Episode 3: A Direct Confrontation! The Two Liars and My Counterattack

"Why should I, who have done nothing wrong, be the one to run away?" A housewife's resolve to stand up head-on against adult bullying (Episode 3)

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With the passionate manager and other employees present as witnesses, I was called in along with the two people at the center of the bullying.
To be honest, I had asked for a department transfer precisely because I wanted to avoid making this a bigger deal and making the workplace uncomfortable. However, it turned into an unexpected direct confrontation.

In my mind, the despair of "It's over. I guess I have no choice but to quit..." was crossing my thoughts.
Even so, an environment like this is not good for the company or for the temporary staff who will come after me. I steeled myself and made up my mind.

"It started with ignoring my greetings, then the bad attitude toward female staff, and talking behind our backs during work. If there is a reason on our part, please tell us. We didn't come here to form a clique; we came here to earn money. I just want us to treat each other normally as colleagues."

To my resolute plea, the two kept their heads down the whole time and insisted, "We didn't do it." It didn't turn into a discussion.
But I hadn't expected anything from the start. If they were the kind of people who would easily admit their faults, they wouldn't have bullied me in the first place.

After the two left the room, I appealed strongly to the manager.
"Did you see their faces during the discussion? I looked them in the eye the whole time I was talking. But those two wouldn't look me in the eye at all. If they had nothing to hide, they would have been able to look me straight in the eye."

---

In the end, the discussion ended inconclusively. During the break that day, I happened to overhear them.
I heard the voices of the two whispering in fear: "What should we do? We might get fired..." "It's okay! There's no evidence!"

By that time, my plan to transfer to another department was moving forward, and the department I had tried out for a few days had welcomed me with open arms, saying, "We really want you to come!"
Meanwhile, I learned that several of my temporary staff colleagues had been interviewed individually by the manager. One of my colleagues quietly told me:
"I told the manager honestly about what those people have done to me too!"

I had thought I was all alone, but I had found an ally. The fact that I had an ally made me so happy I could cry.

---
The old me might have easily run away from an unpleasant workplace, given up, and quit.
However, the strong desire to "get divorced and become independent as soon as possible" pushed me toward actions I hadn't expected myself. A strong question began to bubble up inside me.

"I was just doing my job calmly every day. Why should I, the one who was treated unfairly, have to leave this department I like and move away as if I were running away?"

The work itself had variety, suited me, and was fun.
No longer able to accept the sudden transfer, I finally made a big gamble. I declared this to the manager and the others:
"I will not transfer. I will continue to do my best in my current department!"

---

The days that followed were indeed harsh.
I was all alone for the morning radio exercises. Until the afternoon temporary staff arrived, I was in complete isolation.

Since the discussion with the manager, the two core members had clearly narrowed their target down to just me.
Perhaps to isolate me completely, they suddenly started giving nicknames to the temporary staff around me and treating them kindly. It was an obvious and transparent attitude.

But my precious colleagues never fell for such underhanded traps.
"It's creepy now, isn't it? We won't change no matter what happens!"
They said that and stayed by my side. I don't know how much those words saved me.

One day, out of sight of the ringleaders of the bullying, one of the part-time workers secretly spoke to me.
"I'm sorry... If we upset them, we'll be the ones ignored or bullied next. I can't help you, but good luck."

Even as adults, it was the same as the world of children.
They can't say that wrong is wrong. They turn a blind eye because they don't want to be victims themselves.
I understand that it can't be helped. But if that's the case, I wish they hadn't apologized to me. That attempt to justify themselves seemed terribly cowardly to me at the time, and I couldn't help but feel that way.

To save me from such isolation, the employees kindly assigned me to a 'heavy lifting' position, usually reserved for men, so that I wouldn't have to interact with the core members of the bullying group. (Honestly, it was physically exhausting! Haha.)

However, this 'consideration for heavy lifting' would become the foreshadowing for a major turnaround that would change my life forever.
Because of this heavy lifting work, a few months later, I would end up going to get my forklift license. All to expand my range of work at once as the only 'forklift woman' in the workplace.

And then, a massive shockwave hit this department, which had been in the red for a long time: a 'sudden dissolution'.
Behind the scenes for the staff who lost their jobs, what began within the company was a cruel 'draft meeting' that separated those who would step up from those who would remain ordinary workers.

(Continued in Episode 4)

#AdultBullying #WorkplaceRelationships
#CareerAdvancement #SatisfyingStories
#TurnaroundStory #RealStories