Bye, Bye, Bye

Kudos to those people out there who are able to control their facial expressions. But also, how do you do it? Seriously, I don’t think it’s even possible for me to keep a completely neutral facial expression. Like, when I’m happy my face splits in half from smiling and when I’m angry, I look like I’m about to explode. I think steam has literally come out of my ears before

At times, I wish I had a remote control that listed different emotions with facial expressions on it and I could just pick one. Until someone invents that, I guess I’m stuck with a super expressive face.

This past week was difficult for me. I attended a staff meeting, we were talking about our newest hire. She is all set to start next week. Personally, I can’t wait for her to start. I work at a place that predominantly employs men. It’s not just that a lot of men work there, but they also egg each other on. I mean, one guy says something mean, and then everyone laughs. Another guy, probably jealous that he is no longer the center of attention, says something 100x worse and people laugh. It goes on and on like that.

Anyways, at that meeting, one of the guys made a remark about how attractive the newest hire was. Then, a different one made an obscene gesture. I became so angry, I wanted to scream at the top of my lungs. Or, at the very least go over there and shake that guy until he got a migraine that lasts for 3 months. Instead, I didn't do anything.

That meeting could not end fast enough, when it finally did, I practically ran out of the room. A few hours later, my boss dropped by my desk. He asked me how I was doing. I must have glared at him because he said, “That bad huh?” I didn’t respond. Then he said, “Well, M, I fired both guys.”

I must have looked at him like he was crazy, because my boss started laughing. A smile slowly broke out on my face, too. My supervisor was new to the job, he told me that things were going to change, and that we had a zero-tolerance sexual harassment policy.

This post goes out to my boss, THANK YOU FOR BEING AN ACTIVE BYSTANDER.

Until next time,