The Ex that Keeps Coming Back……Ex Coworker, that is

I am shaking right now. I am not sure if it is because it is 23 degrees outside and the heater isn’t on in my apartment, or if it is because I am full of so many negative emotions anticipating what I am about to write. I think it is safe to say it is a combination of both!

My dear, avid readers. I definitely do not write often enough to have fans, but you may remember the last post I wrote. The post about LouLou? Yes! The bully of a person I used to work with. I’m going to continue telling that story because guess what? She’s not gone. *gasp*

Our story left off with us finding out that LouLou was hired next door. Let me remind you that next door is not a different building, next door is the same building with a door separating our staff from their staff. Our dentist found out that she was hired and he was furious! We were all taken aback when we saw her.

I knew she was planning to work over there because she was intentionally not discrete while plotting to leave her job with us and go work for the other practice. She thought she had won and pulled off the biggest plot twist of the decade! She held her head high and pranced around the office while loudly talking about how she was training next door.

Let’s give the dentist I work for a pseudonym…I will call him Dr. Steele. Dr. Steele was so upset the day we found out. He told us that two days ago he had a conversation with the other practice’s office manager, let’s name her Fifi, and he specifically told her not to hire LouLou. We were not on the best terms with her and he asked as a professional courtesy to not hire an ex member of our team. Even if LouLou wasn’t domineering and mean to our team, that would still be a reasonable request. And honestly, it’s an obvious choice! Should I hire this person that left her last job on bad terms? No! Especially, if her previous job is 10 steps away and she has to interact with her former coworkers every single day. There would still be tension and negative energy in the office even if LouLou had done nothing wrong because the relationships between the old coworkers was severed.

Aside from the fact that hiring her was a senseless decision, Fifi told Dr. Steele she was not going to hire LouLou. She promised him this two days before she hired her. And the funny thing was, Fifi’s plan was to hire her and hide her from us. With a girl as prideful as LouLou, that plan lasted for 10 seconds. Then when Dr. Steele asked why she went ahead and hired her after she said she wouldn’t, her excuse was, “We just needed to hire someone to help us get through the holidays! She’ll only be here for a couple of weeks to cover for some of our girls who are taking vacations.”

Ha. Ha. Ha.

I know a boldfaced lie when I hear one. I worked directly with LouLou, remember?

Dr. Steele assured us that she would be gone by the weekend. He did not want us to have to deal with her or even see her! He expressed strongly that he didn’t even want her to step foot in his building! She was a bully to all of his employees, left his practice on bad terms, and then moved to the practice next door?

Unfortunately, Fifi could not be convinced to go back on her decision of hiring LouLou. Fifi and LouLou had been on communication for months. LouLou told Fifi she wanted to work for them instead once she started to not get her way at our practice. LouLou undermine my office manager’s authority and acted like she was the boss. That didn’t work out and our office manager was not having it, and neither were LouLou’s fellow employees. So since LouLou was feeling resistance and had no more people to control, she decided it was time to move on. She reached out to Fifi and told her about the “horrors” of our office. She told her how my office manager had mistreated her and how she was not valued at our office. It was all a twisted perspective she created. You have to trust me that my office manager is a saint and was so kind and encouraging of LouLou. She worked with her and tried to help her feel wanted and needed, but the only thing that would make LouLou feel that way was if she had my manager’s job. So she told Fifi of all her woes and Fifi started to recruit her.

Fifi at that time texted my office manager and said she wanted to cross train LouLou so she could work for both offices. My manager thought that would be a bad idea because LouLou’s sister LaLa works there. Sisters working together is a bad idea. Just as bad as the idea of having the provider’s wife be the office manager. The wife who has 6+ kids, including a newborn baby, who never reports to work to do her job. Did I mention that this other office has an AMAZING receptionist, whose pseudonym will be Ava, who takes on the brunt of the work because the “office manager” is MIA? Yeah, there are a lot of elements to this story.

Long story short, Fifi and LouLou kept in contact and planned her departure and lo and behold, two days after she left, LouLou had a job! I wasn’t going to sit back and let that happen without sharing me experience of working with her. So I wrote a blog post over the weekend and shared it.

It felt amazing. I opened up about all of the awful things I went through and let out all of my emotions. It was freeing!

I was flooded with support and affirmations from so many of my loved ones. My office manager, Dr. Steele, and our corporate manager all reached out to me and thanked me for sharing my experience and opening their eyes to more of the story. Fellow coworkers personally reached out to me and told me that they experienced the same bullying from LouLou, but that they were afraid to talk about it because they thought they were the only one. It was such an empowering moment! I was so happy that my story inspired others to come forward and talk about their own experiences!

That weekend, LouLou also saw my post. She blocked me on Facebook, ouch, lol. And then it was evident she saw it once I went to work on Monday.

First thing in the morning, my office manager interacted with LaLa as they opened the office for the day. My manager asked out LouLou was doing and LaLa said that she had a rough weekend. End of conversation.

A couple hours into the morning, I was asked to go into my manager’s office…let’s give her a pseudonym, her name is Sarah. I do not remember how we found out, but someone notified us that LaLa, first thing in the morning after talking to Sarah, told her coworkers that Sarah pulled her aside, showed her my blog post, shoved it in her face, and bragged about how I had said all of these bad things about LouLou in it. Sounds ridiculous, right? It is because it is. Nothing that I am writing is made up for dramatics. This is real life, folks.

LaLa lied to her coworkers to stir the pot. She wanted everyone to see what I wrote and see it as a slanderous post by telling other people that Sarah was rubbing it in her face. Last time I checked, I graduated from middle school and so did Sarah. Anyway, Fifi got the news that I posted something and she was upset. She read my post and pointed out one line that could be deemed inappropriate. Fifi reached out to Dr. Steele and Sarah and sent a screenshot of the single line and then lectured them on how they need to teach their employees to be professional. The line was, “Luckily, our dentist owns the building and the pediatrician is only renting from him so our dentist gets the final say in things.” Fifi was enraged when she read that because I was portraying an inaccurate relationship between the two practices. She accused Dr. Steele of incorrectly telling his staff that he had all the power and was able to dictate what was to be done for both practices. I did not think a statement like this needed to be researched, or that it would receive such backlash because it makes sense. When you are in a professional relationship, you have respect for the other practice’s wishes. If someone quits, it is only logical to steer clear of that person as a professional courtesy. Dr. Steele can’t make Fifi do anything, but you would think he wouldn’t have to if she was doing all she could to maintain a healthy professional relationship with Dr. Steele’s practice. But yeah, that is the only thing she found “wrong” with my article.

This is when Fifi started to harass Sarah and Dr. Steele. Fifi made it her goal to put me in a bad light to distract from the real issue, which was that she went back on her word and also made a mistake by hiring someone that was exposed for being a bad employee to some extent. She told them that I was being unprofessional, inappropriate, and that my post was slander. She instructed them to talk to me and tell me to take the post down.

They didn’t think it was a bad post. They didn’t agree and they told me that even if they wanted to, they couldn’t force me to take it down! What I do with my personal time is out of their hands. Especially since it was an expression of my feelings, and not an attack on LouLou. I kept saying to myself….”do they think THAT is an attack? They have another thing coming if they want an attack.” Honestly, do you know how filtered that first post was? Do you know how many stories I left out? I’ll leave that to your imagination.

My post was not going down. Every day, I came to work and I heard from Sarah and Dr. Steele that they kept getting texts and calls from Fifi after hours. She kept contacting them and telling them that I had not taken down my post and that they needed to make sure I did because it was going to be bad for both of the practices. What’s funny is…it only makes their practice look bad and Fifi look bad for so mindlessly hiring someone who is not a team player. Of course they want that information hidden from the public eye because it is embarrassing to hire someone who is known to behave in inappropriate ways. Fifi made a mistake. It’s all a pride game now. She has to prove us wrong so she does not have to feel embarrassed for hiring someone who is unfit to work with other people cordially.

Since I was not taking down my post, Fifi’s next harassment was telling Sarah and Dr. Steele to have me make my post private. It could still be up, but just not open to the public. This happened over a span of two weeks. We were exhausted. We were over it! The post had done what it needed to do! I told my story and explained to all my loved ones why I had been having a hard time at work! It’s not like it went viral and the whole world saw what I wrote, nor did all of the town in which I live. I am friends with maybe 10 people from this area. None of them are patients of their office, or even patients of the office where I work. At this point, the constant harassment became unnecessary and distracting. We had to spend at least 30 minutes of our day discussing how we were going to move forward professionally without backing down. Because what I did was not wrong. It only negatively affected them because of the decision Fifi made!

Since Fifi did not get her way, she made an appearance at the office. Again, she is MIA and I rarely see her. I always tried to interact with her when I did, but she never got to know me or even asked me for my name. She mostly focused on her staff and that was fine with me! She wasn’t around enough for me to try and develop that relationship any further. But, of course, she walks in and for the first time says hi to me and calls me by name. I thought that was really funny. All of the sudden I was important enough for her to interact with because she needed something from me.

She met with Sarah and Dr. Steele and they reached an understanding. An understanding as in we contacted our LAWYERS (ridiculous that it got to that point) and sent them my post to triple check that it was okay and that Fifi couldn’t use it against us. They were like…yeah, there’s nothing wrong with it. So once those big guns were brought out, she stopped asking for the post to be taken down and moved on from that “problem.”

Fifi made multiple empty promises that LouLou would stop working at a certain point. The date of her departure kept changing and her time there kept extending that we just decided to get used to it. Fifi was not going to be the bigger and better person, so we had to be.

We had to learn to be okay with associating with a former coworker that left on bad terms.

Let’s talk about a negative work environment that no one should be subject to.

Honestly, she didn’t hold her head up high anymore. She avoided coming to our side because she was embarrassed! LaLa ignored me and whenever I talked to her, she would angrily communicate back to me. I no longer got happy responses from any of their staff to my normal positive greetings, except for Ava (who by the way stuck up for me to Fifi and told Fifi that I do not have a mean bone in my body, she is sane and sees through the lies from LouLou). The only thing that got me through was knowing that my team had my back. They knew I didn’t lie and they supported me!

We were so happy! We all were open with one another and did not have to live in fear of being judged and hurt by someone every day. It was a night and day difference. I work with amazing people! And even when the other practice acted grumpy and upset all day, we were not affected! We were happy enough to focus on our team and our success that we felt genuine joy with one another, even when in a tense environment.

Every week, the other practice tried to stir up some drama. We kept getting messages from them that were in an attempt to put us in our place and make them the ones who control the nature of our office.

They were all such petty, frivolous things.

One week we were told we could not walk over to their office due to it being a HIPAA violation. Which is funny because we all signed a HIPAA form for both offices, giving us permission to move between offices. LouLou just needed protection is my guess? She couldn’t handle seeing us? I don’t really understand. But really the message was, we don’t want to have anything to do with you. You stay on your side, we will stay on ours.

We got another message from them telling us that all communications between the two staffs had to be made between Sarah and Ava. Like…we all of a sudden were not allowed to associate with these people? Talk about encouraging segregation. Oh, this was after Fifi suggested we have a lunch with both of the practices so we can build unity. The lunch that has yet to be scheduled and probably will never be scheduled. It’s just for the best.

Then there was an issue of who needs to clean the waiting room in the middle of the day. We are a dental office. They are a doctor’s office. Sick kids do not go to the dentist. Sick kids go to the doctor. Sick germs are brought in to the practice by their patients. They for a while never cleaned the waiting room. They were asked to help and they finally did, but they started to complain because they had to do all of the work and we never did the work. Things that were never a problem before (mostly because we stopped going above and beyond for them and actually asked them to pitch in) were suddenly a problem. And it was just so petty! Things would get brought up and dragged out for weeks. Part of the reason they dragged out was because we did not budge on our fairly set terms! We were not going to encourage their laziness and whininess. It’s like good parenting. You can’t set a rule for a child and the back down on it once the child starts to complain about it. Then you no longer have any ground for your authority…and then your child starts to chip away at another part of your foundation.

Honestly, all of these analogies I’m using about younger people accurately represent this situation.

Before I move on from cleaning the waiting room. That week that it was brought up, Sarah reminded both me and LaLa of our duties when it came to pitching in to do that. When LaLa came back from lunch, I was checking out a patient. Sarah walked by and LaLa loudly said, “Hey, if I’m not doing my job right, you can tell Ava. You don’t have to tell me.” She yells this across the room to Sarah who is walking away, passing the patient I was helping. Holy crap, LaLa continued to chewed her out and defend herself…in front of patients in the waiting room! Oh wow, did that bring back memories of LouLou. I did my best to distract the patient I was with by engaging them in continuous conversation. But LaLa was honestly talking so loudly and arguing with Sarah. The patient looked over and saw LaLa angrily talking and Sarah calmly responding. I WAS SO PROUD OF SARAH. Honestly, she handled it so well. LaLa’s behavior was uncalled for! It was public and showed both of their true colors to that patient!

You could say that all of these things could be avoided if we (mostly referring to the people at the front desk, Sarah and I, because we interact with their staff the most) decided to be the better person and just go along with what they wanted. Sarah and I decided that we would be nice, kind, and professional in all of our dealings with them, but that we would not bend over backwards for them. Especially when they tried to assume the position of being in charge and started dictating how things were going to go. And we had always bent over backwards for them, but once they decided to keep LouLou on full time and not give us that one, most important professional courtesy, we were not going to continue going above and beyond for them. Sarah and I do not let people walk all over us. That’s why LouLou did not like us because she could not control us. Giving in to their demands is never going to be the solution.

While we are talking about going above and beyond and maintaining good standing in professional relationships…they did not show any desire to help us. LaLa used to help me get phone numbers from Spanish speaking patients and relay messages to me when LouLou, who also spoke Spanish, was away from her station, which was a majority of the time. It helped me out a lot when I was in a pinch and I was grateful! Once LouLou decided to give up working for us and was on her way to quitting, LaLa suddenly was no longer helpful. She told Sarah one day that her doctor told her she did not get paid to answer our phone calls and that she could not do it anymore.

Another week, we were instructed from them that from that point on, we had to notify them of patients that needed them by calling one of their phone extensions. We were taught how to transfer calls to them and how to dial their extensions to reach them. It felt like at that point that they were instilling us with responsibility of notifying them when their patients needed them. And funnily enough, LaLa, who was always exceptionally punctual, started to get back from lunch late. The day we were told to notify them when their patients arrived or needed anything from them was the first day she came back late from lunch. 10 minutes late. Two of their patients walked in on time and had to wait 10 minutes to be checked in because I was not about to do their job for them.

Maybe it’s petty of me to talk about these things, but I don’t think it is. Honestly, every week, one of these things happened. It was like they were trying to continue the drama. Since we did not listen to their demands to take down my post, they had to try and demand other things out of us. It felt so elementary. And Sarah and I were getting tired of dealing with a new issue that needed to be resolved every week. All of it was so pointless and it felt like a middle schooler plotting for revenge, trying to make their enemies feel as badly as they felt.

This is my favorite example because it is hilarious. Our waiting room bathroom has a changing table in it. Sometimes moms use it to change diapers. Which means there is a stinky diaper left there in the garbage that ends up making the whole waiting room smell bad. When I first started working there, I happily and quickly volunteered to take care of any of the nasty smelling trash because someone had to do it and I did not mind! I didn’t think anything of it. Until it was always me that did it. And it was also always me who cleaned the waiting room every day. So I decided to stick up for myself and start asking others to do it. I politely did so because I felt awkward asking someone to do something I could have easily done myself. Sarah and Ava decided that it was fair for the doctor’s office to take out the trash whenever there was a stinky diaper because a majority of the diapers were left by their patients. A dental office does not see many babies. Most of our patients are potty trained. Makes sense, right? Shouldn’t be a problem.

One day, the waiting room started to smell and one of the nurses came up to me and said it smells in here, I think there is a diaper in the bathroom. The smell always gets to our desk last because we’re on the opposite side of the room. So I was glad for the heads up. LaLa just sat there, unaffected by the news. I immediately investigated and grabbed the air freshener to get rid of the bad smell. But I asked LaLa politely if she could have one of the nurses dispose of the diaper when they had a chance. My reasonable request was greeted with an unpleasant smirk and a “sure.” She walked over to her side and 2 minutes later, that same nurse from earlier stormed out and said to me, “Dental kids have poopy diapers too!” That made me think of a middle schooler who’s only good comeback was, “your mom.” Like it was said with such force and laced with immaturity that it was hilarious. Then a few minutes later, there’s LaLa begrudgingly taking out the trash.

Sometimes I feel like I’m on a reality TV show.

So that gives you an idea of how the past months have been. Every day there was a new surprise. I never knew if LaLa was going to be in a good mood that day and pretend to like me or if she had no energy to hide her hatred of me. Some days there was just a stark contrast between how she treated their patients and how I treated our patients. Throughout this whole experience, I have not changed who I am. I am a positive person and people deserve me at my best all the time! So I always try my hardest to be positive and happy, but now you get insight into why it is hard at times to do so.

For the first few weeks, I was glared at by their staff and ignored, and knew that LouLou was spreading lies about me like she had Sarah. It didn’t make me feel good. I genuinely tried to build relationships with all of them because it’s no fun to work with strangers. And it’s especially not fun to work with people who do not like you. The people that got me through those first weeks of LouLou working there were my awesome team members.

Over those weeks, LouLou started to make appearances in the waiting room. I tried to be nice and greet her, but was greeted back with cold, hateful responses. She never said anything mean to me, but she said short responses in harsh tones. Which was enough for me to stop trying. She wasn’t going to forgive me ever and I don’t want or need her forgiveness. Because I did not do anything wrong or anything to attack her in my eyes. I merely shared my experience.

I don’t remember what day it was, but at the end of December/beginning of January, there was a day when LouLou worked up front. She sat next to me all day. I told her to have a good lunch, asked her if she would like me to sweep and mop under her, and told her to have a good night. I did not want to talk to her. And it was sure awkward. But it was more awkward and uncomfortable for her than for me and that was pretty cool. Because I had my team coming up to me and interacting with me all day. We are very encouraging of each other and positive towards each other all day. And it isn’t forced! It’s natural because we enjoy each other’s company. So the day I had worried about didn’t end up being so bad. It was fun to observe her sitting on her phone doing nothing a good portion of the day, like she used to do when working for our team. LouLou was up there since Ava had to leave that day because she was throwing up. She was so sick (by the way she’s been sick for months, like on and off since I started working in June, because she is overworked) and I felt so bad. But Ava was kind enough to apologize for us having to work with LouLou that day because she was the only one healthy enough to be there. Ava is so great. Anyway, before Ava left (this was really funny to me), LouLou confidently said to her something like, “Don’t worry, you’re leaving the office in good hands. You’ll be surprised how much I can get done for you while you’re gone.” And then to see her spend her free time on her phone? It’s all about the appearance of greatness for LouLou, not actually delivering on that claimed greatness. But LouLou left that day in a hurry once it was 5 o’clock and was pretty upset. She left crying (so I heard by my coworker) because her former coworkers were not interacting with her the way that they used to, with friendliness. For most of us, at least for myself, it was because we faked it and didn’t have to fake enjoying her presence anymore. Because all in all, whenever she talked to me, she was talking to me to tell me I was doing something wrong, dictating what I was supposed to be doing, micromanaging what I was doing, or complaining about all the hard things she was dealing with. It’s not fun to be around a person like that. So honestly, I did not feel bad that she had a bad experience working up front. She got herself to that position. I didn’t get her to that point. And I was kind to her when I had to interact with her. I wasn’t about to rub it in her face that she felt sad.

I’ve filled you in on most of the unnecessary drama I’ve been dealing with over the past two months. This was to vent and also give you a backstory so you could understand my situation. But now I’d like to talk about my current emotions on the whole situation. Fifi harassed Sarah and Dr. Steele enough that legal action was taken and she finally backed off and Ava became the official office manager. So now I only hear from her when she calls LaLa and talks to her for 30 minutes on the phone. So long, Fifi. Honestly, it’s such a good move for their practice because the providers are great! They needed someone to take responsibility and action with the management duties so their business could run smoothly. Ava, Ava, she’s the one! She’s the one to get it done! Lol, *dismisses inner cheer squad*

So since that day LouLou worked up front, she has started to frequent the common front desk area. Before I only heard her call LaLa on the phone and boss her around. I am not joking when I say that. I would hear LaLa answer the phone and then reply as if she were being told directions. The other times that they’re on the phone, they’re talking about personal stuff like whether or not they’re going to their mom’s house for dinner that weekend, or the other day LouLou told LaLa over the phone that a guy that was in the office was flirting with her. Honestly, LaLa is either being told what to do, or they’re talking about things that are unrelated to work. Which makes sense, because LaLa is isolated from her team and does not like to talk to me anymore, so she gets lonely. And I make light conversation with my coworkers throughout the day. It’s just the frequency of those calls, and then the times when LaLa answers the phone and then all of the sudden starts speaking in Spanish or whispering so I can’t understand or hear her. It just gave me a weird vibe. So that was the main dynamic between them before LouLou worked up front for a whole day, now it’s just a continual side dynamic. And it just sometimes leaves me feeling unsettled.

But then LouLou started coming up front more often and some of the things I was suspecting were going on (by only hearing half of the conversation) were brought to pass before my eyes. LouLou would approach LaLa and tell her to do things for her, like make copies of something or whatever. Little tasks, but it was ever so familiar to when LouLou would constantly ask me to do little favors like that and would rarely do those tasks herself. She just stands there and waits for LaLa to do her bidding and it is awkward to witness and is a little upsetting. Poor LaLa just gets bossed around by her older sister and it’s completely expected. That’s a sister dynamic for ya! I still feel an urge to tell my younger sister what to do like I did when we were younger, but then I remember that I’m an adult and can do stuff on my own and that it was not nice to boss her around like I did when we were kids.

There were so many times I’d hear LaLa answer the phone and it sounded like she was explaining why she did something and then she’d get interrupted and then get quiet and I’d hear, “Well that’s how Ava taught me to do it.” LouLou is doing what she did best at our office, taking charge when it is not hers to take. Bossing people around when she is not the boss. It happened often. It reminded me of how LouLou would demand me to explain to her everything I did and then tell me I was doing it wrong and that I had to do it her way.

Anyway, now I witness those things happen in person instead of the one sided conversation I hear. And as the weeks have gone on, I’ve continued to feel negative emotions because of all of that drama above, but also because I’ve seen LouLou start to do what she did at our office. She hasn’t learned from her mistakes and she is going to create a toxic environment over there, that I have to associate with STILL.

The most frustrating thing is this should have been over and done with when she quit. I was talking to my husband about my constant dealings with negative emotions and flashbacks, and he was getting upset! He expressed to me empathy and told me that I should not have to work in that kind of environment. LouLou is not part of our team for a reason, yet I, and the rest of my team, have/has to deal with the negative energy she brings.

The other day I decided to try and make conversation for the first time since she worked up front a whole day. I asked her how she was doing and she so confidently said, “I’m amazing! This whole week has been just amazing!” I wish I could say it how she said it because it was so fake. And it just made me upset because I had to deal with her fake positivity, which just ends up being aggressive and overbearing, all the time when I worked with her. And I witnessed patients have to deal with it. One moment she would be scolding a patient for not paying their bill in full, and the next second she would be like, “Have a good day! It was so good to see you!” She was just so ingenuine and it made for a weirdly negative experience for some people. Especially for those who interacted with her all day.

So that has been her persona since the day she worked up front and was sad. Fake happiness and constant in person interactions with LaLa so she can shove the fake happiness in our faces. Like she has something to prove to us. Like she has to make it evident that she is better off without us. Which is great! I love when she is without us! She could be even more without us than she is now and no one would be upset. But it just is so annoying to be reminded of how she treats other people, and how she’s always looking for revenge, and always looking out for herself and no one else.

I talked to my husband last night after a weekend away from work and I told him that I felt dread. It was the same dread I felt every day about having to work with LouLou. It’s back. And that’s what she wants! I can fake it pretty well, but I can’t hide it completely when I despise someone’s existence and what they stand for (which is pride, tearing others down to get where she wants to be, selfishness…etc). So knows she’s getting under my skin, so why be silent about it? I’m perfectly aware of all of her tactics and I luckily don’t get affected by them directly anymore. I only do if I choose to engage with her.

Since she is around all the time now, I find myself getting distracted whenever she walks in, or whenever LaLa answers the phone and suddenly starts to whisper. Negative emotions get filtered in and make it so it’s harder for me to focus on my job, which is making sure our patients have a positive experience. I really wish it were easy for me to detach myself from the emotions, but since I constantly dealt with LouLou belittling me and controlling me, I am reminded of those feelings whenever I hear her voice or see her. Especially when I see her do the same exact things to LaLa! That’s why the dread of going to work is so strongly coming back to reality.

And things that bring me to feel that dread are unavoidable. LaLa and LouLou are part of my work environment. I see LaLa all day. Honestly, she’s been way nicer recently and it’s refreshing and also fishy? Lol, but LouLou wants to make her presence known so I can be as miserable as she is. So I deal with flashbacks of the anxiety and dread I felt every day when I worked with her. It’s coming back piece by piece as the frequency of working with her/seeing her increases. Honestly, it doesn’t feel right. I feel like I’m being wronged and that I’ve got the short end of the stick. Once I shared my experience, I thought it would be the end of it. I came clean of everything I was dealing with, but my mistreatment by some overconfident bully does not matter more than the pride of Fifi and LouLou.

It’s out of my hands. The only thing I can do is not be silent about what is going on. If I’m silent, these things will continue to happen. The things that are going on are not right! And they don’t just negatively affect me, they negatively affect everyone that steps foot into that office! That’s how negative energy works. Everyone can feel it! I just have to do all I can to keep our side from experiencing it, so I feel like Sarah and I filter it out and have to carry the burden of most of it. It’s a blessing to be able to lean on her. I couldn’t ask for a better person to work with in these hard situations. Sarah is so strong and encourages me to be strong!

I have to keep my head held high. I have to continue being myself. I fear that I’ll lose myself in this negativity and start feeling upset and sad when I have to go to work. I especially don’t want to bring that negativity home and lash out at my husband because I held it in all day at work. Work is not a negative place for me when it comes to my dental team. I love my job! I love my coworkers! I love our patients! That’s what’s getting me through! It’s easy to stay positive when I can focus on the people who genuinely love and care about me at work, which are all of my amazing team members.

Before I go, here is some humor to send you off. Here is another thing that LouLou posted on Facebook when she quit and before she blocked me:

Pride at its finest. Comedy gold.

Thank you and goodnight!

Honestly it’s 2:29 AM right now. It’s time for bed.