help me help my boss

[soritan]

ok...so... i started a new job... and they sell bettas. i was so happy to see them healthy, that i figured they were taking good care of them. it didn't occur to me that they were new bettas.

they're betta vases. the vases themselves have air, and the bettas are fed hikari pellets.

but they get water straight from the tap. and they don't get water changes at all. not only that, but they've never had a betta die from such treatment. i do notice that the tails curl over time. it's been about a week and a half, i'm part time, and i assumed since the water is clear and clean looking, that they do water changes. a little while ago, they asked me to add water to the vases. i ask, where the water comes from. they look at me blankly and point at the sink, and everyone laughs at me and says, "it seemed logical enough!" but i'm aghast, and say that i would never do that to my own betta.

so now i question how they treat their bettas. and worse, i'm not sure how i can convince them otherwise, since they've never "had trouble" with bettas before, and that's how they've always treated their bettas. i say, "what, you mean, you don't give them declorinated water?" and they say, "what's that, some special kind of water?"

i'm really at a loss. they're reasonable people, but it's all overhead for them, and since they've never lost a betta being treated like this, i'm not sure that the whole "bettas survive better treated such and such a way" argument would work with them.

how can i convince them otherwise? they've never killed a betta with their treatment, they've never lost product. how can i convince them to treat their bettas a little more humanely?

i don't want to alienate these people, but what on Earth do i say?

 

[Kiarra]

Honestly, if I were you, I'd bring in my own bottle of dechlor and change out all their waters by myself. I wouldn't even do it on hours when I was supposed to be working...I'd do it on breaks or something like that.

As for how to broach it with them...good luck. Maybe print off some scientific explanations from the internet? Or, better yet, from a published book, preferably within the store itself!

 

[soritan]

i was thinking of doing at least that, saving a few sites to disk and printing them off at the work computer. i'm just shocked. the bettas they have look so good, and they even have tiny handouts that come with the bettas, as default, when they're delivered. i figured they'd done their research, especially since they only carry 3-4 bettas on any given day.

i didn't know how to talk to them without sounding like some betta freak, or someone who wouldn't otherwise seem employable. it's all well and good when you're in a city, to rant in front of a boss, but when you're in a small town, it makes you a pariah in the field, and i honestly need the work.

i didn't confront them immediatley, mostly because i despise running off at the mouth when i haven't had time to plot my argument. i'm the sort that prefers thinking before acting. it just seems a more effective method of attack, for me, personally.

 

[Kiarra]

I agree. A frontal assault with guns blaring isn't exactly the most effective way to get people to come around.

I think your best bet is to be a good, reliable employee, and slowly convert everyone in the store to your way of thinking. You don't have to be blunt about it, or obvious. Just be a good employee, show genuine concern for and knowledge of the fish, and try very subtly and very gently to get them to come around.

 

[soritan]

that's my general outline, to be honest. at this point, a major holiday is coming up. for me to fuss over "a few stupid fish" while phone lines are ringing would make me seem like an unreliable source of information. i think stage one would be to bring information in for them to pass out to customers, and then act on said information in their company, and then make them curious about it.

the water in our town is marvelous, so tap water isn't as frightening as it would be in a 'real city'. the ph is perfect, and the water itself is very very clean. to move them over to treated water would probably require an hour or so of careful transition, just as if you were bringing them home for the first time. in my employer's eyes, that would be "the new girl wasting her time", and that'd be bad for both fish and me. they have a few kids working there who would probably do what's right, provided they were actually told what "right" actually is.

i need to get a nice, simple, one page "this is good for betta, this is not" thing written up for them.

i really want to rescue that pretty little marble veil tail, now. the thought of that poor baby boiling or freezing in another tap water refill just makes me cringe. i wanted to buy all of them, at one point, but $75 worth of betta would probably make me weep, about now.

 

[Kiarra]

I know the feeling. If I had the money and the room, I'd probably be even more swamped with Bettas than I am now. (and I have 40 of the little fish, male and female, jarred fry everywhere I look, and a new batch in the spawning tank!)

I wish you the best of luck with this. It won't be easy, but it can be done. Even keeping your job! Subtlety really is the best key. There's absolutely no reason to get into a head-on fight and risk losing your job and being labeled a pariah among the employment world. It wouldn't do any good for anyone.

 

[soritan]

i definately think the first step is to get a simple, SINGLE Page write up, just for customers, is the best way to start. anything more than 1 page would fall within the boundries of 'excess' to most employers.

especially since the very first thing they said to me is, 'We've always done that', and my manager has been in the business for some number of years. i said to them, 'no wonder their tails are starting to disentegrate', and they looked at me rather blankly. i don't think they spare the poor kids more than a few seconds thought per day.

since the water they have in there is so clear, i'm starting to think that the secret to their success is actually neglect. since they feed the bettas so rarely, the water stays cleaner, for longer, and thus, they arrive in the recipient's household healthier.

i feel so badly for them. i'd feel like a right ass for not doing anything for them before i left.

i think... as horrible as it sounds, that i might allow them to feel that the fish still only need to be feed 1-2 times per week. since they're kept in under 1 gallon of water, it's better for them to be in cleaner water during their stay there, than fed daily and allowed to sit in their own waste.

this whole thing just makes me feel awful. *sigh* i have to figure out how to make their lives better.

i really want to buy that marble veil tail, now. i just feel awful leaving him there. but i can't afford him. maybe i can convince someone that i deserve an early birthday present? and then there's that other, spotted marble. and then the blue marble. we already sold the pure white veil tail. i'm glad, even though they sold him while i was absent. i choose to pretend that whoever wound up owning him, looked him up online and figured out what kind of care he got.

i suppose i should start writing up a brief description on basic betta care to print out. and maybe a collection of easy to remember links to jot on the paper, as well.

 

[Kiarra]

I don't doubt that the key to their longevity is in fact neglect. They'd have such nasty cases of finrot if they were fed daily and left to rot in their own waste.

Perhaps you should offer to, on your own time, look after them? Say, after your shift is over and before you go home? Just change out their water and feed them? Perhaps your diligence with this might spur other employees to do it, as well...? And it would not be taking away from the work your boss would have you be doing, so I don't think he could complain.

 

[soritan]

i'm honestly a little flooded with this. they obviously need some help. while they look better than most of the bettas i've seen at the LFS (sad, but true), to see them merely scraping by and not thriving makes me twinge with responsibility.

i'm planning my attack, already. they only fill the vases, as the water level drops. this means that they fill them once a week, or every other week. they also only feed them 1-2 times per week. this means that the fish will be fine, at least until after the holidays. then i'll come in and start to show 'diligence' and start to carefully introduce betta facts. i'll tell them about Sori, and how interactive and fun he is. (i swear, if i neglected Sori, he'd die a little, he's such an attention *ho*e, neglect to him means "I might as well sleep.")

i admit, i also told my boss to pretend that my favorite's sick. jokingly, of course. but he's happy enough with my work performance, that he's willing to do that to keep me working there. skilled workers are hard to come by.




AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHGHAHGH.


okay.

i think that's really all i wanted to do. '

 

[BettaMomma]

Sorry - I'm on my way out the door soon, but wanted to quick comment on this. I admittedly haven't read all the posts, but If I were in your shoes right now, this is exactly what I would do....

I would approach my boss and ask if he/she would mind if the store would start some kind of little crash courses on fish. Find out what type of fish each person in the store (if any) are really knowledgeable - then have a fish course day - one day when the most amt. of people would be there, then each person can get up and talk for just a few minutes about the fish they really know a lot about- what the best care and treatment of them is and that way when customers come in the employees know about most of the fish... ya know?

OR... if you guys have store meetings, ask the boss if you can do the crash courses then.

Do it in the morning sometime - stop off and get donuts. I think the boss would spring for that, because if you present it to the boss as.... "if we all know a little bit more about fish, we'll look better in the eyes of the customers, AND have healthier fish in the store...". Then you can just say that bettas really like dechlorinated water, and then volunteer to take care of their water changes if everyone's okay with that.

Give it a try

 

[OohFeeshy]

Sounds obvious, but does the tap water definately have chlorine in? I've no idea on local water laws, so correct me if I'm wrong, but I know some places don't have chloriney water. Anyway, I'd maybe mention how much dechlor you get through, and if anyone says anything, tell them you once did a water change with plain tap water and loads of your fish died. Not true, but when are LFS honest? Not that often

 

[soritan]

Sounds obvious, but does the tap water definately have chlorine in? I've no idea on local water laws, so correct me if I'm wrong, but I know some places don't have chloriney water. Anyway, I'd maybe mention how much dechlor you get through, and if anyone says anything, tell them you once did a water change with plain tap water and loads of your fish died. Not true, but when are LFS honest? Not that often

That'd work, except I don't work at a LP/FS.

they made fun of me today for wanting to take better care of the fish.


(and to the best of my knowledge, chlorine, flouride, the works)

 

[catyrpelius]

If the LFS you work at pumps their water from a well there is no chlorine in it but if you got city water then there is chlorine in it.

 

[soritan]

If the LFS you work at pumps their water from a well there is no chlorine in it but if you got city water then there is chlorine in it.

See above statement, please.