reporter was another employee at OP’s company, not an employee of the convenience store.
I think she is saying the OP’s company employee witnessed that behavior. When I sold lottery tickets in college there were a lot of people who were really obsessive, angry, abusive and spending a ton of money every day. Anyone in the store could see what was going on and often they’d comment on it to me, after the ticket buying person left.
I had no idea people got like that over lottery tickets/scratch offs until I worked there. It was kind of shocking!
I personally wouldn’t tell my employer about it but I can see how someone might witness odd behavior day after day and feel like they should say something. Gambling is a tricky thing to navigate because it can have ripples at work but it isn’t as obviously impairing.
Of course, who knows what they actually saw! Maybe they are spending $5 every day and the “reporter” is really anti gambling and thinks that’s too much. Or maybe they see their coworker spending hundreds every day and yelling about it.
This feels so tattle-tale and invasive to me. OP, I’m glad you aren’t going to say anything. That would be a good way to instantly make an otherwise good employee start to feel uncomfortable and spied on at work. Not even at work - in their outside life, which is ridiculous. To me this is akin to saying “I see Joe at a restaurant every Friday and he always has a drink with his dinner.” It’s not problematic, and it’s not his employer’s business. I hope your company’s focus on wellness isn’t encouraging people to spy and tattle on their coworkers.
Thanks, all. My hunch was to do nothing, keep it in the back of my mind if I think their work is not meeting expectations etc. but I was worried I was being negligent in some way. I appreciate the reassurance.
Actually, I would recommend dropping this from your mind as much as you can. So if this guy is late a few times, are you going to be like omg this must be his gambling problem worsening. It’s an unfair strike against him in your mind for something that isn’t problematic behavior. Frankly, the only mental note that should be made is about the tattletale. Maybe your company needs to add some language into the next refresher seminar that wellness does not include monitoring your coworkers’ behavior in their personal time and bringing into the workplace.
If the reporter is someone who is generally trustworthy and level headed and gave some concerning details, I’d mentally file it away because they probably didn’t decide to say anything lightly. But if they are a general tattle tale I’d be more dismissive. Either way I wouldn’t bring it up to the ticket buyer.