Somewhere in 2022, I was the youngest in my office and even though I was new, it felt like I had been there for ages. Everyone liked how fast I worked on permits and how easy it was for me to grasp new concepts. There was this particular day, I was called to go for field work out of the blue. I wasn’t on field duty that day so it didnt sit well with me. I genuinely didn’t mind but the fact that I wasn’t dressed properly pissed me off. Imagine being asked to go for inspection of telecommunication masts in heels instead of sneakers/boots. Just imagine!
I took it as one of those days where you just have to go through things you didn’t plan for. Right after coming from the field, I began writing my report. Although, it’s supposed to be a team thing, the colleague I was doing it with left me all alone to do it. I didn’t mind because reporting is actually my favorite thing to do after field work.
This colleague of mine came from nowhere and then messed up the report I was doing in my absence. When I came back to meet what he had done, I was so angry. I told my supervisor(older than me) everything that happened and instead of him to ask my colleague to fix the problem, he told me to do it again. In fact, before asking me to do it again, he went around asking people if they all saw me doing the work and they answered in the positive.
That even made me more angry because if you were going to tell me to do it, why ask around to confirm if I really did the work? I looked at him eye to eye and told him I wasn’t going to do anything. He told me to follow him as he led me to my desk. He asked me to sit down, thinking he was about to say some heartwarming words to calm me down but he rather was trying to exercise his authority on me.
At that point, almost everyone was looking at us. With every fiber in me, I got up and told him point blank that I was done for the day. Oh and I walked out of him, and slammed the door. I know that was too much but at that point, my heart was boiling. A lot of people were shocked because they hadn’t seen me like that and to be honest, I even surprised myself that day.
I’m probably the most tolerant person you’d ever meet but one thing I don’t condone is watching something treat me anyhow even after they are on the wrong side. Over here in Africa, they say elders are right no matter what but that’s something I don’t believe. Anytime someone older than me offends me, I make sure to stand up for myself at the moment and probably apologize later. It’s not me that you’ll use for barbecue…..(side eye)
Image is mine