The coworker tried to push too hard.
I have a coworker who’s only been with us for about six months, but she’s really leaning into this “respect me, I’m an ex‑Marine, and I have a title” attitude. She’s older and has been bullying the younger coworkers, acting like everyone should respect her and follow her “invisible authority.” She’s a cashier here, not in a big position, but still expects to be invited to everything, even when it’s a mass email to the whole company. She gets upset if we turn down her offers to “help” in departments that don’t need it. Lately, she’s been telling anyone who will listen that no one respects her because she’s older than most of us, but honestly, she’s brought it on herself by pushing people around and making demands.
That post military drop off is real. I can't imagine if you were a 20‑year‑old and dropped into a cashier position because suddenly you've got bills and couldn't find a job where you could just get paid to drink coffee and gossip about people 80% of your time. I'd pity her if I didn't have to work with people exactly like her several times over the years since I got out.
What's weird is there are lots of “career” military people who do their twenty, get out and slide pretty quickly into normal circles. It's the one that made being military their whole personality and who mistook positional authority and respect for something earned through your own gravitas.
The other 20% of the time is all the stuff that good senior enlisted is vital for.
Tell her respect isn’t a prize for coming out of a coochie before someone.
Ignore her and do your job. People like that don’t normally last long. She will move onto something else looking for respect!
For the most part I do ignore her … after I saw for my own eyes both sides to the story … she's 55 and bullying people young enough to be her kid and complaining about stuff that has no grounds for complaining and then demanding respect from people that she hardly if ever works side by side with… All this and she just started 6 months ago… I know that she won’t last long.
Tell her to “act her wage” not her age.
TL;DR: New cashier with a Marine‑grade ego thinks she’s the boss of everyone—her biggest problem? She’s the only one who can’t find the back‑of‑store “respect” sign.