Hit the Road Jack...

I have a new job. Prayer works. I heard about the job on Wednesday, applied Thursday, interviewed Friday and aced it. I am waiting for Monday and the call from HR to make it official. Same organization. I am transferring from the front office to our off-site back office. I am so at peace. You know it's time to quit, when you end up in the hospital with heart issues because you had to go to work. I want to be inspired, excited to go to work again! I feel loss at leaving my bestie coworker, who jokingly called me 'bitch' when I told her I applied for another job. 

Things I will NOT miss: 

Jurassic Park. The Divasaurus. High maintenance passive aggressive coworker with authority over me. 

Slacker Coworker. In every workplace, there is always that one person who doesn't pull her weight. I am tired of fixing her mistakes, of doing her work because she can't be bothered, her using my brain because two years later she still does not know her job, and her bipolar moodiness. 

A Toxic Workplace. 

In her book, Toxic Work, Barbara Bailey Reinhold, Ed.D. describes ways an unhealthy environment affects your psychological and physical health. According to Reinhold, a toxic workplace is “when the demands of your job, and your response to them undercut the quality of your family life and friendships, you are robbed of the very things you need in order to be fully alive and most creative and productive on the job.” My health has suffered along with my attitude. That is why I got wrote up recently.

My Stalker. There is a coworker, male, from another department who is all together too friendly, touchy and possessive. I have attempted to alert management and it worked for awhile, but he is persistent. I put up with it because he is in a position to do me some harm.

Bonnie and Clyde. The coworker who put me in the hospital... oh wait, I didn't tell you about that, did I? I am still not sure what sparked it. But I set Bonnie off somehow, next thing I know her voice is raised and she is yelling incomprehensible things. Let me start at the beginning...

Once upon a time, there was a hard working servant girl. She was very intelligent and did most everything right. The King and Queen were happy to have her in the castle. There was also a slacker servant girl.

The hard working servant girl would point out to the slacker girl where she missed a cobweb or left soap bubbles on the floor. The slacker girl grumbled because she did not appreciate doing the best job she could for the King and Queen. She plotted ways to get back at the hard working servant girl.

One day, the slacker servant said Princess Bonnie needed the hard working servant girl to do something for her. The hard working servant girl was puzzled because Princess Bonnie always gave her directions in person. She went to Princess Bonnie and requested that Princess Bonnie not send the slacker servant girl, but please speak to the hard working servant girl in person.

Suddenly, the air took on an eerie glow. A cold wind began to blow and Princess Bonnie transformed into a wicked witch who hurled curses at the hard working servant. The hard working servant girl backed away, fearful, attempting to speak words that would send the witch away. The King heard the commotion and when he arrived the witch fled. All too late. The curses began to work on the hard working servant girl and her heart began to break. 

I ended up in the emergency room with chest pains. I was kept overnight hooked to telemetry. I have since followed up with a cardiologist, had an echocardiogram, a stress test, a sleep study, seen my primary physician a couple of times, and a counselor. Most of those bills will be written off due to my employment, but not all. The hospitalization was $8,500 (luckily wrote off). Management has done nothing I know of. Not one word from Bonnie since. She walks past me as if I am invisible. It has escalated to include Clyde. They are attempting to mob me with intimidation and isolation. 

ODAS. The four most hated words in the English language—Other Duties As Assigned. I now have one job to do. I will be the only one to do this work. I go into my space, do my job, and take my paycheck home. Heavenly...

 

It Wasn't Me This Time

I chuckled to myself all afternoon. For once it was not me rocking the boat. It was a 'good girl'. She did not want to register either. Ha! My supervisor sent out an intraoffice memo on the topic.

"One other thing to be mindful of, if there is a call in, it will alter the back up plan. Others will have to step up and help out. We've all been in that situation, whether sick or on vacation. This is a courtesy and expected of everyone. In order for us to provide good customer service, we all have to be back ups to keep our patient flow going....I hope I do not have to address this issue again. We are a team and we will all work as a team. 

Ha. There are only four people on that 'team'. The four of us are heartily sick of the teamwork.

Humor Raisins

 

Just another tasty ingredient in hermit cookies.

Ending My Membership

Maybe I am hateful...

I went to our video store to rent a movie. Was going to have a big bowl of cereal and a movie for a carbohydrate let down to the fight. I'm standing behind a woman with a stack of movies and CD's. The cashier next door invites me to come over to her. She takes my movie. As I move around the displays to the cashier, I find another woman ahead of me. And the cashier takes her first. This was not a quick sale. The woman wants to prepurchase a movie. I notice the woman with the multiple movies and CD's is now leaving the store. Then I notice a young man behind her (or the place I just had) is now leaving the store. My cashier says lamely, 'I'm sorry.' I take my movie and return to the first line muttering, 'I can't believe this. I can't believe this.' Except now the first cashier is helping someone on the other side of the cash register while I stand there and invites that customer to come ahead of me. Arggghhhh. I left the movie and left the store.

I must have some victim pheromones. Things like this happen a lot to me. I get abused, disrespected, taken advantage of and when I complain, somehow I'm wrong, out of control, nuts, a church lady, a bitch, anything but RIGHT.

I am so Hateful

I had a fight with my husband yesterday. I admit it--I snapped. He tried to help me and I did not want it. It was a straw on camel because I was stewing over a situation he put me in on Friday. A situation I did not have the chance to discuss because of the splish splash incident. He attempted to make me do something I don't agree with and he knows it. Well anyway, off on another topic. Same theme.

Saturday, he wanted me to watch Dark Shadows, the Johnny Depp movie (I hate Depp movies). I started it, he fell asleep, per usual. It had witchcraft and satanism in it. Practices my faith excludes. I left the room and went to watch Cupcake Wars on my computer. So we pick up the conversation on Sunday morning...

I mentioned we have different tastes in movies.

Did you watch the whole movie?

No, it had witchcraft and satanism in it. I don't agree with these things. This is not entertainment to me.

You need to know your enemy. You're being all church lady. (What does that mean?)

He spent several minutes telling me how 'disappointed' he was that I did not watch the movie. There was a theme he wanted to me understand. My stomach churned that he did not respect a core belief of mine. That he thought he could override it by angry words.

Later, he put on his shoes saying he might as well leave now (he had a job to get to) as he didn't want to be around me. I had yelled at him for no reason when he was just trying to be helpful (yesterday). I give him that. He then gave me a script I should have used to decline his help. Inside my head, my jaw dropped. If I tried that with him...He said I can be incredibly hateful. Again, jaw drop...

He was filling up some water jugs and I asked him if he was filling the up the batteries in the machinery he uses for work. No, I am filling water jugs. Sooooo an 'unhateful' answer... And then he just leaves without saying goodbye.

I know I should apologize, but it just feels like empowering his bad behavior.

Splish splash, I was taking a bath...

While I was checking dinner, my husband sprayed me with the kitchen hose. He laughed. Great joke. I told him I didn't appreciate being wet. He got angry.  

Him: Why? It's only water.
Me: It's cold and I didn't want to be wet.  
Him: O, Your Highness. Your Princess.

I went to change my shirt. He got angrier when he saw that. 
It was only water!
Yes, unreasonable me. I should have sat there in my wet shirt.