Until It Stops Being Fun…

 

Last Friday was an unexpectedly tumultuous day at work and it appeared we were headed back into HR land.  Stuff happened that I was completely unprepared for.  I learned the full depths of depravity within management and it was beyond shocking.  I have never in my life encountered anything quite like it.  Why can’t grownass adults, just behave like grownass adults?  I just don’t understand.  My sleep has been way off lately and I was struggling.  I was mentally and physically drained, still in shock too, I think.  In all my years I have never encountered anything quite like the gaslighting session I had witnessed.

I was scheduled to work all day Monday through Wednesday to cover for her.  Our plan was to have a great week and prove to our supervisor that we all work so well together as a cohesive unit while making it all very enjoyable.  We were actually looking forward it.  Unfortunately having TTO on vacation, even in a completely different state, wasn’t enough to keep her crap away from us and things went dramatically sideways again.  I have to tell you, for me to even be in this situation in the first place was absolutely nuts!  Especially for a retired person that typically works very part time hours.  This situation just wasn’t going to get better and had kept dragging on and on with no end in sight so on the way home Monday I made a crucial decision and Tuesday morning I woke up feeling that “it’s time”.  I was done.

 

I told you a couple weeks ago I would know when.  Well, “when” arrived and I handed in my badge prior to the start of my shift Tuesday morning and called it good washing my hands of the whole thing.  I wasn’t even the slightest bit nervous about it.  I just walked in and did the deed.  Yes, I do feel sad that I am leaving my three fellow co-workers to deal with this crap on their own, but I know they can handle their own stuff and I’m going to be completely honest, I am so grateful it is over for me.  It was such a convoluted, messy, unhealthy, degrading, toxic workplace with a narcissist at the helm of the chaos.  No way was I going to be able to affect any kind of positive change.

 

The upshot now is that I have zero toxic people in my life.  I should have done this much, much earlier.  It stopped being fun about a year and a half ago.  Despite all of my best efforts and “hanging in there”, with the promise of a solution just on the horizon, I think I knew deep down inside there would never be an end to it.  Some workplaces are just plain noxious no matter what you do and there is no way to fix it.  Had I known a year ago what I know now I wouldn’t have stayed.  I am proud of myself for the efforts I made to at least try, taking a few for the team and for asserting myself and standing up against TTO as well as supporting and defending my teammates.  I’m not sorry about any of that.  It’s another life lesson that I don’t ever need to repeat as long as I live.

 

What’s next?  It’s hard to say.  I’m just going to take things one day at a time.  What I do know, it can only get better from here.  No BAD Days!!