A Flashback To The Past
I had learned from someone in the janitorial part of my former place of employment that the PGN and several of her associates were not nice to the janitorial staff. The janitor said that the PGN and her friends often treated the janitors as if the janitors were beneath them. A few of the flying monkeys of the PGN had actually made one of the janitors cry. At the time when the janitor told me this, I was shocked to say the least. I could not believe what I was hearing. So she gave me proof – so much proof that I felt the need to apologize to the janitor on the PGN’s and the flying monkey’s behalves.
I will never forget what the janitor said to me. Her words gave me pause. Had it not been for her telling me these things, this is one part of the puzzle piece of that part of my life I would never know while unknowingly rubbing elbows with a narcissist and her peons.
The janitor said, “You don’t owe an apology for their behavior. That is obviously who they are. Everyone of us (janitors) knows this is not how you are. You are the only one that actually cleans up your area so we don’t have so much extra work to do. We know cleaning is our job, but they will often make more of a mess just because they don’t care. You are the only one that leaves us treats and talks to us like we are no different than you. There are others who are just as nice as you are too, but not that crew. We always dread coming to this wing because overall the people are not nice. I think you should watch your back around them. We all think you should watch your back around them. I think you should watch your back around her (the PGN) especially. I think you should watch your back around her very, very carefully. I see how she looks at you. She does not like you at all. I know some things she has done. We’ve all heard talking, and she is always up to no good.”
This same janitor had also filled me in on things she knew that were being done behind my back by the PGN and others that I thought were friends of mine that resulted in me questioning my own sanity at the time. It was during the time that the PGN had stolen some of my documents and had the supervisor in on the madness of keeping the documents hidden from me.
The janitor happened to overhear some of what was happening about it and told me in a round-about-way one day that something was going on. She hinted that the documents would probably not be found because someone had taken them. She assured me that they had not been thrown into the trash because they had all checked for me.
Because the janitor and I had not established a friendship at the time, it made sense for her not to trust me. After all, I was friends with the PGN, and the janitor did not know if what she told me would be later used against her. Yet, the janitor said that she thought I was a good person and did not deserve the treatment that she knew I was receiving from them. So she decided to inform me. It was during that time of my life, that I made a real friend.
Upon the knowledge of the janitor’s disclosure, I decided to keep her information to myself. I had no idea how widespread the damage to my life that the PGN and her flying monkeys had intended to cause to me. I had no idea at all, but it was the janitor’s wise suggestion that I have the supervisor check the cameras. She said that the cameras would certainly reveal who had taken my missing documents.
A Toxic Working Environment
It was during this time, that becoming a detective had set in for me. I began to eye the PGN and her cronies with distrust. However, little did the janitor or I know that the supervisor was also in on the PGN’s scheme. This came as a very somber but sad revelation to me. I had been this supervisor’s biggest cheerleader when we previously worked together on the same team prior to his supervisory promotion. Yet, I had not noticed how he had changed toward me within a matter of a few months.
Looking back, I realize that the PGN had managed to forge a heavy smear campaign against me. Several colleagues within my department were no longer speaking to me in the same way that they had before. Although I was already an introvert and did not gather around to have conversations with them often, when I did speak to some of them, I took note of how their attitudes and tones with me were nothing short of rude and condescending. I was treated as if I were an annoyance. I was the odd person always counted out.
I recall that many of my problems began during the time I was absent from work as a result of sickness. During a meeting, it was decided by the PGN that I would be a part of their team on a project. The rule, however, as was passed down by the lead supervisors was that no one could speak for any member especially during that member’s absence. Yet, somehow, what the PGN dictated in this meeting stood as what was going to happen. So that when I returned to work, I was none the wiser about my new responsibilities.
When I learned on the day that I returned, I was ill-prepared. In fact, I was not prepared at all and recalled being ambushed by an email with the details of my new schedule. I immediately went to the head supervisor who turned a blind eye to my concerns despite my absence. He had already been told that I had agreed to the conditions. Despite my having proof that I had no record of any details or knowledge of the situation until that moment, the lead supervisor dismissed me with disdain. What happened next, no one expected, because it was assumed that by my easy-going personality that I would simply comply.
I went back to my office and continued working on my previously assigned project. I refused to show up to my newly scheduled post – a post that I did not know at the time had been dedided upon by the PGN. As was my nature, I drafted an email to all supervisors and the members who were present at the meeting during my absence about impropriety of it all and the fact that I was unaware of the circumstances or changes. Since my absence was on file, it was proof that I had no prior knowledge of the changes and had not even been present at the meetings when this change was decided upon. There were also no emails sent to me by the team regarding changes. The only email I had received was the schedule itself.
My refusal to budge had rocked the system, but because I was one of two people who were adept at completing the project without assistance, I decided to assist for the good of the company. When the lead supervisor found out the truth, he had no choice but to compensate me for the additional time I was giving to a project that was out of my area. Neither the lead supervisor or the other supervisors were happy about this. But most of all, the PGN was called to the carpet. Although I still was not aware of her main involvement behind the scenes with her flying monkeys and some of the other colleagues, she immediately positioned herself on a warpath against me.
The PGN’s intention to place upon me additional work actually backfired on her. I ended up with more pay, control over the time that I gave to this additional project, and a reputation with other supervisors that I was not one who could be easily manipulated and crossed as if I was some dumb and uninformed employee. Throughout this ordeal, the PGN was always in my face, attempting to siphon my plans out of me so she would always know my next move. Oddly enough, this is when I began to simultaneously experience changes within my work environment.
Find out in the next post what happened next.
My Voice Unchained 