School Food Summer Meals Program
Difficult co-worker-How can I cope?
I will be helping at a summer program for children at a church. I will be helping prepare and serve meals. The lady that is in charge of the food service is very hard to work with. She has to make very decision, even the most simple ones like which plate to put the cheese on or which flavor of Kool-aide to serve that day. If I do something on my own, she gets upset and redoes it. So I have to ask about every little thing-grape or cherry Kool-aide? Where should I put the cheese crackers?
She works at a school program for mentally challenged young adults, so she is in a situation where she does have to tell her students exactly how to do every thing and they do need close supervision, but I don’t need to be told how to make Kool-aide everyday. How can I tactfully tell her to let me do somethings on my own?
It’s nice that you are helping with this program, and also that you understand the reasons for your co-worker’s need for control, based on her experience with challenged young adults. Perhaps you could ask her to give you a chance to organize one meal by yourself, and let her check it afterwards. Tell her that you feel you’ve learned a lot from her, and that you think you can do a meal independently from everything she’s taught you. I think that will make her feel that you’re competent to do some things without constant supervision. Hope it works out!
Biogas from Vegetarian Food Waste – UF BioEnergy Summer School 07
