dealing with aggression at the workplace

[Cal Nevari]

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You need to talk with your Manager/Owner. Construct a plan. Practice it. Practice it frequently, so that it becomes rote memory. Practice it again.

This world is a shit show and it is only going to get worse, sorry to say.

Bully’s smell fear like sharks smell blood in the water. You probably have a spouse and family. Make sure you go home every night safe.

Rant off, mia culpa.

That image is awesome! My new motto…

 

[paul-e-mann]

Customer needs to be told you want to help them but they must calm down and discuss rationally or they will have to leave. If they persist, tell them if they dont calm down or leave you will call the police. If they persist further pick up the phone and dial 911 in front of them, unless you feel threatened then leave the room and call from somewhere else.

 

[DaDoc]

as it turns out, I realized that we actually happen to have the person's full name & address, as well as security video footage of the incident (no sound, unfortunately). I plan on trying to talk my general manager into filing a police report on this person.

If your manager dosen't want to call the police about something like that, IMHO he/she is NOT a very good manager.

The B.S. that's happening right now is a result of years of entitlement and rewarding bad behavior.

 

[axe4me]

The management in the company I contract for hates everyone.

This is the worst company I've ever contracted work form.

I'm a whore for the $'s.

I'm glad I'm closer to the end than the beginning.

When I leave, I'll contact a labor lawyer and go after these people.

 

[AtomicRob]

It's an odd world where one should have to worry about someone coming into their workplace and shooting them. How did we get here?

 

[Vinsanitizer]

I work in an office where we deal directly with the public occasionally, and for the first time, we had a woman in here that was absolutely livid and screaming & cursing at us. she even threatened us with legal action and physical violence for a situation that she could not and would not even attempt to grasp. if she would've been calm enough to allow us to clarify the situation (which we tried to do calmly, but she wasn't having any of it), it would've made perfect sense, since there was absolutely no wrong-doing that took place on our part at all, whatsoever.... I've never had to deal with this type of situation at all. I've handled angry clients/customers, but I've never had a situation where I felt like my safety would be in jeopardy. unfortunately my general manager ended up intervening with the situation and he would not allow me to call the police, which is what really needed to be done. they ended up leaving after about 15 minutes, and as far as I know, left our property. but now, I have to worry about whether or not this person is going to return and physically attack me or shoot me, OR do that to someone else that works here. has anyone else ever had to deal with something like this?

Lemme guess: an overweight blonde female, birthed in the late 80's, so a human of the 90's that spent its early life in daycare centers, has zero social skills, and thinks the world exists to satisfy its every desire, right?

Either way, it sounds like a Karen. I'd just leave it alone. Whatever you do, don't touch it!

 

[GibsonMarshallGuy47]

Lemme guess: an overweight blonde female, birthed in the late 80's, so a human of the 90's that spent its early life in daycare centers, has zero social skills, and thinks the world exists to satisfy its every desire, right?

Either way, it sounds like a Karen. I'd just leave it alone. Whatever you do, don't touch it!

no, not exactly. I don't want to get into the person's physical attributes (specifically race/ethnicity).
I should also clarify - for my job, I co-manage an office for a large active cemetery. the screaming man & woman that were in here had an issue that had to do with the condition of their loved one's grave. they were mistaking another grave nearby that was being dug for an upcoming burial for THEIR loved one's grave, accusing us of digging up their loved one and moving them somewhere else... it was complete insanity of epic proportions.

shortly after the problem people left our office, we were actually contacted by a funeral director who happened to be a relative of the person that was buried here - this is the grave that was the subject of the angry folks and their screaming tirade. apparently they complained to this funeral director (probably a relative of theirs) and had him call us so that we could clarify the entire situation, which I did. I informed him to please relay to those people, whoever they are, that they are permanently banned from our office, and that if they attempt to return we will not hesitate to call the police. this morning, my manager is currently in the process of trying to get in touch with that funeral director just to reiterate the situation. I reminded him that we have the person's name & address, and we also have some security video footage as well (no sound, unfortunately) just in case we need to get the police involved.

 

[Australian]

I work in an office where we deal directly with the public occasionally, and for the first time, we had a woman in here that was absolutely livid and screaming & cursing at us. she even threatened us with legal action and physical violence for a situation that she could not and would not even attempt to grasp. if she would've been calm enough to allow us to clarify the situation (which we tried to do calmly, but she wasn't having any of it), it would've made perfect sense, since there was absolutely no wrong-doing that took place on our part at all, whatsoever.... I've never had to deal with this type of situation at all. I've handled angry clients/customers, but I've never had a situation where I felt like my safety would be in jeopardy. unfortunately my general manager ended up intervening with the situation and he would not allow me to call the police, which is what really needed to be done. they ended up leaving after about 15 minutes, and as far as I know, left our property. but now, I have to worry about whether or not this person is going to return and physically attack me or shoot me, OR do that to someone else that works here. has anyone else ever had to deal with something like this?

I've witnessed this and most times it was provoked consciously or unconsciously by the employee. Bad communication skills were the ruling factor. It's simple! -if you're not adept at dealing with people, move on to another endeavour where the climate suits your personality.

 

[RCM 800]

Been a long time since I dealt with retail or customers like that but when shit gets like that I typically walk away if I can and make it worse if I cant. No one treats me like that. Unfortunately the OP is in an industry where people are in the process of grieving. Half or completely crazy even if they are normally normal. I couldnt do it but I know enough about myself that I dont put myself in environments where I might end up going to jail over some idiots mouth.

 

[Leonard Neemoil]

I've witnessed this and most times it was provoked consciously or unconsciously by the employee. Bad communication skills were the ruling factor. It's simple! -if you're not adept at dealing with people, move on to another endeavour where the climate suits your personality.

Can't blame the applicant, that's on the person who interviews potential employees.

If, once hired, the employee recognizes their lack of communication skills, sure, by all means, get a different job.

 

[Lo-Tek]

We've always been here. You really think people who work in banks, liquor stores and gas stations only just started getting shot at or otherwise attacked or assaulted in one way or another while at work just recently?

I've got to agree with Torren61 on this. When I was in school we never had shooter drills or cops in schools. True, there is a history of violence in our country but it does seem like it's gotten worse of late as far a mass shootings go. Violent crimes have generally trended down in recent years (as compared to the 70s and 80s) but the regularity of mass shootings is way up. Maybe it's largely copy cat crimes but sure seems to be some kind of sickness in society these days.

Where I live, nurses and midwives have to put up with a lot of this.
Also, ambulance staff. It annoys me to hear about ambulance staff facing aggression. They are only there to help the injured but sometimes they are a target of aggression for no real reason.

I don't understand the vitriol medical workers have faced during the pandemic. I understand people have strong feelings as regards the pandemic but venting on people that are just trying to do a job does not make sense to me.
Same goes for people who rant and rave (or assault) flight attendants. Get a life a-holes.

 

[ricksdisconnected]

has anyone else ever had to deal with something like this?

every damn day i go to work bro.

 

[Australian]

Can't blame the applicant, that's on the person who interviews potential employees.

If, once hired, the employee recognizes their lack of communication skills, sure, by all means, get a different job.

Thats the problem

Can't blame the applicant, that's on the person who interviews potential employees.

If, once hired, the employee recognizes their lack of communication skills, sure, by all means, get a different job.

Thats what I suggested to the OP. “Get a new job.” He obviously lacks in the dealing with people department. It’s not his fault, heck he might be a great guitarist wasting his life away at Burger King or wherever he said he works.

 

[PowerTube44]

Some people seem to think that they have the right to abuse someone because that person will be worried about their job and won't retaliate.

And a few of them have learned otherwise.

 

[Australian]

Some people seem to think that they have the right to abuse someone because that person will be worried about their job and won't retaliate.

And a few of them have learned otherwise.

The customer is always right. Banks etc. with signs on the counter “please treat this millenial with kid gloves” will backfire eventually. In essence it says fvck you!

The customer is always right!

 

[mcblink]

but sure seems to be some kind of sickness in society these days

Yeah for real. I have no dispute with that statement, I even agree with it. What I tend to have an issue with is when it gets blamed on something that literally cannot get sick, something that literally cannot feel, think, or do anything at all, until a sick human being decides to use it for those purposes. Like a vehicle. Or a baseball bat. Or....well, you all know damn well what I'm talking about. That's just as shortsighted as can be.

Frankly, I think there's a lot of reasons why this sickness in society has seemed to grow. Most all of which are points of discussion we are not allowed to have here.

It's not hard for me to see why people are feeling the way they are. If I start to think too hard on it, I begin to get pissed off too sometimes.

Mass shootings may be up, but you know what's virtually non existent today that used to be prolific in the 70s and 80s? Serial killers.

This sickness has always been here. There's just more of it, with more people, and we hear about more of it, instantaneously, every day.

 

[GibsonMarshallGuy47]

Thats the problem



Thats what I suggested to the OP. “Get a new job.” He obviously lacks in the dealing with people department. It’s not his fault, heck he might be a great guitarist wasting his life away at Burger King or wherever he said he works.

wait... what the hell are you saying about me now?? dude, you don't know me, my skills, my work experience, or anything about me, nor do you know what its like to work in the environment and the neighborhood where I work. so stop passing judgments about all that stuff you know nothing about. that would be like if I judged YOU based on your incredibly ignorant post.

 

[GibsonMarshallGuy47]

I've witnessed this and most times it was provoked consciously or unconsciously by the employee. Bad communication skills were the ruling factor. It's simple! -if you're not adept at dealing with people, move on to another endeavour where the climate suits your personality.

I was nothing but kind and pleasant and professional with these people when they first walked into the office. I'm 48 years old. I've worked in retail management and in customer based job positions all my life... it was 100% them that completely flew off the handle and started cursing us out and screaming at us. neither me nor anyone else in this office said anything to provoke these savages. they quite literally went from zero to a hundred within a matter of a minute. they did not want to hear ANYTHING we had to say, kept talking/yelling over us, and had a nasty, oppositional attitude right from the get-go.

 

[GibsonMarshallGuy47]

it blows my mind the kind of mentality some people have here... victim blaming is a horrible thing ... its beyond rude and ignorant - telling ME, that I probably deserved being screamed at, deserved to be verbally harassed, and threatened with physical violence for 20 minutes straight, and made to feel like my life was in danger, when I did absolutely NOTHING wrong at all, and treated the customers with nothing but calm, professional civility... its truly mind boggling that there are people who would come to the conclusion that I brought this on myself and had it coming... I truly do not know how logic works within the brain of certain people. thanks to those that offered some supportive, and/or helpful info... as for the others - some of you should be ashamed of yourselves.

 

[Australian]

I was nothing but kind and pleasant and professional with these people when they first walked into the office. I'm 48 years old. I've worked in retail management and in customer based job positions all my life... it was 100% them that completely flew off the handle and started cursing us out and screaming at us. neither me nor anyone else in this office said anything to provoke these savages. they quite literally went from zero to a hundred within a matter of a minute. they did not want to hear ANYTHING we had to say, kept talking/yelling over us, and had a nasty, oppositional attitude right from the get-go.

There’s an old saying “what you resist, comes to you”. Start welcoming the spice that is life and you’ll be better for it. Rekindle the adventure you once had. Try new things. I’m confident that you’ll make it! ⚡️