Questions for Target Managers or Store Managers

[people500]

Hi , I'm a 24 year old guy. I'm very mature don't drink, party, do drugs, hookup... I'm pretty handsome, intelligent, athletic, and friendly. Enjoy art, music, video games, bowling, site seeing and exercising. I'm also homosexual and have minor case of Aspergers syndrome, which I have overcome a lot of obstacles that it can process. I don't really have friends, and prefer being along, or being around older people who I can relate a lot more too. I do enjoy having nice conversations with people at work though. I tried to make friends outside of work, but after getting rejected so many times it gets kind of pointless. I work pretty much full time at Target. I'm trained in many different work centers such as Cashier, Guest Service, Electronics, Sales Floor as well as the Photo lab. A lot of people like me, and I've gotten some amazing guest compliments. Sometimes though I get complainants because people take what I say the wrong way. I can also be a little serious, intimidating sometimes. I don't really enjoy being around immature people, or people who like to be really affectionate in public.

 

 

 

A few weeks ago I was having a great start to the day, got a hair cut, new clothes was feeling confident. I was working in Gest Service and even got a compliment from a guest about how well I was doing at multitasking. Before I went to break my GSA (front end supervisor) told me to come see her when I come back. So I talked to her when I came back and she said "a supervisor didn't like the way you where acting so you're going to be a cashier for the rest of the night". I was very upset, and talked to the LOD (leader on duty) and asked him if I was doing anything wrong. He was at Guest Services earlier that day helping me with backup. He told me he didn't see me doing anything wrong. A couple minutes latter I wrote a letter to my STL (store manager) and HR ETL (HR manager) and mentioned that I didn't agree with how leadership was handling some situation that had occurred.... I also was venting about my past and said "for a long time I had wanted to die, and had suicidal thoughts. Because I was different and never fit in, or have any friends. I still don't have friends (and can't really relate to anyone), but being able to socialize and have people at work who actually like me has given me a more positive aspect on life." I KNOW I shouldn't have mentioned some of that now, but I had talked to my bosses before and they kind of knew how I was. Another thing I mentioned to them another time is that I can relate to Elliot Rodgers ONLY in the aspects of being alone and not having many friends. I only mentioned his name because I had watched his youtube videos BEFORE he got violent and could relate in a way, and he really enjoyed music like me. He had Asperger like I do, so I could understand him before he freakin lost his mind. I STRESSED on the fact that I would NEVER kill anyone, and was not like him in the fact that he wasn't jealous that girls didn't want to be with him. I know most people just think about him being the idiot that killed people (which I can totally agree with) without knowing the other side of him.

 

 

 

After I wrote the letter, I had a couple days off. Then I was working and my bosses who I wrote the letter too called me in the office. They told me they where concerned about me, and gave me a paid week off to go see a therapist and gave me a letter for the therapist with some questions on it that they needed him/her to answer before I could come back. So I was totally fine with that. I really wanted some time off to relax and have some time to myself. Fast forward now it's been almost two weeks. Saw one therapist who was not professional and wanted this to be a long process so she could milk the money out. Went to another guy who was amazing and knew I was completely capable of my job duties and just made a mistake by presenting that letter. He is doing everything to try to get me back ASAP but my STL won't call the numbers she is supposed to call, and provide a formal referral so the therapist can respond to the questions. My STL also set up a claim with Hewitt to protect my job. Though she told me that they would provide income and possibly other benefits. When I called them they told me it was strictly unpaid time off with a set return date to work around October 9th. Omg I was livid, and she told me that I can apply for finical help through EDD but I wouldn't get paid for the first week, that that there might be some fees. I'm very stressed financially and can really go only one week without pay. I emailed my boss with my concerns and she says " I'm glad that your therapist verbally shared with you that you should be able to return to work. Please bring the completed questionnaire/letter that has been filled out by your medical provider and we can discuss next steps. If your medical provider is needing additional information, please have him write out what he needs so we have greater clarity." I don't know if she being truly honest with me about when I can come back. I'm extremely scared and stressed about it, and especially about the income situation.

 

 

I have some questions on a few things. Is what my managers doing are right? Can they keep me from work like this when they know for a fact that I wouldn't harm anyone, and obviously am capable of doing all of my job duties? Is there any company I can call that could help financially with me being away from work? Should I apply for EDD now or wait to see if I can come back a lot sooner? Looking forward to hearing your responses! Thanks for reading!

[abitbroken]

I don't work at Target, but I did work at a big box retailer for a little while quite awhile ago. I had a coworker who would talk about suicide to people he barely knew. I went to my manager because it was really disturbing to me. I don't think he was serious, really. I think he might have said it for shock value.

 

Keep in mind that EVERY threat or mention of suicide or relating to a violent person aside from "i volunteered for the suicide hotline last night. it was very rewarding" is taken VERY seriously by management. They were right to send you to counseling because you can never be sure if someone is serious or not and they would feel terrible if they didn't act and something happened. And because you have Asperger's and come accross as possibly a bit odd or hard to read to them, they take it even more seriously, as a lot of "loners" have been in the news for violence.

 

I think that you should work on not being so "honest" about everything. I am on the Asperger's spectrum and know what its like to be an oversharer or being too honest sometimes. But as I have gotten older, I understand that sometimes when people ask you certain questions, they really don't want to know the full dossier. "how are you today?" The answer is "great, fine," or "A little tired, but I am having a good day". They are not your doctor.

 

If your boss said to get the questionnaire filled out, go to your therapist and ask him to fill it out. That is what your boss needs.

 

Also, if you really want friends and don't have them, why not join a meetup group based on a shared interest?

 

btw, have you been officially diagnosted/classified as being on the autism spectrum?