Schoolyard Bully = Workplace Bully

I was relentlessy bullied as a child living in Miami. From 1st grade until my 10th grade year in high school I was tormented by a bully that happened to have the same exact first name as I did. I got beat up for that as well.

I couldn't believe that after 45 years, she had transformed into a nice person. I was told she was kind and caring. Huh?? What just happened?

I suppose some juvenile bully's can grow up to change, but what if they don't?

I used to work in an office with only women...just one young man, but he never spoke so I didn't count him. When I got the job, I was so excited to be working with women. I run a women's agency that sole mission is to unite women in healthy sisterly relationships. This would be gravy!

Um...er...uh...was I sadly mistaken! Apparently there was a bully on staff that, although she was the same size as a schoolyard bully, she was old enough to know what an 8-track tape* was.

She was THE nastiest, foul-mouthed, un-helpful, cynical, gossip I had EVER encountered in my life! I was happier dealing with my "name-sake" bully from 1974. This "person" ALWAYS had a negative comment about EVERYONE, which in her opinion, were idiots. She was the NOSIEST person I had ever known! It was to the point of crossing boundaries. I had to keep saying to myself, "I'm a church member!" I'm a church member!" She would have made Mother Teresa lose her place in heaven. Have you ever seen a person who has such a poor outlook on life that is literally shows in their face? Even when she was laughing (always at someone else's expense) she had a sour grimace on her face.

What was so unbelievable was the fact that the CEO touted that the staff was "family" and that we "love" one another and had mutual respect. [Insert needle across the record] How could people be so blind? That was the most frightening part...people thought her behavior was normal, therefore we were a "loving family". How dysfunctional?

Do you or have you had the pleasure of re-living your childhood by working with a Workplace Bully? Did they steal your lunch money or throw you under the bus during that all-staff meeting? How do you or did you handle it?

* A large cassette cartridge, approx. the size of an adult human hand that played various songs from an artist. ;-)

~Tracy

© 2015, Tracy Spence-Banks. All rights reserved. No republication of this material, in any form or medium, is permitted without expressed permission of the author. SOMSistahs Inc.

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