1.01 - The Office
“Hey,” my boss walks into my office and slams the door.
“Good morning,” I respond.
“It’s not a good morning,” he stares at me with wide eyes.
I already know how this is going to go. He’s on a war path lately. I probably haven’t even done anything wrong, but things go bad in his personal life, and he comes into the office on a power trip. Todd has a real short man complex and we all suffer for it. He’s also been on the job 40 years too long and needs to retire, because basic technology regularly raises his blood pressure to the point where he’s close to a stroke or another heart attack. The sound of him typing with just his index fingers echoes through the entire building each day and we all pray that it’s a short email he’s sending.
“What can I do to make it a better morning,” I ask in my calmest voice possible, not wanting to set off a landmine.
“You can do your damn job,” he slams several random papers onto my desk.
“Did I do something wrong here?”
“You do something wrong every day, then you walk around here like nothing bothers you. It’s unnerving,” he continues.
“I’m not understanding what you mean.”
“I got a call from Emily Norman,” he sits down then immediately stands back up. “You denied her for a car loan.”
“Yeah, she didn’t have a driver’s license. Our loan policy says anyone approved for a car loan needs to have a driver’s license.”
“So, what you’re saying is, you don’t know when to make exceptions for members?”
“That’s a pretty big exception. We’re basically helping her break the law.”
“Don’t get smart with me, you’re on thin ice,” he raises his voice.
“For following the rules,” I’m legitimately confused.
“That’s your problem; you think you’re smarter than everyone Alan,” he points a finger at me.
“It’s actually Alexandre, like Alexandre Dumas. You can call me Alex, Andre, or Dre I’m fine with any of them.”
“Whatever. You’re untrustworthy and you place your trust in the wrong people. I know you’re applying for other jobs.”
“That’s not illegal.”
“You’re too ambitious, you need to know your spot, and stay in it. You’re disloyal and nobody wants a disloyal person working for them.”
Alright, I’ve got it now. He’s upset I applied for another job. I guess I should scratch credit unions off my jobs search if they’re going to tell my boss I’m looking for a new job. I thought I was being smart; only using my personal computer, and taking interviews on days off or on my lunch. Someone spilled the beans, but situations like this are why I don’t want to be here any longer. The pay isn’t really good enough to take his random outbursts.
“You don’t have anything to say for yourself? You’re just going to sit there emotionless? Are you fucking robot?”
He’s really making me mad, but I don’t get the option to just run around the office shouting and slamming things down to make a point. When I raise my voice, people get nervous. They feel threatened and I’m suddenly the villain. I know if I yell back at him, I’ll be getting fired today. That’s what he wants, and I’m not going to give him that joy.
“You know what,” Todd starts to point again. “You’re on probation. Consider this your warning, next time I have this talk with you, you’re fired. Maybe this will teach you to how to be a valuable part of the team.”
I don’t get a chance to respond before he leaves my office. Once I hear his door slam down the hall I make my way out through the back door. Screw him. I could grab him by his little throat and fling him into traffic. The whole thing was just a setup for him to tell me how much he disliked me. I don’t like him either. By the time I make it to my car I haven’t decided if I should just drive away or of I should drive my car through the building. If I come in from the south side of the building, I can hit his desk. I just take a deep breath and exhale instead. My car insurance rates would never go down if I did that.
I check my phone after I’ve calmed down a little. I’ve got a text from Kai. He needs my help with Liberty and Strife. Kai is a good player but he gets into trouble all of the time. I guess that’s something to look forward to after work.
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