Workin' on the Railroad

Hurray for nepotism!

There is only one way nepotism can be allowed in the workplace and it’s when the party (henceforth known as the “new hire”) who has benefited directly from the nepotism busts their ass to prove they aren’t a lazy scumbag.

Furthermore, that new hire will have to bust their ass even more if the person who secured the new hire their promotion or entry into the company is their superior and a family member.

I haven’t been a new hire for a long time but I have on occasion (every job I’ve ever had) in my past benefited from nepotism. It’s not who you know, it’s who you are related to by blood, yo.
I got my job as a bookseller at Stables & Grand because my cousin had been working there forever. She was my superior and I knew that I would need to be a reliable worker so as to not bring shame upon my family and piss off my cousin.

After my training I was frequently assigned to the children’s section. I loved it in there because it was a secluded world. I was protected from the vastness and chaos in the rest of the bookstore. The children’s section was a high-earning specialty section and I was encouraged to not leave it unattended for long so I could push toys on guilt-ridden parents and customers looking for gifts for children who didn’t like to read. Plus, it was always being trashed by the tiny clientele whose parents let them treat it like their own personal playroom.

One night I was scheduled to close the children’s section. My cousin was the lead bookseller overseeing the floor so after I had gone through and straightened all the shelves and lined up all the stuffed animals like soldiers she would come in and check my work.

The children’s section had a “train table:” a piece of furniture with a fleet of wooden trains used and abused by toddlers. My cousin approached the train table with me close on her heels because I wanted to make sure I had cleaned to the standard.

She stopped at the table, fluttered her hands, and said, “Line up all the trains.”

I think my jaw-dropped and I stuttered my reply, “I’ve never had to do that.... I didn’t think it was part of the closing procedure....”

She turned to me: “All the trains. Straighten them up on the track. Details are important here.” She left me to my task and from then on every time I closed the section I lined up the trains.

One night on another close the store manager (SM) would be coming in to check my work. It was crucial I did everything perfectly so of course I stood all the trains on the track just like my cousin had instructed.

The SM walked in and paused at the train table, “Wow, you’ve even done the train table.”

She sounded shocked so I told her, “Yes, one night my cousin came in and told me to do it.” The SM smiled and shook her head: “Ah, I see. That cousin of yours; she doesn’t miss a thing.”

Lining up those infernal trains was not the norm but my cousin made me do it because she was not going to take the fall for my bad work and she knew I would hop to it.

And you bet your ass after I busted my ass and became the lead bookseller checking the children’s section I made the co-worker in there line up all those trains.