Dear HR,
So thankfully there wasn’t a repeat of the incident today.
I had to explain it all to my poor wife Delilah last night, as you might imagine I was concerned that she’d hear about it at some company event – we’ve a really transparent relationship that way. ‘At least somebody’s interested’ was her only comment – she can get a bit that way, but usually only when she’s found the Tequila and the Valium at the same time – you know, bitter. I don’t know how many times I’ve had to bandage up her fingers as she tries to slice lemons in that state. Anyway, I take it with a pinch of salt – ironic since that’s how she likes her Tequila.
Thanks for the advice on the Employee Assistance Helpline – the first three times I called I had to hang up as a woman answered. I’m still a bit too fragile for that.
On the fourth call I got a lovely guy – Jeremy. As you can imagine he was equally horrified at the entire incident and the subsequent victim blaming. He was utterly charming, very empathetic – almost maternal in many ways. We talked for ages, and really seemed to you know ‘connect’ so much so that he even suggested that we should get together for a drink. He was going to some party with his friends at the weekend – it sounded like a pretty big affair, and given that I don’t drink the time it really didn’t make sense, besides I’m not into big crowds being a private person.
He was quite insistent though, I think he had got a sense of my vulnerability. I know I project this façade, but the years of unwarranted attention combined with this latest incident might just have been too much. I can only carry so much, and I think he ‘got’ that on some level. The whole situation wasn’t ideal, at this stage Delilah was kicking off like the wardens wife in ‘The Green Mile’ – when the warden said ‘I didn’t think she even knew words like that’ I could really relate. Jeremy at this stage was speaking more quietly – I presume that he didn’t want to disturb the other people in the call centre and besides the line was less than perfect so I wasn’t catching every single word that was said. Anyway, in a misguided effort to rescue me from what he perceived to be a terrible situation, out of the blue Jeremy offers me employment. Unusual, and a bit inappropriate when you consider that he’s working on an ‘Employee’ help line. I was quite adamant that this was a one off incident and not a fair reflection of TechReCorp as a whole.
Besides it’s a bit rich to be saying the ‘… Best Job Ever’ – whatever the role, clearly he doesn’t know TechReCorp.
I assume this will stay on Glenda’s permanent record for the 12 month period as recently communicated during employee handbook training. For far too long the ‘shooting stars’ of the organisation have been allowed to carry on as they like. Technical Superiority should not be an excuse to a laissez-faire attitude to other people’s dignity. We should make a poster out of that, maybe without the French bit – just to be inclusive.
So now we’re facing into the weekend, and then travelling next week, so I think the space will help with the healing. The scars never really fade though. I know it will take James a long time to get past the body shaming element but time heals all wounds.
Thanks
Alexander
Dear HR 