At work it took a long time to realize that a lot of what you should be doing in retail is hinted at you.

A different recent post reminded me of this. I work retail, it should be very easy and straightforward (the tasks, not the socialization obviously lol). It took me too long to realize that for some inexplicable reason, much of what you should be doing is "hinted" at you. This honestly annoys me so much for multiple reasons. There's many things to do but the actual tasks are basic, just tell me what to do. If I'm doing something wrong, TELL ME. but it's like even the managers are afraid of offending anyone by... clearly telling them what they should be doing and how often. I swear college was easier because expectations were clearly communicated.

When they do tell me in training, I've noticed the phrase "I like to do it this way" means "you need to do it this way", not that they were just telling me their preference as an option. I also have a problem with not realizing someone wanted me to do something every day, not just when they told me that day. For instance months went by where I thought a certain task was another shifts job, until I overheard someone say [my name] doesn't do that. Like I had no reason to believe my job included that?? Why not tell me? This makes me feel and look stupid...

What's worse it listening to others gossip and complain (even the manager) about how others aren't doing what they should - because expectations were never told clearly. While that person has no idea they're doing anything wrong. It drives me absolutely nuts, makes me paranoid, and makes me want to stop bothering because clearly those tasks aren't that important if no one is enforcing them.