Wow, where do I even begin? Life has its ups and downs. It has seasons of ease and difficulty, and sometimes those seasons are prolonged. Let me make a list of the things going on.
- Holiday season at work
- Bully at work
- Ongoing family illness
- Madilynn through the temple
- Work for the
- Family baptism
- The Election
Work is work. During the holidays, you just expect to work a little harder and a little longer. This season has been the same. You were hired to get a job done, and you do whatever it takes to complete the work. In that sense, this season has been no different. I would say my team has done well, and we have been blessed.
Yet, in the midst of the seasonal chaos and all the other things going on in my life, I have had to deal with what I would call a bully. About a month ago, this person misread a situation and determined to right a wrong by going nuclear on me. He unleashed the most horrific, expletive-laced tirade to my face—unlike anything I have ever experienced in my life. I know the guy’s history, and this experience terrified me. As he yelled at me, I remember closing my eyes, standing firm, and bracing myself, expecting to be punched in the face. All the while, I spoke calmly, attempting to defuse the situation. It was incredibly humiliating, as it took place in our warehouse in front of about 20 people. You could hear the entire warehouse staff hush and listen to his vile tirade. It was so traumatizing to me that I had anxiety every time I thought of him for the next week. That was a new experience for me.
We had just finished taking my daughter through the temple on Friday when my bully from work decided to let me have it again. Though it was not as harsh this time, it was demeaning, unprovoked, and unjustified. At least this time it was by text message and not to my face. I don’t have a choice but to deal with him, and I have not looked forward to that. It has consumed much of my thoughts over the weekend. As you can see from this post, it has been at the top of my mind. I feel as though I’m in high school again, being asked to meet somewhere after school to fight. He feels I did something wrong (gossip, rumors, snitching, disrespect), and my boss (like a father) wants me to be a stronger leader and stand up to him. I wonder if there is a higher road to walk in this situation, one that doesn’t result in my maiming or death.
THOUGHTS: It may not be in good taste to talk about a work conflict publicly like this, but he made it public when he went nuclear on me in front of so many people. I’ve tried to keep it vague for that reason. It is 100% my intention to stand as a witness of Jesus Christ while I deal with it. It’s sad that as a 50-year-old adult, I must go through this, but I don’t think any of us are immune from conflict at any age. Enough of that.
I’m not going to say much about it here. We have been going to other doctors, trying to get second opinions on my wife’s trigeminal neuralgia. There doesn’t seem to be much hope there. The ENTs and neurosurgeons both don’t feel there are any surgical options. So, we are looking at some pain management options. We continue to move forward. This is one of those prolonged seasons.
I’m writing a separate post about Madilynn going through the temple. It was a lovely experience.
My little niece was baptized on Saturday, and it was a lovely service. They call her a little sparkle, and you can see that she truly is—a little sparkle of light.
The election is this week, and it has been amazing watching all the craziness taking place. I’m waiting to see how Esdras Eagle plays out. I’m just sitting back and watching the headlines, not really taking an interest in the stories. I don’t care that Trump went on Joe Rogan; I don’t care that Kamala went on Saturday Night Live. I don’t care about the polls—I know they are manipulated anyhow. I do think one of the most clever things that took place was Trump pulling up to a rally in a garbage truck after Biden called Trump supporters garbage.
Biden—now there’s a story. The president who was not.