illegitimis nil carborundum

ILLEGITIMIS NIL CARBORUNDUM

Once upon a time there was a 17 year old girl. Let's call her Anne. Anne got a job, a good job that her daddy said was 'a job for life'. That job was in a big bank. She would be working at a small local office. Anne worked hard. She learned fast and was well liked by everyone in that office.

Soon she found herself looking at promotion.

Anne moved to a big office, in a big city. It was busy and for the first few weeks she spent her time getting to grips with all the new staff there - and there were lots of them. It was very different to her old office and she was a little scared but determined to make things work out.

Now most of the staff there were lovely. They helped her find her feet, showed her the ropes and welcomed her in. But there was one woman. Judith.

Now Judith hated Anne on sight. Judith had worked for the same bank and in the same office for 15 years so she was a lot older than Anne. And she was a lot more experienced than Anne. But Judith hated Anne's youth and her spirit. She hated the fact that Anne was moving onwards and upwards when she, Judith, was still in the same place she started.

And so she started to make life difficult for Anne. When Anne was talking to a customer Judith would butt in and undermine her. When Anne went into the staff room for lunch, Judith would ignore her. Judith would bring treats in for everyone else - but not for Anne. She'd give Anne the wrong information and when Anne made a mistake she ridiculed her in front of anyone that cared to listen. She chipped away at Anne's confidence slowly but surely.

Anne used to cry on the way home from work at night. She'd hide in the corner of the train carriage and let the tears slip down her face. Then she'd wipe them away and re-do her mascara before she went home to her parents and pretended everything was okay.

It made Anne sick. She stopped eating and would often faint on the busy journey into work when she had to stand up on the train. Sometimes she would faint at work - once she had to be taken to hospital by ambulance because she hit her head badly as she fell.

Anne stuck it out for three long years. She never once retaliated. At night she dreamt of answering back with a witty comment, or even just standing up for herself but she never found the courage to do it. Nor did she ever talk about this to anyone else. She kept it to herself, ashamed and believing it was all her fault.

Then miraculously she was offered another promotion. A smaller branch this time, but a much higher position.

She took the position and worked herself into the ground. She proved herself and after less than a year she was offered yet another promotion - this time to another bigger branch. There she encountered some of the staff she had previously worked with and as they talked and grew more comfortable with each other she began to learn the truth about Judith.

Judith was a serial bully. Lots of people were afraid of her. And lots of people had noticed the way that she had bullied Anne. It wasn't right that none of them had intervened, but such is life.
But what it had changed was their perception of Anne. What Anne thought was weakness, they had seen as strength. When Anne felt ashamed, they saw her dignity. When Anne was scared, they saw courage.

Needless to say, Anne survived.

Illegitimis nil carborundum