At my tutoring job, there was a co-worker of mine who used to complain a lot. I guess she thought ‘the squeaky wheel gets the grease’ applied to her, but it doesn’t. Honestly, I don’t think a tutoring center is a good place to loudly complain about how little you get paid, how much money the evil government steals out of your paycheck in taxes, and how much you hate Bush.
I don’t have a problem with people who want to question authority, but I don’t feel coworker is doing that. I almost feel like coworker got the job solely so they’d have people to take out political frustrations on. Politically, I consider myself a moderate, but I don’t share that with my coworkers. To me, political affiliation is a personal matter, along with sexual preference, medical status, etc. Suffice to say, it is not something I believe is appropriate to discuss during work.
As time passed, coworker got whinier and whinier about this and that. She would really fly off the handle about the behavior kids had around her. Kids at the center are grabby. However, I’ve noticed that the more you react, the more it encourages the behavior. Those coaches who respond firmly yet nonchalantly usually don’t get bothered by the kids. I learned to do this as well. Since we are always getting new members joining the center, and because members start as young as 4-5 years old, there are always some kids that aren’t that keen on proper interpersonal behavior, but communication with parents, as well as patience with the child usually corrects the problem. Coworker, on the other hand, never seemed to learn this, because no matter how many times other coaches and I told her how to handle it, she would still wig out and be crying her head off at the end of a measly three-hour shift.
I like the job a lot, but she really makes it a drag for me. Last year she left, and I assumed she either quit or was fired (she had problems with the dress code). My morale went up after she left. Coworkers kept conversations pretty light, and I didn’t feel uncomfortable around anybody. But it seems as though this coworker is returning this month back from UC Berkley, and I kind of concerned things will go back to the way they are. I know I should take it up with the Directors if I have a problem, but I’m worried that this is something so vague might make me no different than coworker (as a complainer).