This all occured a few weeks ago. My current employer is right next door to my old employer at our town's shopping plaza. I left my old employer because of a stressful work environment and lack of overtime pay. My new employer provides a much healthier environment and several benefits which is very useful. My old employer was a video rental store and my new employer is a clothing store.
Pam, my current boss, informed me that a few plumbers were coming to fix the hot water heater above our bathroom area in the backroom. When the plumbers came in to assess what the hot water heater needed they were not able to reach it due to all of our backroom ladders being too short. Pam asked me to go around to the other stores in the plaza and borrow a larger ladder so the plumbers could complete their work order. I immediately knew that my old employer had such a ladder but decided it would be more professional to go ask some of the other stores first before I headed in there. After checking nearly every other local store, none of them had such a ladder that we needed. Finally after some re-thinking, I went into my old employer's store to ask them about borrowing the much taller ladder.
As I approached the counter I saw Jennifer, my old boss, and asked her politely if I could go into the back room and take the big ladder to my new location next door. Jennifer was very nice and understood about the plumbers and the need to fix our problem. She and I went into the back room where I took the ladder from there, through her storefront, and finally in through our backroom. The plumbers looked pleased to see the ladder and thanked me for finding one suitable. Within another half hour they had completed their work order and left. The hot water was working again and Pam seemed very pleased. It was approaching my quitting time then and Pam told me that I should return the ladder and head home because tomorrow was a big shipment day for the store. I left with the lugging the ladder and told Pam I would see her tomorrow afternoon for my shift.
When I walked back into the video store I definetly felt a sudden change. There was nobody on the sales floor, not even customers which was odd for that time of day. About a minute after I hoofed the ladder near their backroom the backdoor opened. A younger woman stepped out and looked at me with mischevious eyes. This woman was my replacement, seeing as I was the assistant manager before I left. She told me to come on back and sit the ladder where I had picked it up originally. The young woman stood in the doorway for a few moments and then closed it back up while I was about to exit. Suddenly, from behind me I felt a hand go over my mouth and Jennifer's voice telling me to keep quiet or else.
Her other arm went around my waist, pinning my arms to my side. "Now, I'm supposed to get to the bottom of all the price changes that went on with our inventory right before you quit working here." I was shocked. In all of my time there I had done nothing unethical at all like that. "Why don't we just set your purse down over there on the desk and have a little chat, ok?" She took her hand away from my mouth. "Why don't I just get my phone out and call the police and say you are harassing me Jennifer?" I said. "How about I cut some of that pretty young hair off with this box cutter?" I heard the blade open and immediately froze in place. My hands began to raise. "That's what I thought, now set down your purse on the desk and sit down in that folding chair, cause I'm going to begin interrogation."
Jennifer is nearly double my age, 48 to my 24. She has long blonde hair which is very straight and boring looking. Time hasn't done too much to preserve her looks at all. Anywhere she goes she has a frump to her walk as if she has something wrong with her legs. Jennifer is about 5 feet 7 inches tall while I am around 5 feet 9 inches tall.